Ways to prevent or reverse arterial plaque....

Today's post: Tuesday, 9-30-2008

1. We’ve often covered ways to increase your HDL levels, lower triglycerides, and increase the amount of antioxidants you take in from your supplements and foods.

Doing that tends to prevent arterial plaque. Here’s a quick summary.

Eating wild caught fish, taking DHA and purified fish oil supplements; eating onions; eating organic vegetables and not eating junk foods with refined grains and high fructose corn syrup or drinking any kind of soft drinks tends to lower your triglyceride levels.

Taking 300 to 600 mg a day of niacin increases your HDL level, so does moderate drinking of alcohol, with red wine most protective in other ways, tends to increase HDL levels. So does taking 400 to 600 mg a day of magnesium; 200 micrograms a day of chromium in chromium polynicotinate. Taking 30 to 45 mg total of zinc but not more and balanced by 2 or 3 mg total of copper also helps increase HDL levels. Eating nuts increases HDL levels. Eating organic blueberries and other berries increases your HDL levels. (So taking such supplements as bilberry extract and grape seed extract high in the anthocyanins like those in berries likely does as well.) Using extra virgin olive oil instead of high omega 6 oils such as corn and soy and canola also helps keep your HDL levels high while keeping your LDL levels low.

Regular exercise, particularly progressive strength training and interval cardio do both things! They increase your level of HDL AND lower your triglyceride levels. So they are quite effective in preventing plaque build up.

The researches have found that when you raise HDL and lower triglycerides at the same time, the amount of the dangerous small particle LDL in your blood that is literally so small it sticks in your artery walls building up plaque goes way down.

(This is why NEVER ingesting transfats or the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils containing them is so important. Transfats INCREASE the dangerous small particle LDL in your blood.)

Then, if you eat plentiful organic fruits and vegetables and take antioxidant supplements, you also prevent the LDL you do have from becoming oxidized. Oxidized LDL tends to build up plaque. Vitamin A and the carotenoids in red and yellow vegetables and hidden in broccoli are antioxidants. So is 200 iu a day of natural vitamin E. And so are 200 mcg a day of selenium, 200 mg a day of alpha lipoic acid, & CoQ10. Cocoa & many spices are very effective antioxidants as well.

Taking 500 to 2,000 mg a day of vitamin C is also an antioxidant. But it also helps your body to prevent the small tears in your artery walls that your body would otherwise try to coat with plaque. So taking vitamin C is very valuable to prevent or reverse plaque.

(The other thing to do that is a basic health habit is to completely avoid cigarette smoke. Tobacco smoke is a reliable cause of INCREASES in your arterial plaque. This kills many more people than the cancers smoking causes. So it’s important to stay completely away from tobacco smoke.)

2. You can also take other supplements that tend to prevent or reverse arterial plaque. A recent health email I got included these.:

(Warning: Since many of these supplements “thin” the blood and one tends to thicken it a bit, it may not be wise to combine taking them with taking aspirin daily. Since aspirin also tends to produce stomach bleeding, I think the supplements are as effective and a far safer way to prevent excess blood clotting anyway.

And, if you are also taking a prescription blood thinner such a warfarin or Coumadin, you need to work with your doctor to get very frequent blood tests to be sure the effect of the supplements plus the drug doesn’t thin your blood to a dangerous level. However, if you take the supplements and eat right and exercise initially, you are far less likely to need such a prescription in the first place.)

Eating some foods regularly with some crushed raw garlic or taking the deodorized garlic capsules from Kyolic tends to prevent arterial plaque in everyone. And, in people who do the other things in this post, particularly taking vitamin C supplements, it may reverse plaque.

(Eating wild caught fish and taking the omega 3 supplements apparently is so effective at lowering triglycerides that just doing this step tends to prevent plaque build up.)

Natural vitamin E in all of its four forms and its cousin tocotrienols not only is a superb antioxidant, it may also help prevent or reverse arterial plaque. Extra virgin olive oil, nuts, avocados, some kinds of leafy green, and wheat germ and its oil all have vitamin E. Since all of these foods have other health benefits and clearly have the natural form of vitamin E, I recommend them highly.

But the best way to get vitamin E in the larger quantities that seem to be most helpful is to take supplements. Solgar makes a 200 iu of alpha tocopherol vitamin E supplement that also has some of the beta, delta, & gamma forms. (I’m sure one a day of these is good for my health. Since there have been some reports of problems with very high intakes, I do not take more. Two a day or 400 iu of vitamin E may be OK & some health experts recommend it. 600 or more I think is clearly too much.)

Vitamin K1 is in broccoli and many other cruciferous and green, nonstarchy vegetables. It’s in green tea as well. And, you can get vitamin K2 supplements. This one can thicken the blood slightly, so you definitely want to do the other blood thinning steps if you add the K2 supplement. But vitamin K apparently causes your body to put calcium in your bones to prevent osteoporosis AND it prevents calcium from getting added to your arterial plaque. And, if you also do the other things, getting enough vitamin K may even take calcium out of your arterial plaque. So, since calcium build up in your arteries is one of the most accurate predictors of future heart attacks, this is an unusually important one to include.

Nattokinase is the active ingredient in the fermented soy food natto that the fermentation bacteria use to make the soy proteins digestible. There is some evidence that adding this supplement to these other steps tends to digest & remove plaque from your artery walls.

So, if you do all or most of the most effective of these steps you can prevent plaque build up and may even reverse it.

10 more ways to stay healthy....

Today's post: Monday, 9-29-2008

Yesterday Parade magazine was in our Sunday paper.

They had an article titled “8 ways to stay healthy.”

We’ve posted on some of these 8 ways here. But some very promising ways, we have not posted on. And, two are very timely this time of year, in early fall.

So, I include these 8 ways here with my own comments. And, I add two of the several others I think are most important as the ninth and tenth ways.

1. Give blood.

Many health professionals have said that men and post menopausal women who give blood, avoid having excessive iron in their blood which would otherwise cause excessive oxidation of their blood lipids, particularly LDL or the cells of the lining of their blood vessels, the epithelium. Since such oxidation is a direct cause of cardiovascular disease, it does sound like giving blood is a good idea.

But the Parade article had some startling news. That may be the less important reason to give blood as a way to protect your health. Dr. Mark Liponis who wrote the article said that a recent long term Scandinavian study of blood donors found that not only did they have a lower incidence of liver, lung, colon, stomach, and throat cancer, than nondonors, those who donated most had the lowest levels of these cancers.

It’s possible that the underlying cause is that the people who gave blood and did it the most were least likely to smoke or socialize with people who do.

But, these lower rates of cancer might be a direct effect of giving blood. And, since giving blood is also a service to other people and helps prevent cardiovascular disease, you might want to consider doing it yourself.

2. Wash your hands.

Dr. Liponis mentions a study that found the people who washed their hands regularly got half the pneumonia & diarrhea that people did who didn’t wash their hands. I’ll add that people who wash their hands also tend to get half the colds & cases of the flu.

So, this is good time of year to remember to wash your hands regularly as it’s the start of the cold and flu season.

A related idea is to keep a handkerchief or Kleenex or a roll of toilet paper on your person or at your desk. Then, when you want to clear gunk out of your nose or the corners of your eyes, only let the surface of the clean cloth or tissue touch directly. Since touching these parts of you with your fingers is one of the ways you catch colds and flu, doing that will cut your risk of it by as much as another half again.

Together, these two parts of this tip can cut your chances of getting colds, cases of the flu, and pneumonia by as much as 75 percent this cold and flu season.

3. Get your shots.

You can also cut your chances of getting the flu by at least another 50 percent and make the cases you still might get shorter and less harsh by getting a flu shot this fall. They will be widely available for free or low cost in just a few days or a week or two.

In addition, you can cut your chances of getting pneumonia by more than 50 percent by getting the pneumonia vaccine if you haven’t already done so. (The pneumonia vaccine prevents something like 80 percent of the kinds of pneumonia caused by bacteria. And, the protection lasts at least five years.) That can be lifesaving in addition to avoiding the discomfort of being sick.

4. Try to avoid using antibiotics.

When you do have a life threatening infection or one that could go that way, you want to make sure the antibiotic you take will do the job. But, if you have taken antibiotics when your doctor said they were unnecessary, not only might that make some bacteria grow resistant to those antibiotics in general, it may well make the bacteria IN YOU resistant to that antibiotic or others like it.

Oops! That can be a deadly, bad idea. So don’t do it.

A related point is to eat vegetarian protein such as beans, lentils, nuts and wild caught fish and grass fed beef instead of farmed fish and grain fed beef and pork. Animals overfed grain in pens and farmed fish are often routinely dosed with antibiotics to prevent them from getting sick or when they get sick, when wild caught fish never get antibiotics and grass fed cattle rarely do.

Why pay money for something that causes overuse of antibiotics when it can be avoided?

(It also helps that beans, lentils, nuts and wild caught fish and grass fed beef are MUCH better for you otherwise than farmed fish and grain fed beef and pork.)

5. Consider driving less & ALWAYS wear your seat belt.

If you drive 20 percent fewer miles, you not only save money on fuel and wear and tear on your car, you cut your chances of death and injury in a car accident by 20 percent.

Two related points.

Try very hard NOT to drive between 10 PM and 4 AM. That’s when other drivers are most likely to be driving drunk or to be falling asleep at the wheel. So try to avoid driving during those hours.

