Fitness better indicator of longevity than weight: US study

From AFP ---

WASHINGTON (AFP) — People over 60 who exercise and are fit live longer than their sedentary peers, regardless of weight and body mass, researchers said in a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Earlier research showed that obesity and sedentary habits increased the risk of death in middle-aged adults. The study carried out by University of South Carolina researchers tested the premise for the first time among older adults.

Juice Plus+ is made by juicing 17 different fruits and vegetables into a vitamin supplement all in a capsule form. A cup of other vitamins and a tablespoon of apples and many other fruits, all for health. When you are following a weight loss plan, it is important to add better nutrition to your diet. From the juice a variety of fruits and vegetables comes a healthy mix of phytonutrients and the water and sugars removed, plus they are put in a capsule for easy consumption. That is what goes into a Juice Plus+ Capsule. Juice Plus is made by removing the sugar and water through a drying process that leaves you with all the healthy nutrients. Do you know the juices from which the fruit juice plus blend is made? Apples, oranges, pineapples, cranberries, peaches, cherries, and papaya juice - and that's just the fruit juices! Add the vegetables with carrots, parsley, beets, kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and tomato and you've got the vegetable juice plus product, that is a healthy weight loss plan and diet plan that supports your health! It helps you get nutrients you need. When I have fresh fruits and vegetables, I feel good, but I don't always get enough. So the only one way to add more fruits and vegetables is to add more nutrition to your diet plan, weight loss plan, Dr Oz diet. With this supplement, the sugar and water are removed through a drying process that leaves you with the healthy nutrients you need! Try Juice Plus today! Like our Weight loss plan that is a doctor approved diet plan, this is a healthy choice. A diet and weight loss plan that is endorsed by healthy dieters around the world, you can always lose weight, but are you doing it the healthy way? Oprah's Dr. Mehmet Oz knows that a diet is temporary but a healthy lifestyle with a healthy diet plan in place is for good. Even Juice plus+ is made from the juice of oranges, apples, cherries, and several other fruits and vegetables, and that gives it a lot of nutrition when a cup of lemon is added. Add fountain water without some breville and juice fountain, although the nutrients from fruits and other juice is the convenient way to get added nutrition and is convenient even if you have a good eating plan. When I can't have those healthy and fresh products, I use juice plus vitamin, and juice nsa plus is a way to get healthy. If you are a distributor juice plus, then you can save some money on your products. The juice plus scam sites that we see does not hold much credence - the argument doesn't hold water, that is. But it is a problem as it misleads the public. Of course, anything good will always have its detractors. You may have read a juice plus review that is similar to acai juice plus. If you are interested in any product and you want to learn if there are any benefits, then look at the research. Breville fountain juice is not one of the things that is available, but a healthy weight loss plan can be found at the Julia Havey website for motivation, education, and inspiration. There is another common product by Breville -it's a fountain of juice products that have health benefits. If you have a complaint with those who make the product, then any distributor for nsa can help you. Noni plus is not something you want to try in place of juice plus. Every single ingredient in juice plus has fiber and can be found in the capsules. Don't get ebay jp+ because you can't be sure of the quality. You may use it to find a weight loss plan for healthy eating for you diet, but don't expect to get a quality product. If you look for the capsules or the pills - don't be confused it's not a weight loss diet plan that is going to provide you with the necessary steps to lose weight the healthy way. B sure to also consider the Thins, the Vineyard blend, and even the Gummy. There is dog juice plus and cat juice plus, too and we have found it healthy for our pets - their skin problem cleared up. Use juice plus for any pregnancy as a perfect alternative to most vitamins on the market. There is a juice plus study, actually many that validate the quality and effectiveness of the nutrition. Juice Plus+ is made by juicing 17 different fruits and vegetables, then with a cup of vitamins and a tablespoon of apples, you get a healthy start. When you start with a juice, and then you add another, you get a healthy combination. Juice plus is made with an orange, a lot of orange juice, that gives it a lot of nutrition when a cup of results and lemon is added. Also, there are many weight loss plans out there, but the one that most people agree is the best is a weight loss diet plan, Dr Oz diet approved diet plan. If you have used a plan endorsed by doctors such as Dr Oz, then you know it's a weight loss plan that is healthy, and if followed will lead to a permanent healthy and fit lifestyle! When I have fresh fruits and vegetables in my diet plan, I know I'm going to be healthy, but sometimes we just don't get enough. And one sure way to add more nutrition to your diet

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"We observed that fit individuals who were obese ... had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than did unfit, normal-weight, or lean individuals," said the study's lead author Dr Xuemei Sui.

