New study shows age reversal in just six months….

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective. We do posts on staying healthy; preventing disease; aging more slowly; weight loss; exercise; nutrition; & news in medicine.

Today's post: Thursday, 5-31-2007

New study shows age reversal in just six months….

The results of this study suggest that good strength training can prevent or reverse aging to a large degree in the exercised muscles.

Other studies that have found that people can get stronger & add muscle at any age and that strength training tends to release growth hormone & testosterone suggest this might be the case. But, it doesn't prove it's so like this study apparently has.

Here’s an email from Jon Benson about it.: (I like most of what he says, so I am an affiliate of his & have put in that link in the quoted email.)

“Has science proven you can "age backwards"?”

Of all the studies I have read this one seals the deal. The study headline read...

>>> Resistance Training Reverses The Aging
>>> In Human Muscle Tissue

Not "slows" or "repairs"...Reverses.

I know...it shocked me too. I have been a champion of the anti.aging lifestyle I teach in Fit Over 40. It certainly "looks" like the 52 people in my book are aging backwards.

See for yourself --http://www.fitover40.com/aff/iehealth

I never thought their muscles were literally turning back the genetic clock. But this new research proves this is exactly what is going on when you exercise with resistance.

Resistance exercise can be weight training or just using your bodyweight. This is exercise that is heavy enough to cause some strain but not so heavy that it is painful or dangerous.

Some of the biology aspects of the study are frankly over my head. But I will try to give you the highlights.

If you want to read the study yourself you can find it on http://www.plosone.org/ .

The...Findings

The mitochondria is the energy factory of the human cell. As we age our muscles begin to show what researchers call "mitochondrial dysfunction". This is what causes all the bad stuff associated with "sarcopenia."

Sarcopenia is just the wasting away of muscle due to age and under-use. As we age most of us will experience a gradual loss of muscle.

The problem? Muscle is active tissue. It is responsible for most of the calories we use during the day.

The less muscle you have, the more bodyfat you will gain if you eat the same amount of food.

Muscle loss is also related to the onset of many bone diseases. The muscle that holds our spine in alignment can deteriorate as we age and cause major back problems. The same is true for the muscle and tendons around the knee and hip joints.

Can you see why muscle loss is a major deal?

Is it any wonder researchers wanted to see if there was something we could do about it?

Resistance training obviously builds muscle. And it does so at any age. Just look at anyone in my book and you will be convinced of that.

But that is not the real find in this study. We have numerous studies that show you can gain lean muscle at any age.

>>> This study revealed something extraordinary:
>>> after just six months of resistance training
>>> test subjects showed a "reversal of most of
>>> the genes affected by age" in muscle tissue.

With age and no resistance training, researchers found 596 genes expressing themselves with "aging", or decreased mitochondrial function.

But when subjects engaged in resistance training, in this case simple weight training, look what happened ---- Their strength increased by over 20%;-- And their genes literally "reverted back" to the same markers as "younger" genes after only six months of exercise.

This is staggering. It is one thing to maintain muscle as we age. To gain muscle is even better.

But to know that we are literally reverting our genes to a "younger version" within the muscle?
And after only six months?

That is downright amazing.

That's not all...When the older folks in the study began, they were almost 60% weaker than the younger members of the study. In just six months, they were only 38% weaker.

I can tell you from personal experience that in a few more months they would be even stronger. In some cases their strength would surpass the younger test subjects.

I am much stronger now than when I was 23, or 33. I am now 43.

I plan to be stronger at 53.

Strength is not a luxury as we age. It is absolutely necessary for longevity and health. And this all takes place at the genetic level. Just imagine.

----------------------------------------What You Need To Do----------------------------------

Everyone reading this letter needs to start today with resistance training. It is now a PROVEN way to make the aging process turn around at the genetic level within the cell.

