Happy New Year!

Teen obesity tied to poor mom-child relationship according to study

Dec 28 (Reuters) - Toddlers who have poor relationships with their mother are more likely to pack on extra weight as they grow up, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers who followed nearly 1,000 children into their teens found that more than 25 percent of those who scored lowest on mother-child relationship tests as toddlers went on to become obese at age 15, findings in Pediatrics said.

By contrast, only 13 percent of the children who had a good relationship with their mother became obese.

While that doesn't prove cause and effect, researchers say other work has shown links between children's emotional and intellectual development and how they interact with their mother at a young age.

It's possible that a stressful childhood could make a lasting impression on children's brains, said Sarah Anderson, who worked on the study.

"There is an overlap in the brain between the areas that govern stress and energy balance," said Anderson, at the Ohio State University College of Public Health in Columbus.

"This stress response could be related to obesity through appetite regulation."

The study was based on 977 children who were videotaped while playing with their mother at about one, two and three years of age.

Researchers then assessed the toddler's relationship to their mothers based on the mother's ability to recognize her child's emotional state and respond with warmth, as well as the child's tendency to explore its environment freely, a measure of "attachment security."

A quarter of the toddlers had a "poor-quality" relationship to their mothers, whereas 22 percent achieved perfect scores at each session.

At 15 years, 26 percent of the children with relationship trouble were obese -- twice as many as those without such problems.

However, the gap narrowed as more factors were taken into account, including maternal education and household income.

David Gozal, a pediatrician who was not involved in the study, agreed, although he said unhealthy food and a lack of physical activity and sleep are likely to play a bigger role.

Still, stress -- both via genetic reprogramming and behavioral changes -- may also have an impact, and a poor mother-child relationship could be part of that, he said.

"What you see in adulthood is obviously the cumulative effect of what has happened earlier in life," said Gozal, physician-in-chief at the Corner Children's Hospital in Chicago.

Today, 17 percent of all children and adolescents in the United States are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But Anderson said that even if poor relationships at home contributed, there is no point in chiding mothers.

"Blaming parents is not likely to solve anything. It's important to recognize that there are many competing demands on parents," she added.

SOURCE: reuters.com

Ohio puts 200-pound third-grader in foster care

I know this news is old, but I'll post it anyway since obesity is a huge problem that we can deal with if we can just promote eating healthy foods and exercise. I feel sorry for the 8-year-old kid and I hope he’ll not be traumatized because of it.

People need to open their eyes and eat healthy, stay away from junk foods and exercise a lot.

CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio third-grader who weighs more than 200 pounds has been taken from his family and placed into foster care after county social workers said his mother wasn't doing enough to control his weight.

The Plain Dealer reports that the Cleveland 8-year-old is considered severely obese and at risk for such diseases as diabetes and hypertension.

The case is the first state officials can recall of a child being put in foster care strictly for a weight-related issue.

Lawyers for the mother say the county overreached when authorities took the boy last week. They say the medical problems he is at risk for do not yet pose an imminent danger.

A spokeswoman says the county removed the child because caseworkers saw his mother's inability to reduce his weight as medical neglect.

Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com

The Health Benefits and Cons of Coffee

Health Benefits of Coffee

Brain Gains. Moderate coffee drinking—between 1 and 5 cups daily—may help reduce risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as Parkinson’s disease, studies suggest. How? Coffee’s antioxidants may prevent some damage to brain cells and boost the effects of neurotransmitters involved in cognitive function, say experts. ­Preliminary studies have noted that as coffee (or tea) intake rises, ­incidence of glioma, a form of brain cancer, tends to drop. Some ­researchers speculate that compounds in the brews could activate a DNA-repairing protein in cells—possibly preventing the DNA damage that can lead to cells becoming cancerous.

Defeating Diabetes. Studies link frequent coffee consumption (4 cups per day or more) with a lowered risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Scientists suspect that antioxidant compounds in coffee—cholorogenic acid and quinides—may boost cells’ sensitivity to insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar. While most of the research didn’t assess whether the brews were caffeinated, decaf may be even better, since other studies have found that caffeine tends to blunt the insulin-sensitivity boost.