"Our data therefore suggest that fitness levels in older individuals influence the association of obesity to mortality," he added.

The 1979-2001 research focused on the relation between cardiovascular fitness and adiposity and death rates among 2,063 adults aged 60 years and older (the average age was 64.4 years), 20 percent males, 80 percent females.

Physical fitness was assessed by a treadmill exercise and obesity was measured by body mass index, waist circumference and the percentage of body fat. Reference...

Comments: Fitness is usually accompanied by a healthy weight, but not always. Being fit does not always mean that you fit into the 'normal' weight range, as many athletes are example of. With more muscle mass comes additional weight that most often puts a person above the weight considered healthy. It is one of the actions that is too often missing from most Americans' lifestyle, and it is necessary for maintaining good health. So if you're not getting regular physical exercise each day, even if it's just a long walk, then plan on adding it to your daily plan.

The Health & Wellness Institute, DC PC

Fruit, vegetable extracts could boost immunity

Here is the evidence about the importance of fruits and vegetables in your diet --- (from NutraIngredients.com) ---

Phytonutrients from fruit and vegetables, delivered as a dietary supplement, boosted the immune system of healthy adults, as well as protecting against DNA damage, says a new study from the US.

Many consumers are failing to meet the target of five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, with recent studies have shown that the average consumption of people in developed countries is three portions a day.

Juice Plus+ is made by juicing 17 different fruits and vegetables into a vitamin supplement all in a capsule form. A cup of other vitamins and a tablespoon of apples, all for health. When you start with a juice from a fruit or vegetable, and then you add others, you get a healthy mix of nutrients with the water and sugars removed. But when you dry the mix, you are left with the nutrients and that is what goes into a Juice Plus+ Capsule. Like our Weight loss plan that is a doctor approved diet plan, this is a healthy choice. A diet and weight loss plan that is endorsed by healthy dieters around the world, you can always lose weight, but are you doing it the healthy way? Oprah's Dr. Mehmet Oz knows that a diet is temporary but a healthy lifestyle with a healthy diet plan in place is for good. Even Juice plus+ is made from the juice from an orange, a lot of orange juice, that gives it a lot of nutrition when a cup of results and lemon is added. Add fountain water without some breville and juice fountain, although fruits and other juice is the convenient way to get nutrients but many convenient even if you have apple juice. When I can't have those healthy and fresh products, I use juice plus vitamin, and juice nsa plus is a way to get healthy with juice plus vitamin, so if you are a distributor juice plus, then the gummies juice plus is juice plus supplement. The juice plus scam that we see does not hold much credence, but it is a problem. You may have read a juice plus review that is similar to acai juice plus. If you are interested in any juice plus product and you want to learn if there are any benefits, then look at the juice plus research. Breville fountain juice plus is not one of the things that is available, but a complete juice plus line can be found at www.jpsupplement.com. If you have a complaint juice plus, then any distributor juice nsa plus can help you. Juice noni plus is not something you can find when you try to buy juice plus. Every single ingredient juice plus has fiber juice plus and can be found in the capsules. Don't get ebay juice plus because you can't be sure of the quality. You may use to find inc juice nsa plus for you diet, but don't expect to use a breville fountain. If you look for the capsules or the pills - don't be confused it's not a weight loss plan, Dr Oz Diet, be sure to consider thins, the vineyard, and even the gummy. There is dog juice plus and gummy juice plus, too. Use juice plus for any pregnancy as a perfect alternative to most vitamins on the market. There is a juice plus study, actually many that validate the quality and effectiveness of the nutrition. Juice Plus+ is made by juicing 17 different fruits and vegetables, then with a cup of vitamins and a tablespoon of apples, you get a healthy start. When you start with a juice, and then you add another, you get a healthy combination. Juice plus is made with an orange, a lot of orange juice, that gives it a lot of nutrition when a cup of results and lemon is added. Also, there are many weight loss plans out there, but the one that most people agree is the best is a weight loss diet plan, Dr Oz diet approved diet plan. If you have used a plan endorsed by doctors such as Dr Oz, then you know it's a weight loss plan that is healthy, and if followed will lead to a permanent healthy and fit lifestyle! When I have fresh fruits and vegetables in my diet plan, I know I'm going to be healthy, but sometimes we just don't get enough. And one sure way to add more nutrition to your diet is with Juice Plus. The sugar and water are removed through a drying process that leaves you with all the healthy nutrients. Do you know the juices from which the fruit juice plus blend is made? Apples, oranges, pineapples, cranberries, peaches, cherries, and papaya juice - and that's just the fruit juices! Add the vegetables with carrots, parsley, beets, kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and tomato and you've got the vegetable juice plus product, that is a healthy product that supports your health! It helps you get nutrients you need. When I have fresh fruits and vegetables, I feel good, but I don't always get enough. So the only one way to add more fruits and vegetables is to add more nutrition to your diet plan, weight loss plan, Dr Oz diet. With this supplement, the sugar and water are removed through a drying process that leaves you with the healthy nutrients you need! Try Juice Plus today!