And now you know why the role models in my book "Fit Over 40" look as if they are 15-20 years younger than they really are --http://www.fitover40.com/aff/iehealth

Genetically, they 'are' younger than their calendar age. Isn't that incredible?

Are you ready to join them? Pick up my book today and you'll find your own roadmap to begin.

In a freee bonus, Craig Ballantyne gives you an 8-week in-home bodyweight resistance program that is perfect for beginner and intermediate trainees.

If you already have my book, you will find this in the Member's Downloads.

I also include dozens of ideal gym-based workouts for intermediate and advanced trainees.Combined with the nutrition principles I cover, you can be on your way to "literally" turning back the genetic clock.

You'll look better and feel better than you ever have to boot.

Sincerely,

Jon BensonCreator, Fit Over 40”

*****

I like Jon Benson. I've talked to him & even wrote an article draft for him on the top health enhancing foods. (He then added his comments & some select upgrades.)

I agree with about 90 to 95% of what he says. And, the part I agree with I agree very strongly.

He believes in doing things to "cleanse" or detoxify your body as a good idea in starting a health or fat loss program.

I think it is likely a waste of time for most people & can be bad for some people.

And, he is a good bit less concerned with high LDL readings or with overdoing the eating of red meat than most of my other sources. (He likely IS correct that high HDL & exercise; getting enough vitamin C; & avoiding starches & sugars are more important for most people. And, that they are definitely important for everybody.)

But his Fit Over 40 eBook has every kind of health style from over 50 people who succeeded with exercise -- including vegan vegetarians & what they eat, why, & what their exercise program is & their story about overcoming adversity & still getting good results.

People who need a set of exercises to try or a role model they see as like them to get started exercising can use this book as a great resource.

People who have hit a plateau or have adversity to overcome in their exercise program can find ideas.

And, people from either group can find some real motivation & inspiration from the really great success stories & pictures.So, I have signed up to sell his book as an affiliate.

To get a copy go to: http://www.fitover40.com/aff/iehealth

Book on preventing or reversing heart disease

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective. We do posts on staying healthy; preventing disease; aging more slowly; weight loss; exercise; nutrition; & news in medicine.

Today's post: Wednesday, 5-30-2007

Very valuable book on preventing or reversing heart disease….

Reverse Heart Disease Now:
Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late

By Stephen Sinatra, MD & James Porter, MD

It’s available on Amazon in hardcover. I was able to buy it at my local bookstore.

Why this book is extremely valuable & important:

Knowledgeable use of supplements can largely prevent heart disease &, in some cases, help to reverse it.

These two doctors began to research ways they could stop seeing the patients they treated for life-threatening heart disease continually return again or die instead of getting better.

Now, it’s very rare that either of them see a patient who returns in such bad shape.

Between them they cover most of the known supplements & alternative treatments that are effective.

But the exciting thing is that, in addition, they describe some newer & less known supplements that they have found extremely effective.

Two of them show promise for reversing heart disease & increasing blood flow by causing plaque deposits to gradually shrink. They even have gotten excellent results in reversing the blockages that cause strokes with these supplements.

I’m a good deal more knowledgeable than most in this area. There is a family history on my Dad’s side for heart attacks & high cholesterol on my Mom’s side. So I’ve been making a special effort to learn & take the effective supplements.

This book is so complete they have virtually every supplement I’ve ever heard of that helps prevent or potentially reverse cardiovascular disease. And, then there are the newer, & possibly very effective supplements, they discuss that I had not yet read or heard about.

They also explain that they do use statin drugs but find they get better results for the health of their patients if they reserve those for their sickest patients.

I think every doctor who treats heart disease or strokes or peripheral artery disease should read this book & seriously consider using these methods.

And, anyone who has these things or who has any risk factors for them & who is willing to read, should read this book also.

What its legitimate drawbacks are:

A review on Amazon points out that the two doctors who are the main authors mention the importance of eating right; stress relief; & exercise; but do not cover them as well or in as much depth as they do supplements.

