Posts Tagged ‘american medical association’

Lately I’ve been receiving a lot of spam emails. It’s amazing how many of them are promising quick weight loss without any effort! One of them even promised that their new ’super tonic’ was the new Fountain of Youth…..just take their product and watch the years fade away. If you’ll excuse the expression, that’s all just a bunch of baloney. The radio advertisements promise “weight loss without diet or exercise” and the infomercials brag about the newest and greatest pill that will magically make the fat melt away…..baloney!

I’d like to ask those advertisers just a few questions: If your “magic-weight-loss-potion-miracle-in-a-bottle” is the real deal, then why hasn’t the media picked up on the story? If your product is indeed the Fountain of Youth, why didn’t my doctor recommend it? Why isn’t it being featured on CNN and all the major news networks?

The reason why the media, and the entire world, isn’t going ga-ga over these new ‘miracle’ cures is that they’re not real miracle cures.

However, I do have some BIG NEWS for you! Against all odds, after careful research and years of painstaking effort, WE HAVE DISCOVERED THE REAL FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH!!!

The only real Fountain of Youth (at least, the closest thing we’ve found) is EXERCISE! There, now you’re in on the secret too! It turns out that our doctor was right, the Surgeon General was right, the American Medical Association was right, and your old coach was right too…..the best way to help keep the body young and healthy is through regular exercise!

The human body can fail in a staggering number of ways. Yet most problems develop gradually over months, years or decades. That leaves plenty of time for action. Doctors can help, but studies show that at least 70 percent of healthy aging depends on decisions each person makes about diet, exercise, smoking and other lifestyle choices (Source: St. Petersburg physician Timothy Carlson).

Did you catch that? Let’s read it again: At least 70 percent of healthy aging depends on decisions each person makes about diet, exercise, smoking and other lifestyle choices! Now that’s what I call the Fountain of Youth!

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people make poor decisions. “Only 18% of patients are at goal,” meaning that their body weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and so on are normal (Source: St. Petersburg physician Timothy Carlson).

Guess what? Regular exercise improves body weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and so much more! People who engage in regular exercise are much more likely to be in the 18% group…..the 18% who are at their goal.

So what are we waiting for? Let’s go exercise!

Until next time, we’ll see you at the Fountain of Youth…..oops, I mean we’ll see you at the gym!

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women, focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

Tags: radio advertisements, american medical association, real miracle, lifestyle choices, miracle cures

A few years ago, I heard about a very disturbing survey. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the statistical details, but I’ll never forget the point. Someone asked a group of children in a US primary school if they would rather lose an arm or be fat. Some overwhelming percentage (I want to say close to 80 percent) said they would rather lose the arm. Think about that for a second. Our society places such a severe stigma on being overweight that 5-year-old children say they would rather give up an arm than be fat.

There’s so much pressure around us to be thin that it’s easy to forget that optimal body weight really is about our health, and not just our trouser size. But recently, a couple of new studies on health and weight confirmed that maintaining a healthy body weight is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves – and that letting it slide can be the most dangerous.

In one study, the American Medical Association reported that on average, obese people were found to have nearly twice the chronic health problems of people of normal weight. Keep in mind that obesity is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more. (BMI is a mathematical formula that calculates the ratio of height to weight.) It was adopted by the National Institutes of Health in 1998 as the new gold standard in body weight.

BMI’s of 18.5 to 24.9 are considered “normal,” while values of 25 and over are considered overweight. A BMI of 30 or higher ranks as obese. According to the AMA study, about 56 percent of the American population falls into the overweight group. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 19.8 percent of Americans are obese. Before BMI was introduced, the old Metropolitan Life height-and-weight charts were the yardstick and body weights 20 percent or more above the recommended levels were considered obese. Here in the UK things aren’t much better, as we’re getting fatter as a nation and obesity rates are on the increase.

But it was the other study I found absolutely shocking. It was put out by the RAND Institute in Santa Monica and was published in the latest edition of the British journal “Public Health.” Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the study consisted of a telephone survey of 9,585 adults who were asked about their weight, height, smoking and drinking habits, income, quality of life, and if they had any of 17 chronic health problems, including asthma, cancer, diabetes, and heart problems.

The researchers found that the obese people had slightly more health problems than people in poverty, and far more than daily smokers or heavy drinkers, indicating that obesity may be a much greater health risk. Honestly, I was dumb-founded. Smoking, heavy drinking, and poverty – these are three very strong, very negative forces with staggering effects on health. It seems almost unfathomable that being overweight could be more dangerous than they are. Obviously we aren’t saying that smoking or heavy drinking are good for you, but thought the comparison was very powerful.

If you’ve tried to lose weight and feel like you’ve lost the struggle, I can sympathize. Weight is something I’ve struggled with most of my life. So please don’t think I’m giving this advice lightly or think it’s as easy as skipping a serving of potatoes. Being overweight is a complex physical, mental and emotional problem for most of us who struggle with it. But looking at these studies, I realize that the time has to be now. I don’t want to wake up in 10 years and still be saying, “I’ll start tomorrow.”

