Lisa Says: I saw this on CBS News and it was such common sense info, I had to post. Enjoy the video.
October 19, 2011 11:05 AM “South Beach Diet” guru issues “wake-up call”
(CBS News) The South Beach Diet changed the way we lose weight. The original South Beach Diet was developed in 1995 by a cardiologist to help his cardiac and diabetic patients lose weight. The diet program replaced bad fats with healthy fats like nuts and oils and bad carbs with good carbs like those from vegetables, whole grains, and fruit.
But now Dr. Arthur Agatston, who created that diet, says Americans are still gaining weight and getting sick from it. In his new book, “The South Beach Wake-Up Call,” Agatston issues a wake-up call and reveals his new strategy to turn your health around. (Click here for video) Continue reading »
Lisa Says: Good info from Harvard Medical School on the physiology of how stress hormones can influence our food cravings PLUS practical steps you can take to reduce the stress ergo the cravings.
How stress can make us overeat
January 3, 2012 Harvard Medical School Newsletter healthbeat@mail.health.harvard.edu
It’s been another hectic day. On impulse, you grab an extra-large candy bar during your afternoon break. You plan to take just a few bites. But before you know it, you’ve polished off the whole thing — and, at least temporarily, you may feel better.
Rest assured you’re not alone. Stress, the hormones it unleashes, and the effects of high-fat, sugary “comfort foods” push people toward overeating.
Effects on appetite
In the short term, stress can shut down appetite. A structure in the brain called the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone, which suppresses appetite. The brain also sends messages to the adrenal glands atop the kidneys to pump out the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline). Epinephrine helps trigger the body’s fight-or-flight response, a revved-up physiological state that temporarily puts eating on hold.
Continue reading »
Lisa Says: Working with others to achieve their optimal health is our passion, and children are the priority. Here is an encouraging article posted in The Atlantic on how specific programming CAN reclaim health.
Some Lessons From Declining Childhood Obesity in New York
TheAtlantic.com Dec 23 2011, 6:05 PM ET
by Marion Nestle – Marion Nestle is professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, and the author of Food Politics, Safe Food, What to Eat, and Pet Food Politics
The interventions that show the most promise are just like those in New York: physical activity and curriculum additions in public schools.
Just in time for the holidays, we get some good news. The New York City Health Department reports that rates of childhood obesity are falling. If the rates were staying constant, I’d consider it a step forward. But these results show rates going down, even if only by a few percentage points. Link to article
Continue reading »
Lisa Says: Great article from Wired.com on how what we eat affects us at the most fundamental levels.
Sugar Makes Us Sleepy (And Protein Wakes Us Up)
By Jonah Lehrer 
December 6, 2011
John Updike, in his short story “Plumbing,” summarized human nature thusly: “We think we are what we think and see when in truth we are upright bags of tripe.” This is a tragic fact that we spend most our lives trying to forget. Although we like to imagine ourselves as the driver – our consciousness is in full control – that belief is a lovely illusion. In reality, we are mere passengers aboard the body, strapped to a fleshy engine that is driving us.
Consider the orexin system. Secreted by a small cluster of neurons in the hypothalamus, orexin is a neuropeptide that regulates an astonishing array of mental properties, from sleepiness to hunger. People with chronically low levels of orexin suffer from narcolepsy and obesity; many also have cataplexy, which occurs when the experience of strong emotions triggers a sudden weakening of skeletal muscles. (Laughter makes them go limp.) Studies have shown that injecting mice with orexin increases metabolism, largely because it makes the animals more active. The reverse is also true: low levels of orexin make people feel rundown and tired. This helps explain the mechanics of sleep deprivation, as keeping monkeys awake for extended periods all but silences their orexin cells. (However, studies show that the exhaustion can be quickly cured with an injection of the peptide.) In many respects, orexin acts like an internal gas pedal, as even slight twitches in the system can dramatically shift levels of activity.
The reason the orexin system is so important is that it links the needs of the body to the desires of the mind…… Continue reading »
Lisa Says: In these days of sky rocketing childhood obesity, this data from Environmental Working Group is a review of 84 popular cereal brands have as much, if not more, sugar than Twinkies and Chips Ahoy cookies. It pays to read your labels ! Enjoy the article.
Sugar in Children’s Cereals by EWG.org December 2011
Popular brands pack more sugar than snack cakes and cookies
Parents have good reason to worry about the sugar content of children’s breakfast cereals, according to an Environmental Working Group review of 84 popular brands.
Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, at nearly 56 percent sugar by weight, leads the list of high-sugar cereals, according to EWG’s analysis.
A one-cup serving of Honey Smacks packs more sugar than a Hostess Twinkie, and one cup of any of 44 other children’s cereals has more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies.
