Apr
16
2012
New Flu Virus Making Headlines: Influenza A (H3N2)v
Just as we all thought the flu season was coming to a nice and peaceful conclusion, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a warning about a new strain of influenza A (H3N2) virus-labeled “A (H3N2)v”. Apparently there have been 12 reported infections with this new strain. Whats interesting is that influenza A (H3N2)v is composed of genes from avian, swine and human viruses. Children under the age of 10 are the most vulnerable. The 2011-2012 influenza vaccination does provide some protection against A (H3N2)v and there is a specific vaccination that is being manufactured that will provide direct protection.
Obesity Epidemic Report: Waistlines Continue to Expand!
Here we go again-one day the obesity epidemic is solved. The next day we wake up and read that “by the year 2020, one in five American children will be obese.” What do we believe? Well, recent research coming out of Columbia University’s School of Public Health (Claire Wang, MD, ScD-American Journal of Preventive Medicine), suggests that by analyzing weights of children from 1971 to 2008 (NHANES), the average weight of these children will increase by 2 kilograms, if no action is taken. This translates into the following: 21 % of children ages 2 through 19 would become obese. And by “action” Wang and her associates came up with the following:
Just to stay at ...
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Mar
18
2012
Here we go again, the age old question that continues to make headlines: to lose weight, should we limit the total amount of calories, carbohydrates or the fat grams that we eat? Or should we eat endless amounts of fat and protein and just limit the starchy foods? Or should we eat whole grains, proteins and low fat? Or maybe just liquid protein, or rice or cabbage or grapefruit? What is the answer? Well, it seems that we are slowly getting directed to the answer my friends. A research projected headed by Andrew D. Calvin, M.D., MPH from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, and presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism (EPI/NPAM) meeting in San Diego, suggests that not getting enough sleep will increase the amount of calories that are consumed. In fact, as sleep time decreases, calories intake rises. So it seems that the longer we remain awake, the more we tend to eat. I think this makes a lot of sense. I know from a personal stand point, if I am up late, reading or reviewing the literature, I tend to visit the kitchen quite often. And I can tell by the scale in the morning (besides my pants getting tighter), that I have gained weight because of my nocturnal eating patterns. I bet each and every one of you reading ...
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Mar
02
2012
NERDEL AND THE NERDEL COMPANY JOIN WITH ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
DURING NATIONAL NUTRITION MONTH®
ENCOURAGING EVERYONE TO ‘GET YOUR PLATE IN SHAPE’
Month-long campaign highlights the importance of making informed food choices
and developing sound eating and physical activity habits
Nerdel and The Nerdel Company are proud to join the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) during March in celebrating National Nutrition Month®. This year’s National Nutrition Month theme is “Get Your Plate in Shape” and encourages consumers to remember to include a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and dairy on their plates every day.
Here are a few ways to “Get Your Plate in Shape” from the food and nutrition experts at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:
Make half of your plate fruits and vegetables: Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green, red and orange varieties. Add fresh, dried, frozen or canned fruits to meals and snacks.
Make at least half your grains whole: Choose 100 percent whole-grain breads, cereals, crackers, pasta and brown rice. Check the ingredients list on food packages to find whole-grain foods.
Switch to fat-free or low-fat milk: Fat-free and low-fat milk have the same amount of calcium and other essential nutrients as whole milk, but less fat and calories. For those who are lactose intolerant, try lactose-free milk or a calcium-fortified soy beverage.
Vary your protein choices: Eat a variety of foods from ...
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Feb
12
2012
February is American Heart Month; a month to spread awareness about the importance of heart health. Each year, countless American families are impacted by heart disease and stroke. Although its risk factors can be prevented or controlled, it is still the leading cause of death for all Americans, and accounts for $1 out of every $6 dollars spent on health care. Fortunately, there are many simple steps we can take to prevent heart disease such as eating healthy foods, exercising regularly, and not smoking.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working with both public and private partners to raise awareness of heart disease through vital research investments and public health programs. The Million Hearts Initiative takes aim at this disease, with a goal of preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes over the next 5 years. Other efforts, like the HeartTruth, which addresses women’s heart health, and the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, which confronts childhood obesity by helping children choose healthy foods and stay active, work to provide people with resources and ways to make heart healthy changes in their everyday lives .
And thanks to the new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, new health plans must now cover recommended preventive services, including blood pressure screening for all adults and cholesterol screening for adults of certain ages or at higher risk, cost-free.
This month, as we take time to ...
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Jan
13
2012
Okay my friends, I don’t want to be the “I told you” type but I did! The “you’re fat” tax is coming soon. So you ask, what in the world is a “fat tax”? I am glad you asked. As we all are aware, obesity is growing at an alarming rate. Most of us are already overweight and some of us are way overweight-yes face it we are obese. Come on, take a look at your waist line. Look down there now. You can see it as plain as day. Yes, say it with me, I am overweight. Good-that’s a start. You have tried dieting, exercising and nothing seems to work. Well, our government seems to think that it is now up to our elected public officials to help correct an epidemic. How, you may ask? How does the government respond to issues that threaten public safety-by making new laws and regulations and yes, you know it, it’s on the tip of your tongue-yes, taxes! Of course, taxes-a penalty for this indiscretion. Only this time, the indiscretion is being overweight. As many friends of mine point out, when injuries and fatal accidents as a result of car crashes became major issues, wearing seatbelts was advised. However this advisory didn’t help. So the next step was a law and regulation that made it mandatory for everyone to buckle-up. And it’s working. ...