That’s true. But those things tend to be best used for prevention in people who are still well. Their experience is with treating patients who are already afflicted with cardiovascular disease.

And, this comment also ignores the fact that people who have cardiovascular disease or who have more of it than they yet know have died by overdoing exercise before they have reversed some of the underlying causes enough to exercise that hard safely.

Further, there are many good resources for information on exercise & healthy eating. And, there are some pretty good resources for information on stress relief.

This book’s strength is on using supplements in a way that gets much better results than conventional medical methods alone.

The reviewer also points out that there are virtually no studies cited for the various supplements. The two authors are reporting their success in using supplements & methods researched elsewhere.

The good news is that we get the information now instead of later. The bad news is that some doctors will not use the information without checking out such studies & references. This may mean they won’t try the things in the book or will be hard to work with for patients who want to do so.

That’s unfortunate. And, perhaps that kind of book will one day exist as there are studies already done that support many if not all of the things these two doctors recommend.

However, this criticism overlooks the fact that these two doctors have patients who got better instead of worse using these methods. And, it overlooks the fact that when they put patients on supplements designed to improve their lipid profiles or lower their homocysteine levels they were able to get the results from blood tests showing the expected results.

The last two points criticized were that:

1. The supplements the authors recommend can cost $100 to $500 per month.

2. And, that the doctors do NOT present the kind of strategic plan for using them that they likely use with their own patients.

The dollar costs are a consideration.

But keep in mind that having cardiovascular disease continue & get worse costs even more. People today who take more than one medicine for high blood pressure, type II diabetes, & take statins as well can easily pay that much or more. And, this is increasingly common.

And, that’s before the costs of doctor & emergency room visits or procedures like angioplasty or bypass surgery are added.

I personally am happy to pay to NOT have myself or my health plan to have to pay THOSE higher costs.

I do agree it would have been very useful to have a strategic guide. But this is more a book on what the doctors have found to work successfully than a mini-course on using the information.

My conclusion:

The information in this book can save your life or prevent you from having disabilities as an older person that trash your quality of life.

So, it gets my highest recommendation.

Lose extra fat by adding fish oil to your exercise?

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

We do posts on staying healthy; preventing disease; aging more slowly; weight loss; exercise; nutrition; & news in medicine.

Today's post: Thursday, 5-24-2007

Lose extra fat by adding fish oil to your exercise?….

I looked briefly at a summary of a study that found that exercise plus taking a fish oil supplement helped people to lose fat.

Since I already knew & have reported here that regular exercise, particularly strength training, helps people lost unwanted & excess body fat, I didn’t read further.

And, you may have already read here that taking fish oils improves your health in many ways. I’ve already been eating fish & taking purified fish oil & DHA supplements for quite some time.

But, I found out on the radio news on KCBS early this morning that I missed something.

It seems that the people who did the aerobic exercise AND took the fish oil supplement in the study, which was mostly DHA, lost about 3.5 pounds of fat that the people who only exercised or who exercised while taking a non-omega 3 oil did NOT lose.

The supplement used had 260 mg DHA and 60 mg EPA.

It’s already known that eating fish & taking omega 3 supplements lowers high triglyceride levels. And, the people taking the omega 3 supplement in this study lowered their triglyceride levels. In this case, it was by 14 per cent from their pre-study levels.

But they also increased their heart-protective HDL levels by 10 per cent over their pre-study levels.

And, they lost that extra 3.5 pounds per person.

Of course, the study was only for a short time period. So we don’t yet know if people who kept up exercise and omega 3 lost another extra amount of fat in the next time period etc, or whether it was just a one-time extra fat loss.

But, it’s clear that it helped at first.

So, if you are exercising to lose fat or to prevent becoming fat, your program may well work better for you if you also take omega 3 supplements.

Considering that the supplements already have other health benefits that make them well worth taking, that looks very positive indeed.