In recent weeks, I’ve gotten back into an exercise routine that I’d been lax about, given up deserts, and stopped drinking all fizzy drinks – diet and regular.
Trust me. I know how hard it is. There are many mornings when I would rather push the snooze button than get up and get on that treadmill (today was one of them). And, as I said, I’ve given up a lot of my favorite foods recently. But it seems silly to have quit smoking years ago only to learn that a weight problem may end up being even more dangerous for me.

Let’s stop putting it off until tomorrow and start today – right now. It’s the absolute best thing we can do for ourselves – and the people who love us. And as those pounds come off (and they will!), you’ll look great while doing something important for your health.

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Tags: height and weight charts, body mass index, american medical association, chronic health problems, body mass index bmi

Meat and milk have been touted as key components of a healthy diet for as long as I can remember. Furthermore, they are both foods which I believed had their place in a weight loss diet. Meat is a rich source of protein which is essential for building and repairing your body’s cells. Milk is a fantastic source of essential vitamins and minerals including calcium which promotes strong and healthy bones. However, in recent times both of these seeminly beneficial foods have come under increasing scrutiny. Campaigns such as Not Milk are claiming that milk is a poision, not a health food and with the increasing popularity of the Atkins diet evidence is mounting up against the consumption of meat. In this article I plan to look at both sides of the argument and come to a conclusion as to whether meat and milk can help you lose weight.

1) Meat:- Although there are other dietary sources of protein available, meat protein has a very high biological value (BV). Proteins with a higher BV can be better utilised by the body and amongst other things promote the most lean muscle gains. Meat is also full of other important nutrients. For example, beef is a great source of Iron.

Apart from these general health benefits it has been suggested that diets high in meat can help you lose weight. This idea was largely popularised by the Atkins diet which claims that by reducing your intake of carbohydrates and increasing your intake of meats, you force your body into a state of ketosis where it burns fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. There are a number of studies backing up this claim including a March 2007 study from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which compared four weight loss diets (including Atkins) and found that after 12 months participants on the Atkins diet lost the most weight and experienced the most favourable metabolic effects.

However, critics suggest that by eating too much meat you are putting your health at risk. Some of the criticisms include that you will not be getting enough nutritional value from this type of diet, that you will be consuming too much fat, that it can promote heart disease and that it can be dangerous to your health. Critics also state that no long term studies have been conducted to monitor the effects of the Atkins diet over an extended period (at the time of writing this article none have studied the diet for longer than one year).

2) Milk:- Milk is a rich source of calcium, protein (which again has a high BV) and also contains seven other essential nutrients. It is believed to help prevent oseoperosis (reduced bone density), diabetes and heart disease. Furthermore, a wealth of studies are available which back up the health claims made by milk.

Like meat, milk has also been linked with weight loss. Research performed by Dr. Michael Semel in the Nutrition Research and Metabolic Clinic at the University of Tennessee found that low levels of calcium in the diet led to your body producing hormones which tell your fat cells to produce more fat, increasing overall body fat accumulation. High levels of calcium in the diet led to these hormones being suppressed and resulted in overall body fat loss. More interestingly this study suggested that calcium from dairy products (such as milk) was twice as effective at promoting this fat loss compared with other calcium sources.

However, milk also has a large selection of critics. Many campaigners suggest that all the good press milk has received is the result of a highly effective marketing campaign. They also suggest that many of milk’s health claims are false and there are a number of studies which back their claims. In particular, many people believe milk is fattening and this is supported by a study from Catherine S. Berkey of Harvard Medical School which suggests that drinking too much milk can lead to weight gain in children.

So what conclusions can be drawn from the above information regarding meat and milk as weight loss foods? First, let’s look at the facts. It is largely agreed and supported by research that protein has a satiating effect (makes you feel fuller quicker) and that it also has an increased thermic effect (burns more calories whilst being processed) compared with fats and carbohydrates. More and more research is also becoming available which supports the notion that calcium can help you lose weight. Finally, it is universally agreed that many of the nutrients found in meat and milk (such as Iron, Vitamin D, Vitamin A and Potassium) are good for your body and should be present in a healthy diet. Whichever way you look at it meat and milk do contain a lot of nutrients which are proven to help you lose weight.

Many of the criticisms levelled at meat and milk refer to excessive consumption. Meat and milk do contain saturated fats and eating or drinking too much of either can lead to health problems and also deprive you of important nutrients. However, as part of a balanced diet I believe meat and milk can help you lose weight and also help you maintain a healthy body.

Tags: weight loss diet, weight loss diets, american medical association, components of a healthy diet, lean muscle gains

You and I are facing a critical vitamin and mineral shortage. This health crisis has been growing at an alarming rate since the early 1900’s. Of particular concern are folks on weight loss diets – especially low carb diets.