Indeed, it is estimated that 4.4 per cent of the overall disease burden in Europe is due to fruit and vegetable-poor diets (Public Health Nutrition, 2003, Vol. 6, pp. 453-461). And over 20 years' worth of epidemiological studies have linked diets high in fruit and vegetables to lower risks of cancer, metabolic syndrome and osteoporosis.

The new research, published in the October issue of the Journal of Nutrition (Vol. 136, pp. 2606-2610), suggests that adding a phytnonutrient-rich capsule to the diet may provide a convenient way of benefiting from the benefits, particularly for immune health.

"We hypothesized that a commercially available encapsulated fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrate (FVJC) could support functional indices of health due to increased intake of various phytonutrients," said lead author Meri Nantz from the University of Florida.

Read the full report here...

Comments: This research supports the recommendation from The Health & Wellness Institute to take a daily nutritional supplement to your diet that includes fruit and vegetable extracts.  There is a company that takes 7 fruits and 8 vegetables and uses the juice, dries it - removing the water and sugar, which is a big plus because it is put into a capsule for easy consumption. Look for more references that will support your decision to add (view the product banner on the right) this recommended product to your diet. You can't live (healthy) without fruits and vegetables and the nutrients from them...and you need a variety!

Dr. JP Havey
The Health & Wellness Institute, PC

Personal Trainer Wanted - TV

Apparently ABC is looking for a personal trainer for their weight loss show . A new weight loss show is on the hunt. The producers of the hit reality series SUPERNANNY are searching the country to find the new face and body of American fitness to train the heavy set cast of ABC's brand new transformational weight loss show. The new show combines physical and mental challenges with the opportunity for the cast members to win a large cash prize, while the fitness expert inspires them to transform.

Although it may make for great TV, the message sent of overhauling a diet and lifestyle in such a short time may not be a good one. We know from experience and from the feedback of thousands that a gradual approach that minimizes the "side-effects" is the surest way to succeed in the long-term.

Check out the Vice Busting Diet Program for more info. Read more about the weight loss show search.Learn how to get the nutrients from 17 different fruits, vegetables, and grains.

Is your diet journey a Comedy or a Tragedy

The best inspiration can be found all around us, every day--if you are on the look out for it!

Last Friday I was at Mass at my daughter's school and the priest delivered the best message--from a movie plot no less! (see, inspiration really does come from everywhere around us!)

The movie was "Stranger than Fiction" w/ Will Farrell and the plot is that he discovers he/his life is the main character in a book that is being written by an author known for killing off her main characters! I haven't watched the movie yet, but here is the message I heard:

"Who is the author of YOUR life? and "Is your life a tragedy or a comedy?"

Great questions to think about and like all things in life, I like spinning it to what we can learn from it to improve our weight loss journey and get better results.

Who is the author of your weight loss journey? Are you in control and creating the outcome you desire or are you floating in the wind hoping that someone or something (or the next "diet") will come along and solve your problems and you will wake up thin in the morning? (I know we all hope for that on some days!)

Is your weight loss journey a tragedy or a comedy? Will it have a happy ending? Are you moping around acting like the 'diet martyr' wanting everyone to feel sorry for you simply because you have to go without unhealthy foods or are getting some exercise? (sounds silly if you look at it that way, doesn't it!?) Or, are you carefree, living healthfully and letting everyone see your sense of humor, joy and empowerment? Still would be the same person, same journey but with a totally different feel to it!

Life is short. Isn't it time to take charge, be in control and write the ending to your story and realize the outcome you want?