It’s even more important to ALWAYS wear your seatbelt. The short trips, “to the store” and the like are so common, most of the risk you experience happens on these, short common trips.
And, since the speeds are often relatively low, wearing your seat belt can often allow you to walk away from accidents—with NO injuries at all from accidents that would injure you, put you in the hospital, or kill you. And, they do just that for thousands of people every year.

NEVER say or think, “I’m just going to the store.” – and leave off your seat belt. Simply make it an automatic habit to always wear yours by putting it on every time you sit down in a car or truck.

6. Get enough sleep.

Do your very best to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night, 6 at the very least, and take short naps when you need them if you possibly can. And, try to always sleep the same hours. You’ll be less stressed. You’ll think better. You’ll be less fat. You’ll be less likely to be in an accident. You’ll be sick less often. And, your health will be better.

It’s often not easy. But it can be done. It can help a lot to never have a TV in your bedroom and to hardly ever watch the late news or other late night programs on TV.

7. Eat wild caught fish that is low in mercury at least twice a week if you possibly can.

Farmed fish are actually bad for you to eat. And, most people today ingest too little omega 3 oils. Wild caught fish and some seafoods, such as oysters, are high in it. You can also take DHA supplements that get that omega 3 oil from the same algae the fish do &/or take purified fish oil supplements.

Doing this and cutting back on refined grains and oils such as soy and corn that are high in omega 6 oils has many health benefits, particularly for your heart and lowering inflammation.

8. Get checked regularly.

Get the recommended tests for people of your age and sex. Doing this can catch problems early when they can be fixed or cured.

And, be sure to get your key blood indicators of health checked regularly, every year or every 6 months, and know what levels are desirable and what levels are dangerous. Then take appropriate action if your tests are too high or too low for good health.

This can help enable you to prevent heart disease, stroke, and type II diabetes. And, the health habits it often motivates you to take up can even prevent many cancers.

9. Stop eating or drinking stuff that harms your health.

Stop eating commercial desserts and snacks and other packaged foods that contain mostly refined grains, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and excessive amounts of salt – or artificial sweeteners. Not drinking soft drinks, eating foods with refined grains, and not ingesting anything with high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated vegetable oils ( transfats) is particularly important.

Many people still eating or drinking tons of this stuff daily. As a result, they tend to be fat and prone to heart disease, strokes, and type II diabetes and many other avoidable illnesses.

Why not vote the other way and eat and drink mostly things that BENEFIT your health instead?

10. Get regular exercise.

It prevents diseases. It has been proved to help you live longer. It prevents many kinds of disability that can ruin your quality of life.

And, it makes you trimmer, stronger, and more able to handle physical challenges when you need to.

Regular exercise has even been shown to grow new brain cells, help you think better, and improves the sex lives of both men and women.

None of these effects is theory. Repeated studies confirm them often.

So, be sure to get regular exercise every week even if it’s just some short walks several times a week.

Lower heart damaging inflammation....

Today's post: Friday, 9-26-2008

The measure of systemic or body-wide inflammation called CRP and often measured by something the labs and doctors call HS CRP is important. If the blood tests for it show up as high instead of low in you when you have that test done, it means you are at serious risk of heart disease and the events it causes.

In fact, it’s one of the three or four most predictive tests.

Many doctors know this and will order this test for you when they have you get your blood tested for the so called “cholesterol panel” that shows your HDL, LDL, & triglycerides.

But some doctors don’t know this yet & many more don’t yet know what to tell you to do to lower it if your CRP tests as high. Statin drugs do lower it some. And, they may well get more of the small amount of protection they provide from lowering inflammation than they do by lowering your LDL cholesterol. But as you’ll see shortly, it’s not necessary to take the risks of statin side effects or costs when there are better methods to use that also help prevent heart disease in several other ways.

Here are those better methods.

As I often do, I’ll quote an article from today’s email from Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs. Then I’ll add my comments and additions.

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"

“Friday, September 26, 2008

Do the Foods You Eat Keep You in Pain?

By Steve Hefferon, CMT, PTA

What's Causing Your Pain?

When I say the word "inflammation," it's likely to evoke thoughts of painful joints and muscles, swelling, and a loss of mobility. But did you know that recent research shows that chronic inflammation in your body can lead to serious diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few?

The amount of inflammation in your body varies and is dependent on a number of factors including your activity level, the amount of sleep you get, the degree of stress in your life, and even the foods you eat. What you have to realize is that these factors are cumulative -- meaning they build up over time. And the more that any or all of these factors get out of whack, the higher the risk for disease.

Early in life, these levels can be so low that you might not even be aware that you have any inflammation in your body. That's because our bodies do a fairly decent job of controlling the inflammation -- at least for a while. Then one day you wake up and you're in your 40s and something is just not right. That's when the fear begins to set in, and you think to yourself, What did I do wrong? or, What can I do now to help myself?

The first step is to get your C-reactive protein (CRP) levels tested. CRP is produced by the liver, and it rises when there is systemic inflammation in the body. Ask your doctor about this test (you may have to demand having it done). All it requires is a blood sample that will be evaluated by your doctor. And because diet can play a large role in how much or how little inflammation you have, you may want these levels looked at by a registered dietician who can help you formulate an appropriate eating plan.

If you have pain due to inflammation, you may choose to take the traditional medical path, which includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroids, and even joint-replacement surgery in extreme cases. The good news is that there are natural ways to fight inflammation without the undesirable side effects that often result from the treatments listed above.

What You Eat Makes All the Difference

The food you eat is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to controlling inflammation. The typical American diet consists of too much fat, tons of sugar, loads of red meat, and a frightening amount of processed foods -- all of which are likely to increase inflammation and contribute to obesity -- and obesity itself can cause inflammation.

By switching to an anti-inflammatory diet plan consisting of healthy whole foods, you can actually decrease inflammation and ease the pain and discomfort associated with it.

The first step is to avoid processed foods, foods high in sugar, and junk food whenever possible. Instead, choose fresh whole foods, especially anti-inflammatory varieties such as lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. But choose carefully. Many vegetables and pre-packaged "health" foods can actually work against you.

Use this handy list of the best and worst foods for controlling inflammation:

Anti-inflammatory foods

Atlantic salmon (wild)
Fresh whole fruits, vegetables
Bright multi-colored vegetables
Green tea
Water
Olive oil
Lean poultry
Nuts, legumes, and seeds
Dark green leafy vegetables
Old fashioned oatmeal
Spices, especially turmeric and ginger

Inflammatory foods

Sugar, from any source
Processed foods
French Fries
Fast Foods
White bread
Pasta
Ice Cream
Cheddar cheeses
Snack foods
Oils, such as vegetable and corn
Soda, caffeine, and alcohol

In addition to these dietary changes, it is also recommended that you:

Maintain a healthy weight. There is no question that eating healthy is not easy nowadays, whether you're at home or at a restaurant. But at the very least, you must try to decrease your intake of sugars and hydrogenated oils and increase your daily intake of fiber. Ideally, you should consume 35 grams of fiber per day (that is a ton of fiber, but it's worth shooting for).

Get better sleep. 7 to 9 hours of sleep is a must for optimal health; getting a good night's sleep is key to controlling systemic inflammation.

Relax more often to lower stress levels. Find time for yourself throughout the day to focus on your breathing and clear the clutter from your mind; learn to stay focused on the most important tasks in your life.

Exercise on a regular basis. People always ask me, "What's the best exercise to do?" and I always tell them, "Do something you like to do and, if your body can tolerate it, aim for 15-20 minutes three times a week."

Demand to have you CRP levels tested. This simple blood test is the best indicator of the amount of systemic inflammation in your body. Have your levels evaluated by a licensed health care provider who can suggest the most appropriate action.

So, if you are in pain and you've made a conscious decision to help yourself get better, these dietary and lifestyle changes will go far to help you live a healthier, pain-free life.

[Ed. Note: Steve Hefferon is co-founder of LoseTheBackPain.com and The Healthy Back Institute. He has a B.S. degree in Health/Fitness and is both a Fitness Trainer and a Certified Massage Therapist. He has combined these skills to become one of the countries top Post-Rehabilitation specialists…..]”

X* X* X* X* X* X* X*

A. To make his recommendations work even better, there are several things you can also do.

1. Take the supplements DHA, and purified fish oil daily. And eat safe kinds of fish and or seafood high in omega 3 oils at least once or twice a week. (Canned Alaskan salmon is wild caught. Oysters also are high in omega 3’s. And, restaurants often have wild caught halibut and petrale sole available. Unfortunately, restaurants rarely have wild caught salmon; and the farmed salmon most of them have tends to INCREASE inflammation and contains pollutants that will harm you in other ways.)

In addition, eat no refined grain foods. Eat only grass fed beef when you have beef. And, make a strong effort to avoid corn oil, soy oil, safflower oil, and minimize eating canola oil. Grain fed beef, refined grain foods, and these oils are all high in omega 6 oil.

The bottom line reason for all this is that abundant omega 3 and a minimum of omega 6 oils reduces inflammation. Unfortunately, the reverse is true also. Lots of omega 6 oils and no or very little omega 3 increases inflammation.

