Jerome, age 47, is a few pounds short of his goal of losing 300 pounds. When he reaches his goal weight he plans on getting certified as a personal trainer. Check out his blog and story at Watch Me Lose 300 Pounds.
Senin, 31 Mei 2010
The Joy of Losing 300 Pounds
Jerome, age 47, is a few pounds short of his goal of losing 300 pounds. When he reaches his goal weight he plans on getting certified as a personal trainer. Check out his blog and story at Watch Me Lose 300 Pounds.
Understanding the Relationship Between Bacteria and Obesity
Research sheds new light on the role bacteria in the digestive tract may play in obesity. The studies, which were presented at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, paint a picture that may be more complex than originally thought.
"Work currently underway suggests that an interaction between genetic factors and the composition of the bacteria that inhabit the human gut may predispose certain individuals towards obesity. These results potentially provide insight into the mechanisms by which genetics may predispose some people to obesity. They could also help pave the way towards a future in which genetic screening in conjunction with individually tailored treatments could help people at risk for obesity to maintain a healthy weight," says Margaret Zupancic, of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who presented one of the studies.
Zupancic and her colleagues analyzed the gut bacterial communities of lean and obese individuals belonging to the Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania -- a population relatively homogenous in regard to both genetics and lifestyle. Initially they found no correlation between the composition of the gut bacteria and obesity, but when they factored in the genetic makeup of the participants, certain patterns began to emerge.
One pattern was a statistically significant correlation between whether the participant carried a given variant of the FTO gene (a gene associated with obesity) and the presence of certain bacterial groups in the digestive tract.
The researchers also found that in people with certain genetic variations in taste receptor genes, a low level of bacterial diversity in the gut correlated with a higher likelihood of obesity, while a high level of diversity correlated with a lower likelihood of obesity.
"While this work is still at a relatively early stage, results such as these could lead to applications such as probiotic or antibiotic-based treatments for obesity that could be individualized based on a person's unique genetic and gut microbial makeup," says Zupancic.
Another study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center analyzed the gut microbes of women between 40 and 45 years of age. The researchers found a positive correlation between the population of one specific type of bacteria, Bacteroidetes, and body fat percentage in the participants.
Not all research presented at the meeting found differences in bacterial populations in the gut and obesity. One study, focusing specifically on children and childhood obesity, failed to identify any significant differences in the gut microbial communities of obese and normal-weight children.
The researchers subsequently analyzed the ability of the microbes to extract and convert dietary energy. They found higher levels of short-chain fatty acids in the feces of obese children.
"This suggests that although obese and normal-weight children have similar gut microbial communities, the gut microbes in obese children are more efficient at converting dietary substrates into energy," says Amanda Payne of the Institute of Food Health and Nutrition ETH, Zurich, Switzerland.
Short-chain fatty acids are converted into triglycerides and glucose by the liver, a process estimated to provide an additional 10% of dietary energy. The increased production of short-chain fatty acids by gut microbes in obese children could potentially supply more dietary energy, resulting in weight gain.
"While the importance of a balanced diet and regular exercise should not be discounted, our results may help contribute to the development of novel approaches in treating childhood obesity by modulating the composition and activity of the gut microbiota in order to reduce energy extraction from undigested food," says Payne.
Sourse : ScienceDaily
"Work currently underway suggests that an interaction between genetic factors and the composition of the bacteria that inhabit the human gut may predispose certain individuals towards obesity. These results potentially provide insight into the mechanisms by which genetics may predispose some people to obesity. They could also help pave the way towards a future in which genetic screening in conjunction with individually tailored treatments could help people at risk for obesity to maintain a healthy weight," says Margaret Zupancic, of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who presented one of the studies.
Zupancic and her colleagues analyzed the gut bacterial communities of lean and obese individuals belonging to the Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania -- a population relatively homogenous in regard to both genetics and lifestyle. Initially they found no correlation between the composition of the gut bacteria and obesity, but when they factored in the genetic makeup of the participants, certain patterns began to emerge.
One pattern was a statistically significant correlation between whether the participant carried a given variant of the FTO gene (a gene associated with obesity) and the presence of certain bacterial groups in the digestive tract.
The researchers also found that in people with certain genetic variations in taste receptor genes, a low level of bacterial diversity in the gut correlated with a higher likelihood of obesity, while a high level of diversity correlated with a lower likelihood of obesity.
"While this work is still at a relatively early stage, results such as these could lead to applications such as probiotic or antibiotic-based treatments for obesity that could be individualized based on a person's unique genetic and gut microbial makeup," says Zupancic.
Another study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center analyzed the gut microbes of women between 40 and 45 years of age. The researchers found a positive correlation between the population of one specific type of bacteria, Bacteroidetes, and body fat percentage in the participants.
Not all research presented at the meeting found differences in bacterial populations in the gut and obesity. One study, focusing specifically on children and childhood obesity, failed to identify any significant differences in the gut microbial communities of obese and normal-weight children.
The researchers subsequently analyzed the ability of the microbes to extract and convert dietary energy. They found higher levels of short-chain fatty acids in the feces of obese children.
"This suggests that although obese and normal-weight children have similar gut microbial communities, the gut microbes in obese children are more efficient at converting dietary substrates into energy," says Amanda Payne of the Institute of Food Health and Nutrition ETH, Zurich, Switzerland.
Short-chain fatty acids are converted into triglycerides and glucose by the liver, a process estimated to provide an additional 10% of dietary energy. The increased production of short-chain fatty acids by gut microbes in obese children could potentially supply more dietary energy, resulting in weight gain.
"While the importance of a balanced diet and regular exercise should not be discounted, our results may help contribute to the development of novel approaches in treating childhood obesity by modulating the composition and activity of the gut microbiota in order to reduce energy extraction from undigested food," says Payne.
Sourse : ScienceDaily
Minggu, 30 Mei 2010
Day 49/365 Life is precious
Over the past couple of days a lot of sad things has happened in the world around me. Not things that directly impact me, but for people in my life.
A close friend found out that two out of her three children have genetic issues that may or may not severely effect her children for the rest of their lives.
My great uncle, suddenly passed while working out at the gym. (Still doesn't feel like he's gone, probably won't until I am at his funeral later this week)
At church today I found out that one of the most healthy people I know, has a tumor in her intestine.
Just a few minutes ago, I found out that a friend of ours just lost her husband today while he was at work.
Life is precious, so so precious. Be sure you don't take a minute for granted. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, it happens to the best of us. We need to always remember that within a second, our life as we know it, or even the world around us, can change. Enjoy everything you have been given, and find joy in every circumstance that is yours, because you never know when it's going to be gone.
What I did today:
50 crunches
A close friend found out that two out of her three children have genetic issues that may or may not severely effect her children for the rest of their lives.
My great uncle, suddenly passed while working out at the gym. (Still doesn't feel like he's gone, probably won't until I am at his funeral later this week)
At church today I found out that one of the most healthy people I know, has a tumor in her intestine.
Just a few minutes ago, I found out that a friend of ours just lost her husband today while he was at work.
Life is precious, so so precious. Be sure you don't take a minute for granted. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, it happens to the best of us. We need to always remember that within a second, our life as we know it, or even the world around us, can change. Enjoy everything you have been given, and find joy in every circumstance that is yours, because you never know when it's going to be gone.
What I did today:
50 crunches
Weekend musings
Who's counting Points?!
Yes! That would be ME! After two mediocre weigh-ins in a row, I decided it's seriously time to get my game on. Yesterday's weigh-in was a paltry 0.4 pound loss. I can do better than that!
Not counting my Points for two weeks resulted in a total loss of 1.2 pounds. I weigh 163.6. I've been up and down a few pounds from this for years!
Well, actually my four months of traveling last fall had me with a gain of 25 pounds, and I was up to 180.4 January 9, 2010, so in five months I've lost 17 pounds. I'm happy about that, but still, I really should be at goal.
Exactly one year ago on May 31, 2009 I weighed in at 155.2. I honestly don't know what I've been doing the past year. Gaining, losing, gaining, losing. Semi-maintenance. Not a terrible thing, but darn it, I'm not at goal! This means I really shouldn't be in maintenance mode yet.
Big Results Require Big Changes
So this keeps popping back in my head. It's something my Weight Watcher leader has said over and over. If you want big results, you have to make big changes. I even read the same thing in a magazine lately (Shape, Women's Health or Weight Watchers - can't remember which).
This means I need to change things up. What I'm doing simply isn't working. I haven't been tracking my Points with gusto for months. I start the day, then I give up. Mainly because I'm pretty limited on Points now. I get 20, and even though I eat all of my 35 weeklies, it just doesn't feel like much food. I think I don't track my food because then it makes it easier to cheat.
I usually track my food on-line on line, at work and at home. I also carry the 3-month tracking journal in my purse, and I have the Weight Watchers mobile app on my Blackberry - there is simply no reason not to track. Other than I'm lazy, and I have a secret desire to cheat.
So I have a new tactic. I'm eating almost all Filling Foods. This is the suggestion of my Weight Watcher leader, Janis (who I totally LOVE!). I'm still tracking, not quite ready to give that up, but when you look at my tracker, it's almost entirely green diamond foods. It's true what they say, they do help with a feeling of fullness.
I'm still off added sugar 100%. I almost gave in after hearing about the new pretzel-chocolate-caramel 2-Point bars at Weight Watchers. How they're the best ever bar Weight Watchers has ever made. I was in line with a box in my hand, I glanced at the label. First ingredient, enriched wheat flour (bad, never eat anything with the word "enriched" in front of it), second ingredient, SUGAR. OH MY FREAK! NO! I quickly put the box back on the shelf and left. That stuff would be crack for me. Pure and simple, I'm a sugar addict. I can't have it in my possession.
Amp Up Your Activity!
This week's Weight Watcher topic was Amp Up Your Activity. Anyway who reads my blog knows I'm a gym rat. I hit the gym six days a week, every week unless I'm out out town.
Lately though, my workouts have been kind of lackluster. My heart (literally) just hasn't been into working out. I go, I do my thing, but sometimes I don't give it my all. Sometimes I do it half-hearted. Sometimes I even leave the gym early, before my minimum required hour is completed.
Last week I made an effort to try swimming. That didn't work out too well for me. I kind of hated it. So that's off my list.
Yesterday's workout was fabulous. I did an hour of cardio, a new weekend rule for me. An hour of cardio and 40 minutes of strength on the weekends. I have the time, and yesterday I had the desire. It was probably my best workout in weeks.
Preferably I'd like to be outside on my bike, but our weather here in the Northwest sucks lately. As soon as I see some sun, I'll be back on my bike. Right now it looks like it's going to downpour any second. It's been like this for weeks, and the forecast is more of the same. I'm so jealous reading every one's blogs about the great weather they're having. Even Fairbanks, Alaska is having weather in the high 70's with sun. What the heck?
Blogging
I'm not sure why or when this happened, but I've kind stopped posting on my blog on a consistent basis. I know it's key and what's helped me keep on track for the past three years. It's essential I post something every day.
Not being accountable is my downfall. I can hide a 5-pound gain from my husband, but I can't hide it from you. Weird how that works, but that's just me. I feel the strange need to be 100% honest here about my struggles, my failures, my successes. People who only know me through this blog, know more about my daily struggles with weight than anyone in my non-blog world.
My goal weight?
Not sure why I'm wordier than normal today. Maybe because I'm hyped up that I'm determined to get to goal. I'm not even sure what my goal is going to be. It was 135 pounds when I started, but as I get closer and this gets harder, I'll have to see where I land.
Technically at my height, 5' 6", Weight Watchers high end of the scale for a healthy weight is 155. That's tempting, but it's not where I want to be. My goal has always been a size 8, but truthfully, size 8's are a lot bigger these days than when I started trying to lose weight 30 years ago.