One of the best known omega 3 supplements from purified fish oil is the “Omega 3” supplement from Nordic Natural. Two of their capsules a day give you a bit less DHA than was in the supplement in this study & a good bit more EPA. And, by taking 100 mg of DHA or more in a separate supplement, you can easily get a bit more DHA than was taken in this study.

So, to the advice to people aiming to lose fat to:

Get more moderate & regular exercise AND at least two days a week of vigorous & progressive strength training each week;

Stop consuming refined grain foods, soft drinks & foods;

And to eat MORE vegetables, whole fresh fruit, & health enhancing protein foods & to also eat some nuts, avocados, & use some extra virgin olive oil;

We now need to add to make sure to consume omega 3 oils, including at least 260 mg of DHA each day.

If your significant other dislikes your health efforts?..

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective. We do posts on staying healthy; preventing disease; aging more slowly; weight loss; exercise; nutrition; & news in medicine.

Today's post: Monday, 5-21-2007

What if your significant other dislikes your health efforts?….

Last Saturday, this letter was in Dear Abby.

“DEAR ABBY: I lost quite a bit of weight on a great diet that worked well for me. I did it for my health and because I was tired of carrying all that extra weight around. Everyone has been complimentary, except my husband.

He accuses me of "setting a bad example" for our kids, complains that the diet "costs too much," and says we can't share a meal at a nice restaurant together anymore. (Not true!) He also makes unwanted comments about what I'm eating, how much I'm eating and when I'm eating it.

I have invited him to go on the diet with me, because he could stand to lose about 20 pounds himself, especially around the middle. He refuses and insists that all he needs to do is exercise. Well, it hasn't worked, and now he needs to buy larger clothes while I am able to get into the clothes I wore when we first met.

I thought my husband would enjoy the new me, and now I am wondering what could be wrong. Jealousy? Fear of losing me? What's your opinion? -- PUZZLED BUT STILL GOING STRONG.”

Dear Abby's answer was good. She strongly supported this woman's efforts to eat right & be healthy. And, she encouraged her to keep doing it.

I agree totally & think that was the right place to start. But the answer wasn't as strong on positive ways to respond to her husband & to solve the problem she wrote in about.

(To be fair, in the space available, that may be all Dear Abby could fit in.)

Here's some extra ideas.

Since he might feel threatened that she looks better, without overdoing it, she can let him know she does care for him & that she does value him. (It sounds like that's the case.)

Here's a way she can give HIM the response she'd like.

She'd like a positive response. Here's a way she can give him one.

The evidence is that unless someone is very heavy, exercise may be more important for good health than losing weight.

Somewhat fat people who exercise have better health than people who are skinny & don't exercise. (Recent research even shows that such skinny people ARE fat but inside where it does health damage and doesn't show up visually.)

So, if he IS exercising, she might improve things if she gives him her enthusiastic support for his exercising.

If HE wants to lose the 20 pounds, the Weight Watchers points system, that is based on considerable experience, shows that if he also eats less, that will work.

So, will more exercise, particularly if it's strength training. But it takes so much more that for most people it's more practical & effective to eat less.

(I was exercising but was more than 20 pounds overfat. And, by cutting back calories enough by eating MORE vegetables to lose what I expected be 10 pounds, I lost 30. What I did wasn't hard, so I've kept doing it & have kept off 20 of the 30 pounds.)

But 20 pounds is not a lot, so if he is exercising, it might help him to be OK with her losing weight to not bug him if he doesn't want to make that effort now; but give him positive strokes for his exercise instead.

And, it might help for her to ask for his ideas on what exercise he'd recommend for her to do.

If she takes his advice & thanks him for it, that might also help.

Lastly, good restaurants will take requests like substituting a vegetable dish for mashed potatoes or French Fries or white rice. Some will even bring a small fresh fruit dish instead of bread if asked. And, more people are making such requests.