2. Drink tea or green tea and consume it between meals &/or with no milk.

Small amounts of dark chocolate or cocoa made only from pure unsweetened cocoa have recently been found to reduce inflammation very well. Do not use milk chocolate for this or have milk at the same time.

Both of these methods tend to increase blood flow and lower your blood pressure if it’s high also.

3. If you are NOT taking prescription blood thinners, take the supplement curcumin. It’s the active ingredient in turmeric and curry. It not only reduces inflammation, there is strong evidence it helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease. And, because it lowers inflammation and activates your immune system it apparently also helps prevent cancer.

4. Be absolutely sure to get at least as much exercise as he recommends. And, if you can get more without overtraining and fit it into your life, do so. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to reduce inflammation.

B. But there’s even more good news. Doing this set of things will also sharply lower your triglycerides and the dangerous kind of small particle LDL in your blood that causes heart disease.

It will also tend to help you lose excess fat and lower your blood pressure if it’s high.

And, THAT set of things will slash your risk of heart disease.

I wish you well in doing it.

New information on Fat Loss....

Today's post: Thursday, 9-25-2008

There are two parts to this post. The second part has the key to fat loss success.

1. Being fat not only makes you look less sexually appealing, it tends to turn off your sex drive.

2. A little known fact is one of the most important reasons people who try to lose fat weight fail to lose it all and keep it off. But there are three ways to overcome it. If you want to lose all the fat you should & would like to lose and keep it off, it’s definitely worth trying all three together.

1. Being fat not only makes you look less sexually appealing, it tends to turn off your sex drive.

Most people know being fat makes you look less sexually appealing. But few people know it also tends to turn off your sex drive.

Last Friday, 9-19, in the Yahoo News health section online, Reuters Health had a story titled,

"Obesity may diminish a man's fertility ."

They found married fat men tended to not have as many children as married men of normal weight. They found that measurable in differences in hormone levels in the fat men caused this effect.

The fat men had below normal testosterone levels. And, some of the fertility related hormones that were low in the fat men caused the researchers to believe that excess body fat likely also tended increase the conversion of testosterone to estrogen in a man's blood. They measured higher estrogen levels in the fat men.

They also said that previous studies found that fat men had lower libido and increased risk of erectile dysfunction when compared with men who were not fat.

The good news is two fold.

One, if you are fat now, you can increase your testosterone level right away, even before you lose very much fat, AND increase your chances of losing the fat and have it stay off. Doing progressive strength training and/or interval cardio regularly -- releases testosterone.

Doing these two kinds of exercise also boosts your metabolism for hours after you exercise and increases your muscle mass. So since the increased muscle burns more calories than fat does, you burn more calories in two ways and tend to both lose fat and increase muscle. This helps ensure that not only do you lose only fat as you lose weight, you may well lose MORE pounds of fat than you lose pounds on the scale.

You can also have more testosterone by preventing some of it from being converted to estrogen. According to Dr Al Sears, taking the supplement DIM or eating lots of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables that contain it or both does exactly that.

Now, here’s the really interesting part of this post.:

2. A little known fact is one of the most important reasons people who try to lose fat weight fail to lose it all and keep it off. But there are three ways to overcome it. If you want to lose all the fat you should & would like to lose and keep it off, it’s definitely worth trying all three together.

As often happens, I read some key information earlier today in the health article in today’s Early to Rise.

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.”

“Don't Diet TOO Much

By Craig Ballantyne

Bodybuilders have long known that if you eat too little for too long, you can actually decrease your resting metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn at rest).

Now, scientists are catching up to our muscle-building friends. Researchers from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana studied long-term dieting in 48 normal-weight subjects.

For six months, one group of subjects reduced their calories by 25 percent. A second group reduced their calories by 12.5 percent and exercised to burn another 12.5 percent of their calorie intake each day. A third group consumed only 890 calories per day until they lost 15 percent of their body weight, and then went on a weight-maintenance diet.

The researchers found that resting metabolic rate decreased after only three months in the subjects who'd reduced their calories by 25 percent. The 890-calorie-per-day group and the diet + exercise group also had a decreased resting metabolic rate, but it took six months for them.

The conclusion: When you diet too hard and too long, your body starts to conserve energy by reducing your metabolism and by decreasing the number of calories burned in any exercise you do.

To keep your resting metabolism high, follow these three guidelines when trying to lose weight:

1. Don't cut your calories too much. A 10 percent reduction - combined with regular exercise - is plenty.

2. Permit yourself a "reward meal" once a week. Eat your favorite foods, but don't go over the number of calories you had been eating each day before you started the diet.

3. Every eight to 10 weeks, take a few days off of dieting, and go back to your pre-diet caloric intake.

[Ed. Note: Supplement Craig Ballantyne's diet rules with a fat-burning exercise routine. Learn how to build muscle and blast fat with his Turbulence Training program.

And for more advice on how to lose weight, eat right, and exercise better, sign up for ETR's free natural health e-letter.] “

(Their “natural health e-letter” comes out currently twice a week and you can sign up for it at:
www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com .)

X* X* X* X* X* X*

Here are the 3 other ways to prevent this effect.:

1. A combination of: eating less or hardly any of the foods and drinks that tend to make you fat;
and eating more green and nonstarchy vegetables;
and a 10 percent reduction or even a bit less in your total calories while keeping a dairy before the reduction and every week after it.
-- Will remove fat from your body. And, doing it in ways that allow you to eat other foods you enjoy and only cutting back that much, will enable you to keep doing it.

(I only had to cut my beer and wine intake a bit and ate more vegetables and was already avoiding fattening foods and drinks and exercising each week. But I’ve been able to maintain my fat weight loss since that’s all I had to add & subtract. So I’ve just kept doing it.)

Cutting back more than that tends to lower your metabolism and tends to make you feel bad to the place you both stop losing fat and tend to give up. Why do that? Upgrade your diet to health supporting foods and drinks and cut back the calories just a little. That both prevents the decrease in metabolism and makes it doable to continue.

For me this is not theory. I set out to lose just 10 pounds. But since I was able to keep up the changes easily, I lost 30 pounds.

2. Doing progressive strength training and/or interval cardio regularly not only releases testosterone and improves the sex lives of BOTH men and women, doing these two kinds of exercise also boosts your metabolism for hours after you exercise and increases your muscle mass. So, since the increased muscle burns more calories than fat does, you burn more calories in two ways and tend to both lose fat and increase muscle.

This also tends to prevent this drop off of metabolism that can slow or prevent losing fat.

3. There may be a way to improve this protection against having your metabolism drop even more. It does nothing by itself to lose fat. So people who don’t eat a bit less calories and upgrade how health supporting their foods and drinks are AND do both progressive strength training and interval cardio can use it with little effect.

But the people who do the things that cause fat loss, apparently get quite an effect if they add this third method too. I just discovered it existed a few days ago. And today’s Early to Rise article explains why it can be such an asset in fat loss.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have something you could take that would both totally prevent this drop in your metabolism AND cause you to lose most or all of your excess abdominal fat?

What if it also was safe to take and produced no “speed” or over-stimulation effects as well?

It’s a bit on the pricey side. It costs $50 to $60 a month to take it. And, it’s likely useless if you don’t do the other things and keep doing them.

But if you have the money and are doing the other things, I think it looks worth doing.

An active ingredient in wakame seaweed and some other kinds of seaweed is called fucoxanthin.

Wikipedia has this.:

“Fucoxanthin reduces fat because of its increase in cell energy expenditure. This is important because fucoxanthin helps to increase your metabolic rate, which becomes progressively slower as you age, explaining why normal dieting doesn't always have the desired long-term results. There have been recent studies in both humans and animals that showed taking fucoxanthin supplements helps to reduce body weight as well as significant losses in visceral fat, decrease in liver and abdominal fat, and an increase in energy expenditure. Subjects taking the fucoxanthin supplements lost an average of 14 pounds, 11 pounds more than the placebo group.”

The supplement most readily available in health food stores is Garden of Life Fuco Thin.

(from http://palmbeachnutrition.com/Garden-of-Life/Fuco-Thin/tabid/229/Default.aspx ):

“Garden of Life Fuco Thin

Fuco Thin by Garden of Life is for anyone who is seeking to manage body fat and support a healthy metabolic rate while following a balanced diet and a regular exercise regimen.

All-natural concentrate with fucoxanthin levels 250-500 times higher than wild seaweed

Supports the metabolism or breakdown of fat in white adipose tissue, including belly fat

The first marine algae-derived ingredient with clinically proven thermogenic effect

Does not stimulate the central nervous system and will not cause jitters or lost sleep.”


The Garden of Life literature reports that many of the people who do the other things and also take Fuco Thin lose inches off their waist in addition to pounds on the scale.

I lost 30 pounds without taking it and only lost 2 inches from my waist. I’d love to find that taking this would trim off another 2 to 4 inches off my waist.

So I intend to try it myself soon.

If you try it and it works for you, please leave a comment here.

More news about cancer prevention....

Today's post: Tuesday, 9-23-2008

It’s not extremely common knowledge; but in healthy people very early stage cancers occur from time to time and their immune system finds them & destroys them.

What happens in cancer as a disease is either the immune system is very weak or the early stage cancer manages to disguise itself and hide from your immune system. On KCBS radio several years ago, Charles Osgood described this problem and said that if we could find a way to prevent cancers from successfully hiding from your immune system in this way, it would be an enormously important discovery. Many people who would otherwise get cancer and all the problems it causes would never get it.

