Category Archives: Health

Health, Nutrition

5 Habits of Highly Successful Dieters

Habits of Highly Successful Dieters

By Heidi Grant Halvorson, PhD

          Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Eat less, exercise more. That’s the recipe for losing weight, and we all know it by heart. So if we want to get slimmer, and we know the formula, then why can’t we do it?

Commitment is important—in fact, it’s essential—but it’s only the beginning. The key to successful dieting is bridging the gap between what you want to do and actually doing it. The desire is there; you just need a plan.

The scientifically proven tactics detailed in this slideshow will help you do just that. I say that with confidence—not only as a social psychologist who studies motivation, but also as someone who has benefited from these tricks firsthand. Each one—especially #2—helped me lose almost 50 pounds after my son was born three years ago.

Strategy #1: Be very specific

When we make goals that are vague, like “I want to lose weight,” we set ourselves up to fail.

Motivation happens when your brain detects a difference between where you are and where you want to be. When you are specific about your goal (I want to lose 10 pounds), that difference is clear, and your brain starts throwing resources (attention, memory, effort, willpower) at the problem. A clear target looks something like this: “I want to weigh 135 pounds. I weigh 155 now, so that’s a difference of 20 pounds.”

Being specific gives you clarity because you’ve spelled out exactly what success looks like. That means more motivation—and better odds of success.

Strategy #2: Create an OK-to-eat plan

Faced with unexpected temptations—the dessert menu, the catered work lunch—we end up eating things that sabotage our weight-loss goals. The best way to guarantee you make the right choices is to create an “if-then” plan:

“If the dessert menu arrives, I’ll order coffee.”

“If I am at a business lunch, I’ll have a salad.”

Studies suggest that coming up with safe-to-eat plans makes you two to three times more likely to reach your diet goals.

Strategy #3: Track your success

To stay clear about that gap between where you want to go and where you are now, monitor your progress. Keep getting on that scale; mark the days you exercise on a calendar.

Another thing: When you think about the progress you’ve made, stay focused on how far you have to go, rather than how far you’ve come. If you want to drop 20 pounds, and you’ve lost 5 so far, keep your thoughts on the 15 that remain. When we dwell too much on how much progress we’ve made, it’s easy to feel a premature sense of accomplishment and start to slack off.

Strategy #4: Be a realistic optimist

As much as we want to believe otherwise, losing weight isn’t easy. It turns out that it’s important to accept this.

Believing you will succeed is key, but believing you will succeed easily (what I call “unrealistic optimism”) is a recipe for failure. Take it from the women, all obese, who enrolled in a weight-loss program in one study. Those who thought they could lose weight easily lost 24 pounds less than those who knew it would be hard. The successful dieters put in more effort, planned in advance how to deal with problems, and persisted when it became difficult.

So don’t try to tamp down your worries—they can help prepare you for shape-up challenges.

Strategy #5: Strengthen your willpower

The capacity for self-control is like a muscle: It varies in strength from person to person and moment to moment. Just as your biceps can feel like jelly after a workout, your willpower “muscle” gets tired when you overtax it.

To strengthen it, pick any activity that requires you to override an impulse (such as sitting up straight when your impulse is to slouch), and add that to your daily routine. And take baby steps. Instead of going junk-free overnight, begin by eliminating, say, those chips you eat by the bag, and substitute them with a fruit or vegetable.

Hang in there, and sticking to your diet will become easier because your capacity for self-control will grow.

Original Article: http://health.yahoo.net/articles/weight-loss/photos/5-habits-highly-successful-dieters#0

 

Health

6 Surprising Sleep Stealers

Are you groggy in the daytime, but you don’t know why? You might have an unsuspected sleep disorder. Learn 6 surprising signs of a sleep problem.

By Melanie Haiken, Caring.com

If mornings find you feeling like you just drifted off a few hours before, or if you droop with weariness no matter how much coffee you drink, you just might be suffering from a sleep problem. But wait, wouldn’t you know about it, if you were? Not necessarily, experts say. In many cases, instead of keeping you awake, a sleep problem sabotages your sleep in more subtle ways, leaving you frazzled and frustrated without knowing why. Here are six signs that you have a sleep problem that’s secretly stealing your rest.

Acid reflux

Sleeping poorly and waking up with “morning mouth” or a sour taste in your mouth can be a signal of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or asymptomatic heartburn.

What’s going on: Acid reflux causes the body to partially awaken from sleep, even when you’re not aware of typical heartburn symptoms. The result of this “silent reflux” is fitful, uneven sleep — but by the time you wake up, you’ve finished digesting and you don’t know why you slept poorly.

Alarming stat: Recent sleep studies have shown that up to 25 percent of people who report sleeping poorly without a diagnosed cause have sleep-related acid reflux. But because they don’t have obvious heartburn symptoms, they’re unaware of the condition.

What helps: Luckily, there are many ways to minimize acid reflux and prevent it from interfering with sleep.