Truthfully, I love the idea of losing 100 pounds, which would be 139. I guess I'll have to see how it goes.
**********
Mickey, helping me enter my food into the online tracker. So cute. :)
**********
Mickey, helping me enter my food into the online tracker. So cute. :)
Weight loss program
We are looking for the next miracle diet pill. My friend spends time looking for laptop charger and I guess we all have our own interests. What really interests me is weight loss pills and best way to lose weight.
If we have a healthy body, fresh fruits are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals (especially C and A), carbohydrates in the form of cellulose, natural sugar and water. They are excellent substitutes for "food" like candy, cakes and chocolates that contain almost no nutrients. And they help us prevent a number of ailments.
We intend that the information we provide below also provides incentives to promote awareness, but we recommend being constantly advised by a medical professional.
The yellow fruits such as apricots and cantaloupe are a source of carotene which our body converts into Vitamin A. All citrus fruits, strawberries and tomatoes give us Vitamin C. The pineapple is anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-bacterial and because it contains manganese helps prevent osteoporosis and strengthen bones. They also help dissolve blood clots. Apples and bananas have lots of fiber, which is essential to "sweep" our intestines. Apples also lower cholesterol, help your cardiovascular system and promote our estrogen. If we eat our meals before we "draw" the appetite. Two or three a day are beneficial.
Bananas have a lot of magnesium and are useful when combating diarrhea, ulcer or dyspepsia. They also have antibiotic properties. Bananas protect us from the ulcer and its fiber is good for the heart. Both bananas and pears are fruits that higher sugar content we offer.
The apricots are useful in preventing pancreatic cancer. They have a lot of beta-carotene content. Figs are very useful when it comes to combat intestinal parasites. Are digestive, anti-ulcer and laxatives. Dates are also laxatives. And the plums are a fruit laxative for excellence and a natural aspirin. It also has a very high dose of fibrasoluble.
Oranges contain carotenoids, and Vitamin C. bioflavanoids All these anti-carcinogenic. Lower blood cholesterol and fight viruses. The orange can help fertility, and combat arteriosclorosis, gum problems, asthma, bronchitis and stomach cancer. Grapefruit is also much potential for unclogging arteries but you have swallowed whole. The juice loses these conditions. The lemon and lime are anti-oxidant par excellence. Lemon is an astringent and diuretic and useful against the cold and sunburn.
Traditional Chinese medicine uses the kiwi to treat stomach cancer and breast cancer. It has a lot of Vitamin C. The black grapes or inks also have an anti-oxidant substance called querecetina. Your skin combat clots and raises levels of "good" cholesterol. In test tubes grapes act as anti-viral agents and antibiotics. The black cherries are able to prevent tooth decay. All the 'berries (blueberries, cranberries, etc.) protect blood vessels and prolong life because they contain bioflavanoids.
As we have seen the fruits are really important in our diet. Fruits should be fresh. The more frozen and canned more lose their nutritional value. The ripe fruits are also more nutritious than green values. They should be washed to "cleanse" pollutants. There are many reasons to eat fruit.
Till next time..
If we have a healthy body, fresh fruits are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals (especially C and A), carbohydrates in the form of cellulose, natural sugar and water. They are excellent substitutes for "food" like candy, cakes and chocolates that contain almost no nutrients. And they help us prevent a number of ailments.
We intend that the information we provide below also provides incentives to promote awareness, but we recommend being constantly advised by a medical professional.
The yellow fruits such as apricots and cantaloupe are a source of carotene which our body converts into Vitamin A. All citrus fruits, strawberries and tomatoes give us Vitamin C. The pineapple is anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-bacterial and because it contains manganese helps prevent osteoporosis and strengthen bones. They also help dissolve blood clots. Apples and bananas have lots of fiber, which is essential to "sweep" our intestines. Apples also lower cholesterol, help your cardiovascular system and promote our estrogen. If we eat our meals before we "draw" the appetite. Two or three a day are beneficial.
Bananas have a lot of magnesium and are useful when combating diarrhea, ulcer or dyspepsia. They also have antibiotic properties. Bananas protect us from the ulcer and its fiber is good for the heart. Both bananas and pears are fruits that higher sugar content we offer.
The apricots are useful in preventing pancreatic cancer. They have a lot of beta-carotene content. Figs are very useful when it comes to combat intestinal parasites. Are digestive, anti-ulcer and laxatives. Dates are also laxatives. And the plums are a fruit laxative for excellence and a natural aspirin. It also has a very high dose of fibrasoluble.
Oranges contain carotenoids, and Vitamin C. bioflavanoids All these anti-carcinogenic. Lower blood cholesterol and fight viruses. The orange can help fertility, and combat arteriosclorosis, gum problems, asthma, bronchitis and stomach cancer. Grapefruit is also much potential for unclogging arteries but you have swallowed whole. The juice loses these conditions. The lemon and lime are anti-oxidant par excellence. Lemon is an astringent and diuretic and useful against the cold and sunburn.
Traditional Chinese medicine uses the kiwi to treat stomach cancer and breast cancer. It has a lot of Vitamin C. The black grapes or inks also have an anti-oxidant substance called querecetina. Your skin combat clots and raises levels of "good" cholesterol. In test tubes grapes act as anti-viral agents and antibiotics. The black cherries are able to prevent tooth decay. All the 'berries (blueberries, cranberries, etc.) protect blood vessels and prolong life because they contain bioflavanoids.
As we have seen the fruits are really important in our diet. Fruits should be fresh. The more frozen and canned more lose their nutritional value. The ripe fruits are also more nutritious than green values. They should be washed to "cleanse" pollutants. There are many reasons to eat fruit.
Till next time..
Need a boost
Hi everyone. There is still no sign of weightloss on the old carcass, but seeing as I am deflated of band and deflated of heart its no great surprise.
However, I have decided that I need a boost. Being this fat again is really not nice. I weigh, give or take, the same amount as when I had my surgery 3 years, 3 months and 16 days ago... but who's counting!
I have had my fill of bread, crumpets, donuts, pizza, chips and bulky meals including the delicious curries and Chinese feasts that I so love and have decided that they don't make me feel better either.
So its a bit like being in between the rock and the hard place.
If eating doesn't make me happy, and being banded doesn't make me happy what the heck will????
I think it just brutally comes down to me and my own willpower/image issues.
I don't have the willpower to eat small amounts of something yummy. I just don't. I have been going to the slimmingworld club religiously since being unfilled and have managed to put on every single week for 8 weeks - except 2 where I stayed the same. I have not once managed to complete an entire day on the plan.
Why? I really want to analyze this, but I cant seem to understand why I do it, or rather don't do it! Why don't i? I really want to know. Is my self image that shite that I actually am forcing myself to be fat? Or am I scared of something? Did I not really like the feeling of being 2 and a half stone lighter than this moment in time (as that's the lowest I have ever gotten)?
I think my personal image is pretty ok to be honest
I don't have a crap opinion of myself in general
I am not scared of being thin
I am not scared of being fat
I loved being 2 and a half stone lighter
what the bloody hell is wrong with me?
Maybe I need to change my view of myself as a dieter. Maybe I set myself up for a fall? I have tried everything and failed at everything and I consider myself un-skinnyable, so therefore I will be.
Maybe that's it. Maybe that's what I need to work on.
How the heck can I change that. Its not like have past success to drawn on *insert puzzled ironic face*
My body, my brain and food have a violent relationship. We abuse each other mentally and physically and verbally. Other people are also affected and sometimes join in the gang bang, and the cycle has to stop.
I quit smoking one day on the spur of the moment and haven't lit up for 6 years. I had no cravings, no desire since and no "ex smokers are the worst" syndrome of dissing people that continue. Until the ban, I could sit in a fug of cigarette smoke without feeling the slightest twinge of need at any time. I was psychologically addicted to them, and was symbolically able to sever that addiction with one of those huge Chinese meat cleavers in one foul swoop.
The severing of that psychological/emotional dependency was such a success that I struggle to even think that I am an ex smoker. Its as if I never smoked before in my life.
The key to that severing was biblical. I don't talk about my faith at all here. Its not something I wish to discuss, and not something I even thought had a relevance to my weightloss until this moment.
Trying to work out the key to my quitting smoking, has brought it into sharp focus. I quit smoking because I realized that my body is a temple that should not be polluted with filth.
Now you could equally apply this wisdom to yourself when you consider what your parents did for you (however good/rubbish they were at that). This doesn't necessarily have to be about God, but I just watched the film The Passion of the Christ and it moved me so much. I sat in my arm chair smoking a Superking menthol because the local shop had run out of my favorite brand - Lambert & Butler Menthol - and considered the film. I was in a state of shock. I was the same shock as I would be if someone told me all my family had just been wiped out in a car wreck. I was physically shocked. Crying, shaky and shivery and unable to think straight. I was ruined by this film because it made me realized I had to do something with my life and that the bible was not a story full of words you cant understand. I realized that someone (in my case God) had given me my life, my beautiful life, clean pure and unharmed coming into this world. Everything working just as it should do, as far as it can do in this polluted world far from perfection.
That life was mine for the molding. No one was asking anything, no one was needing anything, it was just a gift. No matter how what I had done with that life thus far, or how people had treated that life thus far, each day was a new gift. The age old saying 'Turn over a new Leaf' meant something to me now.
Then i realized that smoking cigarettes was slowly killing that beautiful fresh body that I had been given. The body slowly ages and dies of something anyway, and I was just accelerating this process. It was like I was shoving 2 fingers up at the person who had given me this life, and I was sorry that I had.
I stubbed that cigarette out and never had another. That part of my life was over.
Maybe I need to capture this little gem of truth again and re work it to consider the way I am clogging the arteries of my life's force, how I am fast tracking for diabetes, and how my career of food abuse needs to end once and for all time.
Now here's the catch.... I still have to eat every day. It always comes down to that.
So let me work on this a little.
Chew it over.
Mull it.
Random updates:
Shop is doing great and we are paying the bills and still having enough to eat, so all is ok so far on that score
Sue has left the building - think you already know that, but she is history. She has only contacted us regarding her cat - who is systematically ruining the home of the person she gave him too... she wants ideas and me thinks,,, hints at the possibility of him returning here. NO WAY JOSE!
Ally - the new lodger arrives in less than a week, and we are all looking forward to meeting him.
We are off out on a boat this afternoon with my Uncle and Aunt. We haven't seen them for 11 years, so lets hope its not going to end in one of us overboard!
However, I have decided that I need a boost. Being this fat again is really not nice. I weigh, give or take, the same amount as when I had my surgery 3 years, 3 months and 16 days ago... but who's counting!
I have had my fill of bread, crumpets, donuts, pizza, chips and bulky meals including the delicious curries and Chinese feasts that I so love and have decided that they don't make me feel better either.
So its a bit like being in between the rock and the hard place.
If eating doesn't make me happy, and being banded doesn't make me happy what the heck will????
I think it just brutally comes down to me and my own willpower/image issues.
I don't have the willpower to eat small amounts of something yummy. I just don't. I have been going to the slimmingworld club religiously since being unfilled and have managed to put on every single week for 8 weeks - except 2 where I stayed the same. I have not once managed to complete an entire day on the plan.
Why? I really want to analyze this, but I cant seem to understand why I do it, or rather don't do it! Why don't i? I really want to know. Is my self image that shite that I actually am forcing myself to be fat? Or am I scared of something? Did I not really like the feeling of being 2 and a half stone lighter than this moment in time (as that's the lowest I have ever gotten)?
I think my personal image is pretty ok to be honest
I don't have a crap opinion of myself in general
I am not scared of being thin
I am not scared of being fat
I loved being 2 and a half stone lighter
what the bloody hell is wrong with me?
Maybe I need to change my view of myself as a dieter. Maybe I set myself up for a fall? I have tried everything and failed at everything and I consider myself un-skinnyable, so therefore I will be.