However, men do often like to eat well without worrying about what they eat when they are celebrating. So, it will also help if she supports him & helps him feel festive instead of crabbing about what he is eating.

The fact that he IS exercising is more important.

And, if he decides later to make the effort to lose weight through diet also, he will have her good example to follow.

Exercise makes fat loss safe to do….

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

We do posts on staying healthy; preventing disease; aging more slowly; weight loss; exercise; nutrition; & news in medicine.

Today's post: Wednesday, 5-16-2007

Exercise makes fat loss safe to do….

Earlier research found that when people only ate fewer calories to lose fat, part of the weight they lost was muscle.

This made them weaker & means that if they gain the weight back as usually happens, they may also be fatter than before since they start then with less muscle.

But, when people who ate fewer calories AND exercised, they either lost no muscle or gained some. This often did mean a slightly smaller weight loss. But their FAT lost increased. And their percent of their bodyweight as fat also improved more than the people who didn’t also exercise.

Yesterday, I saw a study reported that was done at Washington University in St Louis which found that something very similar happens with bone density. People who lost fat & weight by eating fewer calories only also experienced significant bone density loss.

Those who lost the fat & weight with exercise, did lose a bit less weight; but they lost no bone mass or density. And, they lost virtually the same amount of fat.

Since broken bones in older people can often be serious or even life-threatening, that’s quite significant.

The conclusion is clear that losing fat by cutting calories only will make you weaker & more likely to suffer broken bones. It isn’t a safe or desirable way to do it.

But, if you add doing regular exercise also, losing fat then becomes safe to do.

Even better, these studies used things like walking for their exercise. Well done strength training ADDS muscle to you & INCREASES your bone density.

As you’ve likely read, either here or elsewhere, as little as two sessions of half an hour, done each week with at least one day off in between of well done strength training is enough to give you this effect.

As you might imagine from this information, it’s quite common for people who lose fat while also strength training & who continue the strength training on an ongoing basis to lose fat and keep it off.

And, it’s almost universal that people who lose fat without exercise gain it back.

So, if you want to lose fat permanently, & do it without damaging your health, be sure to add exercise & include at least two days a week of well done strength training. And, keep doing that exercise each week.

***********
Some of you may be new to exercise or you may need some ideas to help you make more & better progress with your exercise goals.

Or, if you need inspiration or some ideas on an exercise plan that fits you, here’s a resource that many have found to work well:

Exercise expert Jon Benson has co-authored an eBook that has some guidelines on how to get good results from exercise.

Here’s the exciting thing about his book:

It has the stories & exercise routines of 52 people of both sexes & many ages who got well -- & discarded excess fat – by exercising.

They tell their stories of how they got into exercise & what exactly they do in their exercise programs. It also has their very good results. Some got incredibly good results.

There are enough role models & ideas you are virtually certain to find one or several that are enough similar to you that you can do it too.

You’ll also see exactly how people who are like you & started where you are--or maybe even at a worse level--were able to do it successfully.

Studies show that people learn best by emulating real role models in this way & that they are much more likely to master & use what they learn emulating real role models.

This eBook, Fit Over 40, provides that for you.

And, almost all the 52 people do some form of strength training.

In addition, many of them, including Jon Benson, lost quite significant amounts of fat that they have kept off since.

Does that sound like it’s worth checking out?

If so, here’s more information on Jon’s book. See: http://www.fitover40.com/aff/iehealth

Skinny, sedentary people found to be fat inside….

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

We do posts on staying healthy; preventing disease; aging more slowly; weight loss; exercise; nutrition; & news in medicine.

Today's post: Monday, 5-14-2007

Skinny, sedentary people found to be fat inside….

It’s been known for quite some time that fatter people who exercise regularly are often healthier than skinny people who get no exercise.

And, we’ve even known that people who are fatter than they’d like or should be who begin to exercise regularly improve their health right away – even before they show significant loss on the scales.

