Women
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Heart diseases, osteoporosis (thinning bones), and breast cancer are the three leading health problems in women. Scientists are finding common links between these health problems that might be charged through diet, exercise, and medications.
Researchers from Harvard – as part of the 60-year Framingham study – found that women with thinning bones also had a higher risk of heart disease and stroke. Dr. Elizabeth J. Samelson and colleagues examined changes in bone density in several thousand healthy women and men between 1967 and 1997. Women with the thinnest bones in 1997 had a 30 percent higher risk of heart disease compared to women with higher bone densities. Bone density changes did not predict heart disease in men. Strong and disease-free bones, heart, and blood vessels depend on a healthy lifestyle.
Eat a balanced diet that includes a variety foods – particularly fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, poultry, non-fat dairy products, whole grains and foods containing healthy fats, such as nuts, olive oil and avocados. Begin when you’re young and keep it up!
Read more!
Pain medications are important for speedy recovery and minimizing the discomfort from injury or surgery for women health. Many patients like the effects of drugs they get in the hospital and abuse them when they leave.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that every year more than three million people age 12 and older take prescription pain medications for non-medical reasons. Minimizing the amount of pain medication given the hospital reduces the chance for abuse and saves money. A partial answer may be as simple as giving patients more sunlight.
Researchers from University of Pittsburgh found that giving patients more sunlight eased surgical pain and could potentially save millions of dollars in hospital drug costs. Patients in rooms with more natural light took less pain medication and their drug costs were 21 percent less than patients placed in darker rooms. Patients in rooms with more light also had lower stress levels and were better the day after surgery and at discharge. Bright light may improve mood by triggering the release of “feel good” brain chemicals such as serotonin. Light may also brighten the attitude of doctors and nurses, which will also improve patient care.
Read more!
If you live long enough, chances are you will develop at least some arthritis in your major joints – particularly if you played sports when you were young. Joints surfaces are lined with cartilage cells called chondrocytes that cushion joints and promote smooth motion of one bone over another. Aging cartilage cells get thin and pitted and prevent movement of joint fluid (synovial fluid). The fluid is vital to normal joint movement, nutrition of the cartilage and underlying bone, getting rid of cell waste products and protecting the joints. Many women take glucosamine to help strengthen and regenerate the cartilage cells, but only a few studies have shown that the supplements are effective.
Scientists from Belgium showed that post-menopausal women who took 1,500 miligrams of glucosamine for three years demonstrated improvement in knee cartilage, while those in the placebo group (phony supplement) showed cartilage deterioration. Possible side effects include resistance to insulin and IGF-1 (two important tissue-building hormones), gastrointestinal upset and increased blood-clotting time (don’t take the supplement before surgery). Beneficial changes to the cartilage cells take two to three months because their metabolism is very slow. Take the full dose (1,500 milligrams per day) to get the effects shown in research studies.
Read more!
There is nothing more humbling than discovering that simple advice parents and grandparents have handed out for generations holds great truth. Only recently have researchers begun piecing together observations obtained in complex experiments and extensive surveys about one of the most common of all food products, to discover that one of the most repeated phrases of parenthood may hold a key to America’s obesity problem. It may actually offer a simple, cheap and effective tool for weight loss.
Drink Your Milk!
This command has been spoken, sometimes yelled, at nearly every family dining table. That familiar white beverage served ice cold in a glass at home, or lukewarm in tiny cartons with missing kids on the back at school, may be a missing link to explain the growing number of adults and children who are becoming plumper and plumper every year.
To understand this revelation, it’s necessary to backtrack through a maze of seemingly unrelated research to find the subtle hints and clues that led one researcher of fully investigate the relationship between dairy products and weight loss. Milk, as is well known, is an excellent source of calcium, promoted to build strong bones and teeth. Beyond its role in rebuilding bones and preventing the age-related onset of osteoporosis (brittle bones), calcium also plays a central part in many other processes in the body. Calcium is active when it’s present as an ion (an electrically charged atom), so most calcium is bound to proteins, phosphates or chelates (types of chemical compounds) in order to prevent uncontrolled contractions from causing harmful or fatal damage.
Calcium was previously considered only for the local actions it caused, such as muscle contractions or bone formation. However, it has become evident that calcium is closely monitored by the body; changes in the dietary level of calcium can alter the metabolism in unimagined ways.