  • Don’t eat for at least two hours before going to bed.
  • Avoid acid-causing foods, such as heavy sauces, spicy food, fatty meats, citrus, and tomatoes at dinner and afterward.
  • Don’t drink after dinner; alcohol stimulates reflux.
  • Don’t take aspirin or other painkillers, which are hard on the stomach and esophageal lining, just before bed.
  • Try chewing gum before bed; it can boost the production of saliva, which neutralizes stomach acid.
  • Sleep on your left side; acid clears out of the esophagus faster when you’re on your left side. (Sleeping on the right side can actually make acid reflux worse.)
  • If you sleep on your back, elevate your head and shoulders.
  • If all else fails, take an antacid.

 

Limb movement disorders

Waking up tangled in the covers or in a different part of the bed than where you started out could signal restless leg syndrome or a related problem, periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), which is characterized by involuntary jerking, kicking, or twitching. Pain, numbness, or a tingling sensation are also common signs. If moving your legs relieves symptoms, that’s another clue.

Alarming stat: Restless leg syndrome affects up to 10 percent of the population, and the chance of developing it goes up with age. Symptoms tend to increase over time.

What’s going on: Doctors don’t know what causes sleep movement disorders, but they do know they set up a vicious cycle that interrupts deep, restful, REM sleep. The restlessness can prevent you from sinking into deep sleep, or a muscle jerk can wake or partially rouse you from deep sleep.

What helps: Try some tactics to get at symptoms, the cause, or both.

  • Symptoms ease with exercise and stretching. Take a walk before bed, and do stretching exercises such as hamstring stretches a few times a day. See a doctor to discuss your symptoms and get a diagnosis, which may also involve looking for underlying conditions related to restless leg syndrome or PLMD.
  • Eat a diet high in iron and B vitamins, particularly folic acid, since iron and folate deficiency have been linked to restless leg syndrome. Red meat, spinach, and other leafy greens are good sources of both nutrients.
  • If your doctor diagnoses restless leg syndrome or PLMD, medications used to treat Parkinson’s can relieve symptoms by eliminating the muscle jerks. Your doctor may also prescribe medication to help you sleep more deeply, with the idea of preventing the involuntary movements from keeping you in light sleep.

Bathroom calls

The inability to get through the night without urinating more than once both interrupts sleep and decreases the amount of restful REM sleep. Known as nocturia, it includes both waking up with an urgent need to use the bathroom and needing to go so frequently that your sleep is fractured by physical tension.

 

 

Alarming stat: The National Sleep Foundation estimates that 65 percent of older adults are sleep deprived as a result of frequent nighttime urination.

What’s going on: Normally, our bodies have a natural process that concentrates urine while we sleep so we can get six to eight hours without waking. But as we get older, we become less able to hold fluids for long periods because of a decline in antidiuretic hormones.

What helps: Experiment with a number of strategies to see what works to decrease nighttime urination.

  • Don’t drink any liquids for at least three hours before going to bed. This includes foods with a lot of liquid in them, like soups or fruit.
  • Lower your coffee and tea consumption; the acids in coffee and tea can irritate the bladder.
  • Don’t drink alcohol, which functions as a diuretic as well as a bladder irritant.
  • Use the bathroom last thing before getting in bed, relaxing long enough to empty your bladder all the way.
  • Get checked for conditions that cause urination problems. In men, prostate problems are the most common culprit; inflammation of the prostate, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPN), and prostate tumors can all cause frequent urination. In women, overactive bladder (OAB), bladder infections, cystitis, and incontinence can cause nocturia.
  • If you haven’t been tested for diabetes recently, consider it a possible cause.
  • Evaluate your medication list; certain drugs such as diuretics and heart medications can increase urination. If that’s the case, talk to your doctor about taking them earlier in the day or making other changes.
  • Consider taking a prescription antidiuretic to cut down on nighttime urination if all else fails andthere’s no underlying issue.

Teeth grinding or jaw clenching

Officially known as bruxism, teeth grinding or jaw clenching often occurs without your being aware of it; experts estimate that 95 percent of people who grind their teeth or clench their jaws don’t know they do it until a sleep partner notices the telltale sound or a dentist detects wear on the teeth. Jaw clenching is even harder to detect than grinding; one sign is waking with pain or stiffness in the neck.

Alarming stat: Experts estimate that during sleep bruxism, the upper and lower teeth can come into contact up to 40 minutes per hour, and with a force of up to 250 pounds on particular teeth. (Under normal chewing circumstances, your teeth make contact for a total of about 20 minutes a day, with only 20 to 40 pounds of pressure.)

What’s going on: Bruxism is considered a “subconscious neuromuscular activity,” which means your brain is affecting your muscles without you being aware of it. The exact cause is still unknown, though scientists are investigating the role of neurotransmitters such as dopamine. Stress, smoking, caffeine, and alcohol are all known to contribute to or worsen nighttime bruxism. Because grinding or clenching involves tensing of the jaw muscles, it interferes with the relaxation necessary for deep sleep. Also, when you’re grinding or clenching, your body is engaged in movement — even though you don’t know it — rather than resting.

What helps: Start with some professional advice.

  • Get a dental checkup. A dentist can look for underlying causes, such as problems with your bite alignment, and can prescribe a mouth-guard-type device such as a dental splint.
  • If jaw clenching is your primary issue, there are specific dental devices for that.
  • Experts also suggest giving up gum chewing during the day, because the habitual chewing action can continue at night.
  • Botox injections to the jaw muscle are one of the newest treatments for bruxism.
  • Some people have had success using a new biofeedback device called Grindcare, approved by the FDA in 2010.