Link to article
Lisa Says: This Associate Press article appears to give a balanced view of cancer screenings (when likely indicated and when not based on individual circumstances). The info helps someone make a more informed decision. One of the most compelling quotes, “We can find cancer early. We can reduce the burden of the disease. But along the way, we’re learning our tests are not as perfect as we’d like,” says the American Cancer Society’s Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, a longtime screening proponent. “We’re learning that we’re now finding cancer that would in fact never cause harm.” Enjoy the article.
Hit Reset On Cancer Screening: ‘Tests Not Perfect’
by The Associated Press WASHINGTON November 7, 2011, 02:35 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — It turns out that catching cancer early isn’t always as important as we thought.
Some tumors are too slow-growing to ever threaten your life. Some are so aggressive that finding them early doesn’t make much difference. And today’s treatments are much better for those somewhere in the middle.
Those complexities are changing the longtime mantra that cancer screening will save your life. In reality, it depends on the type of cancer, the test and who gets checked when.
“We can find cancer early. We can reduce the burden of the disease. But along the way, we’re learning our tests are not as perfect as we’d like,” says the American Cancer Society’s Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, a longtime screening proponent. “We’re learning that we’re now finding cancer that would in fact never cause harm.” Continue reading »
Lisa Says: one of the most common, preventable health issues in America is actually dehydration (affecting every body system and causing symptoms like headaches, confusion, constipation, and fatigue). An easy way to get up to 20% of the water your body is CRAVING in your diet is to eat foods like lettuces and broccolli which are 90% water. Enjoy this short article.
Drink Your Water and Eat it, Too! (published by DATS of National Institute of Health)
Drinking water isn’t the only way to stay hydrated. What we eat can significantly affect our daily fluid needs. As a matter of fact, what you eat and drink each day, besides water, may satisfy your daily fluid needs more than you think. (Click here for the rest of the article)
Lisa Says: I don’t usually post directly from other websites, but this is good info from Mercola.com about the physical effects of consuming fructose and high fructose corn syrup and how it contributes to multiple health issues, sometimes permanent. See the brief but compelling news video in the link provided below.
They Say it’s Safe – But it’s Unknowingly Destroying Your Liver
Posted By Dr. Mercola | August 19 2011
Obesity levels are now so high that many children are suffering from disease more commonly associated with alcohol abuse. Many of them will develop cirrhosis, and some will require liver transplants.
Studies show that millions of children in the U.S. are suffering from “non alcoholic liver disease” which is caused by a build-up of fat within liver cells. This prevents the organ from functioning properly.
According to the Telegraph:
“The condition increases the risks of heart disease, strokes and type 2 diabetes, and can lead to cirrhosis — scarring of the liver — which is often not detected until it is too late … There is no medical treatment for the disease, but the extent of it can be reduced by weightloss and improvements in diet.”
Sources:
Click
here to see the SHORT NEWSCLIP INTEVIEW WITH DR. LEVINE and the rest of the article.
Lisa Says: Got this great, QUICK (17 minutes) recipe from the awesome Two Girls and a Hammer, and if you don’t want to ‘can’ it, it can go straight to freezer and you don’t even have to cook it (follow directions on pectin package). I personally used local honey (Callie and Noor’s from Old Beach Farmer’s Market) instead of sugar.
Recipe for Peach Jam- yield about 6-1⁄2 pint jars
4 cups ripe peaches, peeled and roughly chopped (FREEstone-not clingstone- and boil for 45 seconds only – skin peels right off!)
0-3 cups sugar (depending on taste preference-we use 2 cups)
1 packet Ball pectin No Sugar Needed formula
tiny bit of butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon is preferred if available.
Wash and peel peaches. Chop roughly and crush to desired consistency. Put crushed peaches (4 cups should be aprox 7-8 peaches) into a stockpot, gradually add pectin, add cinnamon, and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat. You may add the butter to reduce foaming if desired.
This jam need 10 minutes processing time at sea level. Different times are needed for different food at different altitudes.
If you want to make freezer jam , you don’t need to cook it but make sure you use the quantities of sugar & peaches on the back of the instant pectin packet and adjust the cinnamon amount if the amount of peaches is very different.
Cooked jam & freezer jam have different sugar requirements because the pectin reacts differently. Cooking uses some of the natural pectin in the fruit.
Lisa Says: Need another reason to upgrade your healthier lifestyle? This Associate Press article details a new research that shows that you can cut the chance of Alzheimer’s by 50% by curbing risk factors such as “high blood pressure, smoking, obesity and lack of exercise.” The research was revealed at the Alzheimer’s Association Internation converence 2011 in Paris July 20, 2011. Check out this Associate Press Article by MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer Study: Healthy living can help prevent Alzheimer’s