Carpe Diet!
Julia

http://www.vicebustingdiet.com/ to bust your vices

http://www.jpsupplement.com/ to learn about my recommended nutritional support

Childhood Obesity Becoming a Global Concern

How sad it is that there are millions of children in many countries around the world who don't even get one small meal per day and many who might get a few morsels. But it is even more disappointing that there are more children who are getting too many calories and too much food.... too often.

Childhood obesity is becoming a problem around the world and all you have to do is type in Child Obesity in any search engine and you'll find the concern spreading to all corners of the world. If you think about the size of our solar system and relate that to how close a well-fed (actually 'overfed') country is to those that are starving, it seems impossible that everyone on the planet can't get a meal at least twice a day.

But the problem is the spread of calories but not healthy calories like that from fruits, vegetables, fish, etc. Where you see obesity becoming a problem where it wasn't before, you see the growth of fast-food restaurants and soft drinks (which are predominant in those restaurants). It is statistically proven that with the introduction of soft drinks in a country, specific health problems appear that were not present (in any significant way) before.

I was criticized when I brought a lawsuit against Coca-Cola for their ridiculous Drink Choose Live campaign that has only been referred to now as My Coke Rewards, but if those naysayers would look at the bigger picture, the long-term outlook of what is happening as companies continue to push the growth of their high-calorie unhealthy products around the world, they would see that there is no benefit.

Be aware and beware of the repurcussions of letting your children use fast food and/or soft drinks for their drinking or eating pleasure or source of energy. In the long run their health will be compromised. And as my friend Dr. David Katz has said, "There's no reason to think that the current generation of children may not outlive their parents" because of the increase in health problems from a continued decline of a healthy diet.

Choose good nutrition. Choose health. Choose life.

Carpe Diet!
Julia

Sick Care vs. Health Care

Sick Care vs. Health Care - Do you know which side you are on? There is a difference, and these are not two phrases that we can throw around anymore as if to joke about the truth of most medical care (aside from emergencies and some antibiotics, in my humble opinion). Sick care is waiting until you get sick and getting medicine to "heal" you, while the side effects tear down your body and your immune system, only to have you back to the MD's office needing more "healing" (drugs). This spiraling downward can go on for YEARS, until one day you don't wake up... or you wake up to the truth that you need to just eat right and exercise to be healthy!

The Overweight Epidemic (from Paul Zane Pilzer)

"In the past, we have always associated poverty with being terribly thin, mostly due to starvation. When I was young I wanted to grow up to be a “rich fat man.” Today, the tables have turned; “poor” and “fat” have become synonymous, and “rich fat man” has become an oxymoron! Centuries ago, the only corpulent people were royalty and wealthy landowners. Today, the lower the income, the more we see obesity, and the higher the income, the more we see men and women who are fit and trim, defying their age. [Get a copy of his book, The Wellness Revolution]

Since 1980, we have more than doubled the percentage of overweight and obese people in the United States. In 1980, 15 percent of the population was obese; by the year 2000, that number had jumped to 27 percent—that’s 77 million clinically obese people! Today, 61 percent of the U.S. population is overweight and headed towards obesity—which has increased 10 percent to almost 30 percent of the U.S. population. As a result, 18 million Americans have diabetes and another 41 million over age 40 have prediabetes. Most people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes in 10 years. Sixty-five percent of people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke, and the medical costs alone to treat diabetes now exceeds $100 billion a year.

Moreover, overweight and obesity are also symptoms of poor nutrition. Typically someone who is obese is also vitamin-deficient and suffers from fatigue and arthritis or other ailments that all stem from poor nutrition. Our food industry, which represents about one trillion dollars annually, exacerbates the problem by catering to the “lowest common denominator” of poor nutrition.

What about our health care? The truth is, what we call “health care” is not really the health business but the sickness business. Our medical industry today has very little to do with health. The $2 trillion we spend on medical care, which represents one-sixth of the U.S. economy, is concerned almost exclusively with treating the symptoms of illness. It has very little to do with preventing illnesses or with making people feel stronger or healthier."

If you want to be healthy, you've got to start by taking control of your own daily habits - mental, dietary, and exercise. Start by building positive thoughts and a belief in yourself, then work on busting your diet vices, add some exercise, and what I believe to be a great nutritional supplement... and you've got the combination for prevention, good health, and a good life!

Don't wait. Start today.
Carpe Diet!
Lose weight, live healthy: http://www.vicebustingdiet.com/
Healthy Juice Nutrition Plus: http://www.jpsupplement.com/

DNA is NOT DESTINY!