Maybe that's it. Maybe that's what I need to work on.
How the heck can I change that. Its not like have past success to drawn on *insert puzzled ironic face*
My body, my brain and food have a violent relationship. We abuse each other mentally and physically and verbally. Other people are also affected and sometimes join in the gang bang, and the cycle has to stop.
I quit smoking one day on the spur of the moment and haven't lit up for 6 years. I had no cravings, no desire since and no "ex smokers are the worst" syndrome of dissing people that continue. Until the ban, I could sit in a fug of cigarette smoke without feeling the slightest twinge of need at any time. I was psychologically addicted to them, and was symbolically able to sever that addiction with one of those huge Chinese meat cleavers in one foul swoop.
The severing of that psychological/emotional dependency was such a success that I struggle to even think that I am an ex smoker. Its as if I never smoked before in my life.
The key to that severing was biblical. I don't talk about my faith at all here. Its not something I wish to discuss, and not something I even thought had a relevance to my weightloss until this moment.
Trying to work out the key to my quitting smoking, has brought it into sharp focus. I quit smoking because I realized that my body is a temple that should not be polluted with filth.
Now you could equally apply this wisdom to yourself when you consider what your parents did for you (however good/rubbish they were at that). This doesn't necessarily have to be about God, but I just watched the film The Passion of the Christ and it moved me so much. I sat in my arm chair smoking a Superking menthol because the local shop had run out of my favorite brand - Lambert & Butler Menthol - and considered the film. I was in a state of shock. I was the same shock as I would be if someone told me all my family had just been wiped out in a car wreck. I was physically shocked. Crying, shaky and shivery and unable to think straight. I was ruined by this film because it made me realized I had to do something with my life and that the bible was not a story full of words you cant understand. I realized that someone (in my case God) had given me my life, my beautiful life, clean pure and unharmed coming into this world. Everything working just as it should do, as far as it can do in this polluted world far from perfection.
That life was mine for the molding. No one was asking anything, no one was needing anything, it was just a gift. No matter how what I had done with that life thus far, or how people had treated that life thus far, each day was a new gift. The age old saying 'Turn over a new Leaf' meant something to me now.
Then i realized that smoking cigarettes was slowly killing that beautiful fresh body that I had been given. The body slowly ages and dies of something anyway, and I was just accelerating this process. It was like I was shoving 2 fingers up at the person who had given me this life, and I was sorry that I had.
I stubbed that cigarette out and never had another. That part of my life was over.
Maybe I need to capture this little gem of truth again and re work it to consider the way I am clogging the arteries of my life's force, how I am fast tracking for diabetes, and how my career of food abuse needs to end once and for all time.
Now here's the catch.... I still have to eat every day. It always comes down to that.
So let me work on this a little.
Chew it over.
Mull it.
Random updates:
Shop is doing great and we are paying the bills and still having enough to eat, so all is ok so far on that score
Sue has left the building - think you already know that, but she is history. She has only contacted us regarding her cat - who is systematically ruining the home of the person she gave him too... she wants ideas and me thinks,,, hints at the possibility of him returning here. NO WAY JOSE!
Ally - the new lodger arrives in less than a week, and we are all looking forward to meeting him.
We are off out on a boat this afternoon with my Uncle and Aunt. We haven't seen them for 11 years, so lets hope its not going to end in one of us overboard!
Sabtu, 29 Mei 2010
Does Red Wine Protect the Cardiovascular System?
The 'French paradox' rears its ugly head again. The reasoning goes something like this: French people eat more saturated animal fat than any other affluent nation, and have the second-lowest rate of coronary heart disease (only after Japan, which has a much higher stroke rate than France). French people drink red wine. Therefore, red wine must be protecting them against the artery-clogging yogurt, beef and butter.
The latest study to fall into this myth was published in the AJCN recently (1). Investigators showed that 1/3 bottle of red wine per day for 21 days increased blood flow in forearm vessels of healthy volunteers, which they interpreted as "enhanced vascular endothelial function"*. The novel finding in this paper is that red wine consumption increases the migration of certain cells into blood vessels that are thought to maintain and repair the vessels. There were no control groups for comparison, neither abstainers nor a group drinking a different type of alcohol.
The investigators then went on to speculate that the various antioxidant polyphenols in red wine, such as the trendy molecule resveratrol, could be involved. Even though you have to give animals 500 bottles' worth of resveratrol per day to see any effect. But there's another little problem with this hypothesis...
Ethanol-- plain old alcohol. You could drink a 40 oz bottle of malt liquor every night and it would probably do the exact same thing.
No matter what the source, alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease out to about 3-4 drinks per day, after which the risk goes back up (2, 3)**. The association is not trivial-- up to a 62% lower risk associated with alcohol use. Controlled trials have shown that alcohol, regardless of the source, increases HDL cholesterol and reduces the tendency to clot (4).
Should we all start downing three drinks a day? Not so fast. Although alcohol does probably decrease heart attack risk, the effect on total mortality is equivocal. That's because it increases the risk of cancers and accidents. Alcohol is a drug, and my opinion is that like all drugs, overall it will not benefit the health of a person with an otherwise good diet and lifestyle. That being said, it's enjoyable, so I have no problem with drinking it in moderation. Just don't think you're doing it for your health.
So does red wine decrease the risk of having a heart attack? Yes, just as effectively as malt liquor. It's not the antioxidants and resveratrol, it's the ethanol. The reason the French avoid heart attacks is not because of some fancy compound in their wine that protects them from a high saturated fat intake. It's because they have preserved their diet traditions to a greater degree than most industrialized nations.
I do think it's interesting to speculate about why alcohol (probably) reduces heart attack risk. As far as I know, the mechanism is unknown. Could it be because it relaxes us? I'm going to ponder that over a glass of whiskey...
* It may well represent an improvement of endothelial function, but that's an assumption on the part of the investigators. It belongs in the discussion section, if anywhere, and not in the results section.
** The first study is really interesting. For once, I see no evidence of "healthy user bias". Rates of healthy behaviors were virtually identical across quintiles of alcohol intake. This gives me a much higher degree of confidence in the results.
The latest study to fall into this myth was published in the AJCN recently (1). Investigators showed that 1/3 bottle of red wine per day for 21 days increased blood flow in forearm vessels of healthy volunteers, which they interpreted as "enhanced vascular endothelial function"*. The novel finding in this paper is that red wine consumption increases the migration of certain cells into blood vessels that are thought to maintain and repair the vessels. There were no control groups for comparison, neither abstainers nor a group drinking a different type of alcohol.
The investigators then went on to speculate that the various antioxidant polyphenols in red wine, such as the trendy molecule resveratrol, could be involved. Even though you have to give animals 500 bottles' worth of resveratrol per day to see any effect. But there's another little problem with this hypothesis...
Ethanol-- plain old alcohol. You could drink a 40 oz bottle of malt liquor every night and it would probably do the exact same thing.
No matter what the source, alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease out to about 3-4 drinks per day, after which the risk goes back up (2, 3)**. The association is not trivial-- up to a 62% lower risk associated with alcohol use. Controlled trials have shown that alcohol, regardless of the source, increases HDL cholesterol and reduces the tendency to clot (4).
Should we all start downing three drinks a day? Not so fast. Although alcohol does probably decrease heart attack risk, the effect on total mortality is equivocal. That's because it increases the risk of cancers and accidents. Alcohol is a drug, and my opinion is that like all drugs, overall it will not benefit the health of a person with an otherwise good diet and lifestyle. That being said, it's enjoyable, so I have no problem with drinking it in moderation. Just don't think you're doing it for your health.
So does red wine decrease the risk of having a heart attack? Yes, just as effectively as malt liquor. It's not the antioxidants and resveratrol, it's the ethanol. The reason the French avoid heart attacks is not because of some fancy compound in their wine that protects them from a high saturated fat intake. It's because they have preserved their diet traditions to a greater degree than most industrialized nations.
I do think it's interesting to speculate about why alcohol (probably) reduces heart attack risk. As far as I know, the mechanism is unknown. Could it be because it relaxes us? I'm going to ponder that over a glass of whiskey...
* It may well represent an improvement of endothelial function, but that's an assumption on the part of the investigators. It belongs in the discussion section, if anywhere, and not in the results section.
** The first study is really interesting. For once, I see no evidence of "healthy user bias". Rates of healthy behaviors were virtually identical across quintiles of alcohol intake. This gives me a much higher degree of confidence in the results.
Does Red Wine Protect the Cardiovascular System?
The 'French paradox' rears its ugly head again. The reasoning goes something like this: French people eat more saturated animal fat than any other affluent nation, and have the second-lowest rate of coronary heart disease (only after Japan, which has a much higher stroke rate than France). French people drink red wine. Therefore, red wine must be protecting them against the artery-clogging yogurt, beef and butter.
The latest study to fall into this myth was published in the AJCN recently (1). Investigators showed that 1/3 bottle of red wine per day for 21 days increased blood flow in forearm vessels of healthy volunteers, which they interpreted as "enhanced vascular endothelial function"*. The novel finding in this paper is that red wine consumption increases the migration of certain cells into blood vessels that are thought to maintain and repair the vessels. There were no control groups for comparison, neither abstainers nor a group drinking a different type of alcohol.
The investigators then went on to speculate that the various antioxidant polyphenols in red wine, such as the trendy molecule resveratrol, could be involved. Even though you have to give animals 500 bottles' worth of resveratrol per day to see any effect. But there's another little problem with this hypothesis...
Ethanol-- plain old alcohol. You could drink a 40 oz bottle of malt liquor every night and it would probably do the exact same thing.
No matter what the source, alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease out to about 3-4 drinks per day, after which the risk goes back up (2, 3)**. The association is not trivial-- up to a 62% lower risk associated with alcohol use. Controlled trials have shown that alcohol, regardless of the source, increases HDL cholesterol and reduces the tendency to clot (4).
Should we all start downing three drinks a day? Not so fast. Although alcohol does probably decrease heart attack risk, the effect on total mortality is equivocal. That's because it increases the risk of cancers and accidents. Alcohol is a drug, and my opinion is that like all drugs, overall it will not benefit the health of a person with an otherwise good diet and lifestyle. That being said, it's enjoyable, so I have no problem with drinking it in moderation. Just don't think you're doing it for your health.
So does red wine decrease the risk of having a heart attack? Yes, just as effectively as malt liquor. It's not the antioxidants and resveratrol, it's the ethanol. The reason the French avoid heart attacks is not because of some fancy compound in their wine that protects them from a high saturated fat intake. It's because they have preserved their diet traditions to a greater degree than most industrialized nations.
I do think it's interesting to speculate about why alcohol (probably) reduces heart attack risk. As far as I know, the mechanism is unknown. Could it be because it relaxes us? I'm going to ponder that over a glass of whiskey...
* It may well represent an improvement of endothelial function, but that's an assumption on the part of the investigators. It belongs in the discussion section, if anywhere, and not in the results section.
** The first study is really interesting. For once, I see no evidence of "healthy user bias". Rates of healthy behaviors were virtually identical across quintiles of alcohol intake. This gives me a much higher degree of confidence in the results.
The latest study to fall into this myth was published in the AJCN recently (1). Investigators showed that 1/3 bottle of red wine per day for 21 days increased blood flow in forearm vessels of healthy volunteers, which they interpreted as "enhanced vascular endothelial function"*. The novel finding in this paper is that red wine consumption increases the migration of certain cells into blood vessels that are thought to maintain and repair the vessels. There were no control groups for comparison, neither abstainers nor a group drinking a different type of alcohol.
The investigators then went on to speculate that the various antioxidant polyphenols in red wine, such as the trendy molecule resveratrol, could be involved. Even though you have to give animals 500 bottles' worth of resveratrol per day to see any effect. But there's another little problem with this hypothesis...