Hearty Benefits. Some studies show that moderate coffee drinkers (1 to 3 cups/day) have lower rates of stroke than non-coffee-drinkers; coffee’s antioxidants may help quell inflammation’s damaging effects on arteries. Some researchers speculate that the compounds might boost activation of nitric oxide, a substance that widens blood vessels (lowering blood pressure). More java isn’t better: a 5-cup or more daily habit is associated with higher heart disease risks. Researchers ­believe excessive caffeine may sabotage the antioxidants’ effects.

Liver Lover. Though the research is limited at best, it appears that the more coffee people drink, the lower their incidence of cirrhosis and other liver diseases. One analysis of nine studies found that every 2-cup increase in daily coffee intake was associated with a 43 percent lower risk of liver cancer. Possible explanation: caffeine and antioxidant chlorogenic and caffeic acids in coffee might prevent liver inflammation and inhibit cancer cells.

Health Cons of Coffee

Java Jones. If you’re sensitive to caffeine, it can cause irritability or anxiety in high doses (and what’s "high" varies from person to person). How? Chemically, caffeine looks a lot like adenosine, a "slow-down" brain chemical associated with sleep and relaxation of blood vessels. Caffeine binds to adenosine receptors on nerve cells, leaving no room for adenosine to get in—so nerve cell activity speeds up, blood vessels constrict—and you get a caffeine buzz (or irritable jitters).

Of course, if you caffeinate yourself daily, you’ll likely develop tolerance to its effects and the jitters will subside. But that also means that eventually you’ll need a regular caffeine fix just to reach your baseline level of alertness. And your body will adapt by producing more adenosine receptors, making you more sensitive to the effects of adenosine. So if you don’t have your daily cup, you’ll likely develop withdrawal symptoms like extreme fatigue and splitting headaches (caused by ­constricted blood vessels).

A Sleep-Stealer. If you’re having trouble sleeping it might help to cut down on caffeinated coffee, or to drink it only early in the day. Generally it takes about 6 hours for the caffeine to clear your system, although it varies from person to person. The sleep-robbing effects may worsen as we age, too, a recent study suggests.

Cholesterol Caution. Boiled or unfiltered coffee (such as that made with a French press, or Turkish-style coffee) contains higher levels of cafestol, a compound that can increase blood levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Choose filtered methods instead, such as a drip coffee maker.

Prudence for Pregnant and Nursing Women. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology says it’s safe for pregnant women to get a moderate amount of caffeine (no more than 200 mg, equivalent to 2 cups of coffee per day), but warns that it’s still not clear if higher intakes could increase risk of miscarriage. Since ­caffeine can pass into breast milk, nursing moms should cut down if their babies are restless or irritable.

Source: eatingwell.com

Test

Master Cleanse Diet, Weight loss Results

Here are the results, after 10 days of intense dieting, totally no food just lemon juice all through out. I lost (drum roll) . . . . 16 pounds. I'm now 130 lbs. this diet is really hard, I dream of food all day. I even chew when I'm dreaming at night. But it's all worth it.

Design-it-yourself Jewelry Store

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10% promotion code (sheyna10) 

Master Cleanse Diet Youtube

I searched for Master Cleanse Diet on youtube to check for people who are doing this diet and found these. I'm really up beat to complete this diet once I watched their videos. They lose tons of weight in just a few days. Check out their videos below it'll surely inspire you.

Master Cleanse Diet, Weight loss

Grade B organic maple syrup - check, lemons - check, non-iodized sea salt - check, cayenne pepper - check, herbal teas - check. Now let's see if this works!

Master Cleanse Diet, Weight loss, http://haileyswellnessblog.blogspot.com/

Read about it here - http://themastercleanse.org, thought I'd give it a try.

If you want to join me here you can follow these steps:

1) You'll need these following ingredients:

 a)  Grade B organic maple syrup, it should be grade B or C, however grade C is very hard to find.

 b)  Lemons - freshly squeezed.

 c) non-iodized sea salt - it should also be unrefined. 

 d) cayenne pepper

 e) laxative tea

2) First thing in the morning you will need to drink 1 liter of water mixed with 2 tsps of sea salt. You must drink it straight because the taste is awful. This is called salt water flush. 

3) The salt water flush will make you move bowel. After that you can start drinking the Lemonade. You must not exceed 12 glasses a day. To make the Lemonade simply mix the freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 tall glass of water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. 

4) A couple of hours before bed time, take laxative tea.

You are not allowed to eat any food. If you are hungry what you can take is only the lemonade, a mint tea, or water. 