Back in 2000, Randy Jirtle, a professor of radiation oncology at Duke University, and his postdoctoral student Robert Waterland designed a groundbreaking genetic experiment that was simplicity itself. they started with pairs of fat yellow mice known to scientists as agouti mice, so called because they carry a particular gene—the agouti gene—that in addition to making the rodents ravenous and yellow renders them prone to cancer and diabetes. Jirtle and Waterland set about to see if they could change the unfortunate genetic legacy of these little creatures.

Typically, when agouti mice breed, most of the offspring are identical to the parents: just as yellow, fat as pincushions, and susceptible to life-shortening disease. The parent mice in Jirtle and Waterland's experiment, however, produced a majority of offspring that looked altogether different. These young mice were slender and mousy brown. Moreover, they did not display their parents' susceptibility to cancer and diabetes and lived to a spry old age. The effects of the agouti gene had been virtually erased.

Remarkably, the researchers effected this transformation without altering a single letter of the mouse's DNA. Their approach instead was radically straightforward—they changed the moms' diet. Starting just before conception, Jirtle and Waterland fed a test group of mother mice a diet rich in methyl donors, small chemical clusters that can attach to a gene and turn it off. These molecules are common in the environment and are found in many foods, including onions, garlic, beets, and in the food supplements often given to pregnant women. After being consumed by the mothers, the methyl donors worked their way into the developing embryos' chromosomes and onto the critical agouti gene. The mothers passed along the agouti gene to their children intact, but thanks to their methyl-rich pregnancy diet, they had added to the gene a chemical switch that dimmed the gene's deleterious effects.

"It was a little eerie and a little scary to see how something as subtle as a nutritional change in the pregnant mother rat could have such a dramatic impact on the gene expression of the baby," Jirtle says. "The results showed how important epigenetic changes could be."

Our DNA—specifically the 25,000 genes identified by the Human Genome Project—is now widely regarded as the instruction book for the human body. But genes themselves need instructions for what to do, and where and when to do it. A human liver cell contains the same DNA as a brain cell, yet somehow it knows to code only those proteins needed for the functioning of the liver. Those instructions are found not in the letters of the DNA itself but on it, in an array of DNA Is Not Destiny

The new science of epigenetics rewrites the rules of disease, heredity, and identity.

FULL STORY...

If you need to lose weight and live healthy, go here: http://www.vicebustingdiet.com/
To add the best nutritional support to your diet: http://www.jpsupplement.com/

Hot diet book "The Vice Busting Diet" reaches Amazon.com best seller list!

(from the LA Times)

"When eDiets Master Motivator Julia Griggs Havey says that giving up just one bad eating habit can help you change your life forever, she is speaking from experience. Unlike many of weight-loss advisors out there who can do little more than talk the talk, Julia has personally completed the journey from being overweight to looking great… one small step at a time.

Get a copy of Julia's newest book for FREE copy, go to http://www.vicebustingdiet.com/ and get Julia's entire 26-week motivational program for your FREE copy.

Loyal eDiets readers already know how this popular columnist and best-selling author made the remarkable transformation from being morbidly obese to winning the crown at the 1999 Mrs. Missouri pageant. Julia lost more than 130 pounds, and perhaps more importantly, she has managed to keep that extra weight off for more than 10 years now. Before writing her own success story though, Julia took a detour and tried just about every fad diet and weight-loss gimmick available.

“I think that what happened to me is what is happening to the whole country,” Julia tells eDiets. “We’re dieting ourselves into a state of obesity.”

As a member of the eDiets team of experts, Julia regularly bares her soul to our members in hopes that they won’t make the same mistakes she did. After years of helping other people lose weight, Julia has come to the conclusion that the answer to the obesity problem in the United States lies with each of us overcoming our diet vices.

“It is important to eliminate the foods that control us,” Julia says. “I spent 15 years dieting, and all the foods I shouldn't have been eating were still out there tempting me.”

According to Julia’s definition, a diet vice is any habitual action that is keeping you from reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. For example, if you eat a dozen chocolate-chip cookies every day at noon, Julia says you can rest assured that cookies are one of your major diet vices. Though she struggled with many different diet vices though the years, eating ice cream was the most difficult one for Julia to overcome.