Ethanol-- plain old alcohol. You could drink a 40 oz bottle of malt liquor every night and it would probably do the exact same thing.
No matter what the source, alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease out to about 3-4 drinks per day, after which the risk goes back up (2, 3)**. The association is not trivial-- up to a 62% lower risk associated with alcohol use. Controlled trials have shown that alcohol, regardless of the source, increases HDL cholesterol and reduces the tendency to clot (4).
Should we all start downing three drinks a day? Not so fast. Although alcohol does probably decrease heart attack risk, the effect on total mortality is equivocal. That's because it increases the risk of cancers and accidents. Alcohol is a drug, and my opinion is that like all drugs, overall it will not benefit the health of a person with an otherwise good diet and lifestyle. That being said, it's enjoyable, so I have no problem with drinking it in moderation. Just don't think you're doing it for your health.
So does red wine decrease the risk of having a heart attack? Yes, just as effectively as malt liquor. It's not the antioxidants and resveratrol, it's the ethanol. The reason the French avoid heart attacks is not because of some fancy compound in their wine that protects them from a high saturated fat intake. It's because they have preserved their diet traditions to a greater degree than most industrialized nations.
I do think it's interesting to speculate about why alcohol (probably) reduces heart attack risk. As far as I know, the mechanism is unknown. Could it be because it relaxes us? I'm going to ponder that over a glass of whiskey...
* It may well represent an improvement of endothelial function, but that's an assumption on the part of the investigators. It belongs in the discussion section, if anywhere, and not in the results section.
** The first study is really interesting. For once, I see no evidence of "healthy user bias". Rates of healthy behaviors were virtually identical across quintiles of alcohol intake. This gives me a much higher degree of confidence in the results.
Jumat, 28 Mei 2010
Day 47/365 Pretzel Jello
At times when we are focusing on our weight loss, it's easy to deprive ourselves. I know that for several years I thought if I ate something desserty, I messed up and then I would go crazy eating it with the comforting thought, "I'll do better tomorrow."
Now what works for me is that I allow myself to eat whatever I want. NO RESTRICTIONS!! A serving of dessert is not going to put on the weight, but several servings will. Sometimes, when I feel I may loose control, I take a moment and think what it feels like after gorging on something good. Really focus on the feeling, and you will remember that it never feels good after wards. Ever.
Sometimes that visual is enough to keep me from going over board. Often times, knowing that feeling is coming if I overindulge, I find myself content with a bite. Nothing ever tastes as good as that first bite.
Here is a recipe of one of my most favorite desserts. I don't try to cut corners and cheat weight gain by substituting all the fake, low-fat, artificial sweetened type foods, I use the real stuff. There is a lot less chemicals if you do this. As it is, there is plenty of fake color/flavor/chemicals in the jello and Cool Whip so don't add any more gunk by getting "sugar-free" or "fat free". If I could find a better substitution for these two items, I would do it. But for now, I enjoy a serving or less, one or two times a year.
Pretzel Jello
2 2/3 c. chopped pretzels
1 1/2 cube melted butter
1/2 c. milk
1 1/4 c. sugar
1lg & 2sm. packages cream cheese
2-10oz frozen strawberries, sweetened
9 oz. Cool Whip
1 lg. package Strawberry jello
2 c. pineapple juice
Mix pretzels with butter and press in 9x13 baking dish. Bake @ 400' for 10 minutes.
Mix cream cheese, milk and sugar until smooth. Spread on warm pretzels.
Spread Cool Whip over cream cheese layer and chill.
Dissolve Jello in hot pineapple juice, add frozen strawberries and allow to partially jell.
Pour carefully over the Cool Whip layer and allow to set in the refrigerator.
Works best if you do this the night before or early in the morning to allow it to fully set.
What I did today:
Elliptical Trainer 15 minutes @ level 15
Now what works for me is that I allow myself to eat whatever I want. NO RESTRICTIONS!! A serving of dessert is not going to put on the weight, but several servings will. Sometimes, when I feel I may loose control, I take a moment and think what it feels like after gorging on something good. Really focus on the feeling, and you will remember that it never feels good after wards. Ever.
Sometimes that visual is enough to keep me from going over board. Often times, knowing that feeling is coming if I overindulge, I find myself content with a bite. Nothing ever tastes as good as that first bite.
Here is a recipe of one of my most favorite desserts. I don't try to cut corners and cheat weight gain by substituting all the fake, low-fat, artificial sweetened type foods, I use the real stuff. There is a lot less chemicals if you do this. As it is, there is plenty of fake color/flavor/chemicals in the jello and Cool Whip so don't add any more gunk by getting "sugar-free" or "fat free". If I could find a better substitution for these two items, I would do it. But for now, I enjoy a serving or less, one or two times a year.
Pretzel Jello
2 2/3 c. chopped pretzels
1 1/2 cube melted butter
1/2 c. milk
1 1/4 c. sugar
1lg & 2sm. packages cream cheese
2-10oz frozen strawberries, sweetened
9 oz. Cool Whip
1 lg. package Strawberry jello
2 c. pineapple juice
Mix pretzels with butter and press in 9x13 baking dish. Bake @ 400' for 10 minutes.
Mix cream cheese, milk and sugar until smooth. Spread on warm pretzels.
Spread Cool Whip over cream cheese layer and chill.
Dissolve Jello in hot pineapple juice, add frozen strawberries and allow to partially jell.
Pour carefully over the Cool Whip layer and allow to set in the refrigerator.
Works best if you do this the night before or early in the morning to allow it to fully set.
What I did today:
Elliptical Trainer 15 minutes @ level 15
Flavor Your High Protein Diet With Condiments
By Kaye Bailey
Are you one of those people asking "what can I do to add variety to my same 'ole same 'ole chicken and fish?" If so you are not alone! Patients of weight loss surgery following a high protein diet quickly become bored with routine protein dishes but fear taking too many culinary liberties will take them off track from weight loss and weight maintenance. As a general rule people
Are you one of those people asking "what can I do to add variety to my same 'ole same 'ole chicken and fish?" If so you are not alone! Patients of weight loss surgery following a high protein diet quickly become bored with routine protein dishes but fear taking too many culinary liberties will take them off track from weight loss and weight maintenance. As a general rule people
Kamis, 27 Mei 2010
Day 46/365 Chili Recipe
I love to cook! I especially like yummy recipes that are made with real, whole foods that don't take a lot of time.The following is a easy recipe for chili. It's low fat, quick and tasty for the whole family.
We like to serve it topped with fresh green onions, grated cheese, sour cream (full fat doesn't have the junk in it like the low/no fat version) and a few Fritos for crunch.
Have you ever looked at the ingredients on a bag of Fritos? Nothing but corn, oil, salt and NO preservatives!
Easy Chili
Brown together & season with salt, pepper & garlic salt
1 lb ground beef (I like the 7%fat kind. It's more expensive, but you aren't paying for (or eating) a lot of fat.
1 lg. onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic
2-3 jalapeno, chopped
2 Tbs. dried basil
Add:
2 cans kidney beans (drained)
1 15oz can tomato puree
1 14oz can "petite cut" diced tomatoes (zesty)
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 oz. Chili Powder (abt.1/3 bottle of a 2.5oz container)
2 Tbs. sugar
Cook on stove top covered for 1-2 hours on low.
What I did today:
Elliptical: 15 min @ level 15
A New Kind of Dog
As a child I never much cared for hot dogs. Perhaps they were too salty or to messy or a burger tasted so much better. I'm still not a fan of processed hot dogs, although I do cook them regularly to use as training bait for my now not-so-little puppy. He loves them. But recently I've been thinking - What if I could improve upon the classic dog and make my own version? So I've been experimenting
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Rabu, 26 Mei 2010
Day 45/365
What I did today:
Elliptical: 15 min @ level 15
Hundred Push-up Challenge: Week 6 Day 2 (86 push-ups)
Elliptical: 15 min @ level 15
Hundred Push-up Challenge: Week 6 Day 2 (86 push-ups)
Maybe swimming isn't for me
I tried something different this morning. I did my normal cardio workout (intervals), today it was the elliptical for thirty five minutes, then a few lower body weights for about twenty minutes, then swimming again, for only twenty minutes.
The reason for only twenty minutes of swimming: I almost drowned in five foot of water. I'm serious.
While I was in the middle of my fifth lap of doing the backstroke, I somehow flung a bunch of water up my nose as I was inhaling. I panicked, started coughing, choking, and gasping for air. I tried to stand up but couldn't touch the bottom of the pool. My mind couldn't register this because I was sure the pool was four foot, even in the deepest area. I'm 5' 6", I should have been able to stand up and touch bottom.
There were only two other people in the pool with me, swimming the lanes on each side of me. As I coughed and choked, they kept swimming. I grabbed onto the plastic rope that separates the lanes and gathered my composure. I was mainly embarrassed, and a little bit afraid. Then I saw the sign on the edge of the pool next to me. It said "5 Ft.". Okay. I can touch the bottom. I stood up, on my toes, with my head tilted back and quietly walked a few feet until I was in the four foot area. I swam a few more laps but I'd lost my momentum.
After the pool I went into the dry sauna for six minutes (thermometer said it was 205F degrees...I think it must have been broken). Then I went into the steam room for six minutes.
All day I was absolutely physically exhausted. It wasn't a hard workout so I'm not sure why I was (and still am) so wiped out.
Someone recently told something that's making me rethink this whole swimming thing. They said recent research has shown older people are happier people. The reason is because older people have figured out what they like to do and what they don't like. Now that they're older they focus on just the stuff they like, and forget the stuff they don't like.
I've never liked swimming. I don't like water in my face in up my nose, or the taste of chlorine. I don't like wearing a swimsuit. I don't like the fear I get that I could drown in five feet of water. I don't like that I can't wear my heart rate monitor or my iPod. I don't like the silence. I don't like other people in the water with me. I don't like that it's so hard for me and that it hurts. I don't like it that I don't like. Everyone loves swimming, right?
What do you think? Should I just forget about the swimming? Maybe I should try an aerobics class or something else? My gym has spinning classes, but only at noon, so that's not an option. In my twenties aerobics was all the rage, high impact aerobics. Remember "no pain, no gain"? I must have heard that a hundred times in all those stupid step aerobic classes I took in the 80's.
I really need to do something different. The gym with it's daily grind is losing it's charm. I go, but I don't go enthusiastically. At least not lately. Maybe when and if it ever stops raining around here in this hell hole called the Pacific Northwest, I can get back to riding my bike. I just need something new, but maybe not swimming.
The reason for only twenty minutes of swimming: I almost drowned in five foot of water. I'm serious.
While I was in the middle of my fifth lap of doing the backstroke, I somehow flung a bunch of water up my nose as I was inhaling. I panicked, started coughing, choking, and gasping for air. I tried to stand up but couldn't touch the bottom of the pool. My mind couldn't register this because I was sure the pool was four foot, even in the deepest area. I'm 5' 6", I should have been able to stand up and touch bottom.
There were only two other people in the pool with me, swimming the lanes on each side of me. As I coughed and choked, they kept swimming. I grabbed onto the plastic rope that separates the lanes and gathered my composure. I was mainly embarrassed, and a little bit afraid. Then I saw the sign on the edge of the pool next to me. It said "5 Ft.". Okay. I can touch the bottom. I stood up, on my toes, with my head tilted back and quietly walked a few feet until I was in the four foot area. I swam a few more laps but I'd lost my momentum.
After the pool I went into the dry sauna for six minutes (thermometer said it was 205F degrees...I think it must have been broken). Then I went into the steam room for six minutes.
All day I was absolutely physically exhausted. It wasn't a hard workout so I'm not sure why I was (and still am) so wiped out.