It seems one way to do this HAS been found !! That’s very good news.

Last Friday, it was in the health article in the Early to Rise email I get each day.

Here’s that article.:

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.”

4 Aggressive Approaches to Warding Off Cancer

By Shane "The People's Chemist" Ellison

Everyone has cancer. Johns Hopkins recently reminded us of this fact while studying how most of us beat cancer's deadly outcome: the immune system. When it identifies a cancerous cell, it attacks and eliminates it from the body. But every now and then, this system gets hoodwinked by rogue cancer cells.

Rogue cancer cells have the ability to become invisible and, therefore, overcome our immune-system defenses. This superpower of theirs helps them invade other regions of the body. Internally, we become a playground for cancerous infection and disease. Slow death ensues.

To beat rogue cancer cells, you need to eliminate their ability to become invisible to your immune system. What keeps cancer cells out of sight? Trophoblast cells. You can expose cancer for what it is by boosting your pancreatic enzymes. Pancreatic enzymes eliminate trophoblast cells and thus reveal to your "immunity radar" any underlying cancer cells for eventual eradication.

Several natural medicines that attack trophoblast cells have been identified. The most effective are flavonoids found in broccoli, whey isolate, B-17 from the apricot seed, and curcumin.

Considering their aggressive attack on invisible cancer cells, boosting pancreatic enzymes should be a daily habit for anyone who wants to ward off the everyday occurrence of cancer.

[Ed. Note: Cancer is a legitimate concern. But if you take a few simple measures, you can protect your health and live a longer, more satisfying life.

Most people are confused about what it means to be healthy... or whether those prescription drugs or supplements are REALLY good for their health. Author and organic chemist Shane Ellison can help you clear up the confusion with his Foundational Health Education program…..]”

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1. We’ve posted on eating broccoli, cauliflower, and other cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, radishes, etc as being helpful in preventing cancer and that eating raw broccoli &/or cauliflower at least once a week cuts the incidence of the aggressive kind of prostate cancer in half.

This information adds yet another way that eating broccoli helps prevent cancer.

And, since broccoli is also a nonstarchy green vegetable with many other nutrients, eating it helps you to stay or get trim and is good for you in many other ways. So, we strongly recommend eating broccoli often. And, organic broccoli is more likely to be high in these nutrients than pesticide & herbicide raised, so get organic broccoli if you can.

2. We’ve also posted on taking the supplement curcumin as a possible cancer preventive. It seems that there are very few cancers in India among people who eat curry or curried foods. Curry contains turmeric which give it a yellow color. And, curcumin is the active ingredient of turmeric.

It may also help prevent heart attacks as it acts as mild “blood thinner.” But this can cause interaction problems in people who take blood thinner drugs.

In the same way, it was discovered that taking curcumin or eating curried foods helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

So, if you aren’t taking a blood thinning drug, taking the supplement curcumin daily and enjoying curried foods when you can look to be extremely protective.

3. B-17 from the apricot seed may not be legally available in the U.S. And, I have no data on it myself. But I’ve heard some stories that suggest it may help treat cancers not just prevent them. It’s nice that there are three other ways to make early stage cancer cells visible to your immune system. (That’s in addition to the several other effective ways to prevent cancer.)

4. Whey isolate. This one I know very little about other than that Jarrow makes an “unflavored” whey supplement that has NO Stevia & that whey is a very high quality, concentrated protein source. (There’s some question as to whether or not even more natural things that taste sweet but have no sugars are good for you to ingest. And. I personally think Stevia tastes dreadful.)

I’m not sure that whey does that much to prevent cancer. But it will help give you high quality protein. So if you like that part, it may also help prevent cancer if you take whey as a protein supplement.

So of these four, broccoli & curcumin look to be both likely to prevent cancers and be easily available to you.

Lastly, here’s a quick summary of other methods to help prevent cancer.

Avoid tobacco smoke; & if you smoke, quit. Do regular exercise because it has been proven to lower the incidence of cancer somewhat. (I’ve seen estimates that tobacco smoke causes between one third to one half of ALL cancers.)

To the maximum extent you can, avoid using herbicides and pesticides or chemical room fresheners & getting exposure to industrial chemicals.

Minimize x-ray and radiation exposure.

Taking at least 1,000 iu of vitamin D or up to 3,000 iu daily looks to be very protective against all cancers. So does taking 200 micrograms of selenium daily but NOT more than that. And, taking 30 mg a day of zinc and 2 or 3 mg a day of boron also look to be helpful.

More bad news about High Fructose Corn Syrup....

Today's post: Monday, 9-22-2008

In our last post on Thursday, last week, we posted about several reasons that high fructose corn syrup is indeed bad for you.

Then, last Saturday, I got an article in my Early to Rise email that absolutely nails down that no one who wants to stay healthy should ingest high fructose corn syrup.

This information suggests that ingesting high fructose corn syrup, particularly in the quantities now common to most the food and drink of most people in the United States may quite literally be as bad for the health of your heart as eating way too many transfats.

Ouch !!

Transfats are now rapidly being banned because studies found ingesting them causes an increase in the kind of small particle LDL that quite literally is small enough it sticks in the chinks in the walls of your blood vessels -- & which is one of the main causes of heart disease –AND erectile dysfunction caused by vascular problems, AND peripheral artery disease, AND strokes, AND is one of the causes of high blood pressure, etc.

If James LaValle’s article that I read Saturday is correct in its facts, SO DOES ingesting high fructose corn syrup, particularly in the large amounts you may well have been taking in for years without realizing it.

Imagine something that both dramatically increases the amount of the small particle LDL that quite literally is small enough it sticks in the chinks in the walls of your blood vessels in your blood most days of the week AND increases your blood pressure to insure it gets driven into your artery walls.

Research shows that reliably produces heart attacks and all the other effects of cardiovascular disease. Now imagine that the majority of the people in the United States have been quite literally ingesting POUNDS of this stuff every month for many years. That would predict a lot of medical costs caused by the effects of this that need not have happened and need not continue to happen to YOU.

There are 3 blood indicators that measure how much of this kind of small particle LDL is in your blood vessels. The total LDL approximates it since having less of it makes it likely you also have less of the small particle LDL. But the ratio that almost measures it exactly is the ratio of HDL to triglycerides. Regular exercise tends to both increase HDL and lower triglycerides. That’s why it tends to prevent heart disease. It’s almost like it’s a drug to lower the amount of small particle LDL in your blood.

But guess what happens if your HDL stays the same & something sharply drives up the amount of triglycerides in your blood? We now know it’s virtually certain that means you will also have more small particle LDL in your blood vessels.

That’s what transfats do & what is getting them banned. Apparently ingesting high fructose corn syrup does the same thing.

Bottom line, read all food and drink labels and stop buying and/or ingesting things that contain any high fructose corn syrup if you want to stay healthy.

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.”

“Fruit Juice - Bad for Your Heart?

James B. LaValle

If you’re worried about the effects of fat and dietary cholesterol on your heart, stop. Trans-fats are the only ones conclusively proven to be detrimental. In the meantime, there’s something just as serious to watch out for. Fructose.

The average American is getting more fructose than ever before. A study in the July 9 Medscape Journal of Medicine found that, on average, our intake of fructose increased from about 35 grams (a little over 1 ounce) per day in the late 1970s to about 55 grams (almost 2 ounces) per day now. That may not sound like much, but 2 ounces of fructose per day is almost 46 pounds a year!

That’s serious news, because fructose has a rap sheet about a mile long:

1. It increases the risk of high LDL cholesterol - which increases the risk of heart attack threefold.

2. It increases triglycerides in the blood, a strong predictor of heart disease.

3. It increases uric acid in the blood, which causes gout and increases blood pressure.

4. It stimulates appetite by affecting leptin (a hunger-suppressing hormone) and ghrelin (a hunger-stimulating hormone.)

5. It decreases adiponectin, a hormone that improves insulin sensitivity in cells.

Where are we getting all that fructose? Well, it occurs naturally in fruits and other foods, like table sugar and honey. But the popular processed sweetener high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is the main culprit.

So check the labels. And avoid foods with HFCS. These include soft drinks, fruit juice drinks, fruit rolls/fruit chew-type snacks, sweetened teas, fruit smoothies, and ketchup. And limit your intake of anything with high amounts of natural fructose - like fruit juices - as well.

[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making a few simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted…..]”

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(James LaValle writes health articles for both Early to Rise – AND for its health focused publication, Total Health Breakthroughs.)

So, to repeat, if ingesting high fructose corn syrup has these effects, it is certain that it also produces heart disease and may well do so as much or more than ingesting transfats.

In fact, high fructose corn syrup may be even more effective in causing heart disease than transfats.

Look back and re-read his points 4. & 5. It seems that ingesting high fructose corn syrup makes you hungrier instead of less hungry after you take in the calories in the food or drink containing it. (Point 4.)

And, it tends to make your cells less sensitive to insulin. (Point 5.)

Guess what happens when you do both? You tend to get fat. And, by becoming fatter AND making the cells in your body insulin resistant, you tend to cause type II diabetes.

Oops !!

Men who have both cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes are twice as likely to have heart attacks as those without the type II diabetes. And, women who have both cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes are FOUR times as likely to have heart attacks as those without the type II diabetes.