Read more!
The effect of calcium on bone strength seems obvious, as bones are composed of a crystalline matrix of calcium and other material. Less obvious, but well known in the scientific literature, is the effect of dietary calcium on blood pressure. Blood pressure is controlled in part by the relative constriction or dilatation of the major and minor arteries, which open close through the action of smooth muscle fibers in the artery wall. Oddly, studies have shown that diets rich in calcium lowered the calcium influx (entrance) into the smooth muscle of the artery walls, lowering blood pressure.
Medications were developed, called calcium channel antagonists (such as Nifedipine) that pharmaceutically blocked the entry of calcium into the arterial smooth muscle, thereby lowering blood pressure. While studying the effect of calcium supplementation on blood pressure in obese subjects, one group noted that the subjects experienced an 11-pound decrease in body fat in one year. This effect led the investigators to further explore the potential of this simple and inexpensive intervention on obesity.
The first step was to review the existing literature to see if a weight loss effect was recorded in other calcium studies. Astonishingly, weight loss during calcium treatment or with high calcium diets was very common in studies ranging from dietary surveys to bone loss treatment and blood pressure regulation studies. Though the degree of weight loss was modest, so too was the amount of calcium used – supplementation with 600 to 1,000 milligrams per day.
Read more!
Many women – particularly as they age – avoid high protein intake because they fear bone loss. This belief is based on several older studies that showed that consuming more protein than recommended (0.8 grams per kilogram body weight) decreases the ability to absorb dietary calcium. More recent studies show that high protein intake only impairs absorption when calcium in the diet is low (500 milligrams versus the recommended 1,200 mg per day).
Tufts University scientists found that protein intake is essential to bone health. Older men and women given 1.55 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day not only had normal calcium absorption but showed increased levels of IGF-1 (an important bone growth chemical) and lower levels of a chemical marker of bone breakdown (N-telopeptide). The study showed that substituting protein for carbohydrates (keeping calorie intake the same) is good for skeletal health in older men and women – provided they take enough calcium in the diet or though health supplements products.
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Bone and Heart Health Linked in Women
Heart diseases, osteoporosis (thinning bones), and breast cancer are the three leading health problems in women. Scientists are finding common links between these health problems that might be charged through diet, exercise, and medications. Researchers from Harvard – as part of the 60-year Framingham study – found that women with thinning bones also had a higher risk of heart disease and stroke. Dr. Elizabeth J. Samelson and colleagues examined changes in bone density in several thousand healthy women and men between 1967 and 1997. Women with the thinnest bones in 1997 had a 30 percent higher risk of heart disease compared to women with higher bone densities. Bone density changes did not predict heart disease in men. Strong and disease-free bones, heart, and blood vessels depend on a healthy lifestyle.
Eat a balanced diet that includes a variety foods – particularly fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, poultry, non-fat dairy products, whole grains and foods containing healthy fats, such as nuts, olive oil and avocados. Begin when you’re young and keep it up!
Read more!
Train Intensely to Lower Cholesterol
Heart disease is the most significant health hazard facing women. Few risk factors are as dangerous as high cholesterol. Try to maintain cholesterol levels below 180 milligrams per 100 millimeters of blood. The risk of hearth attack rises dramatically when cholesterol levels increase above 200. Cutting down on cholesterol and saturated fat in the diet is one way of decreasing this dangerous blood fat. Exercise is another way.
Researchers from the UK at Canterbury Christ Church University College found that only intense exercise lowers blood cholesterol. Subjects were divided into three groups that did no exercise, cycled gently to burn 400 calories per workout or cycled intensely to burn the same amount of calories. The subjects exercised three times a week for more than 20 weeks. Only the high intensity group lowered their cholesterol. The U.S. Surgeon General recommends that people exercise moderately for at least 30 minutes per day. Add at least some intense exercise to your program.
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Researchers from the UK at Canterbury Christ Church University College found that only intense exercise lowers blood cholesterol. Subjects were divided into three groups that did no exercise, cycled gently to burn 400 calories per workout or cycled intensely to burn the same amount of calories. The subjects exercised three times a week for more than 20 weeks. Only the high intensity group lowered their cholesterol. The U.S. Surgeon General recommends that people exercise moderately for at least 30 minutes per day. Add at least some intense exercise to your program.
Read more!