In fact, at one time in her life, she admits to polishing off as much as a half gallon of ice cream every single night. Julia finally gave up eating ice cream completely and found other ways to reward herself, such as getting a manicure. Now that she has made it her mission in life to help other people achieve a healthier lifestyle, Julia encourages everyone to take control of their food choices.

"We need to bust our vices," says Julia. "It is important to eliminate the foods that control us."

To help you break your worst food habits, Julia’s newest book The Vice-Busting Diet provides a 12-week approach to help you change the way you eat. Julia doesn’t subscribe to the long-held belief in the diet industry that you can eat the foods you love and still lose weight. She says it is often easier to abstain than to beat your head against the wall trying to eat your favorite foods in moderation. After all, Julia reasons that if most people could eat the things they love in moderation, we wouldn’t have a pandemic of obesity.

Get a copy of Julia's newest book by click here. For a FREE copy, go to http://www.vicebustingdiet.com/ and get Julia's entire 26-week motivational program.

“Deprivation is not living without certain foods but living with them and being deprived of your true health and happiness,” Julia says.

In an eDiets survey, 91 percent of the respondents admitted to having one or more diet vices. Julia says chips, candy, soft drinks, pizza and ice cream were identified as the most common ones. More than 70 percent of the respondents with a food vice admitted their dieting efforts were knocked off track either daily or weekly due to cravings for these foods.

"People turn to food when they are depressed," Julia says. "And, some people eat because they are feeling lonely. The problem is that the minute you have finished that last bit of Twinkie, you are still lonely. However, now you are also angry with yourself."

Now, in this eDiets exclusive, Julia reveals the three most common diet vices:

Can the Soft Drinks:

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, carbonated soft drinks are “the biggest source of refined sugars in the American diet.” In fact, The National Soft Drink Association (NSDA) reports that the average American consumes more than 53 gallons of soft drinks every year.

“Most people don’t believe that soft drinks could possibly be the reason they are overweight,” Julia says. “Especially when beautiful people like Britney Spears appear on soda ads.”

Slow Down on Fast Food:

According to statistics from the U.S. Foodservice Industry, there are at least a quarter of a million fast-food restaurants in this great nation of ours. And more of them are being built all the time. In fact, the number of fast-food restaurants in this country more than doubled between the years 1972 and 1995.

“I was completely hooked on fast food,” Julia admits. “It kept the kids happy, but it was just a snack for me. Then I would go home and eat another meal.”

Step Away From the Television:

According to the latest research, the average American watches at least four hours of television every day. Though TV definitely has its place, Julia says sitting in front of the boob tube shouldn’t take up more than a quarter of our waking hours.

“I was completely hooked on television,” Julia says. “I used to live to see the Emmy Awards and the movies of the week. Now, I don’t allow myself to watch television unless I have done my exercise for the day.”

Julia invites anyone who is currently struggling to take off extra weight or rebuild self-esteem to email her. She says the average person who visits her website has spent at least 20 years dieting.

"The reason that past weight loss attempts may not have worked is that you probably tried to do too much too fast,” Julia says. “Slow and gradual changes lead to huge weight loss over time. Most popular diets are the hare, but my approach is the tortoise. Just remember who wins the race in the end.”

To order your copy of Julia’s newest book and start the race for yourself, click here.

For a FREE copy, go to http://www.vicebustingdiet.com/ and get Julia's entire 26-week motivational program.

The 3 Biggest Diet Vices of Fast Food, Soft Drinks and TV--Fattening up Africa!

It is hard to believe this but now more than one-third of African women and a quarter of African men are estimated to be overweight, and the World Health Organization predicts that will rise to 41 percent and 30 percent respectively in the next 10 years.

When we picture a epidemic in Africa visions of poor starving children with swollen bellies from malnurishment come to mind, yet that is no longer the case.

“We have gone from undernutrition to overnutrition without ever having passed healthy nutrition,” said Krisela Steyn, the retired director of the South African Medical Research Council’s Chronic Disease and Lifestyle unit.

Surprisingly, the poor suffer from this more than you would think. Ironically, the poorest are often most vulnerable. Children born with low birth weights to malnourished mothers tend to be more at risk of becoming overweight as adults. They are also more prone to obesity as family members give them too much food to help them catch up, according to experts at a recent conference on chronic disease in Cape Town.

It isn't that the people of Africa are becoming overweight because they have too many fresh fruits and vegetables to eat or that water is too plentiful. It is that "modernization" has brought them Coke, Big Macs and Cable!