5) The recommended length of this diet is minimum of 10 days. 

I'm going to start tomorrow, I'll keep you updated on how much I lose. Right now I'm 146 pounds. I really hope this will work. 

Doctors see face in testicle

Canadian doctors were shocked to see a man's face staring back at them when they performed an ultrasound of a testicle tumour.

"It was almost like art coming out of this patient's testicles," said Dr. Naji Touma, an assistant professor of urology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. "It was an amusing finding."

G. Gregory Roberts and Naji J. Touma from Ontario's Queen's University discovered the image of a man with a pained expression on his face while scanning the inflamed testicles of a 45-year-old patient.

"A brief debate ensued on whether the image could have been a sign from a deity (Min the Egyptian god of male virility); however, the consensus deemed it a mere coincidental occurrence rather than a divine proclamation."

The 45-year-old had the testicle removed with no complications. Fortunately for the patient the tumour turned out to be benign.


Photograph by: Handout, Queen's University

Body attempts to regain after weight loss

By Melissa Healy

Los Angeles Times

As if people needed a reminder that losing weight is hard and maintaining weight loss is even harder, a study has found that for at least a year, subjects who shed weight on a low-calorie diet were hungrier than when they started and had higher levels of hormones that tell the body to eat more, conserve energy and store away fuel as fat.

The report, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, helps explain why roughly 80 percent of dieters regain lost pounds within a year or two of losing them and, sometimes, regain more.

After weight loss, "multiple compensatory mechanisms" spring to life, the study shows, and work together to ensure that weight loss is reversed.

The researchers, led by Joseph Proietto of the University of Melbourne's Department of Medicine, write that more than one solution to obesity will likely be necessary: "a combination of medications" that will have to be safe for long-term use.

The study paints a "very comprehensive" and "really discouraging" picture of the breadth of the body's response to weight loss, said Dr. Daniel Bessesen, an endocrinologist and obesity researcher at the University of Colorado Hospital.

The study enrolled 50 obese men and women without major health problems and put them on a strict low- calorie diet for eight weeks.

Within two weeks after that diet, and again a year later, researchers measured subjects' blood levels of nine hormones that affect appetite and metabolism, and asked subjects about feelings of hunger.

Even 52 weeks after subjects had completed their diets and were struggling to maintain their loss, their hormones were sending a single message: Eat more.

Weight-loss gene test in the spotlight

WEIGHT-loss programs based on genetic tests operating out of pharmacies at a $1600 cost to patients have become the latest enterprise to expose the Pharmacy Guild to controversy over its links to commercialized care.

The guild, already under a cloud over its deals with drug companies and the abandoned agreement with complementary medicine giant Blackmores, has an agreement with a genetic testing company to provide dietitian-led weight-loss programs at pharmacy clinics.

Experts have dismissed the genetic test-based weight-loss program as a ''gimmick'' which did not have the support of clinical research.

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Under the Pharmacy Guild's agreement with a Melbourne-based testing company, MyGene, pharmacies provide clinic space for a dietitian to take the test swab which is then analysed for genes linked to how the body metabolises carbohydrates and lipids.

The in-pharmacy dietitian then provides nine sessions of dietary advice based on the test results which are said to guide ''a personally optimised eating plan and weight-loss program'', a joint statement by the guild and MyGene stated when the scheme was launched in March.

The overall price for test and dietitian services is $1600, the managing director of MyGene, Nick Argyrou, said yesterday.

Mr Argyrou said the scheme had proved ''very popular'' and was now offered in 15 pharmacies, mostly in Victoria and about to open in Sydney and had been successful in reducing patients' weight.

A spokesman for the guild said that under due diligence arrangements, MyGene had produced ''a body of supporting evidence''.

Associate Professor Katie Allen, a gastroenterologist and food allergy expert, said the research findings MyGene cited did not back the use of genetic tests to guide weight-loss programs. While the idea of tailoring a diet to fit with a particular patient's profile ''would be wonderful, at the present time there is insufficient evidence to support that as a currently available therapy'', Professor Allen of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute said.

But Toorak pharmacist John Button, whose store offers the MyGene service, says he accepts the scheme might be controversial, but said: ''I don't think it is charlatanism. It is not a poke in the dark.''

The weight-loss program had worked for his customers, including his friends who had been pleased with the results.