That’s partly because in only a few weeks they do gain muscle & lose fat. And, their circulation improves. But often the muscle gained & fat lost are about the same initially unless the new exercisers also eat better. So their weight on the scale often doesn’t change much at first.

Research reported in last week's online health news now helps explain why skinny people who are sedentary are not in good health.

It turns out that skinny people who are sedentary & don’t exercise regularly ARE overfat & under-muscled.

The new studies found that such people have too much visceral or internal fat for them to be in good health. It’s hidden from sight & doesn’t show up on the scale. But it does cause health problems.

So, the most important key to good health no matter what you now look like fat-wise is to exercise regularly.

And, if at least two days a week you strength train or lift weights, it works better because you gain muscle mass.

If you also are active or do aerobic exercise on several other days a week without overdoing it, that also helps.

And the recipe for fat loss without hunger is to:

Do both kinds of exercise very week;

Eat almost all your food as whole fruits, vegetables, and health OK protein foods & fats;

Stop eating refined grains, snacks & most packaged foods, & drinking soft drinks;

And, it also helps to eat no whole grains or much less whole grains, & to eat whole grains that you do eat early in the day.

The research now conclusively shows that exercise is the key to good health. Better foods do help as does stopping harmful & fattening foods.

But the most important thing is to do regular exercise.

How to find time to exercise & get its benefits ....

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

We do posts on staying healthy; preventing disease; aging more slowly; weight loss; exercise; nutrition; & news in medicine.

Today's post: Thursday, 5-10-2007

How to find time to exercise & get its benefits ....

Some people are lucky enough to find it easy to find time to exercise.

But, most of us have enough to do with our work & other tasks that it can be very challenging to find time to exercise.

It's certainly worth it. :

People who exercise are stronger & move better.

They think better & handle stress better. And, their brains even grow new neurons according to recent research. This helps people who exercise remember better. It even improved the memory of people who had only exercised for a few weeks.

People who exercise are leaner & look better. And they usually have much better sex, particularly as they get older. Studies show this is true of BOTH men & women.

And, the list of obnoxious & life threatening disease exercise tends to prevent is astonishingly long. Some diseases, like type II diabetes, exercise can sometimes help reverse. (Strength training seems to be most effective for helping to improve or reverse type II diabetes.)

Here are some ideas that work if you have had trouble finding time to exercise.:

1. One of the best & most effective ways to find time to exercise is to do it first thing in the morning before the rest of your day starts.

Kenneth Cooper, MD who wrote about aerobic or cardio exercise found that people who did this were twice as likely to keep exercising compared with people who exercised later in the day.

The reason is simple. Stuff happens to people during their day. By exercising in the morning, when stuff does happen to you, you already got your exercise in that day. But if you had a session for later in the day, the events of the day may prevent you from exercising.

This one is a real help for me. I exercise at home every morning before breakfast. I use dumbbells & my bodyweight to exercise my upper body 3 times a week & my legs 3 times a week. And, I use a Nordic Track twice a week.

These sessions take only 10 to 30 minutes each.

Also, I have several sessions of each kind of exercise each week. So, if I do have to leave so early on a day in my week that I cancel exercise that day, I still have all the other sessions that I did do that week.

And, there are a lot of at home exercises that also work. Some people exercise to Tae Bo videos. Some use rebounders. (See www.urbanrbounder.com ) Some people use Bowflex machines. Some use a smaller & less pricey home strength trainer called the Total Gym.
Some people do jump rope.

2. Some people take walks over their lunch hour at work. If all you do is do that 4 days out of most weeks, you’ll get about half of the health benefits of an ideal exercise program.

3. You can do effective strength training in only two days a week. As long as the sessions are at least one day apart, you can do any two days.

And strength training, done well, can produce amazing benefits in a very short time. Studies show that even one set of each exercise will work if you gradually increase the weight you use as you get stronger until you work out vigorously on each set.