Someone recently told something that's making me rethink this whole swimming thing. They said recent research has shown older people are happier people. The reason is because older people have figured out what they like to do and what they don't like. Now that they're older they focus on just the stuff they like, and forget the stuff they don't like.
I've never liked swimming. I don't like water in my face in up my nose, or the taste of chlorine. I don't like wearing a swimsuit. I don't like the fear I get that I could drown in five feet of water. I don't like that I can't wear my heart rate monitor or my iPod. I don't like the silence. I don't like other people in the water with me. I don't like that it's so hard for me and that it hurts. I don't like it that I don't like. Everyone loves swimming, right?
What do you think? Should I just forget about the swimming? Maybe I should try an aerobics class or something else? My gym has spinning classes, but only at noon, so that's not an option. In my twenties aerobics was all the rage, high impact aerobics. Remember "no pain, no gain"? I must have heard that a hundred times in all those stupid step aerobic classes I took in the 80's.
I really need to do something different. The gym with it's daily grind is losing it's charm. I go, but I don't go enthusiastically. At least not lately. Maybe when and if it ever stops raining around here in this hell hole called the Pacific Northwest, I can get back to riding my bike. I just need something new, but maybe not swimming.
Selasa, 25 Mei 2010
Sweet Potatoes
We can measure the nutrient and toxin content of a food, and debate the health effects of each of its constituents until we're out of breath. But in the end, we still won't have a very accurate prediction of the health effects of that food. The question we need to answer is this one: has this food sustained healthy traditional cultures?
I'm currently reading a great book edited by Drs. Hugh Trowell and Denis Burkitt, titled Western Diseases: Their Emergence and Prevention. It's a compilation of chapters describing the diet and health of traditional populations around the world as they modernize.
The book contains a chapter on Papua New Guinea highlanders. Here's a description of their diet:
How was their health? Like many non-industrial societies, they had a high infant/child mortality rate, such that 43 percent of children died before growing old enough to marry. Surprisingly, protein deficiency was rare. No obvious malnutrition was observed in this population, although iodine-deficiency cretinism occurs in some highlands populations:
There was no evidence of coronary heart disease or diabetes. Average blood pressure was on the high side, but did not increase with age. Investigators administered 100 gram glucose tolerance tests and only 3.8 percent of the population had glucose readings above 160 mg/dL, compared to 21 percent of Americans. A study of 7,512 Papuans from several regions with minimal European contact indicated a diabetes prevalence of 0.1 percent, a strikingly low rate. For comparison, in 2007, 10.7 percent of American adults had diabetes (1).
I'm not claiming it's optimal to eat nothing but sweet potatoes. But this is the strongest evidence we're going to come by that sweet potatoes can be eaten in quantity as part of a healthy diet. However, I wish I knew more about the varieties this group ate. Sweet potatoes aren't necessarily sweet. Caribbean 'boniato' sweet potatoes are dry, starchy and off-white. In the US, I prefer the yellow sweet potatoes to the orange variety of sweet potato labeled 'yams', because the former are starchier and less sweet. If I could get my hands on locally grown boniatos here, I'd eat those, but boniatos are decidedly tropical.
Instead, I eat potatoes, but I'm reluctant to recommend them whole-heartedly because I don't know enough about the traditional cultures that consumed them. I believe there are some low-CHD, low-obesity African populations that eat potatoes as part of a starch-based diet, but I haven't looked into it closely enough to make any broad statements. Potatoes have some nutritional advantages over sweet potatoes (higher protein content, better amino acid profile), but also some disadvantages (lower fiber, lower in most micronutrients, toxic glycoalkaloids).
I'm currently reading a great book edited by Drs. Hugh Trowell and Denis Burkitt, titled Western Diseases: Their Emergence and Prevention. It's a compilation of chapters describing the diet and health of traditional populations around the world as they modernize.
The book contains a chapter on Papua New Guinea highlanders. Here's a description of their diet:
A diet survey was undertaken involving 90 subjects, in which all food consumed by each individual was weighed over a period of seven consecutive days. Sweet potato supplied over 90 percent of their total food intake, while non-tuberous vegetables accounted for less than 5 percent of the food consumed and the intake of meat was negligible... Extensive herds of pigs are maintained and, during exchange ceremonies, large amounts of pork are consumed.They ate no salt. Their calories were almost entirely supplied by sweet potatoes, with occasional feasts on pork.
How was their health? Like many non-industrial societies, they had a high infant/child mortality rate, such that 43 percent of children died before growing old enough to marry. Surprisingly, protein deficiency was rare. No obvious malnutrition was observed in this population, although iodine-deficiency cretinism occurs in some highlands populations:
Young adults were well built and physically fit and had normal levels of haemoglobin and serum albumin. Further, adult females showed no evidence of malnutrition in spite of the demands by repeated cycles of pregnancy and lactation. On the basis of American standards (Society of Actuaries, 1959), both sexes were close to 100 percent standard weight in their twenties.
The Harvard Pack Test carried out on 152 consecutive subjects demonstrated a high level of physical fitness which was maintained well into middle-age. Use of a bicycle ergometer gave an estimated maximum oxygen uptake of 45.2 ml per kilogram per minute and thus confirmed the high level of cardiopulmonary fitness in this group.Body weight decreased with age, which is typical of many non-industrial cultures and reflects declining muscle mass but continued leanness.
There was no evidence of coronary heart disease or diabetes. Average blood pressure was on the high side, but did not increase with age. Investigators administered 100 gram glucose tolerance tests and only 3.8 percent of the population had glucose readings above 160 mg/dL, compared to 21 percent of Americans. A study of 7,512 Papuans from several regions with minimal European contact indicated a diabetes prevalence of 0.1 percent, a strikingly low rate. For comparison, in 2007, 10.7 percent of American adults had diabetes (1).
I'm not claiming it's optimal to eat nothing but sweet potatoes. But this is the strongest evidence we're going to come by that sweet potatoes can be eaten in quantity as part of a healthy diet. However, I wish I knew more about the varieties this group ate. Sweet potatoes aren't necessarily sweet. Caribbean 'boniato' sweet potatoes are dry, starchy and off-white. In the US, I prefer the yellow sweet potatoes to the orange variety of sweet potato labeled 'yams', because the former are starchier and less sweet. If I could get my hands on locally grown boniatos here, I'd eat those, but boniatos are decidedly tropical.
Instead, I eat potatoes, but I'm reluctant to recommend them whole-heartedly because I don't know enough about the traditional cultures that consumed them. I believe there are some low-CHD, low-obesity African populations that eat potatoes as part of a starch-based diet, but I haven't looked into it closely enough to make any broad statements. Potatoes have some nutritional advantages over sweet potatoes (higher protein content, better amino acid profile), but also some disadvantages (lower fiber, lower in most micronutrients, toxic glycoalkaloids).
Sweet Potatoes
We can measure the nutrient and toxin content of a food, and debate the health effects of each of its constituents until we're out of breath. But in the end, we still won't have a very accurate prediction of the health effects of that food. The question we need to answer is this one: has this food sustained healthy traditional cultures?
I'm currently reading a great book edited by Drs. Hugh Trowell and Denis Burkitt, titled Western Diseases: Their Emergence and Prevention. It's a compilation of chapters describing the diet and health of traditional populations around the world as they modernize.
The book contains a chapter on Papua New Guinea highlanders. Here's a description of their diet:
How was their health? Like many non-industrial societies, they had a high infant/child mortality rate, such that 43 percent of children died before growing old enough to marry. Surprisingly, protein deficiency was rare. No obvious malnutrition was observed in this population, although iodine-deficiency cretinism occurs in some highlands populations:
There was no evidence of coronary heart disease or diabetes. Average blood pressure was on the high side, but did not increase with age. Investigators administered 100 gram glucose tolerance tests and only 3.8 percent of the population had glucose readings above 160 mg/dL, compared to 21 percent of Americans. A study of 7,512 Papuans from several regions with minimal European contact indicated a diabetes prevalence of 0.1 percent, a strikingly low rate. For comparison, in 2007, 10.7 percent of American adults had diabetes (1).
I'm not claiming it's optimal to eat nothing but sweet potatoes. But this is the strongest evidence we're going to come by that sweet potatoes can be eaten in quantity as part of a healthy diet. However, I wish I knew more about the varieties this group ate. Sweet potatoes aren't necessarily sweet. Caribbean 'boniato' sweet potatoes are dry, starchy and off-white. In the US, I prefer the yellow sweet potatoes to the orange variety of sweet potato labeled 'yams', because the former are starchier and less sweet. If I could get my hands on locally grown boniatos here, I'd eat those, but boniatos are decidedly tropical.
Instead, I eat potatoes, but I'm reluctant to recommend them whole-heartedly because I don't know enough about the traditional cultures that consumed them. I believe there are some low-CHD, low-obesity African populations that eat potatoes as part of a starch-based diet, but I haven't looked into it closely enough to make any broad statements. Potatoes have some nutritional advantages over sweet potatoes (higher protein content, better amino acid profile), but also some disadvantages (lower fiber, lower in most micronutrients, toxic glycoalkaloids).
I'm currently reading a great book edited by Drs. Hugh Trowell and Denis Burkitt, titled Western Diseases: Their Emergence and Prevention. It's a compilation of chapters describing the diet and health of traditional populations around the world as they modernize.
The book contains a chapter on Papua New Guinea highlanders. Here's a description of their diet:
A diet survey was undertaken involving 90 subjects, in which all food consumed by each individual was weighed over a period of seven consecutive days. Sweet potato supplied over 90 percent of their total food intake, while non-tuberous vegetables accounted for less than 5 percent of the food consumed and the intake of meat was negligible... Extensive herds of pigs are maintained and, during exchange ceremonies, large amounts of pork are consumed.They ate no salt. Their calories were almost entirely supplied by sweet potatoes, with occasional feasts on pork.
How was their health? Like many non-industrial societies, they had a high infant/child mortality rate, such that 43 percent of children died before growing old enough to marry. Surprisingly, protein deficiency was rare. No obvious malnutrition was observed in this population, although iodine-deficiency cretinism occurs in some highlands populations:
Young adults were well built and physically fit and had normal levels of haemoglobin and serum albumin. Further, adult females showed no evidence of malnutrition in spite of the demands by repeated cycles of pregnancy and lactation. On the basis of American standards (Society of Actuaries, 1959), both sexes were close to 100 percent standard weight in their twenties.
The Harvard Pack Test carried out on 152 consecutive subjects demonstrated a high level of physical fitness which was maintained well into middle-age. Use of a bicycle ergometer gave an estimated maximum oxygen uptake of 45.2 ml per kilogram per minute and thus confirmed the high level of cardiopulmonary fitness in this group.Body weight decreased with age, which is typical of many non-industrial cultures and reflects declining muscle mass but continued leanness.
There was no evidence of coronary heart disease or diabetes. Average blood pressure was on the high side, but did not increase with age. Investigators administered 100 gram glucose tolerance tests and only 3.8 percent of the population had glucose readings above 160 mg/dL, compared to 21 percent of Americans. A study of 7,512 Papuans from several regions with minimal European contact indicated a diabetes prevalence of 0.1 percent, a strikingly low rate. For comparison, in 2007, 10.7 percent of American adults had diabetes (1).
I'm not claiming it's optimal to eat nothing but sweet potatoes. But this is the strongest evidence we're going to come by that sweet potatoes can be eaten in quantity as part of a healthy diet. However, I wish I knew more about the varieties this group ate. Sweet potatoes aren't necessarily sweet. Caribbean 'boniato' sweet potatoes are dry, starchy and off-white. In the US, I prefer the yellow sweet potatoes to the orange variety of sweet potato labeled 'yams', because the former are starchier and less sweet. If I could get my hands on locally grown boniatos here, I'd eat those, but boniatos are decidedly tropical.