Sunlight Reduces Need for Pain Medications
Pain medications are important for speedy recovery and minimizing the discomfort from injury or surgery for women health. Many patients like the effects of drugs they get in the hospital and abuse them when they leave. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that every year more than three million people age 12 and older take prescription pain medications for non-medical reasons. Minimizing the amount of pain medication given the hospital reduces the chance for abuse and saves money. A partial answer may be as simple as giving patients more sunlight.
Researchers from University of Pittsburgh found that giving patients more sunlight eased surgical pain and could potentially save millions of dollars in hospital drug costs. Patients in rooms with more natural light took less pain medication and their drug costs were 21 percent less than patients placed in darker rooms. Patients in rooms with more light also had lower stress levels and were better the day after surgery and at discharge. Bright light may improve mood by triggering the release of “feel good” brain chemicals such as serotonin. Light may also brighten the attitude of doctors and nurses, which will also improve patient care.
Read more!
Vitamin B-6 for a Healthy Heart
Vitamin B-6 is essential for your good health. It’s critical for protein, carbohydrate and red blood cell metabolism and normal function of the nervous and immune systems. Good food sources for the vitamin include fortified cereals, beans, meat, poultry, fish and some fruits and vegetables.
Italian researchers found that people with low blood levels of vitamin B-6 had higher levels of C-reactive protein, PLP (breaks down protein) and fibrinogen (makes blood clot faster). C-reactive protein is a marker of cell inflammation, an important factor that speeds the development of cardiovascular disease. PLP breaks down proteins and membranes, which slows recovery from exercise or illness.
Most hearth attacks are triggered from blood clots, so increasing the tendency of blood to clot increases the risk of hearth attack. Often, people on low-carbohydrate diets, such as the Atkins diet, don’t eat a healthy variety of foods, which could predispose them to vitamin deficiencies.
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Italian researchers found that people with low blood levels of vitamin B-6 had higher levels of C-reactive protein, PLP (breaks down protein) and fibrinogen (makes blood clot faster). C-reactive protein is a marker of cell inflammation, an important factor that speeds the development of cardiovascular disease. PLP breaks down proteins and membranes, which slows recovery from exercise or illness.
Most hearth attacks are triggered from blood clots, so increasing the tendency of blood to clot increases the risk of hearth attack. Often, people on low-carbohydrate diets, such as the Atkins diet, don’t eat a healthy variety of foods, which could predispose them to vitamin deficiencies.
Read more!
Glucosamine Fights Knee Arthritis
If you live long enough, chances are you will develop at least some arthritis in your major joints – particularly if you played sports when you were young. Joints surfaces are lined with cartilage cells called chondrocytes that cushion joints and promote smooth motion of one bone over another. Aging cartilage cells get thin and pitted and prevent movement of joint fluid (synovial fluid). The fluid is vital to normal joint movement, nutrition of the cartilage and underlying bone, getting rid of cell waste products and protecting the joints. Many women take glucosamine to help strengthen and regenerate the cartilage cells, but only a few studies have shown that the supplements are effective. Scientists from Belgium showed that post-menopausal women who took 1,500 miligrams of glucosamine for three years demonstrated improvement in knee cartilage, while those in the placebo group (phony supplement) showed cartilage deterioration. Possible side effects include resistance to insulin and IGF-1 (two important tissue-building hormones), gastrointestinal upset and increased blood-clotting time (don’t take the supplement before surgery). Beneficial changes to the cartilage cells take two to three months because their metabolism is very slow. Take the full dose (1,500 milligrams per day) to get the effects shown in research studies.
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What’s New on The Cold Front
Zinc lozenges zap symptoms. People who took the over-the-counter zinc remedy Cold-Eeze recovered completely more than three days faster on average than people who received a placebo. In addition, Cold-Eeze takers had three fewer days of runny noses, 2.5 fewer days of coughing, two fewer days of both nasal congestion and sore throat and one less day of both headache and hoarseness.
Feed a cold, starve a fever? To find out whether there’s truth to that old adage, Dutch researchers had healthy people fast overnight, then measured their infection-fighting white blood cell counts after a 1,200-calorie liquid meal and after an equal amount of water. After only water was consumed, people’s levels of interleukin-4 (a chemical that fights fever-causing bacterial infections like strep throat) were four times higher. After the liquid meal, a chemical called gamma interferon that tackles viral infections such as colds and flu predominated. Until more is known, people with colds shouldn’t change their eating habits based on this small study.
