Eliminate Childhood Obesity in One Generation

This ambitious goal instantly caught my eye. Too many parents (mothers especially) tend to start the obesity process in their infants, toddlers and older offsprings by using a classical denial cover-up: "It's just healthy baby fat!".
Yet, just like most other habits that are learned and developed during the formative years, obesity in babies to tots seldom, if ever, turns to slimness in later years.

So I urge you to conscientiously peruse the following article, courtesy: MyObesityConnection.com's Newsletter (Written by their radiant "HealthGal")
Here's to a Nation of Vibrantly Healthy Children!

Your Friend,
JACQUES

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Michelle Obama has launched the Let's Move campaign to deal with the national health crisis, childhood obesity. Her organic garden at the White House was a first step. Getting urban kids who are typically raised on fried food, tasty stuff, to plant, grow, harvest, clean and cook these freshly grown fruits and vegetables. She is enlisting the help of the nation's governors, pediatricians, children's TV networks and websites, sports figures and teams. Public service announcements will be aired with the idea that most parents will "move heaven and earth" in order to make sure their kid's have the opportunity to be the best they can be - and certainly when it comes to health and weight, kids in the US need change.

Here's a list of ideas and changes being considered or implemented:

The American Academy of Pediatrics will encourage its 60,000 members to routinely check kid's BMI and waist sizes, and then write prescriptions of lifestyle change. Typically kid-friendly conversation relating to lifestyle change is not part of a rushed examination.

$400 million in tax credits and other incentives will go to grocery stores and supermarkets encouraging them to move into "food desert communities" and offer healthier fare.

$25 million will go to schools to help renovate kitchens and switch out fryers and other less healthy cooking appliances and techniques for healthier ones.

$10 billion over 10 years will go to the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, to provide among other things, free and reduced - priced school meals that are healthy, to more kids nationwide.

Schools will be encouraged to grow school and community gardens - providing healthy produce

Efforts will continue to have vending machines offer water, 100% juice and healthy snack products.

There will be a push for kids to get 60 minutes of accumulated physical activity daily.

From a personal perspective, Mrs. Obama knows she is incredibly lucky to have a chef who can assist in making healthy tasty meals from produce grown in the garden. She also acknowledges that there's no need for 100% perfection when it comes to lifestyle change. Her kids have burgers and watch TV. Before she came to the White House, she made changes slowly and said for the most part, the kids embraced the shift. They would grumble a bit sometimes as dessert frequency was reduced, juice switched out for water, but for the most part it would pass quickly. Nutritionists agree that diet and exercise changes should be made gradually, over time. It's not about never having desserts or treats but rather positioning them over the course of seven days, less frequently as "special moments."

Beer for Better Bones?

Beer Is a Rich Source of Bone-Boosting Silicon, Study Finds
By Jennifer Warner WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Louise Chang,

Drinking beer may be good for building more than just beer bellies. A new study suggests that drinking beer may help build better bones thanks to its high silicon content.

According to the National Institutes of Health, dietary silicon in the soluble form of orthosilicic acid (OSA) may be important for the growth and development of bone and connective tissue and help reduce the risk of the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis.

Based on those findings, some studies have suggested that moderate beer drinking may help fight osteoporosis, but researchers say the silicon content of beer has never been thoroughly evaluated until now. The results show that beer indeed is a significant source of bone-building silicon in OSA form.

The study analyzed 100 commercially available beers for their silicon content and found the average silicon content ranged from 6.4 to 56.5 milligrams per liter (mg/L).

There is no recommended daily intake for silicon. But researchers say based on the average daily intake of 20-50 milligrams, 2 liters of beer, on average, would be required to satisfy that requirement. In some cases, 1 liter of beer may be enough.

Super Foods for Your Bones

Bone-Building Beer?
Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon, researcher Charles Bamforth, PhD, DSc, of the department of food science and technology at the University of California, Davis, says in a news release. “Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element. While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort and much of this survives into beer.”

The results showed the India Pale Ale category of beers tends to have more silicon because they are traditionally a stronger and "hoppier" beer containing more silicon-rich malt and hops.

"By contrast, wheat-based beers contain less silicon, which seems to be related to the lower levels of silicon in wheat malt," write the researchers in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. "Additionally, wheat beers are produced with much less hops than many other beer styles."