In Africa, as elsewhere in the world, high-fat, high-sugar fast foods, snacks and fizzy drinks are in. And, like elsewhere, growing urbanization has led to less walking and other exercise and the spread of television has led to a generation of couch potatoes rather than athletes.

Please, read the rest of this article, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15954744/ it is alarming and should be a MUST read for everyone. We have to act quickly to end our global dependence on cheap, unhealthy and obesity causing fast foods and soft drinks and increase physical activity if we hope to win our fight to end the Obesity Pandemic the world finds itself in.

My book, The Vice Busting Diet, is the ONLY "diet" book to attack the fast food and soft drink industry and directly point a finger at TV as the root causes for Obesity and to also offer a realistic and gradual solution to the problem.

I have contacted WHO and volunteered to become a Special Ambassador to help fight the Global Pandemic of Obesity. This is a fight that we must win and that with busting our vices of fast food, soft drinks and TV--we WILL win!

Carpe Diet!
Julia

Juice nutrient plus supplement: http://www.OfficialJuicePlus.com

Flu Shot or Not: A Healthy Debate

While flu shots have become such a standard action for so many people each year, no thought seems to be given as to whether or not it is really necessary. In my opinion, the drug companies have done such a good job of lobbying and marketing the need for everyone to get their flu shots because 'it's flu season' afterall.

Here's what I do understand: people with compromised immune systems - i.e. the elderly who are already sick or suffering from a disease, or someone undergoing treatment for a disease that requires some strong drugs - are those who may actually need a flu shot. But what I don't believe is that just anyone needs a flu shot because 'it's flu season.' Do you know that people die each year from immunizations? And thousands actually get sick or the flu from getting a flu shot? I heard a radio host discussing flu shots and he didn't understand why Michael Jordan wouldn't have gotten flu shots each season since he gets paid so much to be healthy so he could play basketball. What?! Have we become that conditioned to believe everything we're told? Maybe he didn't get them because he exercises and eats healthy (and did more so them, I'm sure) - unlike 65% or more of Americans.

My point is this: if you're eating right and getting regular exercise - and supplementing your diet to be sure you're getting the nutrients you need from enough fruits and vegetables - then you don't need a flu shot. You're body is equipped with an army of enemy-fighting cells that attack anything that it knows doesn't belong - all without you even thinking about it! Yet we (that is, the drug companies whose 1st goal is profit) think that we know better how to handle the body. If more people knew how the body worked - I know very little - I think we'd be amazed and would question what if any drugs that we need.

Live healthy and you'll be healthy. Your body is not lacking anything but good nutrition. Don't deny the natural goodness that it needs.

Carpe Diet
Lose weight and live healthy - http://www.vicebustingdiet.com/
Supplement your diet with nutrients from 17 fruits and vegetables: http://www.OfficialJuicePlus.com

Our Kids Our Fat, Give Them...Drugs?

Children with risk factors for heart disease, including high cholesterol and diabetes, are showing signs of narrowing and hardening of the arteries, conditions normally associated with adults, a study said.

An increasing number of children suffer from these and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including obesity, but testing for future heart conditions is not standard practice, according to a report presented at the annual American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.

Testing should include regular blood lipid and glucose level testing, said the report’s lead author, Sanaz Piran, a resident at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Earlier treatment could include more aggressive use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, she said. Read the rest of the story http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15698567/

But honestly, that was enough for me.
"Earlier treatment could include more aggressive use of cholesterol-lowering drugs!"

Here's a thought, why not have earlier treatment be getting the kids vices of FAST FOODS, soft drinks and other unhealthy foods busted AND get them exercising!?

Isn't it always the BEST or should atleast be the earliest or first step to try to get kids healthier and living healthier lifestyles than pumping them full of "more aggressive cholesterol-lowering drugs!?

What a world we live in!
"This is the first generation of children, NOT expected to outlive their parents"--Dr. David L. Katz sounded the first alarm of this dangerous prediction and Harvard concurres.

This is in most part because of their DIET and sedentary lifestyles! Dr. Katz further goes on to say that "well, they MAY live, but what quality of life remains to be seen, after all we can keep them alive with new hearts, drugs and life support."

MORE AGGRESSIVE drugs?

That's the best that the respected American Heart Association can come up with? Grow some spine, shun your big buck donating fast food and soft drink companies and tell it like it is; to save the lives of our children we MUST help them break their addication and reliance on FAST FOODS, unhealthy "JUNK" foods and sugar-filled soft drinks, sports drinks and yes, "energy" drinks! We must encourage children to consume more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats/proteins and WATER and get their bodies moving!