So, if his facts are correct, high fructose corn syrup is WORSE than transfats. It causes heart attacks and other cardiovascular disease in TWO ways. Transfats only do it in one way.

(By the way, drinking a single glass a day of real fruit juice, or even two for people who exercise and are not over fat, both has significant health benefits, including helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and helping to prevent or reduce high blood pressure. And, somehow the micronutrients in real juices prevent the fructose in the juice from having the same effects as high fructose corn syrup. But drinking more juice than that or drinking juice with extra high fructose corn syrup added overrides this protection.)

High Fructose Corn Syrup is still bad for you....

Today's post: Thursday, 9-18-2008

TIME online earlier today posted an article about high fructose corn syrup. It seems the Corn Refiners Association, in an effort to keep selling large quantities of high fructose corn syrup, has paid for an 18 month campaign of TV commercials saying it’s not really that bad, is made from natural ingredients, & it’s actually OK if you don’t eat too much of it.

Will people die within a week if they eat some high fructose corn syrup? No. If it were, virtually everyone in the United States now would have been long dead. (It’s in some restaurant foods. So even if you never buy things at the store that contain it, you’ve probably had some. And, it’s been in so many different kinds of foods that you wouldn’t dream would have any for so long you likely ingested quite a lot of it before you found out you’d be better off avoiding it.)

But it is still true that buying or eating or drinking foods containing it will harm your health.

It truly is bad for you. And, the things that make this true still exist despite these ads.

1. Two things have been reported that suggest it should not be in food or drink and never ingested often.

One is that it’s reported to be a direct fattening agent. It provides calories but instead of having the food or drink containing those calories making you less hungry, it tends to increase your appetite instead.

Second, it has been reported to cause metabolic problems and is NOT processed properly by your body. And those researchers believed this effect might help trigger type II diabetes MORE than the equivalent caloric intake of sugar would do or would have done.

Since even people who exercise regularly today still get less exercise than most people did from just walking as little as 100 years ago & have sedentary jobs and spend hours each week watching TV or playing video games or accessing the internet, adding that kind of food ingredient to the foods & drinks people take in will cause & has caused huge numbers of people to get fatter than they can be and stay healthy. And, many more of those people will get type II diabetes than otherwise would have gotten it.

2. For those same reasons, many of the foods high fructose corn syrup is in tend to be those which people who care about their health should eat very infrequently. These range from the fruit punch & popsicle in the Corn Refiners Association ads to soft drinks to commercial baked goods and desserts, many snack foods & many, many others. These kinds of semifoods not only contain high fructose corn syrup, they also tend to contain refined grains, salt, sometimes partially hydrogenated oils (transfats), & sometimes MSG that also are bad for your health or are even worse than high fructose corn syrup.

In addition, these foods and drinks tend to have very little nutrition and very little fiber. And many have very little protein either. That way you can easily wind up overfed calories AND undernourished too. And, that’s exactly what is happening to many people in the United States now. And, it’s happening to most children in the United States as well.

So, if you avoid these foods & drinks because of their high fructose corn syrup content, you will enjoy better health in two ways. You won’t ingest the high fructose corn syrup and get the appetite boost it gives people or ingest these foods and drinks that harm your health in other ways. And, you will eat and drink things instead that actually are beneficial to your health.

3. It’s now in so many foods that most people wouldn’t dream or ever guess high fructose corn syrup would be in that the average American now ingests 60 pounds of high fructose corn syrup each year.

It’s in many kinds of yogurt. It’s in ketchup. It’s in bread – sometimes even whole grain bread. High fructose corn syrup AND added transfats are in a popular peanut butter or were last time I looked at the label.

And, that’s in addition to high fructose corn syrup replacing sugar in sweet foods including jams, jellies, ice cream, and pancake syrups other than real maple syrup.

The TIME article quoted nutrition analyst Marion Nestle as saying this. “High-fructose corn syrup is not a poison, but eating less of any kind of sugar is a good idea these days and anything that promotes eating more is not."

But even if the studies of metabolic problems digesting high fructose corn syrup are discounted or proven wrong, high fructose corn syrup tends to make people eat more. And, because it tastes sweeter, high fructose corn syrup does this more than sugar. In fact, because it’s also cheaper, sweet foods that have high fructose corn syrup may well have more high fructose corn syrup than the sugar they replace and thereby have more calories in addition. You will definitely take in more calories as you’ll usually eat more of the food.


It’s no mystery why high fructose corn syrup got added to foods. It’s sweeter than sugar. It costs less. It’s sometimes easier to do commercial cooking with as it comes as a liquid syrup, I understand. And the TIME article says it extends shelf life besides.

But the bottom line is this: Considering all of the information, you’ll enjoy much better health if you do your best never to ingest high fructose corn syrup.

Good recipes that make you healthier....

Today's post: Tuesday, 9-16-2008

Recently, I saw an online article by NPR about a book by a doctor who has studied the health effects of foods and is also a chef.

If you are interested in which foods help reverse or prevent which health problems or you want some health OK recipes tested as being doable usually in 30 minutes or less and which taste good, this may be a real asset to have. It’s not perfect; but if you are new to the subject of health beneficial foods or need some new recipe ideas for making health OK foods that taste good, you may really like this book. Most of the reviewers on Amazon rated it 5 stars out of 5.

ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine:
A Food Lover's Road Map to Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Getting Really Healthy

by John La Puma and Rebecca Powell Marx (Hardcover - April 29, 2008)

And, if you want to preview the recipes or have access to more similar information, you can check out www.chefmd.com .

It’s available now on Amazon.com as are the reviews.

Beat the fat gene & lose fat anyway....

Today's post: Monday, 9-15-2008

When the research came out that many people of European ancestry have a “fat” gene that tends to make them overeat & get fat, I saw a key in the research report on how to overcome it and be trim anyway. I then the did my own post on using that information, “Exercise turns off excessive hunger….” -- on: Friday, 8-29-2008.

Today I got an email from Jon Benson who HAS the fat gene & is very trim and NOT fat anyway. He is a legitimate expert on fat loss that works. He had to become one to get rid of his own fat problem.

It has some of his take on this issue and lists some of the resources he has written himself or recommends. So, I though I’d post it today.

“F I T | 3 6 5 The New Daily Fitness + Health E-Zine
From Bestselling Author Jon Benson

Sent by Permission Only September 13, 2008

Today's Topics:

1. Bad News: You May Have The Fat-Gene
2. Good News: Researchers are Nuts
3. Another "Taste Better" Tip


---------------------------------------------------------------------- |

Bad News: You May Have The Fat-Gene

---------------------------------------------------------------------- |

Ah, the "Fat-Gene." Yep, I have it. You probably do too.

It's called the FTO Gene. Researchers estimate that up to 30% of those from
European decent have FTO.

FTO is just flat-out nasty. It is an obesity "allele", which just means that it
is a part of a gene structure that is associated with weight-gain.

FTO is also associated with an increased chance of Type 2 Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, and other disease states. However, these states are secondary to weight-gain. This means weight-gain is a major trigger for these disease states to begin.

No kidding. Who'd thunk it?

Oh, there's more: FTO was found to jack appetite through the roof after rats were
deprived of food for a while.

So... let me get this straight:

1. This gene makes someone eat more after they starve themselves.

2. This gene is associated with obesity and disease states caused by weight-
gain... which is...

3. Always the result of starving yourself.

I'm just trying to paint a picture here folks and to avert some needless panic.

Let me give you an alternative hypothesis:

1. Yes, genes have something to do with weight-gain and bodyfat, etc.

2. But most people who were tested for these genetic factors probably tried
some form of starvation dietplan long before Mr. Researcher called them into
the clinic.

3. As a result, this FTO sucker triggered the extremely well-researched
"fight or flight" response to starvation, which ...

4. ...bingo...caused our test subjects to gain bodyweight.

Ta-da.

This is no different than the genetic traits that make someone more likely to
smoke or drink or like pop music. He/she STILL has to start the process, and that
means he or she can stop it.

So, want to turn "off" your FTO?

* STOP STARVING YOURSELF *

You do not need to starve. You need to eat smart. I am only moderately hungry at night even when getting into super lean condition. I eat many times a day or (if eating higher-fat) 2-3 times and I'm always eating plenty of food.

Turn off FTO by turning ON your body's natural need for frequent, healthy food.

My friend Christopher Guerriero wrote a killer book on this subject. It is like The
Bible of Metabolic Power.

Read about it here – “

[Oops, Jon’s link failed; but Amazon.com has these 3 works by this author. :

1. Maximize Your Metabolism: Double Your Metabolism in Thirty Days or Less by Christopher Guerriero (Hardcover - Mar 1, 2004)
10 Used & new from $9.94

2. Christopher Guerriero Interviewed by Randy Gilbert on The Inside Success Show by Randy Gilbert and Christopher Guerriero (Digital - Sep 1, 2006) - Download: PDF Buy: $19.97 Available for download now

3. Fitness Book: Fatness to Fitness - Former Fat Kid Reveals His Most Powerful Personal Strategies and Techniques to Help You Quickly and Safely Achieve Permanent Fitness Success by Joey Atlas (Paperback - May 22, 2008)

“Christopher knows his stuff. He's an expert in the field of bio-nutrition and human
metabolism, and he's in killer shape at 44.