Light lager-style beers were also lower in silicon, likely because of their use of corn during the brewing process, note the researchers.

In comparison, other sources of silicon in the diet include granola cereal, high-fiber wheat bran cereal, oatmeal, and dried dates.

Sante!..Salud!...Skol!...Prost!...To Strong Bones! :o)...Courtesy: WebMD newsletter

Ways to Cut Your Cholesterol Fast (concl.)

3. Get moving.
In addition to lowering LDL "bad" cholesterol, regular physical activity can raise HDL "good" cholesterol by up to 10%. The benefits come even with moderate exercise, such as brisk walking.

Robert Harrington, MD, professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C., urges his patients to go for a 45-minute walk after supper.

Peeke tells WebMD, "I ask people to get a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps a day. If you work at a desk, get up and walk around for five minutes every hour."

Whatever form your exercise takes, the key is to do it with regularity. "Some experts recommend seven days a week, although I think five days is more realistic," Richman says.

4. Avoid saturated fat.
Doctors used to think that the key to lowering high cholesterol was to cut back on eggs and other cholesterol-rich foods. But now it's clear that dietary cholesterol isn't the main culprit. "Eggs don't do all that much [to raise cholesterol]," Beckerman says. "You don't want to be throwing down six eggs a day, but recent data suggest that it's really saturated fat" that causes increases in cholesterol. And if you cooked your eggs in a slab of butter, don't overlook the fat in the butter.

"One of the first things to do when you're trying to lower your cholesterol level is to take saturated fat down a few notches," says Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, the author of several nutrition books, including the forthcoming Tell Me What to Eat If I Have Heart Disease. "The second thing to do is to start eating more 'smart' fats," Magee says. She recommends substituting canola oil or olive oil for vegetable oil, butter, stick margarine, lard, or shortening while cutting back on meat and eating more fish.

5. Eat more fiber.
Fruits and vegetables, including whole grains, are good sources not only of heart-healthy antioxidants but also cholesterol-lowering dietary fiber. Soluble fiber, in particular, can help lower cholesterol. Beckerman says it "acts like a sponge to absorb cholesterol "in the digestive tract. Good sources of soluble fiber include dried beans, oats, and barley, as well as fiber products containing psyllium.

6. Go fish.
Fish and fish oil are chockablock with cholesterol-lowering omega-3 fatty acids. "Fish oil supplements can have a profound effect on cholesterol and triglycerides," Beckerman says. "There's a lot of scientific evidence to support their use." Fish oil is considered to be quite safe, but check with your doctor first if you are taking an anti-clotting medication.

Magee recommends eating fish two or three times a week. "Salmon is great, as it has lots of omega-3s,"she says. But even canned tuna has omega-3s, and it's more consumer-friendly. The American Heart Association also recommends fish as the preferable source of omega-3s, but fish oil capsule supplements can be considered after consultation with your physician. Plant sources of omega-3s include soybeans, canola, flaxseeds, walnuts, and their oils, but they don't provide the same omega-3s as fish. The biggest heart benefits have been linked to omega-3s found in fish.

7. Drink up.
Moderate consumption of alcohol can raise levels of HDL "good" cholesterol by as much as 10%. Doctors say up to one drink a day makes sense for women, up to two a day for men. But given the risks of excessive drinking, the American Heart Association cautions against increasing your alcohol intake or starting to drink if you don't already.

8. Drink green.
Magee suggests green tea as a healthier alternative to sodas and sugary beverages. Indeed, research in both animals and humans has shown that green tea contains compounds that can help lower LDL cholesterol. In a small-scale study conducted recently in Brazil, people who took capsules containing a green tea extract experienced a 4.5% reduction in LDL cholesterol.

9. Eat nuts.
Extensive research has demonstrated that regular consumption of nuts can bring modest reductions in cholesterol. Walnuts and almonds seem particularly beneficial. But nuts are high in calories, so limit yourself to a handful a day, experts say.

10. Switch spreads.
Recent years have seen the introduction of margarine-like spreads and other foods fortified with cholesterol-lowering plant compounds known as stanols.