I skip the couch & TV on Monday & Weds evenings. And, I go to a local gym for just half an hour to use their heavier weights & machines.

But it can be any two days. And, one can be a week-end day if that helps you fit it into your work week. Tuesday night or lunchtime plus Saturday morning works fine, for example.

4. By the way, trading TV watching time for exercise time or exercising while you watch TV, can be an excellent way to find the time to exercise.

5. For some people, going to a regular class works. You get an expert instructor & a group of other students to socialize with & get to know & who will miss you if you don’t show.

Martial art training is ideal for this. And, once you have some knowledge, you can even work out at home.

6. If you have money, you can even do as Michael Masterson does.

(He founded the information company at www.earlytorise.com & other businesses.)

He pays a personal trainer to come to him at his office several times a week.

According to his Early to Rise email today, he pays his trainer for an hour & then exercises for about 30 to 40 minutes. That’s because his trainer may have to wait 5 to 20 minutes for Michael to finish his last work task.

So, Michael makes this OK by paying for 60 minutes each time for the 35 to 60 minutes the trainer is actually there.

And, many personal trainers will come to your home. Some even have vans equipped with strength training equipment they can bring to your home.


So, as you can see, there are all kinds of ways people have found that work. And, there are all kinds of levels of dollar cost.

Simply try a few that might work for you. Then keep trying them until you hit on a version that DOES work for you.

Stop Snoring & Sleep Apnea. New information….

Welcome to our health & self help blog.

Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

We do posts on staying healthy; preventing disease; aging more slowly; weight loss; exercise; nutrition; & news in medicine.

Today's post: Tuesday, 5-8-2007

Stop Snoring & Sleep Apnea. New information….

Some of you may have read my earlier post on this.

If your significant other complains about your snoring or worse --

Or, if you wake up without feeling rested & then have little energy all day or fall asleep when you’d rather not during the day even though you spend enough time sleeping–

Or, if you’ve been diagnosed as having sleep apnea—

There’s some new information I just discovered you should know about.

Snoring & sleep apnea can ruin your sex life or strain your marriage. They often deprive people who have them of normal energy & vitality. They can also cause high blood pressure, brain damage, strokes, & heart attacks.

There may be a way you can get rid of all or most of that within a few days for & just a few bucks.

I accidentally discovered this last night while I was reading a magazine.

(I describe it right after the next section about the procedure I described in my previous post.)

The other procedure, the Pillar Procedure, I did a post on earlier sounds effective. And, if it’s effective for a person, is clearly far superior to the CPAP or continuous positive airway pressure device; but it is somewhat invasive.

(The Pillar procedure does a minor implant in the tissue in your throat that slips down to block your breathing. It is reported to work quite well. And the recovery time is so fast, some people have gone to work later in the day when they’ve had it done in the morning.

If you travel a lot or your snoring or sleep apnea are quite severe, you may want to check it out at www.pillarprocedure.com It also may be worth trying if the next method I just found last night doesn’t do enough for you.)

The Pillar Procedure costs several hundred dollars. Plus, as busy as many of you are, it can be hard to get that done even if you might have an interest in doing it.

This is because you do need an evaluation appointment with the doctor. You need an appointment to have it done. And, you should have a follow up appointment after you’ve had it done to see how it’s worked for you.

Here’s the information on the new method I found last night that it may well pay you to try first.:

To see the new info I found, go to www.sonapillow.com

I've noticed that if my wife snores slightly, it's always when she is sleeping on her back. So I have her change positions to sleep on her side which seems to help her snoring stop snoring quite reliably. This pillow uses that effect of sleeping on your side & then triples it by holding your head at such an angle that snoring becomes almost impossible.

People who have used it report dramatically reduced snoring; much less sleep apnea problems; & increased daytime energy.

I've not used one yet or had my wife try one. And, it's possible it might not work for you.

But it certainly looks well worth trying. And, you don't have to go anywhere or set an appointment or two with a doctor in the middle of your busy life to get one.