Stoke the furnace -- and turn off your fat-gene. It just takes a bit of smart eating and a willingness to ignore most of what the media tries to sell you.

Good News: Researchers are Nuts

---------------------------------------------------------------------- |

More on FTO -- and this one really deserves the "why on earth did some university grant
this guy a PhD?" award.

The headline read:

"Fat-Gene Can Be Conquered IF You Exercise
3-4 Hours Per Day!"

I won't even bore you with the details of this ridiculous study, but suffice to say they went so far as to look at the Amish lifestyle as an 'answer' of sorts to the FTO issue.

"Gardening, housecleaning, yard work...all of these count."

Okay, show of hands: How many of you do plenty of EACH and are still not where you
want to be body-wise?

All of you?

That's what I thought.

Look, all the super-moderate activity in the world is not going to help anyone turn
off any fat-gene.

Short, intense exercise will. A realistic nutrition plan (like mine, or the ones
detailed in Christopher's book) will.

Common sense will.

You do NOT need 3-4 hours of exercise a day to be healthy any more than you need
3-4 hours of investing each day to be rich.

You need SMART exercise (and smart investing for that matter.) It's not an
issue of time, it's an issue of intensity and focus.

The links at the bottom of this newsletter are to my books, all of which answer the
question: "How can I get the most done in the least amount of time?"

I'm all for an hour of walking a day, only because it's great for you and I love it.
But to suggest anyone needs 3-4 hours of measly activity a day is damn silly.

7-21 minutes of intense activity (that is safe for you) and 30-60 minutes of
moderately brisk walking (or an equal measure of exercise) is all you need to be
in SUPER shape, let alone healthy.

I made the case in "7 Minute Muscle" and thousands are listening:

7 Minute Muscle Freee Report: http://www.7minutemuscle.com/

Perhaps these researchers never met guys like me, Clarence Bass, Richard Winett, or
any of the thousands of real- world experts who stay lean and healthy without 3-4 hours
a day of activity.

And we have "the fat-gene"... at least I do. So there.

And that means you can do it too.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- |

Another "Taste Better" Tip

---------------------------------------------------------------------- |

I have no problems with egg yolks at all. But some people are allergic to the AA
(arachidonic acid) found in them.

Here's a solution: Almonds.

True, almonds contain ALA which can be converted to AA, but many people find that
this conversion process is long enough to delay immediate allergic reactions.”

“….But more than that, almonds provide one of
the key factors in my EODD 2.0 eating plan:

CRUNCH.

Crunch is vital to both the taste and pleasure of the food you consume. Adding
crunch can make the difference between feeling as if you're eating cat food or
caviar.

Here's what I do:

-- Use only egg whites
-- Use a small bit of raw honey
-- Use a half-teaspoon of olive oil
-- Use 10 almonds

The taste is incredible -- better than with
the yolks. I've increased my fiber with the
almonds, and I've increased the nutrient
profile of the meal.

And... it's yummy. Try it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- |

Conclusion

---------------------------------------------------------------------- |

Thanks for the kind words about my
last newsletter! Stay fit, and stay tuned...

Yours in Fitness,

J O N B E N S O N

Author, Fit Over 40
--- > Fit Over 40 Success Stories http://www.fitover40.com/

Author, 7 Minute Muscle
--- > 7 Minute Muscle Freee Report http://www.7minutemuscle.com/

Author, Every Other Day Diet
--- > Every Other Day Diet Plan http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/about.php


P.S. Don't forget to check out this website
for turning off the fat-gene.

Turn Off Fat-Gene” :” (See that info above on Amazon.)

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Starting with Jon’s last point first. If you aren’t allergic to the almonds in the recipe he suggests, try it with the dry roasted, unsalted bulk almonds from Whole Food Market. That would make it really crunchy.

You can also use chopped onion instead of honey for a more savory approach. He doesn’t specify cooking it; but by using the olive oil or a touch more of it, the chopped onion version would work well.

And, if you do not get a bad reaction to egg yolks, as a great tasting fat loss recipe high in protein and even higher in nutrients and its capacity to boost your HDL level, you can also use whole eggs.

Most of the fat loss methods Jon uses are the same as those we’ve posted on. (I do not believe in his ideas on “cleansing”; but virtually everything else he describes, I fully support.) His other methods certainly worked well for him. And, the evidence it that they work for virtually everyone who uses them.

But, there are many variations of eating right and exercising well enough to cause permanent fat loss. If you’d like to see over a dozen real life versions to find one that might be the best fit for you, or you just need some success stories of real people who actually got great results, his Fit Over 40 book has exactly that.

And, his idea, which he says works & has worked for many people, of eating right every other day is one some people might find more doable, particularly at first.

Safe superfoods....

Today's post: Thursday, 9-11-2008

When I heard that salmon was actually good for my health to eat as it was low in saturated fat & high in omega 3 oils I was delighted. It’s got a mild but rich flavor and is so tender you can cut it with your fork.

So, for a couple of years I always ordered salmon when I ate in a nicer restaurant. Unfortunately, as I learned about two years ago, that was likely NOT a good idea. It seems virtually all those salmon dishes were farmed salmon. And, unfortunately, farmed salmon is closer in its oil content to the grain fed beef that tends to give people heart disease; and the farmed salmon has considerably MORE health harmful pollutants than the grain fed beef.

As some of you remember, we did a post earlier on why NOT to eat farmed salmon. But some of you have not yet seen this information.

Today’s Early To Rise email has that information & similar information on how to get the superfoods and foods that are both good for you AND safe to eat. And, it explains what you tend to get if you don’t get the wild caught, grass fed, &/or organic foods instead.

Even with superfoods such as salmon and strawberries your net health benefit is completely positive instead of at least partly negative only if you get the OK kinds.

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

By Kelley Herring

How much is your health worth to you? For most people, the answer is quite simple: Everything.

But in this age of "pill and procedure" medicine, many wait until it's too late to make an investment in their health. And with the rising cost of food, it's tempting to scrimp and save wherever you can.

I have two important messages for you: (1) The time to invest in your health is now! Not when your quality of life has become compromised. And (2) the good news is that eating high-quality food - the finest Mother Nature has to offer - doesn't have to break the bank.

Food, like anything, tends to be less costly when it is mass produced. Producing it the right way - with care and attention to the environment - often costs more. Still, there are many conventional foods that give you the same nutritional bang for the buck as organics. At the same time, there are some "superfoods" you should be eating - and willing to pay a little more for.

Here's the scoop on five of them...

#1: Wild Salmon

Salmon has been heralded for its many health benefits (and deservedly so). The popularity of this fish has created wide demand. And to satiate consumers' appetites, thousands of fish farms have arisen on the world's coasts. Unfortunately, in this case, Mother Nature has not been successfully mimicked.

What was once touted as a health food for its robust levels of essential omega-3s has become a fishy substitute at best. At worst, farmed salmon will do you more harm than good. And that's why I urge you to buy only wild salmon.

How does this superfood turn from friend to foe? Here are the facts:

Farmed salmon contains endocrine-disrupting PCBs. Farmed salmon are fed fishmeal pellets that concentrate known cancer-causing pollutants called PCBs. While all salmon have some level of PCBs, farmed salmon have seven times higher levels than wild salmon.

Farmed salmon are lower in powerful antioxidants. Wild salmon dine on krill, which contain a carotenoid called astaxanthin (pronounced: asta-ZAN-thin) - one of the most powerful antioxidants ever discovered. Astaxanthin is also the nutrient responsible for wild salmon's beautiful red-orange color.

Farmed salmon are treated with artificial coloring. Because farmed salmon are fed cornmeal, soy, and canola oil - not their natural diet of krill - they are gray in color. They turn pink only when given chemically synthesized astaxanthin or treated with artificial coloring agents.

Farmed salmon promote inflammation. As a result of their diet, the flesh of farmed salmon contains up to four times the amount of inflammatory omega-6s than the flesh of wild salmon... and far less essential omega-3s.

Farmed salmon are loaded with antibiotics. Due to the cramped quarters in fish farms, lice and disease spread rapidly. And, in fact, farmed salmon are administered more antibiotics by weight than any other form of livestock.
You can't afford not to eat wild salmon. It is one of the few fish that is still remarkably unpolluted, it is sustainably harvested, and it's one of the healthiest proteins you can put on your plate.

The additional cost per serving of wild salmon ranges between $0.50 (Target, Archer Farms brand) to approximately $2.00 (Vital Choice)... a very small price to pay for a huge improvement in quality.

#2: Coffee

If you love coffee, you'll be glad to know that you can indulge yourself and promote your health too. Coffee is a rich source of age-defying antioxidants, and recent research even suggests it helps prevent Parkinson's and fight diabetes.

But I have some jolting news. If the coffee you drink is not organic, you're exposing yourself to cup after cup of high levels of pesticides. Some of the many chemicals commonly used against the "coffee borer" include highly toxic endosulfan, dursban, basudin, and disulfoton.

Get the most out of your morning java by choosing organic, shade-grown coffee. You can find it in most food stores, or buy in bulk online from a company like Cafe Altura. Expect to pay about $11 per pound for organic whole beans versus $7 for conventional whole beans.