Alcohol rebound

It’s common to drink enough to feel drowsy, fall asleep suddenly, and sleep heavily. But if you wake several hours later and can’t get back to sleep, or you toss and turn for the rest of the night, that’s a sure sign of alcohol rebound.

Alarming stat: Even a moderate dose of alcohol, such as two drinks, consumed as much as six hours before bedtime (think happy hour), has been shown in studies to increase wakefulness during the second half of sleep. By this time, the alcohol has already been eliminated from the body, which shows that drinking causes a long-lasting effect on sleep rhythms.

What’s going on: As your body metabolizes alcohol during the night, sleep becomes increasingly disturbed. Sleep is deeper than normal during the first half of the night but much lighter during the second half, and nightmares are more common. Some experts call this syndrome “glutamine rebound” because alcohol inhibits glutamine, one of the body’s natural stimulants. Once you stop drinking, your body produces more glutamine than it needs to make up for it. The increase in glutamine levels stimulates the brain, keeping you from reaching the deepest, most healing levels of sleep.

Also, alcohol is extremely dehydrating, so your body reacts after a few hours by craving water, which is why you wake up thirsty during the night. And because alcohol is a sedative, it relaxes the muscles of the nose and throat, exacerbating snoring. If you suffer from a sleep breathing problem such as apnea, alcohol is known to worsen it considerably.

What helps: How and when you drink can have a big effect.

  • Drink in moderation.
  • Don’t drink within two hours of bedtime, which, studies show, has the worst effect on sleep.
  • Drink a lot of water along with your alcohol to help prevent dehydration and to “water down” the alcohol in your system. (That’s why experienced drinkers always order a water chaser.)

Sleep breathing problems

If you sleep fitfully, feel exhausted all the time, and wake with a sore throat or neck pain, breathing problems might be to blame. Severe snoring — particularly when accompanied by gasps or snorts — can also indicate a more serious problem with obstructed breathing during sleep. There are two stages of sleep-disordered breathing. Obstructive sleep apnea is diagnosed when sleep is interrupted by intervals of ten seconds or more. A milder sleep breathing problem, upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS), occurs when breathing is obstructed but the intervals between breaths are under ten seconds. Although snoring can be a clue to sleep apnea, many people with apnea don’t snore.

Alarming stat: Experts estimate that 20 million Americans have sleep apnea, but 87 percent of them are unaware they have the problem.

What’s going on: The throat closes and cuts off airflow, preventing you from getting enough oxygen. When blood oxygen levels drop, the brain knows it’s not getting enough oxygen and wakes you up, either fully or partially. This causes fitful, unproductive sleep and decreases REM sleep, but you may not be aware that it’s happening. In UARS, it’s often tongue position that blocks air from getting into the throat. In sleep apnea, weight gain is a major factor because when people gain weight they end up with extra-soft tissue in the throat area, which causes or contributes to the blockage.

What helps: Experiment with different methods of tackling nighttime breathing issues.

  • Try snore-stopping nose strips, available over the counter at drugstores, or use saline nasal spray to irrigate your nasal passages.
  • Experiment with sleep positions; obstructed breathing is more common when you’re sleeping on your back. Use pillows to prop yourself on your side. Some experts recommend the tennis ball trick, in which you use an elastic band to attach a tennis ball to the back of your pajamas or T-shirt so it presses into your back when you start to roll over.
  • Losing weight — even just ten pounds — can decrease or even eliminate sleep-disordered breathing.
  • If problems persist, schedule an exam by an otolaryngologist to determine if a structural problem with your nose, mouth, or throat is causing your interrupted breathing.
  • It’s also important to have your oxygen levels measured during sleep, which can be done during a sleep study or with a take-home device.
  • More and more, doctors are recommending oral appliances that change your mouth position by moving your jaw forward to open up the throat as first step for some types of obstructed breathing, particularly UARS.
  • One of the most effective cures for disordered breathing is a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device, a mask that blows air directly into your airways. Another mask called a BiPap (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure Device) works similarly but has dual pressure settings. However, compliance is a problem with airway masks, so be careful to choose a model that’s comfortable for you, so you’ll continue to use it.
  • Surgery to remove excess tissue from the throat or shrink nasal tissues can be a successful approach to treating apnea and UARS as well.

Original Article: http://health.msn.com/health-topics/sleep-disorders/6-surprising-sleep-stealers

 

Health, Nutrition

6 Hidden Fat Traps on Restaurant Menus

By Oprah.com | Healthy Living – Fri, Mar 30, 2012 12:44 PM EDT

Sneaky Salads

You order the dressing on the side, but this calorie-saving tactic can backfire. Chefs like to keep dressing to a minimum–too much can make a salad wilty, says Mike Schwartz, chef instructor for the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) and founder of BAO Food and Drink. A restaurant’s usual drizzle of salad dressing will barely cover the bottom of a 4-ounce ramekin, though, and that looks cheap, so Schwartz says chefs will almost always send out extra. Take two large spoonfuls and mix in with your greens, then set it out of reach. Picking around deep-fried tortilla strips, Chinese noodles and croutons are no-brainers, but those other crunchy bits (like sunflower seeds and banana chips,) are often roasted in oil or salt. Even good-for-you ingredients can multiply at restaurants. Tracy Gensler, RD, a Best Life nutritionist, says she recently measured out a cup and a quarter of walnuts in her take-out dinner salad–that’s a full cup more than a typical serving size, and an extra 980 calories, just nuts.