Even better, within a few days you can get it delivered; put it to use; & it may well stop your snoring & sleep apnea problems.

Important caution:

Sleep apnea & snoring can often be caused or triggered by being overfat & underexercised.
Clearly you’ll feel better & protect your health if stop snoring & sleep apnea with either the Sona Pillow or the Pillar Procedure.

But being overfat; underexercised; or both can also harm your health & ruin your sex life.

So, if you also suffer from those conditions, please stop eating refined carbohydrates & drinking soft drinks. Eat a lot more green, nonstarchy vegetables & lean protein & beans -- & nuts if you are not allergic to them. And, carefully add some regular walking & strength training to your life each week.

Within days or at most a few weeks, you’ll be much healthier. And, if you keep doing it from now on, you’ll be a LOT less fat.

That will also improve your sex life & protect you from expensive to treat & dangerous diseases.

New information on target heart rate for exercise….

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Focus on Your Health:

In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.

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Today's post: Thursday, 5-3-2007

New information on target heart rate for exercise….

Some people like to have an estimate for what their likely safe maximum heart rate might be.
And, some personal trainers & fitness coaches will suggest exercising at a certain percent of your target heart rate.

The original guideline that you may have heard of didn’t have a lot of science behind it but seemed reasonable. It’s 220 beats per minute minus your age.

But I’ve known for some time that there are two problems with it.

For totally unfit & somewhat unhealthy or overweight people it may suggest too high a level for safety.

And, for very fit older people, it often produces a much lower number than is at all appropriate. It even sometimes suggests a maximum rate that is only slightly difficult or even somewhat easy for a person in their normal exercise routine they already do.

I just read two better methods in one of the health emails I get.

The first one was to get an estimate by taking 208 & subtracting .7 or 7/10ths of your age from it.

For people 40 years old, both methods yield an estimate of 180 beats per minute.

My suspicion is that for people under 40 the old method is more accurate. And, for people over 40 this 208 minus seven tenths of your age is somewhat better.

But the article includes a MUCH better method than either.

Simply rate how you feel doing the exercise from one to ten with ten being what feels like the most intense you can imagine doing & one being the effort it takes to watch TV or be in a coma where you don’t move at all.

To put it even simpler, if it feels hard, moderately challenging, or easy, for you right then, it IS hard, moderately challenging, or easy.

And, the neat thing about this one is that it matters not how fit or old you are, it tends to be quite reliably accurate.

The article then goes on to suggest a similar way to use this feedback. (Dr Al Sears suggests something similar.)

For cardio do it moderately hard for a while & then do it much more vigorously for a while but for less time. And, then repeat the overall pattern for a few times.

I saw research reported once that said that people who exercise this way, usually get fit much faster than people who simply exercise for a long time at a moderate level. And, my personal experience suggests, it also moves you to a higher level of fitness than you would otherwise get to if you simply keep exercising this way.

Some may ask, “Aren’t the number estimates more likely to be safe?” I think they are NOT for two reasons.

First, you are descended from people who survived, which means how hard the exercise feels to you is quite likely to accurate. The people where it was way off didn’t survive.

Second, as a safety factor, the ONLY data in these by number estimates besides the formula is your age. Sure more 70 year olds have strokes & heart attacks than 20 year olds do.

But if you know if a person smokes or never smokes; their blood levels of HDL & LDL cholesterol, homocysteine, CReactive Protein, fasting glucose, insulin, & HBA1C AND their age & sex, you have a MUCH more accurate picture of whether or not they are a heart attack waiting to happen.

And you know with some accuracy how safe it is for them to exercise at a level that feels hard—or not.

Even better, you then know if they need to correct these things with diet, supplements, &/or drugs before they push too hard.

Why use a numerical guide based only on your age, when how you feel & a more complete analysis of your heart health risks is much more accurate AND likely to keep you safe?