#3: Grass-Fed Beef

Beef was once believed to be harmful due to its saturated-fat content. However, research now shows that the real culprit is the extremely high level of inflammatory omega-6 fats that are created when cattle are fed a steady diet of corn. Not to mention the hormones used to hasten the trip of mass-produced beef to the butcher.

Way back when, cattle ate grass. Not corn. And they weren't pumped full of growth hormones (rBGH) and antibiotics and packed into pens. These few changes have turned a healthful food into one of your body's worst enemies.

But there is a way to have your beef and stay well too. Choose grass-fed! When cattle graze on their natural diet of grass, they have a healthier lipid profile - with much higher levels of healthy omega-3s and very low levels of inflammation-causing omega-6s. These animals are also naturally healthier, which means they are given antibiotics sparingly and only when necessary.

You can expect to pay about 50 percent to 100 percent more per pound for grass-fed beef, but the higher quality of the meat and many health benefits are worth it. For amazingly sumptuous cuts of the finest naturally raised beef, go straight to the appropriately named source - U.S. Wellness Meats. The company is managed with the same dignity and honesty as the folks who did it "way back when."

Looking for a bargain? Try buffalo! These animals aren't kept in pens (Would you want to try to put a buffalo in a pen?) and it's illegal to give them hormones. That makes buffalo a natural alternative to grass-fed beef that is relatively inexpensive (about $7 per pound) and available in stores nationwide through Maverick Ranch.

#4: Berries

It's hard to believe that sweet and juicy berries are so chockfull of age-defying, disease-fighting substances. And despite their taste, they are very low in sugar and score low on the glycemic index.

But I do have some bad news to share. Berries are one of the crops most highly contaminated with pesticides. In fact, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries are on the top-12 list of contaminated crops (a.k.a. The Dirty Dozen) that you should always buy organic.

Escaping harmful pesticides isn't the only reason to choose organic berries. Research shows that organic strawberries, for example, boast 25 percent more antioxidants and more cancer-fighting power than their conventional counterparts.

Expect to pay about $1 to $2 more per pound for frozen organic berries.

#5: Cocoa

The news that cocoa is good for you has folks gobbling it up... like candy. And as long as the cocoa products they choose aren't packed with sugar or artificial ingredients, they're probably doing their bodies a big favor.

In addition to its many mood-boosting and heart-healthy compounds, organic, natural cocoa has an antioxidant score higher than that of almost any other food. Measured in ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) units, cocoa's is around 80,000. Compare that to "antioxidant-rich" blueberries, which have an ORAC of around 6,500.

But before you grab the first box of cocoa you see on the shelf, here's something you need to know. Most cocoa is "alkalized" - treated with alkali, a harsh chemical base that cuts its considerable antioxidant capacity in half. The solution: Choose organic, non-alkalized cocoa.

NOW Foods makes a delicious organic, non-alkalized cocoa that's easy on the wallet. At only $5.50 for 12 ounces (versus $3.15 for 8 ounces of Hershey's), you'll enjoy higher quality and a more valuable product for less than a dime more per ounce. Mix it into your coffee, whirl it in a smoothie, or add it to low-glycemic dessert recipes.

The Bottom Line

When you invest in your health by spending a little extra on the above superfoods, you'll get many of the rewards - like more energy, a better mood, glowing skin, and a youthful vibrancy - almost immediately. Later, this investment will pay off by not only increasing your lifespan but your health span too.

Well worth the money, don't you think?

[Ed. Note: Health should be your top priority - even if that means spending a little more on your food. Fortunately, keeping your body in tip-top condition doesn't have to be expensive... or difficult…]”

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Note on salmon: Canned Alaskan salmon is wild caught & available year round. So, you don’t have to buy it fresh at high cost or take a lot of prep time to eat wild caught salon. Eating right doesn’t always cost more.

Also, I’ve found that a store that tends to stock many of the safe kinds of foods and superfoods from organic berries to wild caught salmon to grass fed beef is Whole Foods Market. Some of these foods are a bit more expensive than the less safe versions. But some are about the same price. And some even cost less. Check it out.

Lastly, if you eat in a fish & seafood restaurant they can tell you which kinds of the fish they can serve you or are on their menu. Sometimes they have wild caught salmon even though usually they don’t. But they will tell you if you ask. I’ve found Scott’s Seafood quite good about this; but have also had the same experience in other better restaurants. So always ask.

Get enough vitamin D but not too much....

Today's post: Tuesday, 9-9-2008

Recent studies have come out showing that vitamin D has very large health benefits of several kinds. If you take in enough vitamin D from sun exposure, food, & supplements you are less likely to get virtually all cancers or autoimmune diseases; you’ll be less depressed, particularly in the winter, and you may even get less hardening of the arteries & calcium loaded plaque in your blood vessels. That last benefit is significant as the evidence is doing that helps prevent high blood pressure, strokes, & heart attacks.

But, since many people in the United States, Canada, & Europe live far enough North to not get much vitamin D from sunshine for about half the year & increasingly people work indoors all day, the number of people who do not get enough vitamin D today from sun exposure is extremely large. And many of the most educated people have avoided going in the sun or always use sun block to attempt to prevent skin cancer in addition to where they live and work giving them less sun exposure.

Third, the original RDA for vitamin D of 400 iu is less than a fifth of the amount most people use or need to use each day from what I’ve read. And, in the summer, people who spend time outdoors during the day can get 10,000 to 15,000 iu a day of vitamin D from sun exposure.

From this set of information it seems clear to me that taking a total of 2,000 to 3500 iu a day of vitamin D3, the active form, is likely to be enough vitamin D to be beneficial but not too much. And, getting less than 2,000 iu a day may not be enough to protect your health.

However, when the benefits of retinol, the animal sourced kind of vitamin A were first understood, many people decided if 5,000 or 10,000 iu was good, 25,000 to 50,000 or more would be better & took too much for safety and good health.

So, I have wondered for quite a while what for sure was enough vitamin D & how much would you have to take to be unsafe & how, in your individual case, could you be sure you were taking enough for optimum health & health protection.

Read that exact information below. Today it was in an article on today’s Total Health Breakthroughs email.

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"

“Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Catch Some Healthy Rays

By Jon Herring

Have you ever noticed how you feel happier when you have a chance to sit or walk in the warm sun? Doesn't just going outside on a sunny day calm your nerves and lift your spirits?

By contrast, consider what happens and how you feel during the cold and dreary winter months. Many of us experience darker moods. We are more likely to become sick with colds and flu. We often gain weight and crave carbohydrates.

Then, come spring and summer, these symptoms magically disappear without treatment. Well, there is a reason for this.

Your body needs sunlight just like it needs nutrients. In many ways, your physiology is as closely linked to the sun as that of plants. Plants use sunlight to photosynthesize chlorophyll. By a comparable process your body uses sunlight to photosynthesize vitamin D -- a molecule that is vitally essential to almost every aspect of your biochemistry and physiology.

Decades of scientific research prove the importance of vitamin D. In addition to the noticeable lift it gives your mood, it also helps lower blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar; improves your immunity; regulates your weight; increases muscle strength; normalizes sleep cycles; and boosts brain function.

It has also been shown to prevent many chronic diseases, including the three biggest killers of our generation -- heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

On the other side of the coin, a deficiency of vitamin D is clearly associated with increased risk of a long list of health conditions, including everything from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and autism, to bone and muscle pain, behavior disorders, depression, gluten intolerance, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, infertility and tooth decay... just to name a few.

And here's why this should matter to you:

It is estimated that more than 90% of the population is deficient in this vital nutrient (technically, it is a hormone), at least part of the year. That means there is a good chance that YOU are deficient, putting your health at risk, including potentially doubling your risk of cancer. With fall and winter weather coming soon, this is something you should address right away.

There are several risk factors for vitamin D deficiency. The most obvious is your lifestyle and the amount of sunlight you are exposed to. If you work indoors, spend most of your time indoors, and get very little sunlight on your skin, you are almost certainly deficient.

Three to five days per week, you should aim for at least 15 to 20 minutes in the sunlight (with as much of your skin exposed as possible).

Where you live is also a factor. In the mid to higher latitudes, UV-B radiation is extremely limited during the fall, winter and spring. In his book, The UV Advantage, Dr. Michael Holick shows that any area north of 35° latitude (or south of the corresponding latitude in the southern hemisphere) will not receive enough UV radiation to trigger adequate vitamin D production for approximately six months out of the year. In the US, this is anywhere above Atlanta, Georgia.

That means even if you spend a significant amount of time outside, about half the year the sun is too low in the sky for your body to produce vitamin D. Likewise, if you usually wear sunscreen when you are exposed to the sun, you are likely to be deficient. A sunscreen with an SPF of 8 reduces vitamin D production by 95%!

Other risk factors for vitamin D deficiency include your age (as you age, you need more sun to produce vitamin D), your skin type (darker skin types need more sun to produce vitamin D), and even your weight (vitamin D becomes trapped in body fat and cannot exert its effects).

In any case, the only way to really know if you are deficient is to have your blood tested for levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, also called 25(OH)D. It's best to measure twice a year -- once at the end of winter when your levels are lowest, and once at the end of summer when your levels are highest. At the very least, you should get an annual measurement. The gold standard vitamin D test is from the company DiaSorin.

To get an idea of what "normal" is, let's look at populations living near the equator where we all evolved from. At or near the equator, the average person has vitamin D levels around 50 ng/mL. This is considered optimal.