Delicious Language

We know better than to fall for “creamy,” but not all unhealthy code words are so blatant. “Crispy” meat, fish and vegetables are usually fried in oil; “crusted” entrees often involve lots of butter, cheese or oil (that’s what helps the breadcrumbs, almonds and flour stick); “rich,” “velvety” and “gooey” can signify sky-high amounts of fat; “sizzling” food sizzles because of (you guessed it) oil. Detailed descriptions make food sound even more appealing: In one study by Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating, diners were 27 percent more likely to get dessert when it was called “German Black Forest double-chocolate cake” instead of “chocolate cake. Try to read between the lines of unusual techniques like “oil-poaching,” which involves submerging food in oil and cooking it slowly over low heat. From a health perspective, that’s closer to frying than water-poaching.

Pictures That Are Worth a Thousand Calories

Some items that increase the restaurant’s bottom line can have the same effect on yours, says William Poundstone, who analyzed restaurant marketing tricks in his book, Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It). He says pictures are powerful motivators, so photos on menus at chain restaurant and illustrations at more upscale places (often in the upper right-hand corner, where eyes automatically go first), as well as borders and frames, highlight the items the restaurant is eager to sell. People pay the most attention to whatever gets the most space on the menu, says Poundstone, so when you see three pages of appetizers, this sends the message, “Ordering extra food before your meal isn’t excessive; it’s the normal thing to do.” And while tossing together inexpensive veggies in a side salad is one way to make them more profitable (salads involve relatively little labor), deep-frying them as appetizers is another. It involves just a few ingredients, is quick to prepare, and can be very hard for diners to resist.

Dishes You’ve Never Really Stopped to Think About

Unless you’re a knowledgeable cook, there are probably a few dishes that you always order without knowing how to make them, what’s in them, or what exactly they are. Here’s your cheat sheet: Miso is high in sodium (986 mg in one cup; 251 mg in a tablespoon), and “tempura” is Japanese for “we borrowed this dish from the Portuguese, and that’s why it’s so fattening” (kidding; it signifies “deep fried”). Pork belly, the popular boneless meat, has 16 times more saturated fat than pork tenderloin and 10 times more saturated fat than pork chops. You may be pleasantly surprised to discover pork belly’s country cousin, bacon, in sautéed vegetables and sauces…until you realize that sweet-smoky flavor is also supremely fatty-salty. Then there’s confit. French women may not get fat, but you will if confit becomes your go-to bistro dish. This meat-preserving method, which involves cooking meat submerged in its own rendered fat (or in duck fat), traditionally involves duck or goose and was justifiable in the time before refrigerators. But it’s cropping up on menus these days as chefs try it with pork, lamb, turkey and even fish.

Nude Foods That Are Hiding Something

Wonder why vegetable purees at restaurants always taste richer than the ones you blend at home? Schwartz from ICE says that it’s usually due to cream (or sour cream, in the case of some cold soups). To suss out dairy, he suggests asking if the soup is vegan. Schwartz sees patrons passing on the potatoes and ordering rice instead, but he says it’s common for Western-style chefs to add oil or butter for extra flavor and to keep grains from clumping (he advises requesting it “steamed plain”). “Grilled” suggests a flaming charcoal grill with open bars to allow fat to drip away, but Schwartz says diners and some chain restaurants tend to use flattop grills, which means the food sits in a pool of grease and soaks up fat. Ask your server if the restaurant uses a flame or flat-top grill, and then decide if you’d rather have your meat cooked another way, says Schwartz.

The “Better Choice” Dessert

If you’ve decided to order a treat, don’t compromise. You’ll not only feel as if you missed out on what you really wanted, but you may accidentally order something even more fattening. Let’s say you’re dying for a piece of flourless chocolate cake but you feel like the pear tart would be healthier (it’s got fruit, right?). Gensler found an example of a slice of chocolate cake with 234 calories and 11 grams of fat, compared to a pear tart with 340 calories and 17 grams of fat (the tart was bigger, and most likely made with more butter). If you’re craving ice cream but wonder if flan or gelato would be wiser, go with your gut: 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream has 145 calories and 8 grams saturated fat, and the same amount of flan has 220 calories and 6 grams of fat. Gelato also has less fat than ice cream–but more calories. This is a numbers game that’s not worth playing, so satisfying your cravings with just one creamy, velvety scoop.

Health, Motivational

Optimism and Your Health

Health

10 Overhyped Health Products

Are all of your favorite products really necessary? Experts say no—and a few could actually hurt you

By Leslie Quander Wooldridge, U.S. News & World Report
 

You see these items on store shelves and on TV, but don’t buy into the hype. These 10 over-the-counter products aren’t always worth your money—and some can cause health problems instead of treating them.

 

Redness-reducing eye drops

Even if you look like you have the world’s worst hangover, avoid using these drops on a regular basis. They can mask an underlying problem, like dry eye, allergies, or contact lens irritation, and trigger persistent redness because your eyes can get used to them, says Mark Melrose, an emergency physician and owner of Urgent Care Manhattan.