Mr Button said he did not receive any ''kickback'' and his only revenue from the service was sales of the meal substitute diet shakes recommended to customers in line with the recommendation of the dietitian on the basis of the genetic test findings.

A spokeswoman for the Therapeutic Goods Administration, said yesterday it appeared that the MyGene test for weight loss was not a therapeutic good and did not need to be registered as a therapeutic good.

Source theage.com by Mark Metherell

Coffee reduces depression in women

Coffee is known to decrease suicide attempts, reduced risk of Parkinson's disease and delays dementia. It can also positively affect cognitive performance, to reduce liver problems, and to provide antioxidants helpful in fighting cancer.

Now researchers believes that drinking coffee reduces depression in women.

According to the New York Times,

During the decade that the women were followed, 2,607 cases of clinical depression were diagnosed. Over all, women who regularly drank coffee had a lower risk of depression — about 20 percent — than the women who abstained, and the risk was dose-dependent. In other words, the likelihood of depression fell with each additional cup of coffee, in this case up to as many as six cups a day.

When soda, herbal teas and other sources of caffeine were taken into account, the relationship did not hold up. “The other sources were so minimal,” said Dr. Ascherio. “Nobody would get the equivalent of four cups of coffee by drinking tea or caffeinated drinks.”

The researchers aren’t sure why caffeine might keep depression at bay. “We know that caffeine enters the brain and activates the release of different neurotransmitters that are related to mood, like dopamine and serotonin,” Dr. Ascherio said. “That may explain the shorter-term effects on mood. But the long-term mechanisms of caffeine intake on mood we don’t really know.”

America's Top 10 Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants

Health magazine rates the top 10 healthiest fast food restaurants in America based on their efforts to provide nutritious fare.

They surveyed the nation’s 100 largest fast-food chains, as defined by the number of locations, and found many are creating menus that look more and more like what we’d cook ourselves (if we had the time)—from nutritious soups and healthy salads to fresh whole grains and sensible desserts. Even better: They’re offering good-news Mexican, Asian, and Mediterranean fare.

1. Panera Bread

2. Jason's Deli

3. Au Bon Pain

4. Noodles and Company

5. Corner Bakery Cafe

6. Chipotle

7. Atlanta Bread

8. McDonald's

9. Einstein Bros. Bagels

10. Taco Del Mar

I was surprised that McDonald's is even on the list. Are they serving new and improve low sodium low calorie Happy Meals now? Well, I guess so according to Health magazine:

“Among the big burger-based chains, McDonald’s is leading the way in overhauling its menu to offer more heart- and waist-friendly fare. Take the Happy Meals, which you can order with a side of apple dippers (with low-fat caramel) instead of fries and low-fat milk or fruit juice instead of soda. (Now the trick is just getting your kid to go for them!) And if you’ve gotta have fries, McDonald’s are made in a healthy canola-blend oil and come in at just 230 calories for a small.”

It’s safe to say that I can now visit McDonald’s for a meal. I just wish I can super size the apple dippers.  

Half of U.S. adults will be obese by 2030, report says

A report said that based on trends, half of the adults in the United States will be obese by 2030 unless the government makes changing the food environment a policy priority, according to a report released Thursday on the international obesity crisis in the British medical journal the Lancet.

Well, judging from the people I see in Wal-mart I think it will happen earlier than 2030. 

Blood Test Can Tell Baby's Gender at 7 Weeks

Here’s a great news! A new blood test can determine a baby’s gender, with 95 percent accuracy, seven weeks into a pregnancy—without the risks of such invasive procedures as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis, both of which pose a small threat of triggering a miscarriage, reports an analysis to be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on August 10. The blood test is already used in Europe and may be offered in the US as soon as 2012.

Currently, most expectant parents have to wait at least 11 to 12 weeks into the pregnancy, when an ultrasound may be able to detect a baby’s gender. However, first trimester results are wrong in up to 50 percent of cases: Earlier this year, Victoria Beckham was crushed when a scan seemed to indicate she was carrying a boy, only to be ecstatic when a subsequent ultrasound showed that she was actually expecting a girl.

source

The new test provides valuable medical information to parents who have a family history of gender-linked diseases and could allow doctors to treat babies for some inherited disorders before birth, says study co-author Diana Bianchi, MD, executive director of the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medial Center.  However, the test also raises troubling ethical concerns, since it could also be used for gender selection, giving expectant moms the option of terminating a pregnancy earlier than ever before if the baby is the “wrong” gender. Here’s a closer look at the research.