Here are the generally accepted graduated levels of vitamin D deficiency:

Extreme deficiency: 20 ng/mL (high risk of various conditions)
Clinically deficient: below 32 ng/mL (increased risk of various conditions)
Borderline deficient: below 35 ng/mL
Acceptable: 35-45 ng/mL
Healthy: 45-55 ng/mL, or
Optimal: 55 ng/mL
Excess: greater than 100 ng/mL
Intoxication: greater than 150 ng/mL
Ideally, you want to maintain a healthy year-round level around 50 ng/mL. The question now is, how much vitamin D do you need... and how can you get optimal levels when the sun is low in the sky?

The government says if you are a male or female between 1 and 50 years of age, you need only 200 IU of vitamin D per day. But according to current research, the government is dead wrong on this point. The recommended daily allowance will only serve to prevent the most serious deficiency.

In one study performed at Creighton University in Omaha, researchers found that adults will use 3,000 to 5,000 units of vitamin D per day, if it is available to the body.1 In other words, the amount your body actually uses on a daily basis is 20 times more than the government says you need!

Also consider how much vitamin D your body makes when exposed to sunlight. During the summer months, if you expose most of your body to direct sunlight until your skin turns very slightly pink, your body will produce approximately 20,000 IU of vitamin D. This is 100 times greater than the recommended daily allowance (RDA).

After a review of numerous studies, it appears that 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day, from all sources, is about optimal. If you get some (but not a lot) of sun exposure, then you probably only need to consume about 2,000 IU per day from food and supplements.

Finally, let's address how to get enough vitamin D when you cannot get it from sunlight.

It is important to recognize that very few foods naturally contain vitamin D. Those that do, provide only a small amount. For example, a 3.5 ounce portion of salmon (one of the richest food sources) contains just 360 IU. The same amount of sardines contains 270 IU. One egg delivers just 25 IU. You should definitely be consuming these foods, but don't expect them to affect your vitamin D status very much.

Cod liver oil is the most concentrated natural food source of vitamin D. But cod liver oil also contains a significant amount of vitamin A. And too much vitamin A can be harmful. To get the vitamin D you need from cod liver oil, could mean that you are consuming too much vitamin A. That's why I strongly suggest taking fish oil for the omega-3s (fish oil has no vitamin D), and getting your vitamin D from sunlight and dedicated supplements.

Most people should supplement with vitamin D in the late fall, winter, and early spring. You should also consider supplementing year round if you have darkly pigmented skin, are over 65, if you're overweight, or if you just can't bring yourself to go into the sun without sunscreen.

You can start by adding a good quality multivitamin to your daily routine. But most multivitamins are only a start. The average multi contains 400 IU of vitamin D -- only about 10 to 20% of what you need.

There are two companies that make dedicated vitamin D supplements I would recommend -- Carlson's and Bio-Tech Pharmacal. Carlson's brand is carried in many health food stores and they have products that contain 2,000 or 4,000 IU in small, easy to take gel caps.

For larger amounts, consider Bio-Tech Pharmacal, a federally licensed, FDA approved manufacturer that produces pharmacological doses of vitamin D in 1,000, 5,000, and 5,0000 IU strengths.

However, please note: you should never take more than 5000 IU of vitamin D on a regular basis without consulting a physician and having your blood levels tested. You want to measure your vitamin D levels periodically to make sure that you bring your levels into a healthy range, without overdoing it.

Don't wait. Arrange today, to have your vitamin D levels checked. If they're low, it's easy to fix. By taking these steps in the wintertime, you can boost your vitamin D to a healthy level year-round and dramatically reduce your risks of many chronic diseases.

Reference

Heany RP, et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2003; 77(1): 204-10.
[Ed. Note: Dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes... by spending just a few minutes each day in the sun? Yes you can! Achieving optimal vitamin D levels is one of the most important (not to mention one of the cheapest and easiest) ways to ensure great health. And Jon Herring and Dr. Al Sears tell you everything you need to know in their groundbreaking new book, Your Best Health Under the Sun.]”

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In the paragraph above, "For larger amounts, consider Bio-Tech Pharmacal, a federally licensed, FDA approved manufacturer that produces pharmacological doses of vitamin D in 1,000, 5,000, and 5,0000 IU strengths.", I believe that the last strength number is a typo because 5 with 5 0's after it is correctly written as 50,000. And, I think that is what was meant.

In my case, I decided to take two capsules a day of a 400 iu vitamin D3 supplement from fish oil that does have about the same amount of vitamin A as retinol since my multi has beta carotene only for A. And, twice a day, I take 1,000 iu of D3 using the Carlson brand Jon Herring recommends in his article. So I’ve added 2800 iu a day of D3 to the 400 iu I get in the multi I take. So, even on a day when I get less vitamin A & D fortified milk than usual and little or no sun exposure, I get at least that 3200 iu of vitamin D3 every day.

Since both kinds of vitamin D I take cost about $6 for 100 capsules, buying both costs abut $12 including sales tax. That means the 2800 iu of vitamin D3 I started taking in addition to my multi vitamin costs me about 24 cents a day or $7.20 a month.

And, now that I know my blood level can be measured and what I’d like it to be from this article, I’m curious to find out if the vitamin D I’m getting puts me closer to 30, which is a bit too low, or closer to the 50 to 55 this article says is the optimum level.

Since I don’t get outside a lot, I may find that my level is 28. If that happened, I’d certainly try taking another 1,000 iu of vitamin D. But since I’ve been taking what looks close to the correct amount of vitamin D for several months, it may be in the 42 to 56 range already. If I measured there, I think I’d not take more.

However, it may be that amounts in the 50 to 60 range have therapeutic effects. If I find that is the case & test at 28 I might add 2 or 3,000 iu; and I’d add 1 or 2,000 iu at the 42 level.

Between what I ate growing up and as a young man, my family history, and accumulated stress effects, I likely have some calcified plaques in my blood vessels to get rid of even though my HDL & triglycerides are close to optimum now. So, if getting my blood levels to the 50 to 60 range would help get rid of some of those calcified plaques in my blood vessels I may want to take more vitamin D than I would otherwise.

Similarly, if I were diagnosed as having slow growing prostate cancer or any fast growing kind of cancer, I might well want to boost my blood level of vitamin D to the 50 to 60 range.

Two major & proven ways to fat loss success....

Today's post: Monday, 9-8-2008

Not long ago it was in the news that people who kept logs of what they eat lost more weight and that this was partly due to the fact that the study also had the participants keep logs of their exercise each week.

Weight Watchers is one of the programs that has tested to be effective in helping people lose weight. And, they do show those results in part because they have the people in their program keep logs of the food they eat.

Now it seems that research has confirmed that the other thing Weight Watchers does is also comparably effective. They provide social support for people who are working on losing weight.

Last Saturday, the email I got from Early to Rise had an article on this & what looks to be the start of an online forum for people trying to lose fat weight.

After I post it here I have some other comments.:

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

The Diet Secret You Probably Aren't Using

By Craig Ballantyne

The worst thing you can do when trying to lose weight is "go it alone." Support from your friends and family can help you eat better and exercise more.

Scientists at the University of Michigan studied 228 women in order to determine the connection between social support and the women's ability to eat well and exercise consistently. And though most of the subjects reported low to moderate social support, the more social support they received, the more physical activity they did and the better their nutrition was.

As a result of their lack of social support, most of the women didn't make improvements in their body composition during the study. But as my personal research shows, the more a person's friends and family support their efforts to lose fat through exercise and diet, the better their chances of success.

So grab a nutrition buddy at work, a workout partner at the gym or at home, and some online support at your favorite fitness website. These three valuable sources will help you lose inches and burn belly fat consistently.

[Ed. Note: It's true. Online support can be very helpful when it comes to reaching your fitness goals. Share your weight-loss struggles, diet and exercise techniques, and encouragement for free right here..... http://www.earlytorise.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8404 ....]"

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One way to make this work is to be supportive to other people working to lose weight or exercise regularly. I’ve found that to work well with the people at the gym I go to and with my wife. It helps you whether you get any support back or not as it keeps you in a positive and supportive frame of mind & focusing on the benefits of eating right and exercising.

And, you often do get support back in return. That can sometimes be when you most need it.

Another way to make this work is to join Weight Watchers. I think they could be more proactive in teaching people how to eat right & avoid the worst foods than they do. And, I think they could be more proactive in teaching people how exercise & strength training can help as much as they do. Further I think that it can pay you to set goals with less of a reduction in intake than they do with more of a commitment to make that reduction permanent than I think they do.

But, they do effectively help people take in less calories by using logs of what you eat and give you social support extremely well.

If you need to get your fat loss program started or need help staying with it, they can be a valuable resource.

(As some of you have read here, I used their points system & eating log and set a goal that I thought would help me lose 10 pounds because I thought I could sustain that change. I didn’t go to their meetings but did keep up my regular exercise program. I was able to sustain the changes & did lose the 10 pounds. Since the changes were sustainable & I didn’t want the 10 pounds of fat back I did keep doing it. And, much to my great delight and surprise, I lost another 20 pounds.

It did help that I already exercised regularly and keep a log of my exercise each day and each week.)

So if you want to lose more fat weight than you have in addition to eating right and exercising, try adding & keeping up a food and an exercise log and add some effective social support.