What to use instead: “The first thing you should do is find out why you have the red eyes and treat the [underlying] reason,” Melrose says. Your doctor can help pinpoint the problem. (Dry eyes can benefit from saline eye drops, for instance.)

 

Antibacterial hand soap

About 75 percent of liquid hand soaps have antibacterial ingredients, but you can wash your hands of them. Outside of healthcare settings, antibacterial-containing products have not been proven to prevent the spread of infection better than regular varieties, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The body does a pretty good job of taking care of itself,” says Melrose. Plus, not all bacteria are harmful.

What to use instead: Plain soap and water “does the trick just fine,” says Melrose. Lather up for at least 20 seconds, scrubbing between your fingers and under your nails, then rinse and dry.

 

Toothbrush sanitizers

We have hundreds of different types of germs in our mouths, and because toothbrushes aren’t sold in sterile packages, they can carry bacteria right out of the box, reports the American Dental Association (ADA). But—before you get too scared—know that toothbrush sanitizers haven’t been shown to provide a health benefit, says the ADA. That’s because a healthy body can usually defend itself against germs.

What to use instead: Rinse your toothbrush thoroughly with tap water. Store it in an upright position and let it air-dry.

 

Breath-freshening mouthwash

If you’re healthy, you don’t need mouthwash unless your dentist has recommended or prescribed it for therapeutic reasons (say, for dry mouth).

What to use instead: To fight bad breath and plaque, brush your teeth and floss twice a day, and see your dentist regularly, advises the ADA. But if you have chronic bad breath—and it’s unrelated to your lunchtime love affair with garlic—talk to your dentist, says Edmond Hewlett, a professor of dentistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an ADA spokesperson. Persistent bad breath can signal an oral health issue, he explains, like gum disease, tooth decay, or even something more serious, such as diabetes.

 

Facial toner

You may think you need toner—also called astringent—to remove makeup and reduce pore size, but you can probably do without it. “Facial toners are designed to restore the pH of the skin after cleansing,” says Patricia Farris, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Tulane University School of Medicine. (Disrupting the skin’s pH upsets its natural balance and causes irritation and dryness.) “But if you use a gentle cleanser that doesn’t affect skin pH then you don’t need a toner.”

What to use instead: Just a gentle cleanser or fragrance-free bar soap with no antibacterial additives, says Farris. One caveat: If you have exceptionally oily skin, it may be fine to use an alcohol-free toner, but most people really don’t need it, she says.

 

Expensive moisturizers

Forget paying hundreds of dollars for “miraculous” high-end creams infused with exotic ingredients. “There have been no studies to support that expensive face creams do better than a good mid-level brand,” says Rebecca Kazin, medical director at Johns Hopkins Dermatology and Cosmetic Center at Green Spring Station in Lutherville, Md. “Typically a moisturizer is a moisturizer.”

What to use instead: To fight wrinkles or improve skin texture, look for moisturizers with retinols or antioxidants—many drugstore brands are fine. Your routine should always begin with sunscreen (yes, even during winter). An ideal sunscreen protects against UVA and UVB rays and has an SPF of 30 or higher.

 

Multivitamins

They’re likely not necessary for healthy people who have no vitamin deficiencies, says Melrose. And some supplements can actually cause health problems if consumed in excess amounts, he says. For instance, too much vitamin A can cause liver damage and too much vitamin C can cause kidney stones and diarrhea, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

What to use instead: If you have no deficiencies, just eat a well-rounded diet that includes whole foods like fruits and vegetables. Exceptions: Pregnant women should take prenatal vitamins to prevent birth defects, says Melrose, and people who are nutrition-deficient can benefit from supplements recommended by a healthcare professional.

 

Douches

Douching—washing the vagina with water or other fluids—isn’t necessary and can actually be harmful. That’s because douching can upset the vagina’s normal balance, making you more susceptible to infection or irritation, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

What to use instead: Nothing—the vagina cleans itself, says ACOG. But if you notice a change in discharge or unpleasant odor, make an appointment with your health practitioner. It could be a sign of infection.

 

Scented feminine products

Like douches, scented tampons, sprays, and pads can do more harm than good, potentially leading to infection and vaginal irritation.

What to use instead: Unscented feminine products, advises ACOG. To stay fresh and maintain vaginal health, wash only outside the vagina with mild soap and plain warm water—or warm water alone.

 

Some cold-prevention remedies

Runny nose? You can probably skip the echinacea and vitamin C, says Melrose: Studies on their effectiveness have been inconclusive. And take care with zinc-based nasal sprays. They can stifle your sense of smell, perhaps permanently, according to the Mayo Clinic.

What to use instead: “It’s better to just wash your hands during cold and flu season,” says Melrose—using regular soap, of course.

Original Artical: http://health.msn.com/healthy-living/10-overhyped-health-products

Health, Nutrition

10 Overrated Health Foods

By

Like it or not, we tend to believe whatever we are exposed to in the media and in advertisements. In nutrition, this usually means that as a society we all follow the same diet fads, glorifying some foods over others in the quest for better health. (It’s okay, I love salmon and coconut water as much as you do.)