11. Don't smoke.
Smoking lowers levels of HDL "good" cholesterol and is a major risk factor for heart disease.

Courtesy: WebMD.com newsletter

Ways to Cut Your Cholesterol Fast

Got high cholesterol? Learn what you can do to lower it quickly -- starting today.
By David Freeman, WebMD Feature Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

How's your cholesterol? If you think that the normal reading you got back in 2004 (or earlier) means you're in the clear, think again: Levels of the artery-clogging substance often rise with age, and cardiologists say everyone 20 or older should be screened for high cholesterol at least once every five years, with more frequent screenings for anyone deemed to be at high risk for heart disease. If it's been awhile since your last cholesterol screening, now's a good time to ask your doctor if you're due for one.

The good news? If your fasting total cholesterol level exceeds the desirable level of 200, or if your low-density lipoprotein ( LDL, or "bad”) cholesterol is above 100, getting it down to a safer level could be easier than you think. In fact, with simple lifestyle modifications -- and, if necessary, drug therapy -- people often see significant reductions in cholesterol within six weeks. Get going right now, and by New Year's Eve you could be toasting your cholesterol level rather than resolving to lower it.

Here are 11 tips from WebMD health experts on how to cut high cholesterol fast:

Get Your Personalized Cholesterol Health Assessment

1. Set a target.
You know you've got to get your cholesterol number down, but how low do you need to go? That depends on several factors, including your personal and family history of heart disease, as well as whether you have cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking.

If your risk is deemed high, "most doctors will treat for a target LDL of less than 70," says James Beckerman, MD, a cardiologist in private practice in Portland, Ore. If your risk is moderate, a target LDL of under 130 is generally OK, Beckerman says. If your risk is low, less than 160 is a reasonable target. "The trend now is to treat people earlier, especially if they have two or more risk factors," he says.

2. Consider medication.
Lifestyle modifications make sense for anyone with elevated cholesterol. But if your cardiovascular risk is high, you may also need to take a cholesterol-lowering drug. Michael Richman, MD, medical director of the Center for Cholesterol Management in Los Angeles, calls drug therapy "the only thing that will work fast" to lower high cholesterol. "Everyone should do the basics, like stopping smoking and losing weight," Richman tells WebMD. "But these things lower the risk only modestly. They're nothing to write home about." Beckerman agrees. "Lifestyle modifications are important, but we should also be emphasizing the benefits of medication when appropriate," he says.

Several types of cholesterol-lowering medication are available, including niacin, bile acid resins, and fibrates. But statins are the treatment of choice for most individuals. "Statins can lower LDL cholesterol by 20% to 50%" says Pamela Peeke, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

(Continued in our next post...)

Total Wellness update...

Can Soft Drinks Cause Pancreatic Cancer?
By Sylvia Booth Hubbard

Drinking two or more soft drinks a week increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by two-fold compared to people who do not drink soft drinks, says a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

People who drink soft drinks on a regular basis tend to have poor behavior patterns overall, but the effects of soft drinks on pancreatic cancer may be unique, Mark Pereira, Ph.D., senior author of the study and associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, said in a statement.

“The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth,” said Pereira.

Pereira and colleagues followed 60,524 men and women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study for 14 years. During that time, there were 140 pancreatic cancer cases. Those who consumed two or more soft drinks per week (averaging five per week) had an 87 percent increased risk compared with individuals who did not.

The researchers found no link between fruit juice consumption and pancreatic cancer.

Pereira said that these results from Singapore probably apply to the United States.
“Singapore is a wealthy country with excellent health care. Favorite pastimes are eating and shopping, so the findings should apply to other western countries,” said Pereira.

According to the American Cancer Society, risk factors for pancreatic cancer include:

• Age. Nearly 90 percent of people with pancreatic cancer are older than 55, and the average age at the time of diagnosis is 72.

• Gender. Men are slightly more at risk.

• Race. More African-Americans develop pancreatic cancer than whites.

• Smoking. Smoking increases the risk as much as 300 percent.

• Chronic diseases. Diabetes, pancreatitis, and cirrhosis of the liver all raise risk.

• Obesity and physical activity. Obese people and couch potatoes have a higher risk.

• Family history. Pancreatic cancer seems to run in some families, perhaps due to inherited genes.

Each year, more than 42,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Fewer than 5 percent are alive five years after diagnosis, making it one of the deadliest forms of cancer.


Courtesy: Newsmax newsletter