How does the gender test work?  A sample of the pregnant woman’s blood is sent to a lab for cell-free fetal DNA testing. If the sample contains Y chromosomes, the baby is male, while absence of Y chromosomes indicates a girl. There are several ways to perform cell-free DNA testing. The study found that the best method uses a technique called real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

How reliable are the results? The JAMA analysis, which pooled the results of 57 earlier studies involving 3,525 pregnancies in which the mom was carrying a boy, and 3,017 pregnancies in which the baby was a girl, found that the test results were 95 percent accurate at seven weeks, and nearly 100 percent accurate by 20 weeks.

What about online tests that claim to be able to tell a baby’s gender with 99.9 percent accuracy at 5 weeks? Don’t waste your money on these products. Such claims were what inspired the study, says Dr. Bianchi. “There is absolutely no scientific evidence that it’s possible to determine fetal gender with 99.9 percent accuracy at five weeks. Our analysis found that at that point in pregnancy, blood tests are 75 percent accurate at identifying male fetuses.”

What inherited disorders make it important to know a fetus’ gender? X-linked disorders, which include hemophilia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, are carried on the X chromosome and strike males. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or CAH, is an inherited disorder that can cause a female fetus to develop “ambiguous genitals,” or even sex organs that look like those of a male. If the condition is detected in utero, says Dr. Bianchi, the mother can be treated with steroids, so that a baby girl with CAH isn’t born with masculine-looking genitals. CAH affects one in 14,000 babies, and has no adverse effect on the development of the genitals of a male infant.

Can expectant moms in the US get this test? Currently, no American academic or certified labs offer the test, according to Dr. Bianchi. There are online tests, but their reliability is questionable. However, some US ob/gyns and geneticists, including Dr. Bianchi, order the test through European labs if an expectant mom has a family history of gender-linked inherited disorders. Having the test can help such parents avoid the need for invasive procedures like amniocentesis, which can lead to a miscarriage in about one in 200 cases.

When will the test come to the US? Dr. Bianchi predicts that it may be available as early as next year. Since the blood test isn’t used to diagnose a medical condition, it doesn’t need FDA-approval, she adds. “With several companies soon to roll out a blood test for Down syndrome, there’s every reason to expect that the blood test to determine fetal gender will also be available next year, since it’s simpler to perform than the Down syndrome test.” The gender test could also help reduce medical costs, by decreasing the need for amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling.

Italianni's

Diet soda = larger waistlines

SAN JOSE, Calif. — No good deed goes unpunished, and that seems to include people who virtuously reach for diet sodas instead of the calorie-laden good stuff.

Before guzzling that artificially sweetened beverage in a haze of guilt-free carbonation, bear in mind that your diet soda may only be adding to your bottom line — or your waistline. At least that's the conclusion of a recently completed 12-year study.

The study looked at 474 people, ages 65 to 74, and found that, on average, those who drank diet sodas ended up with waistlines that increased three times more than those who avoided them.

As the ones that you work on training get stronger, the neglected ones get weaker which included people who drank water, juices and even regular sodas, said Helen Hazuda, chief of clinical epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, and one of the study's investigators.

These results were comparable to similar studies in younger people, said Hazuda.

Belmont, Calif., resident Karen Krebser, 46, has been drinking diet soda since high school in an effort to help manage her weight. "I'm currently mostly off refined sugar and have tried a zillion different diets, but the one constant has been diet soda," she said.

Krebser consumes three or four cans a day since she gave up refined sugar in April. But after hearing about this unpublished study — presented at the American Diabetes Association Conference in June — she threw out the can of diet soda sitting on her desk.

There isn't a single explanation as to why drinks with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose or saccharin result in us having to squeeze our bulging bellies into larger pants.

Part of the reason could be psychological, Hazuda said. Some people splurge on calories in their food because they're saving on calories in their drinks. Think Big Macs and super-sized fries and diet Cokes.

Another factor Hazuda thinks plays a role in expanding waistlines is something called taste dysfunction. Because artificial sweeteners taste hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar, our bodies come to expect sugary foods to be extremely sweet. So we start to seek out more sugar-laden options.

A third explanation is that our bodies are smarter than we think. When we suck down sweet things, our bodies register the sugary taste and wait for the accompanying calories, said Lillian Castillo, a public health dietitian with the Santa Clara (Calif.) County Public Health Department.