Problem is, though, more often than not the news or the health claims made by food manufacturers vastly overstate any potential health benefits, because it makes a more compelling story and sells more products. Our own confirmation biases tend to make us believe what we’re told, we confidently share our insight with our friends, and suddenly our grocery stores are filled with health foods that really aren’t all they are cracked up to be.

Here are my 10 picks for the most overrated health foods.

1. Yogurt

There is nothing innately wrong with yogurt, the natural product. But the real stuff is not nearly as easy to find as the hyper-sweetened dessert versions filling supermarket shelves. Though yogurt can contain beneficial probiotics, friendly bacteria are also present in other fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi and miso. And if you are worried about acne, dairy is probably not your best choice.

Oh, and the overratedness is doubly true of frozen yogurt.

If you’d rather keep yogurt as your breakfast staple (something I’m certainly not opposed to), go for plain yogurt that is either full or low-fat. Don’t fall for the vanilla trap, it is not plain and has even more sugar than most fruit versions. You need some fat in your yogurt so you can absorb the fat-soluble vitamin D added to most milk-based products.

2. Soy

Soy is another one of those foods that can be perfectly healthy, but can also be processed into oblivion until it’s an unhealthy product. Hydrogenated soy oil is among the most common sources of trans fat. Processed products are often touted as healthy just because they contain soy, but evidence suggests soy is not exactly the health panacea it is often made out to be. For a healthier version, stick to fermented soy products like miso, natto or tempeh.

3. Egg Whites

It baffles me that Americans continue to vilify the most nutritious part of the egg while glorifying the less impressive half. Sure, egg whites are a good source of protein on their own, but you’re probably not lacking protein and would likely benefit from the rich nutrients of the entire egg.

4. Margarine

Why we need a manmade source of processed oils when there are so many naturally healthy sources of fat is beyond me — that is, assuming you can even find margarines that do not contain hydrogenated oils/trans fats. If you really want more stanols and sterols in your diet, try eating more nuts, avocados and vegetables.

5. Bananas

Though I have a bit of a reputation for picking on bananas, I really don’t think they’re all bad and they definitely taste yummy. My biggest problem with them is that they are one of the most calorie-dense fruits you can buy, and most of us don’t need all that extra sugar from a “health” food.

6. Fake Meat

Next time you get a chance, check out the ingredients in your favorite meat substitute. It’s usually a lot of gluten, some processed soy, canola oil, corn starch, and a few bizarre ingredients like “natural vegetarian flavors” (mmm…. vegetarians). Call me crazy, but real meat sounds a lot more appealing.

7. Protein Bars

Remember back in the day when PowerBars tasted like crap? Well they would all still taste that way if manufacturers didn’t fill them with sugar or fake sugar substitutes. Look at the ingredients, the vast majority of protein bars are the same processed junk that’s in everything else, just with a few more vitamins, some added soy protein and possibly some added fiber. Adding nutrients to junk food does not a health food make.

8. Whole Grain Flour

Ah, whole grains, how controversial be thy name. Though I’m not as anti-grain as some folks, I don’t pretend that highly processed “whole wheat flour” is actually good for me. Grains that don’t look like grains are not your friends.

9. Low-Fat Salad Dressing

Yes, fat contains more calories than protein or carbohydrates, but it also enables you to absorb more vitamins from the foods you eat and makes your meals more satisfying. Fat-free dressings do not make you healthier, they make your salad less nourishing.

10. Fruit Juice

Juicing fruit concentrates the sugar while stripping out the filling fiber. When you remember that one 450-mL bottle of orange juice is equivalent to six whole oranges, you can start to see where the problem is.

Original Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/darya-pino/health-food_b_1391375.html#s829698&title=Yogurt

 

Health, Nutrition

Is sugar toxic?

(CBS News) Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, believes the high amount of sugar in the American diet, much of it in processed foods, is killing us. And as Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports, new scientific research seems to support his theory that sugar is toxic, including some linking the excess ingestion of sugars to heart disease. Gupta’s report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday, April 1 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Americans are now consuming nearly 130 pounds of added sugars per person, per year. Those include both sugar and high fructose corn syrup. And while many vilify high fructose corn syrup and believe it is worse than sugar, Dr. Lustig says metabolically there is no difference. “They are basically equivalent. The problem is they’re both bad. They’re both equally toxic,” he says.

Dr. Lustig treats sick, obese children, who he believes are primarily sick because of the amount of sugar they ingest. He says this sugar not only leads to obesity, but to “Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease itself.” Something needs to be done says Dr. Lustig. “Ultimately, this is a public health crisis…you have to do big things and you have to do them across the board,” he tells Gupta. “Tobacco and alcohol are perfect examples,” he says, referring to the regulations imposed on their consumption and the warnings on their labels. “I think sugar belongs in this exact same wastebasket.”

A recent study supports the idea that excess consumption of high fructose corn syrup is linked to an increase in risk factors for heart disease by increasing a type of cholesterol that can clog arteries. The University of California, Davis, study also indicated that calories from added sugars are different than those from other foods. Subjects had 25 percent of their caloric intake replaced with sweetened drinks. Nutritional biologist Kimber Stanhope was surprised to see that after only two weeks, “We found that the subjects who consumed high fructose corn syrup had increased levels of LDL cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease,” she tells Gupta. “I started eating and drinking a whole lot less sugar.”