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Jan
05
2012
Here are my top ten ways to stay fit and healthy for 2012:
10. Eat more fruits and veggies for every meal-yes, this is super important. Besides being a recommendation by the USDA and the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, fruits and veggies have lots of vitamins, antioxidants, nutrients and fiber with very little fat and sugar. Remember to “make half of your plate fruits and veggies.”
9. Exercise for at least 60 minutes a day. Okay, I know you are saying to yourself, “unrealistic,” but this is really important, not only for kids but for adults too. Exercise provides many healthy benefits including weight control and it has been firmly established that those adults that exercise on a regular basis are a healthier group of adults and can maintain their good health as they age. For kids, they too need 60 minutes a day-including recess and other physical activity. For some adults, 90 minutes is needed. Walking is included and remember the 10,000 steps a day theory-that will equal approximately 5 miles-so get yourself a pedometer and get going!
8. Drink lots of water and forget the sugar and salt loaded, supplement loaded energy drinks. Many of the energy drinks that are available today are meant for use by athletes that are involved with vigorous training. If you fit into that category, then maybe you can benefit from a supplement loaded fluid replacement. ...
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Dec
18
2011
Professional basketball player Jeff Green of the Boston Celtics went in to have his annual physical and came out with unexpected news: he has an aortic aneurysm and will need to have surgery. Green, 25, will undergo surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and will miss the entire 2011-2012 abbreviated NBA basket ball season.
What is an aortic aneurysm anyway? The aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body and sometimes due to various medical conditions and risk factors (e.g. high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, male gender, emphysema, genetic factors and obesity), it becomes very large and dilated and can balloon outward which is called an aneurysm. This ballooning has a high risk of bursting or rupturing, which is usually catastrophic and most of the time lethal. The key is to catch it early!!
What are the symptoms of an aortic aneurysm? In most cases, the aneurysms develop slowly over a long time and can be painless while growing to a large size. As the blood vessel grows and expands, sometimes it can grow rapidly and start to tear. When it tears, the symptoms may be the following: pain in the abdomen or back, pain that radiates into the groin, buttocks and legs, nausea, vomiting, rapid heart rate, clammy skin and finally shock.
What are the physical signs of an aortic aneurysm? A lump in the abdominal area or feeling a pulsation in ...
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Dec
12
2011
DON’T EAT WHEN YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY!
We are all guilty of eating when we are not really hungry. Some call it stress, while others say they just need to have something to keep them busy. Others say they don’t know why they are eating-they just eat and eat and eat. Is it due to the TV commercial for that juicy burger or oven hot pizza? How about just sitting and watching television. Have you worn out the path to the kitchen?Whatever the reason is, it's not hunger that is stimulating this “extra” eating. And this “extra” eating piles on the calories, lots of them! In between snacks and non hunger related snacking made up of carbs and fats are responsible for a large amount of the overweight and obesity we are seeing. So how do we change this persistent habit? A new study by a group of researchers at the University of Minnesota led by Kerri Boutelle, Ph.D. and published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, demonstrates that by improving the responses to the clues of truly being hungry and decreasing the responses to non hunger related eating, children can be trained to respond better to hunger and less to other stimuli (e.g. television commercials focusing on food). Boutelle and her group were also able to train children to understand body clues better and to respond better to being satiated ...
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Dec
05
2011
WOMEN WHO EAT LOTS OF VEGETABLES HAVE A LOWER RISK OF STROKE
Dr. Susanne Rautiainen and her research group from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, reported in the journal: Stroke, that after collecting data on the dietary habits of women, they found that those women who consumed the highest amount of antioxidant containing foods (foods that have elevated levels of vitamins C, E, carotenoids, flavonoids and phytochemicals-fruits and veggies and grains) had a lower risk of stroke. Lesson-Make half your plate fruits and veggies-especially if you are a woman!!!
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES AND EFFECT ON BRAIN FUNCTIONING
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine presented data recently showing that in a test group of young men, ages 18 to 29, that were told to play a violent video game for ten hours, MRI studies and cognitive testing performed afterwards revealed changes in brain function, and cognitive behavior. These changes did revert back almost to baseline, after a week of not playing the games. Lesson: parents, be careful with what video games your children are playing in your home and at the homes of friends. There is an abundance of violent and incredibly popular video games coming out daily, for all of the techno-game boxes and these games seem to obtain viewing access in many homes with young children. Be aware, stay informed and stay connected !
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE GOES UNTREATED IN MANY ...
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Nov
29
2011
As I was scanning the morning health news, like I always do every morning, I came across another positive article supporting the Mediterranean Diet. This new research, coming to us from the online European Respiratory Journal , by researchers from the University of Crete in Greece, focused on a sleep condition commonly found in obese individuals called Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). Sleep apnea is a disorder of the normal sleep pattern associated with pauses in breathing. The study found that obese subjects that followed a Mediterranean diet, had more motivation to stay on the diet, more enthusiasm to follow an exercise plan and a decrease in the episodes of the OSAS.
So why is this diet so good for us? Let’s examine it a bit more closely. The Mediterranean diet, took its name from the foods and diet that was being followed by the residents of Southern Italy, mainland Greece and the island of Crete in the 1960’s. This plant based diet is composed of lots of olive oil/olives, fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains (cereals and breads), beans, dairy in the form of yogurts and cheese, tree nuts, but no BUTTER. Also there is a moderate consumption of fish and poultry, low to moderate consumption of eggs and a low consumption of red meat. Moderate alcohol intake, optional to the diet, is an additional beverage added to meals. Regular outdoor ...
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