But with artificial sweeteners, our bodies don't get the calories they expect, so we start to crave foods high in fat and sugar. Santa Clara resident Karl Watanabe has consumed diet sodas since his wife started buying them exclusively three years ago. But it hasn't really affected his weight, he said. "Of course, it helps that I run marathons and do triathlons all the time."

"Once in a while, it's OK to have one," Castillo said. "But water is the only thing that's going to quench your thirst."

If water is just too bland, Castillo and Hazuda recommended adding slices of lemon or cucumber to brighten the flavor.

It may take a couple months for your brain to adjust to the different flavors, but the research suggests if you want those six-pack abs, it doesn't look as if you'll be able to find them at the bottom of a six-pack of diet soda.

source

Yummy!

Fab recipes from my blog friend, The Happy Go Lucky Vegan. More of this at http://happygoluckyvegan.blogspot.com.

Casey Anthony acquittal

I have a 7 year old daughter and if she were to come up missing I would not wait a month to report that she's missing. I would be searching for her day in and day out not partying and acting like I didn't have a care in the world. Her actions SCREAMS OF GUILT on the first day of trial, the jury are just too blind to see it.

..devil's advocate smiling for a job well done! Jose Baez what a funny name...

Stay Away from Potato Chips!

LOS ANGELES -- Blame the potato chip. It's the biggest demon behind that pound-a-year weight creep that plagues many of us, a major diet study found. Bigger than soda, candy and ice cream.

And the reason is partly that old advertising cliche: You can't eat just one.

"They're very tasty and they have a very good texture. People generally don't take one or two chips. They have a whole bag," said obesity expert Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer of the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.

What we eat and how much of it we consume has far more impact than exercise and most other habits do on long-term weight gain, according to the study by Harvard University scientists. It's the most comprehensive look yet at the effect of individual foods and lifestyle choices like sleep time and quitting smoking.

The results were in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Doctors analyzed changes in diet and lifestyle habits of 120,877 people from three long-running medical studies.

All were health professionals and not obese at the start.

Their weight was measured every four years for up to two decades, and they detailed their diet on questionnaires.

On average, participants gained nearly 17 pounds over the 20-year period.

For each four-year period, food choices contributed nearly 4 pounds. Exercise, for those who did it, cut less than 2 pounds.

Potato chips were the biggest dietary offender. Each daily serving containing 1 ounce (about 15 chips and 160 calories) led to a 1.69-pound uptick over four years.

That's compared to sweets and desserts, which added 0.41 pound.

Soda added a pound over four years.

Eating more fruits and vegetables and other unprocessed foods led to less weight gain, probably because they are fiber-rich and make people feel fuller.

For each four-year period, these factors had these effects on weight:

» An alcoholic drink a day, 0.41-pound increase.

» Watching an hour of TV a day, 0.31-pound increase.

» Recently quitting smoking, 5-pound increase.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and a foundation. Several researchers reported receiving fees from drug and nutrition companies.

Source

Olive oil could prevent strokes

Scientists in France have found that olive oil could help to reduce the risk of having a stroke in later life.

Previous research has shown that olive oil is effective in lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure, and this latest study supports these findings. Scientists also found that a diet that is rich in olive oil can help to unclog arteries, meaning there is less strain on the heart when it is pumping blood around the body.

The risk of developing diabetes and becoming obese can also be lowered by including olive oil in the diet. The evidence supports the idea that those cultures in which olive oil is used in daily cooking live longer and healthier lives than those which don’t – Italians being a great example of this.

The results of this research support the inclusion of olive oil in many healthy recipes and in dressings for salads.

Funny Exercise Clips

Check out these funny exercise videos.

Anti-Aging

Diets and Supplements

Anti-aging research focuses on nutrition—diets or supplements to extend lifespan. Supplements that have been reported to extend the lifespan of rats and mice, includes the minerals selenium or zinc, though none has been proven to do so in humans, and significant toxic effects were observed. Metformin may also extend life span in mice.

The anti-aging industry offers several hormone therapies. Some of these have been criticized for possible dangers to the patient and a lack of proven effect. For example, the American Medical Association has been critical of some anti-aging hormone therapies.

The evidence for use of growth hormone as an anti-aging therapy is mixed and based on animal studies. An early study suggested that supplementation of mice with growth hormone increased average life expectancy.