What happens says Stanhope, is the liver gets overloaded with fructose and converts come of it into fat, which gets into the bloodstream to create “small dense LDL,” the kind of LDL that forms plaque in arteries. The irony here is that for precisely that reason – avoiding heart disease – a government commission in the 1970s mandated that we lower our fat consumption. “When you take the fat out of food, it tastes like cardboard,” says Dr. Lustig. “And the food industry knew that, so they replaced it with sugar…and guess what? Heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and death are skyrocketing,” he tells Gupta.

And other scientific work shows that sugar could also be helping some cancer tumors to grow because sugar stimulates the production of the hormone insulin. Nearly a third of common cancers such as some breast and colon cancers, contain insulin receptors that eventually signal the tumor to consume glucose. Lewis Cantley, a Harvard professor and head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, says some of those cancers have learned to adapt to an insulin-rich environment. “They have evolved the ability to hijack that flow of glucose that’s going by in the bloodstream into the tumor itself.”

What does the sugar industry have to say about this? Gupta spoke with Jim Simon, a member of the board of the Sugar Association. “To say that the American consuming public is going to omit, eliminate sweeteners out of their diet, I don’t think gets us there,” he says. Simon points out that the science is “not completely clear” and it’s wrong to single out one food because the real emphasis should be on long-term reduction of calories, balanced diet and exercise.

Original Article: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57407128/is-sugar-toxic/

Nutrition

Buffalo Wild Wings Nutritional Information

So yesterday we went to BWW for lunch and I asked for the Nutritional Information and they didn’t have it in store so I went to the website and it wasn’t there either but I did find something that said you have to email them. So I emailed them and and received it right away. So I didn’t think anything of not being able to get the nutritional info until I saw it.  It is outragous and I believe that they are one of the reasons this country is in such bad shape health wise.  I have never seen nutritional info this bad before.

Buffalo Wild Wings Nutritional Info PDF

Health

5 Fresh Foods You Shouldn’t Keep in Your Refrigerator

Gallery

By Hilary Meyer, Associate Food Editor, EatingWell Magazine

Now that spring has sprung, I’m loading up on more fresh veggies, and that has me thinking about the best way to store them to keep them at their freshest. I only go to the grocery store once a week, which means I have to keep my produce stored properly to avoid ending up with a giant pile of bad veggies ready for the compost pile at the end of the week.

And as it turns out, the refrigerator is not the go-to storage unit for all your produce. Below are 5 types of produce you shouldn’t keep in your fridge.

Tomatoes: OK, a tomato is technically a fruit, but taste-wise, it’s closer to a vegetable. If you’ve ever grown tomatoes, then you know that they love the heat and hate the cold. Turns out even after they’re plucked from the vine, they still hold their aversion to cold. The fridge is not the ideal place to store tomatoes. Store them there and your perfect tomatoes turn into a mealy disappointment. They’ll still be good for cooking, but not the best for eating fresh. Instead store them on your counter (not in direct sunlight) and enjoy them when they’re ripe.

Basil: Tomatoes and basil go well together on your plate and it turns out they have similar needs in the storage department too. Like tomatoes, basil loves the heat, so extended periods of time in a cold environment like a refrigerator causes it to wilt prematurely. Basil will do best if it’s stored on your counter and treated as you would fresh cut-flowers. A fresh bunch of basil can be stored for in a cup of water (change it every day or two) away from direct sunlight. Covering it loosely with a plastic bag will help keep it moist (but make sure the bag has an opening to allow for some fresh air to seep in).

Potatoes: Potatoes like cool, not cold temperatures. They do best at around 45 degrees F, which is about 10 degrees warmer than the average refrigerator. Most of us don’t have a root cellar (a cool, dark place to store root vegetables like potatoes), so keeping them in a paper bag in a coolish spot (like a pantry) is best. Why paper? It’s more breathable than plastic so potatoes won’t succumb to rot as easily. And why not the fridge? Storing potatoes at cold temperatures converts their starch to sugar more quickly, which can affect the flavor, texture and the way they cook.

Onions: Onions don’t come out of the ground with that protective papery skin. To develop and keep that dry outer layer, they need to be “cured” and kept in a dry environment like a pantry, which is not as damp as the refrigerator. Also, lack of air circulation will cause onions to spoil, as will storing them near potatoes, which give off moisture and gas that can cause onions to spoil quickly. Store onions in a cool, dry, dark, well-ventilated place. (Light can cause the onions to become bitter.) Scallions and chives, however, have a higher water content, bruise more easily and have a shorter shelf life, so store these alliums in the fridge.

Avocados: Avocados don’t start to ripen until after they’re picked from the tree. If you’re buying a rock-hard avocado, don’t store it in your refrigerator, as it slows the ripening process. On the other hand, if you have a perfectly ripe avocado that you’re not ready to use, storing it in the refrigerator may work to your advantage by prolonging your window of opportunity to use it before it becomes overripe. So the bottom line on storing avocados is store hard, unripe avocados on your counter and store ripe avocados in your refrigerator if you’re not going to eat them right away.