Instead, I eat potatoes, but I'm reluctant to recommend them whole-heartedly because I don't know enough about the traditional cultures that consumed them. I believe there are some low-CHD, low-obesity African populations that eat potatoes as part of a starch-based diet, but I haven't looked into it closely enough to make any broad statements. Potatoes have some nutritional advantages over sweet potatoes (higher protein content, better amino acid profile), but also some disadvantages (lower fiber, lower in most micronutrients, toxic glycoalkaloids).
Stiff From Sitting? Try These Standing Leg Stretches
For people fighting obesity or morbid obesity the sedentary nature of our jobs works against us as we spend the majority of our working day seated allowing our basal metabolic rate to slow down. Not only that but our joints become stiff and muscles weaken from lack of use. It is hard to determine which came first: the obesity or the sedentary work environment. Experts in applied physiology report
Just Do It - Another Very Inspiring Story
Aren't these amazing before and after pics? Lindsay has lost 117 pounds. She peaked out at 289 pounds after giving birth to her third child. It took her 2 years to lose the weight. She plateaued for a few years after that but is now determined to lose another 15 pounds. Check out her very inspiring story here.
Senin, 24 Mei 2010
Like a fish out of water
That's how my swimming went today. You know, when a poor fish is on dry land, flopping and flipping around, gasping for air. Well, that was me, but I was in the water.
Talk about being out of my comfort zone. Now I totally remember why I quit swimming at the gym a couple years ago, it was because I'm not good at it. I tend to avoid things I'm not good at doing. I swallowed a lot of pool water the first twenty minutes as I attempted to keep my face in the water, then turn to side for air. Turns out I can't hold my breath for more than ten seconds without the fear of drowning overcoming me.
Then Mr. Olympian swimmer had to join me in the pool. I mean, it was 5:15 a.m. for heaven's sake, why wasn't he home sleeping? He was a really good swimmer and got in the lane right next to me, and he was a show off. For every lap I did, he did two. It was slightly embarrassing.
After about six laps of the pool, I finally gave in and did the backstroke. I'm pretty good at it and had read some tips in the Women's Health Magazine on form for the backstroke. I really got into it, tightening my abs, reaching straight up at a 45 degree angle and back as far as I could, twisting my core slightly with each stroke. It felt like a good workout, but I had to rest after every four laps because I could barely breathe. It was like I was completely out of shape.
I managed a total of 25 laps and I think the pool is 25 meters long. That's not great, but my goal was only twenty. I was in the pool 50 minutes, so although that's not a very long workout, it felt like hours with all that of huffing and puffing and inhaling water. Seriously, it was like my first time on the StairMaster or on the elliptical, except I had the added bonus of drowning.
I think Roxie is right and I need a lesson or two on how to swim. At this point I can't say I loved it because it was really difficult. Especially with all that water in my nose and mouth. Also my right ear was plugged with water most of the day.
I'm not sure this is the right exercise for me, but I'll probably do it a couple times a week, but in conjunction with some strength training. My back and shoulders are sore in places they're usually not sore so I know I worked a few new muscles that I don't normally use.
Today was a major hungry day for me, and I went way over my Points. All healthy food, a ton of fresh vegetables and fruits, fresh halibut and a handful of those delicious, calorie/fat laden hazelnuts my husband bought last week. I asked him to get a few at the bulk foods. By a few I meant maybe 1/4 cup. I want to make a really delicious salad we had in Denver at the Spicy Pickle. It's called the Forest and had hazelnuts, along with sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, onions and Portabella mushrooms, and chunks of roasted chicken on a bed of fresh spinach. Sprinkled with...roasted hazlenuts and served with a Balsamic vinaigrette. Really yummy.
He came home with three freaking pounds of hazelnuts. Why?
Talk about being out of my comfort zone. Now I totally remember why I quit swimming at the gym a couple years ago, it was because I'm not good at it. I tend to avoid things I'm not good at doing. I swallowed a lot of pool water the first twenty minutes as I attempted to keep my face in the water, then turn to side for air. Turns out I can't hold my breath for more than ten seconds without the fear of drowning overcoming me.
Then Mr. Olympian swimmer had to join me in the pool. I mean, it was 5:15 a.m. for heaven's sake, why wasn't he home sleeping? He was a really good swimmer and got in the lane right next to me, and he was a show off. For every lap I did, he did two. It was slightly embarrassing.
After about six laps of the pool, I finally gave in and did the backstroke. I'm pretty good at it and had read some tips in the Women's Health Magazine on form for the backstroke. I really got into it, tightening my abs, reaching straight up at a 45 degree angle and back as far as I could, twisting my core slightly with each stroke. It felt like a good workout, but I had to rest after every four laps because I could barely breathe. It was like I was completely out of shape.
I managed a total of 25 laps and I think the pool is 25 meters long. That's not great, but my goal was only twenty. I was in the pool 50 minutes, so although that's not a very long workout, it felt like hours with all that of huffing and puffing and inhaling water. Seriously, it was like my first time on the StairMaster or on the elliptical, except I had the added bonus of drowning.
I think Roxie is right and I need a lesson or two on how to swim. At this point I can't say I loved it because it was really difficult. Especially with all that water in my nose and mouth. Also my right ear was plugged with water most of the day.
I'm not sure this is the right exercise for me, but I'll probably do it a couple times a week, but in conjunction with some strength training. My back and shoulders are sore in places they're usually not sore so I know I worked a few new muscles that I don't normally use.
Today was a major hungry day for me, and I went way over my Points. All healthy food, a ton of fresh vegetables and fruits, fresh halibut and a handful of those delicious, calorie/fat laden hazelnuts my husband bought last week. I asked him to get a few at the bulk foods. By a few I meant maybe 1/4 cup. I want to make a really delicious salad we had in Denver at the Spicy Pickle. It's called the Forest and had hazelnuts, along with sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, onions and Portabella mushrooms, and chunks of roasted chicken on a bed of fresh spinach. Sprinkled with...roasted hazlenuts and served with a Balsamic vinaigrette. Really yummy.
He came home with three freaking pounds of hazelnuts. Why?
Day 43/365 Challenges & Focus
Life is constantly changing. We all know this, and we rarely prepare for it. We get in our routines, our ruts, in our normal settings and when something comes up that changes the norm, we are actually surprised by it. I know I am.
When I made this goal 43 days ago, I was gung-ho!! I had all sorts of ideas and the days didn't fly fast enough for me to really see the habit forming, to actually document the journey.
Now, I am so preoccupied by my current project I find my self suddenly remembering that I haven't done my workout yet. Luckily, I haven't been so bad that I have missed one, but I can safely say, it's been close.
I am excited that I am back to the weight I have been maintaining since last summer. Not gaining is good maintenance and I am always happy with maintenance.
I have found that when I really get wrapped up in a project, something to capture my focus, I find that I don't snack as much. Usually, because I don't want to stop to eat.
Note to self: I eat when I am not focused on something.
So in my journey to health, if I can keep myself focused, it's not much of a challenge to maintain. To loose on the other hand, I know that takes a little more focus. When I am done with my project, I will focus on loosing that last bit better.
Who knows though, maybe I'll forget to snack all together and I'll loose that last bit while being busy? One can hope.
What I did today:
Elliptical: 15 min @ level 15
Hundred Push-up Challenge: Week 6 Day 1 (85 push-ups)
When I made this goal 43 days ago, I was gung-ho!! I had all sorts of ideas and the days didn't fly fast enough for me to really see the habit forming, to actually document the journey.
Now, I am so preoccupied by my current project I find my self suddenly remembering that I haven't done my workout yet. Luckily, I haven't been so bad that I have missed one, but I can safely say, it's been close.
I am excited that I am back to the weight I have been maintaining since last summer. Not gaining is good maintenance and I am always happy with maintenance.
I have found that when I really get wrapped up in a project, something to capture my focus, I find that I don't snack as much. Usually, because I don't want to stop to eat.
Note to self: I eat when I am not focused on something.
So in my journey to health, if I can keep myself focused, it's not much of a challenge to maintain. To loose on the other hand, I know that takes a little more focus. When I am done with my project, I will focus on loosing that last bit better.
Who knows though, maybe I'll forget to snack all together and I'll loose that last bit while being busy? One can hope.
What I did today:
Elliptical: 15 min @ level 15
Hundred Push-up Challenge: Week 6 Day 1 (85 push-ups)
Minggu, 23 Mei 2010
Ready, Set, Go Swimming!
Tomorrow morning I'll be swimming to get in my cardio exercise. It's been at least two years since I went swimming in the pool at the gym.
In February 2008 when I started Weight Watchers and made a dedication to exercise, I would get in the pool at the gym a couple times a week, but I never felt like I was getting a good workout. After a few months I gave up swimming for the StairMaster and the elliptical for my cardio workout. I'm a nut about my heart rate, and addicted to my heart rate monitor (as well as my music).
Lately I've been feeling a little bored and tired of the elliptical, cross-ramp, StairMaster, and the hated treadmill. I'm adding in swimming to make things a little more interesting.
I have my swimsuit laid out, along with a pair of sweatpants to throw on in the morning. My swim cap, goggles, swim shoes and towel are all packed in my workout bag.
For some bizarre reason I'm a little nervous. It's totally silly, but it's been a while since I actually got in the pool. I know there's never anyone there at 5 a.m., and it's not even the fear of wearing a swimsuit in front of strangers. It's just because it's something different and something I haven't done every day for two and half years. I could do the StairMaster or elliptical blindfolded. Swimming seems like it takes talent.
I'm not a strong swimmer, but I don't have a big fear of the water either. Having grown up in Alaska there wasn't a lot of opportunity to go swimming (short summers and ice cold lake water), so I've never been really comfortable being in deep water.
My breathing technique is something I really need to work on. I sort of taught myself how to swim over the years, and have never had an actual swim lesson. My husband has taught me a few things too. He's like a fish in the water, he was a scuba instructor when I met him. It was his passion back then and he's still a really strong swimmer.
There's a great article in the June 2010 Women's Health, "Swim Your Butt Off". I can't find it online yet, but it has a lot of tips on how swimming can be a really good workout. The line I like best is where they describe the swimmer's body. "Runners have the legs. Yoga chicks have the abs. Swimmers, well, they've got the whole package."
Wish me luck!
Sabtu, 22 Mei 2010
A bad weighin but I deserved it
I gained 1.4 pounds this past week. My weighin was 164.0. A total loss of 75.2 in twenty-seven months. I've hit the 75-pounds lost milestone so many times, coming and going, that's it's meaningless now.
I'm still happy about the 75 pounds lost, but when am I going to lose the last 25 pounds? I should be there by now, at goal. Living my happy life.
I'm disappointed in myself. I didn't even try to stay on plan last week. The only thing I did right was exercise six days, an hour to an hour and a half each day. I didn't eat any junk or have any binges this past week, but I basically ate when I was hungry. It was healthy, nutritious food, no sugar, but I ate too much.
Unfortunately, I think it's my lot in life to be a little hungry a lot of the time. I can't eat every time I feel hungry, because I'm always a little hungry. It's just a fact of my life, and one I have to accept, hunger is and will be part of my life.
This week I'm going to try harder. The main thing I have to do is get back to tracking my Points (which I've done today!). I'm not sure why I quit, other than it's boring, and I sort of don't want to do it anymore. Really it's not optional for me. I haven't figured out how to not count Points and lose weight.
Today at Weight Watchers our leader had each of us set a weight loss goal for five weeks from today. I wanted to make my goal ten pounds, but I know I can't consistently lose two pounds a week. Not at this point in the game. I've set my goal at eight pounds in five weeks, or 1.6 pounds per week. That would put me at 156 pounds by June 26. Sounds doable, right?