As a partial result, nutritionally driven chronic diseases have reached epidemic proportions. About 95% of people over 40 will suffer from one or more of these chronic diseases by the time they reach retirement. Diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, vision loss – to name a few. That’s 95 people out of every 100.

For decades the medical community poo-poo’d the nutrition “fanatics” when they mentioned the importance of vitamins and minerals as a basis of our vital health.

Then, a real shocker.

In the June 19, 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association they announced: “Suboptimal intake of vitamins should be seen as a risk factor for chronic disease, especially in the elderly.”

This tells us that today our food contains MUCH LESS nutrition and yet our needs for vitamins and minerals are MUCH GREATER than ever before in human history.

You’ll discover, in this article, how this can be possible. And some simple steps you must take to protect yourself and your loved ones.

PLANTS ARE THE SOLE SOURCE OF ALL VITAMINS AND MINERALS FOR EVERY LIVING CREATURE. Even animals that eat nothing but meat – the vitamins came from somewhere down the food-chain – from an animal or fish that eats plants.

PLANTS CREATE BODY-READY VITAMINS AND MINERALS FROM NUTRIENTS IN THE SOIL. The richer the soil, the more vitamins and minerals are packed into the plants. On the other hand, vegetables grown in poor soil will have far lower levels of vitamins and minerals.

AND THE SOILS ARE BECOMING SAND – DEPLETING AT A VERY RAPID RATE. Commercial farming really started to expand as the ability to transport the produce to new markets increased – trains, then trucks. This was a boon for consumers. Now they didn’t have to grow their own vegetables. And they could enjoy produce that was either out-of-season or wasn’t able to grow in their area.

As commercial growers keep using the same fields year after year, the soils keep losing their rich nutrients. And, as soils deplete, so does the vitamin and mineral content of the vegetables grown in that soil.

Chemical companies have come to their aid by providing chemicals that will force the plants to grow in poor soil.

A couple problems with this.

The vegetables look great but contain far less vitamins and minerals they once did. They also absorb some of these chemicals. Now our body needs even more vitamins to deactivate these toxins.

The vegetables we consume today give us far less nutrients than 100 years ago – yet create the need for more. A double whammy.

Genetic engineers have created vegetables that are more disease resistant, that grow faster, are more visually attractive, and are easier to harvest. For example: a new tomato was developed for growers primarily to take a 5-mile-per-hour impact from the faster picking machines. Tough skin tomatoes – you’ve probably had some. Nothing is being done to increase the nutrient levels of the plants – or to enrich the soil.

Some vegetables and most fruits you buy in the store are picked before they’re ripe, and often chemically treated so they ripen on the way to the grocer’s shelf. This gives the produce a lot longer shelf life – less waste. As you probably know, produce picked at it’s ripe peak contain maximum nutrients – but spoil quickly. Vine ripened, fresh produce can be quite unprofitable for the grower and grocer.

On top of all this, consider the higher levels of air and water pollution, lower oxygen levels in the air we breath, and our fast paced, fast food societies of today. You can easily see that our wonderfully created bodies are being taxed to the max – and need more protection than ever before.

WHAT DO WE DO TODAY?

1. Make fresh, whole fruits, vegetables, and grains a larger part of your daily diet. These are the absolute best quality vitamins and minerals you can buy. Eat them raw, uncooked as much as possible. If necessary, cook slowly at low heat to keep the nutrients at the highest possible levels. Simply put – the less processing the better. Most people do not eat even the minimum recommended amounts, yet we all need much more than that today.

2. Look for organically grown produce at your grocery store or health food store. Generally this produce will contain the much higher levels of nutrients – as they did a century ago – without the chemicals. They cost more but you get a LOT MORE nutrients and much more succulent flavor than commercially grown produce.

3. Grow some of your own produce – in a yard garden, patio pots, or inside the home in window pots. It’s fun, very easy, decorative, puts oxygen in the air and the taste and nutrition is just tons better than store-bought.

4. No matter how perfect our diet, we ALL need to invest in a GOOD vitamin supplement today. Even nutrition experts, who eat an “ideal” diet, take vitamin supplements. A good vitamin will require you to take 3 large tablets or six medium size tablets or capsules per day minimum. Anything less is a waste of money.

You’ll find good quality vitamin supplements at most reputable vitamin or health food stores. Best bet – buy online for the best price and selection of high quality vitamin supplements.

Financially speaking, this is a critical part of our retirement program. If we don’t have good health at retirement, nothing else will matter. Vitamin supplements are, by far, the cheapest health insurance and wisest retirement plan we can invest in.

Find out more about vitamins at http://www.buy-vitamins.info/

Tags: low carb diets, weight loss diets, vitamins and minerals, american medical association, epidemic proportions