BeachBody, Health, Motivational, Newsletter

5 Ways to Break through Dreaded Weight Loss Plateaus

By Justine Holberg

You’re tracking calories, working out each day, then bam! For a week or two, the scale refuses to budge…and you realize you’ve hit a dreaded weight loss plateau. Now what? Even though it’s completely normal to hit a snag in your fitness journey, a perceived setback like this can send even the most dedicated dieter off course, away from healthy eating and toward cookies, cake, and pizza. But you can be strong and start getting back on the weight-loss track again. Try at least one of the following techniques, and there’s a good chance you’ll burst through your plateau in no time. Here are five important things to know about hydration and exercise:

1. Zigzag your daily calorie intake. In theory, you’ve got to eat less to lose more, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes you just have to shake things up. Here’s one way to do it: If your average daily intake is 1,400 calories, try dropping to 1,200 one day, going up to 1,800 the next day, and then dropping back to 1,400. The idea is to keep your metabolism guessing. There’s no magic number that works for everyone, so you’ll have to experiment until you find the right calorie levels for you. According to Beachbody Director of Results Steve Edwards, what happens when you zigzag is that you force your body to choose how many calories it needs to recover from the rigors of your exercise program. “Most people who hit a plateau are undereating. If you are indeed undereating, adding calories for a few days, then lowering them again, will help you force your body into a hormonal response that will not only help you break out of a plateau, but—as you learn to recognize the signals—will teach you how much food you should be eating.”

2. Switch up your exercise routine. If you do the same workout each day, eventually it can start to become less challenging, and (unfortunately) less effective. If you push yourself to new levels of strength or exhaustion, you’ll almost certainly see a shift. Here are some ways you can challenge your body:

  • Swap your jog for a bike ride.
  • Try weights with your cardio routine. (ChaLEAN Extreme® or RevAbs® can help you do this.)
  • Add intervals of high intensity to really make you sweat. (INSANITY® is a great workout for this.)
  • Drop to the floor for 10 push-ups right now!

The idea is to try something different. According to Edwards, “The better you get at something, the easier it becomes. That’s why we’re always telling you to add more weight as you get stronger, and to move faster and jump higher as our programs progress. But it’s also why all of our programs have phases of training. As your body adapts to stimulus, you need to change that stimulus in order to keep results happening.”

3. Eat some almonds. Almonds are a great snack, plus there’s some research that indicates that they can help you burn fat. That’s because they contain fiber and fatty acids—the good kind of fat that helps you lose weight. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity compared two groups of people who ate a 1,000-calorie-a-day diet. As part of their daily diet, one group ate 3 ounces of almonds every day. The other group ate a mix of complex carbs. What happened? The group that ate the almonds lost more weight. So next time you grab a snack, try a small handful of almonds, or as Edwards says, “Any nut, really. While almonds are one of the better nuts, all of them have a similar nutritional profile and make excellent snacks. That research probably would have turned out similarly if they’d used walnuts or filberts or whatever.”

4. Get more sleep. This may seem like the opposite of number 2, but the truth is is that you could be training too hard, which is about the quickest way to hit a weight loss plateau, because an over-trained body holds on to weight as if it were starving to death. There’s no better way to test this than to try and sleep more. The reason is that your body recovers much more quickly from exercise while it’s asleep, and if you’re burning the midnight oil while trying to do INSANITY, you could easily plateau from lack of recovery time. In a recent study at the University of Chicago Medical School, researchers found that during a period when study participants were deprived of sleep, they metabolized glucose less effectively. Additionally, they had higher levels of the hormone cortisol, which has been shown to impair memory, increase insulin resistance, and slow recovery in athletes. “There’s a good reason why five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx said, ‘The Tour is won in bed,'” says Edwards. Your body’s recovery response during deep sleep is only rivaled by performance-enhancing drugs. When you’re on the borderline of overtraining, getting more sleep is the first thing anyone should try.”

5. Relax. Believe it or not, the one big thing besides diet and exercise that can cause you to plateau is stress. When you’re stressed, your body sends out higher levels of the hormone cortisol that, as stated in number 4, can encourage your body to hang on to fat. “Cortisol is actually a performance-enhancing hormone,” says Edwards. “But it’s gotten a bad rap because we’ve begun living our lives at too high a volume. Cortisol is released at times when the body is in an emergency state. It increases performance, but only over a short period of time. When cortisol is released and forced into action at regular intervals, it causes your body to wear down and switch to more drastic means of survival, like holding on to excess amounts of body fat. Your life shouldn’t feel like one big emergency. As a society, we need to learn to be more tranquilo, as the Spanish say.” We get stressed for many reasons, almost all of which are influenced by the society around us. One of the best ways to combat stress is to get some alone time to chill. If you’re the type who can’t let go, try some forced relaxation techniques, of which yoga seems to be one of the most effective. There’s something special about the mind/body interaction of yoga that forces a relaxed state even from the most stressed of us. If you feel you need a lot of help, dig into an intense course, like P90X Yoga X. For others, something lighter, like Yoga Booty Ballet® Pure and Simple Yoga, will do the trick. If you’re not into yoga, then consider at least adding some stretching into your schedule. Most of Beachbody’s programs have at least one stretching session. TurboFire® even has two!

Original Article:http://www.teambeachbody.com/get-fit/fitness-tip/-/ftip/140026045/all/0/75