Great recipe
Tonight's dinner was Halibut with Balsamic Glaze. Very simple and easy and absolutely delicious. I love Alaskan halibut (wild caught of course). I didn't use honey in the recipe, but I substituted Agave instead, and only used one tablespoon. Since the marinade and glaze was just Balsamic vinegar and one tablespoon of Agave, I only counted the Points of the halibut (6 ounces cooked is 5 Points and so yummy).
Movie review: Avatar
All I can say is that it wasn't nearly as horrible as I expected. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. Definitely worth the $1.19 from Redbox. My first Redbox rental and so easy, since I'm horrible at ordering from Netflix (my husband is the Netflix pig) this is a nice alternative.
I'm still happy about the 75 pounds lost, but when am I going to lose the last 25 pounds? I should be there by now, at goal. Living my happy life.
I'm disappointed in myself. I didn't even try to stay on plan last week. The only thing I did right was exercise six days, an hour to an hour and a half each day. I didn't eat any junk or have any binges this past week, but I basically ate when I was hungry. It was healthy, nutritious food, no sugar, but I ate too much.
Unfortunately, I think it's my lot in life to be a little hungry a lot of the time. I can't eat every time I feel hungry, because I'm always a little hungry. It's just a fact of my life, and one I have to accept, hunger is and will be part of my life.
This week I'm going to try harder. The main thing I have to do is get back to tracking my Points (which I've done today!). I'm not sure why I quit, other than it's boring, and I sort of don't want to do it anymore. Really it's not optional for me. I haven't figured out how to not count Points and lose weight.
Today at Weight Watchers our leader had each of us set a weight loss goal for five weeks from today. I wanted to make my goal ten pounds, but I know I can't consistently lose two pounds a week. Not at this point in the game. I've set my goal at eight pounds in five weeks, or 1.6 pounds per week. That would put me at 156 pounds by June 26. Sounds doable, right?
Great recipe
Tonight's dinner was Halibut with Balsamic Glaze. Very simple and easy and absolutely delicious. I love Alaskan halibut (wild caught of course). I didn't use honey in the recipe, but I substituted Agave instead, and only used one tablespoon. Since the marinade and glaze was just Balsamic vinegar and one tablespoon of Agave, I only counted the Points of the halibut (6 ounces cooked is 5 Points and so yummy).
Movie review: Avatar
All I can say is that it wasn't nearly as horrible as I expected. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. Definitely worth the $1.19 from Redbox. My first Redbox rental and so easy, since I'm horrible at ordering from Netflix (my husband is the Netflix pig) this is a nice alternative.
Pastured Dairy may Prevent Heart Attacks
Not all dairy is created equal. Dairy from grain-fed and pasture-fed cows differs in a number of ways. Pastured dairy contains more fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamin K2, vitamin A, vitamin E, carotenes and omega-3 fatty acids. It also contains more conjugated linoleic acid, a fat-soluble molecule that has been under intense study due to its ability to inhibit obesity and cancer in animals. The findings in human supplementation trials have been mixed, some confirming the animal studies and others not. In feeding experiments in cows, Dr. T. R. Dhiman and colleagues found the following (1):
In a recent article from the AJCN, Dr. Liesbeth Smit and colleagues examined the level of CLA in the body fat of Costa Rican adults who had suffered a heart attack, and compared it to another group who had not (a case-control study, for the aficionados). People with the highest level of CLA in their body fat were 49% less likely to have had a heart attack, compared to those with the lowest level (2).
Since dairy was the main source of CLA in this population, the association between CLA and heart attack risk is inextricable from the other components in pastured dairy fat. In other words, CLA is simply a marker of pastured dairy fat intake in this population, and the (possible) benefit could just as easily have come from vitamin K2 or something else in the fat.
This study isn't the first one to suggest that pastured dairy fat may be uniquely protective. The Rotterdam and EPIC studies found that a higher vitamin K2 intake is associated with a lower risk of heart attack, cancer and overall mortality (3, 4, 5). In the 1940s, Dr. Weston Price estimated that pastured dairy contains up to 50 times more vitamin K2 than grain-fed dairy. He summarized his findings in the classic book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. This finding has not been repeated in recent times, but I have a little hunch that may change soon...
Vitamin K2
Cardiovascular Disease and Vitamin K2
Can Vitamin K2 Reverse Arterial Calcification?
Cows grazing pasture and receiving no supplemental feed had 500% more conjugated linoleic acid in milk fat than cows fed typical dairy diets.Fat from ruminants such as cows, sheep and goats is the main source of CLA in the human diet. CLA is fat-soluble. Therefore, skim milk doesn't contain any. It's also present in human body fat in proportion to dietary intake. This can come from dairy or flesh.
In a recent article from the AJCN, Dr. Liesbeth Smit and colleagues examined the level of CLA in the body fat of Costa Rican adults who had suffered a heart attack, and compared it to another group who had not (a case-control study, for the aficionados). People with the highest level of CLA in their body fat were 49% less likely to have had a heart attack, compared to those with the lowest level (2).
Since dairy was the main source of CLA in this population, the association between CLA and heart attack risk is inextricable from the other components in pastured dairy fat. In other words, CLA is simply a marker of pastured dairy fat intake in this population, and the (possible) benefit could just as easily have come from vitamin K2 or something else in the fat.
This study isn't the first one to suggest that pastured dairy fat may be uniquely protective. The Rotterdam and EPIC studies found that a higher vitamin K2 intake is associated with a lower risk of heart attack, cancer and overall mortality (3, 4, 5). In the 1940s, Dr. Weston Price estimated that pastured dairy contains up to 50 times more vitamin K2 than grain-fed dairy. He summarized his findings in the classic book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. This finding has not been repeated in recent times, but I have a little hunch that may change soon...
Vitamin K2
Cardiovascular Disease and Vitamin K2
Can Vitamin K2 Reverse Arterial Calcification?
Pastured Dairy may Prevent Heart Attacks
Not all dairy is created equal. Dairy from grain-fed and pasture-fed cows differs in a number of ways. Pastured dairy contains more fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamin K2, vitamin A, vitamin E, carotenes and omega-3 fatty acids. It also contains more conjugated linoleic acid, a fat-soluble molecule that has been under intense study due to its ability to inhibit obesity and cancer in animals. The findings in human supplementation trials have been mixed, some confirming the animal studies and others not. In feeding experiments in cows, Dr. T. R. Dhiman and colleagues found the following (1):
In a recent article from the AJCN, Dr. Liesbeth Smit and colleagues examined the level of CLA in the body fat of Costa Rican adults who had suffered a heart attack, and compared it to another group who had not (a case-control study, for the aficionados). People with the highest level of CLA in their body fat were 49% less likely to have had a heart attack, compared to those with the lowest level (2).
Since dairy was the main source of CLA in this population, the association between CLA and heart attack risk is inextricable from the other components in pastured dairy fat. In other words, CLA is simply a marker of pastured dairy fat intake in this population, and the (possible) benefit could just as easily have come from vitamin K2 or something else in the fat.
This study isn't the first one to suggest that pastured dairy fat may be uniquely protective. The Rotterdam and EPIC studies found that a higher vitamin K2 intake is associated with a lower risk of heart attack, cancer and overall mortality (3, 4, 5). In the 1940s, Dr. Weston Price estimated that pastured dairy contains up to 50 times more vitamin K2 than grain-fed dairy. He summarized his findings in the classic book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. This finding has not been repeated in recent times, but I have a little hunch that may change soon...
Vitamin K2
Cardiovascular Disease and Vitamin K2
Can Vitamin K2 Reverse Arterial Calcification?
Cows grazing pasture and receiving no supplemental feed had 500% more conjugated linoleic acid in milk fat than cows fed typical dairy diets.Fat from ruminants such as cows, sheep and goats is the main source of CLA in the human diet. CLA is fat-soluble. Therefore, skim milk doesn't contain any. It's also present in human body fat in proportion to dietary intake. This can come from dairy or flesh.
In a recent article from the AJCN, Dr. Liesbeth Smit and colleagues examined the level of CLA in the body fat of Costa Rican adults who had suffered a heart attack, and compared it to another group who had not (a case-control study, for the aficionados). People with the highest level of CLA in their body fat were 49% less likely to have had a heart attack, compared to those with the lowest level (2).
Since dairy was the main source of CLA in this population, the association between CLA and heart attack risk is inextricable from the other components in pastured dairy fat. In other words, CLA is simply a marker of pastured dairy fat intake in this population, and the (possible) benefit could just as easily have come from vitamin K2 or something else in the fat.
This study isn't the first one to suggest that pastured dairy fat may be uniquely protective. The Rotterdam and EPIC studies found that a higher vitamin K2 intake is associated with a lower risk of heart attack, cancer and overall mortality (3, 4, 5). In the 1940s, Dr. Weston Price estimated that pastured dairy contains up to 50 times more vitamin K2 than grain-fed dairy. He summarized his findings in the classic book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. This finding has not been repeated in recent times, but I have a little hunch that may change soon...
Vitamin K2
Cardiovascular Disease and Vitamin K2
Can Vitamin K2 Reverse Arterial Calcification?
Kamis, 20 Mei 2010
Day 39/365 Gardening Tip
We just expanded our garden and planted 1000 seeds!!! We learned a very valuable trick when planting with seeds. If you soak them overnight you greatly reduce the time it takes for them to germinate.
We had one type of seed that stated "14 days until germination." We soaked them over night and they were sprouting 4 days after we planted. It's a great tip and I highly recommend it!
This is what I did today:
Elliptical: 15 min @ level 15
Malocclusion Posts Translated into German
It's nice to see on my website statistics program that Whole Health Source has a solid international following. As commonly as English is spoken throughout the world however, there are many people who do not have access to this blog due to a language barrier.
A gentleman by the name of Bertram has translated/summarized my series on the causes and prevention of malocclusion (misaligned teeth) into German. His site is OriginalHealth.net, and you can find the first post here, with links to the subsequent 8. It looks like an interesting site-- I wish I could read German. Thanks Bertram!
A gentleman by the name of Bertram has translated/summarized my series on the causes and prevention of malocclusion (misaligned teeth) into German. His site is OriginalHealth.net, and you can find the first post here, with links to the subsequent 8. It looks like an interesting site-- I wish I could read German. Thanks Bertram!
Malocclusion Posts Translated into German
It's nice to see on my website statistics program that Whole Health Source has a solid international following. As commonly as English is spoken throughout the world however, there are many people who do not have access to this blog due to a language barrier.
A gentleman by the name of Bertram has translated/summarized my series on the causes and prevention of malocclusion (misaligned teeth) into German. His site is OriginalHealth.net, and you can find the first post here, with links to the subsequent 8. It looks like an interesting site-- I wish I could read German. Thanks Bertram!
A gentleman by the name of Bertram has translated/summarized my series on the causes and prevention of malocclusion (misaligned teeth) into German. His site is OriginalHealth.net, and you can find the first post here, with links to the subsequent 8. It looks like an interesting site-- I wish I could read German. Thanks Bertram!
Why Do Women Store Fat Differently From Men?
It's a paradox that has flummoxed women for generations – their apparent ability to store fat more efficiently than men, despite eating proportionally fewer calories.
While it has long been suspected that female sex hormones are responsible, a University of New South Wales (UNSW) research review has for the first time drawn a link between one hormone – oestrogen – and its impact on fat storage for childbearing.
On average, women have 6 to 11 percent more body fat than men. Studies show oestrogen reduces a woman's ability to burn energy after eating, resulting in more fat being stored around the body. The likely reason is to prime women for childbearing, the review suggests.
"Female puberty and early pregnancy – times of increased oestrogen – could be seen as states of efficient fat storage in preparation for fertility, foetal development and lactation," the study's author Associate Professor Anthony O'Sullivan, from UNSW's St George Clinical School, said.