I almost bought my 13 year old son Clark a Glaceau "Vitamin" water after his soccer game, it was vitamin enriched after all and WATER. But thankfully I read the label. It was also sugar enriched: 2.5 servings and 50 calories per serving or 150 calories total; DUH! I could have bought him a Coke and done the same damage to his immune system, his diet and his overall health!--as my friend Dr. David L. Katz likes to say "Caveat Emptor"--Latin for buyer beware!

That is really the solution to the predicted fate of early painful fat-filled deaths that our children face!

KNOW what you are putting in your body, in the bodies of your loved ones and monitor and control (yes, we can control what our kids do!) what your children consume!

Respectfully,
Julia

Lose weight, live healthy: http://www.juliahavey.com/
A healthy lifestyle transition: http://www.vicebustingdiet.com/
Juice Nutrients Plus+ Supplement: http://www.JPsupplement.com

Food at Work

Ok, this has to the absolute WORST story that I have ever heard about food in the workplace!

One of my clients and I were speaking on the phone today and she was telling me about her challenges in the workplace in regards to food. She is a nurse.

I have learned that nursing is a career filled with food/weight issues. It was surprising to me at first to learn this because I assumed that those giving of themselves to care for the health of others would take their own health needs very seriously. The opposite sadly is often the case.

There are indeed good reasons--stress, long hours, many hours without even a bathroom break (that would make drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day a real challenge!), the emotional toll from watching someone whom you are caring for die, and on and on. But, the worst challenge appears to be the "treats" brought to thank the nurses--by patients, doctors, administrators and other nurses.

There's a constant plethera of food in the nurses station or break room!

Another nurse (who ironically treats Eating Disorder patients) was telling me that last week, for nurse appreciation week, the hospital sent them TONS of food everyday, and nothing healthy was to be found--M&M's, donuts, cookies, cakes, pies, soda, brownies,etc.

But as bad as that might sound, because after all, we can rationize it and say the hospital administration was trying, they were at least acknowledging the good work they do (but hey, think FLOWERS or a bonus check NEXT year Mr. Hospital Administrator!)--I can't think of a worse, and this one is self-inflicted, "celebration" than this one..... (drum roll, please...)are you sufficiently teased yet?

Ok, it's really really bad...

This celebration of gluttonous excess is...

"Thunder Thigh Thursday"

Yes, you read it right.

AND it is actually arranged by and for the nurses! They set out to bring as much "bad" junk as possible and hold a gluttonious (new word?!) fest!

My clients are fighting an uphill battle! They can hold out, they can stick to their healthy resolves but geez; does it really have to be this crazy?

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The first client is recently back to work in the hospital setting after spending nearly 15 years teaching Lamaze. Now she is on a maternity ward that delivers more babies than just about any hospital in the nation. She is busy the entire time that she is at work. I have her bringing a cut up protein bar in a baggie so that she can grab a quick HEALTHY bite on the run. She has lost weight since starting this new job, but it hasn't been easy.

Her boss finally gets it and doesn't offer her the treats anymore, but she feels very lonely in her desire to be healthy in the midst of so much food. I know she isn't alone. I have more nurses as readers than perhaps any other career. Here is an article about me in NurseWeek:

http://www.nurseweek.com/news/features/04-07/weightloss.asp

Despite our job, our workplace challenges or the temptations around us, we all can band together and declare a "Fit Body Friday!" Next time it's your turn to bring a treat, cut up fresh fruit to work with you and see if you can start a new trend! And, in your next evaluation--tell you boss a thank you that would really mean something to you is CASH!--not trash!

I told my nurse to think of it this way--if someone's idea of thanking you is to bring you junk, they can't really think that highly of your work. If you hold yourself higher than that, and decline the gesture, explain WHY and hold out for something more meaningful--you just may get it!

However, if you say thanks, and open the M&M's and eat them, gain weight and then bash yourself for it later...who feels appreciated? you? your boss? or the guy making M&M's. It's war folks. Obesity kills and unhealthy food fests are the bullets. We must win the war and that means you have to fight.

If you desire to see change in the world, you must first BE the change!--Ghandi

First they will laugh at you,
Then they will ignore you,
Then they will fight you,
Then YOU will win!--Ghandi

If your boss gives you donuts, throw them at him!--Julia

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