The findings, which appear in Obesity Reviews, may have implications for dietary advice given to women during pregnancy and the design of exercise regimes.
"From an energy balance point of view there is no explanation why women should be fatter than men, particularly since men consume more calories proportionately," Associate Professor O'Sullivan said. "In fact, women burn off more fat than men during exercise, but they don't lose body fat with exercise as much suggesting women are more efficient fat storers at other times. The question is why does this paradox exist?"
An obvious answer is that fat storage by women gives an evolutionary benefit, he said. However, additional research was needed to provide more insights into the role of oestrogen in the regulation of body fat.
Associate Professor O'Sullivan stressed that while oestrogen's effects on postprandial fatty acid oxidation provide a mechanism for fat accumulation, the findings do not explain why some women are obese. Factors contributing to obesity are complex and include both genetic and environmental factors, he said.
Story Source: ScienceDaily
While it has long been suspected that female sex hormones are responsible, a University of New South Wales (UNSW) research review has for the first time drawn a link between one hormone – oestrogen – and its impact on fat storage for childbearing.
On average, women have 6 to 11 percent more body fat than men. Studies show oestrogen reduces a woman's ability to burn energy after eating, resulting in more fat being stored around the body. The likely reason is to prime women for childbearing, the review suggests.
"Female puberty and early pregnancy – times of increased oestrogen – could be seen as states of efficient fat storage in preparation for fertility, foetal development and lactation," the study's author Associate Professor Anthony O'Sullivan, from UNSW's St George Clinical School, said.
The findings, which appear in Obesity Reviews, may have implications for dietary advice given to women during pregnancy and the design of exercise regimes.
"From an energy balance point of view there is no explanation why women should be fatter than men, particularly since men consume more calories proportionately," Associate Professor O'Sullivan said. "In fact, women burn off more fat than men during exercise, but they don't lose body fat with exercise as much suggesting women are more efficient fat storers at other times. The question is why does this paradox exist?"
An obvious answer is that fat storage by women gives an evolutionary benefit, he said. However, additional research was needed to provide more insights into the role of oestrogen in the regulation of body fat.
Associate Professor O'Sullivan stressed that while oestrogen's effects on postprandial fatty acid oxidation provide a mechanism for fat accumulation, the findings do not explain why some women are obese. Factors contributing to obesity are complex and include both genetic and environmental factors, he said.
Story Source: ScienceDaily
Rabu, 19 Mei 2010
Lab results from the thyroid biopsy
No thyroid cancer! Woohoo!
I was pretty sure I didn't have thyroid cancer. Everything I read indicated it would be okay, 95% of these nodules are benign (but I had several), and if the thyroid is functioning properly (mine is fine) then there's even less chance of cancer.
When my doctor called today to give me the results I was a little nervous. Because I thought the technician that did my ultrasound that is deaf but sweet as can be, told me, or I thought she told me, that they would mail the results if it was good news and call me if it was bad news. So when I got the call I had a mini-panic attack and thought the call meant bad news.
It's all good and I guess I shall live a little longer. At least I don't have thyroid cancer which is definitely a good thing.
The only thing that concerns me now is seeing the endocrinologist. Since I have so many nodules on my thyroid there's some medication they want to give me to help stop them from growing and possibly shrink them. If they continue to grow they could become cancerous, or I could wind up with a big, ugly goiter on my neck (wouldn't that just suck?).
I've worked to hard to be off of any kind of medication, except my asthma meds (Advair), but I rarely even use it anymore. I've been off my blood pressure medicine for over a year. Oh well, I guess it's just part of life, getting older and things start going haywire. Even if I do have to take thyroid medication for the nodules it would be better than cancer or an ugly goiter growing out the side of my neck. Things could be worse.
I was pretty sure I didn't have thyroid cancer. Everything I read indicated it would be okay, 95% of these nodules are benign (but I had several), and if the thyroid is functioning properly (mine is fine) then there's even less chance of cancer.
When my doctor called today to give me the results I was a little nervous. Because I thought the technician that did my ultrasound that is deaf but sweet as can be, told me, or I thought she told me, that they would mail the results if it was good news and call me if it was bad news. So when I got the call I had a mini-panic attack and thought the call meant bad news.
It's all good and I guess I shall live a little longer. At least I don't have thyroid cancer which is definitely a good thing.
The only thing that concerns me now is seeing the endocrinologist. Since I have so many nodules on my thyroid there's some medication they want to give me to help stop them from growing and possibly shrink them. If they continue to grow they could become cancerous, or I could wind up with a big, ugly goiter on my neck (wouldn't that just suck?).
I've worked to hard to be off of any kind of medication, except my asthma meds (Advair), but I rarely even use it anymore. I've been off my blood pressure medicine for over a year. Oh well, I guess it's just part of life, getting older and things start going haywire. Even if I do have to take thyroid medication for the nodules it would be better than cancer or an ugly goiter growing out the side of my neck. Things could be worse.
Slider Foods Spell Weight Regain For Weight Loss Surgery Patients
Slider Foods Spell Weight Regain For Weight Loss Surgery PatientsBy Kaye BaileyFor most people eating sliders is a good thing. Popularized by the American food chain, White Castle, a slider (originally slyder) is a miniature grilled hamburger or cheeseburger on a steamed bun often served with onions and dill pickle and other condiments. They originally sold for a nickel a piece in the 1940s
Selasa, 18 Mei 2010
Why I exercise
I'm just about ready to fall into bed. I've been sneezing and sniffling all night, allergies I think so I took a Benadryl. At least I'll be able to sleep. Waking up may be a different matter.
To Anonymous: thank you so much for the book review on Insomniac by Gayle Green. I just ordered it from Amazon and can't wait to get it. Maybe it'll change my life too!
To Jenni in Seattle (Jenni's Health Journey): I love your blog and would love to post a comment but for some reason I can't. When I click on post comments it won't let me. I hope you see this!
Why I exercise
I've been thinking about this one for a while, exactly why do I exercise almost every day? If someone asks me I give them the normal reasons, it's good for my health, it helps me lose weight and I can eat more. I feel better, my clothes fit better. All the normal reasons. I never really tell anyone the real reason I feel compelled to climb out of a warm, cozy bed every morning at 4:30am and head for the gym.
It's because I have very low self-confidence. It's something I've suffered from my entire life. I've never felt smart enough, pretty enough, talented enough, funny enough. I've just never felt like I was "enough" of anything good. Even when I was in high school and weigh 135 pounds at 5' 6" I never felt skinny enough (or smart enough or pretty enough or...well, you get the picture).
It's been a life long battle to try to convince myself that I am good enough, but it's a tough thing to make myself believe. That's why I exercise at least an hour a day, at least six days a week.
It's like a little miracle happens to me every day at the gym. I work out hard, I lift fairly heavy weights for a woman. 20 and 25-pound dumbbells, 75 pound lat pulldowns, I go as heavy as I can manage with the weights and do 40 minutes strength, 30-40 minutes cardio. I do three sets of each strength exercise, a minimum of six exercises, upper one day, lower the next. I do crazy cardio workouts, drenching my body in sweat.
While I'm working out I feel completely in control, and I feel a little...well...I'll be honest. I feel like the cool girl. I know it's silly and I know it's "just" exercise, but I'm proud of myself for how hard I've worked the past 2 1/2 years, and how hard I exercise every morning.
It's gives me self-confidence. Not that I think I'm "all that", but I feel like a normal person. It's like hey, I exercise and I exercise hard. If I can do this then I can accomplish a lot.
When I walk into a room full of people now I always stand up straight, shoulders back, head high, eye contact. I use to slunk into meetings at work, barely making eye contact with anyone. When I had to lead a meeting, it was a form of hell. I felt like everyone was looking at me thinking what a fat, lazy slob I was, and that I must be totally stupid to let myself look like I did at 240 pounds.
It's so different now. I feel so different. Having some self-confidence is a new thing to me. And I like it. A lot. So that's really why I exercise and why I'll never stop. The other stuff is just icing on the cake.
To Anonymous: thank you so much for the book review on Insomniac by Gayle Green. I just ordered it from Amazon and can't wait to get it. Maybe it'll change my life too!
To Jenni in Seattle (Jenni's Health Journey): I love your blog and would love to post a comment but for some reason I can't. When I click on post comments it won't let me. I hope you see this!
Why I exercise
I've been thinking about this one for a while, exactly why do I exercise almost every day? If someone asks me I give them the normal reasons, it's good for my health, it helps me lose weight and I can eat more. I feel better, my clothes fit better. All the normal reasons. I never really tell anyone the real reason I feel compelled to climb out of a warm, cozy bed every morning at 4:30am and head for the gym.
It's because I have very low self-confidence. It's something I've suffered from my entire life. I've never felt smart enough, pretty enough, talented enough, funny enough. I've just never felt like I was "enough" of anything good. Even when I was in high school and weigh 135 pounds at 5' 6" I never felt skinny enough (or smart enough or pretty enough or...well, you get the picture).
It's been a life long battle to try to convince myself that I am good enough, but it's a tough thing to make myself believe. That's why I exercise at least an hour a day, at least six days a week.
It's like a little miracle happens to me every day at the gym. I work out hard, I lift fairly heavy weights for a woman. 20 and 25-pound dumbbells, 75 pound lat pulldowns, I go as heavy as I can manage with the weights and do 40 minutes strength, 30-40 minutes cardio. I do three sets of each strength exercise, a minimum of six exercises, upper one day, lower the next. I do crazy cardio workouts, drenching my body in sweat.
While I'm working out I feel completely in control, and I feel a little...well...I'll be honest. I feel like the cool girl. I know it's silly and I know it's "just" exercise, but I'm proud of myself for how hard I've worked the past 2 1/2 years, and how hard I exercise every morning.
It's gives me self-confidence. Not that I think I'm "all that", but I feel like a normal person. It's like hey, I exercise and I exercise hard. If I can do this then I can accomplish a lot.
When I walk into a room full of people now I always stand up straight, shoulders back, head high, eye contact. I use to slunk into meetings at work, barely making eye contact with anyone. When I had to lead a meeting, it was a form of hell. I felt like everyone was looking at me thinking what a fat, lazy slob I was, and that I must be totally stupid to let myself look like I did at 240 pounds.
It's so different now. I feel so different. Having some self-confidence is a new thing to me. And I like it. A lot. So that's really why I exercise and why I'll never stop. The other stuff is just icing on the cake.
Intervew with Chris Kresser of The Healthy Skeptic
Last week, I did an audio interview with Chris Kresser of The Healthy Skeptic, on the topic of obesity. We put some preparation into it, and I think it's my best interview yet. Chris was a gracious host. We covered some interesting ground, including (list copied from Chris's post):
- The little known causes of the obesity epidemic
- Why the common weight loss advice to “eat less and exercise more” isn’t effective
- The long-term results of various weight loss diets (low-carb, low-fat, etc.)
- The body-fat setpoint and its relevance to weight regulation
- The importance of gut flora in weight regulation
- The role of industrial seed oils in the obesity epidemic
- Obesity as immunological and inflammatory disease
- Strategies for preventing weight gain and promoting weight loss
Intervew with Chris Kresser of The Healthy Skeptic
Last week, I did an audio interview with Chris Kresser of The Healthy Skeptic, on the topic of obesity. We put some preparation into it, and I think it's my best interview yet. Chris was a gracious host. We covered some interesting ground, including (list copied from Chris's post):
- The little known causes of the obesity epidemic
- Why the common weight loss advice to “eat less and exercise more” isn’t effective
- The long-term results of various weight loss diets (low-carb, low-fat, etc.)
- The body-fat setpoint and its relevance to weight regulation
- The importance of gut flora in weight regulation
- The role of industrial seed oils in the obesity epidemic
- Obesity as immunological and inflammatory disease
- Strategies for preventing weight gain and promoting weight loss
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