Stressed? Popular? A study of 114 college students found that those who had the largest social circle, including friends and family, and the highest stress levels caught the most colds, while those with a lot of social interactions but lower stress levels had the fewest. To catch a cold, you must be exposed to the virus, and your ability to fight it must be down.
Read more!
Feed a cold, starve a fever? To find out whether there’s truth to that old adage, Dutch researchers had healthy people fast overnight, then measured their infection-fighting white blood cell counts after a 1,200-calorie liquid meal and after an equal amount of water. After only water was consumed, people’s levels of interleukin-4 (a chemical that fights fever-causing bacterial infections like strep throat) were four times higher. After the liquid meal, a chemical called gamma interferon that tackles viral infections such as colds and flu predominated. Until more is known, people with colds shouldn’t change their eating habits based on this small study.
Stressed? Popular? A study of 114 college students found that those who had the largest social circle, including friends and family, and the highest stress levels caught the most colds, while those with a lot of social interactions but lower stress levels had the fewest. To catch a cold, you must be exposed to the virus, and your ability to fight it must be down.
Read more!
Humidity Affects Success of Lasik Eye Correction Surgery
Lasik eye surgery is a miracle for long-term wearers of contact lenses or glasses. Lasik surgery involves removal of corneal tissue with a laser to change the way if focuses light on the retina, the part of the eye that receives the light image.
The procedure is truly amazing: One day you can’t recognize a friend standing 20 feet in front of you and the next day you have eyes like a hawk.
Lasik can be a nightmare for other people– it can leave them with worse vision than they had in the first place and require follow-up surgery. Researchers from the Wake Forest University Eye Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, found that humidity in the operating room or environment can affect the success of the surgery. Poor surgical outcome resulting in more treatment increased by 10 percent when humidity was high in the operating room or in the environment during the weeks before or after the surgery.
The success of the surgery depends largely on the calculation made on the eye before the surgery. Humidity changes the shape of the eye, making it more difficult to make precise and accurate calculations. You have only one set of eyes. The study suggests that you should have the surgery done during less humid times of the year.
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The procedure is truly amazing: One day you can’t recognize a friend standing 20 feet in front of you and the next day you have eyes like a hawk.
Lasik can be a nightmare for other people– it can leave them with worse vision than they had in the first place and require follow-up surgery. Researchers from the Wake Forest University Eye Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, found that humidity in the operating room or environment can affect the success of the surgery. Poor surgical outcome resulting in more treatment increased by 10 percent when humidity was high in the operating room or in the environment during the weeks before or after the surgery.
The success of the surgery depends largely on the calculation made on the eye before the surgery. Humidity changes the shape of the eye, making it more difficult to make precise and accurate calculations. You have only one set of eyes. The study suggests that you should have the surgery done during less humid times of the year.
Read more!
Designer Coffees Pack Heavy Jolt of Calories
A cup of black coffee– even the high-octane coffee from Starbucks– contains zero calories. That’s not true when you add milk, sugar and whipped cream. A large latte can contain from 250 calories to as many as 570 calories. Adding whipped cream can up the ante another 130 calories. You can have your coffee and save your waistline by following a few simple principles:
•Buy a small size beverage. This will save calories even if you order coffee with all the trimmings.
•Order your beverage with fat-free milk instead of whole milk or half. This will save at least 80 calories and eight grams of fat.
•Use a sugar substitute such as saccharin or aspartame. A teaspoon of sugar is 15 calories, which can add up quickly if you have a sweet tooth.
•Order your drink without whipped cream, chocolate or flavorings.
•Learn to drink your coffee black.
You can drink these delicious beverages from time to time if you work them off in the gym, but you can’t pig out on deserts everyday with-out paying the price.
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•Buy a small size beverage. This will save calories even if you order coffee with all the trimmings.
•Order your beverage with fat-free milk instead of whole milk or half. This will save at least 80 calories and eight grams of fat.
•Use a sugar substitute such as saccharin or aspartame. A teaspoon of sugar is 15 calories, which can add up quickly if you have a sweet tooth.
•Order your drink without whipped cream, chocolate or flavorings.
•Learn to drink your coffee black.
You can drink these delicious beverages from time to time if you work them off in the gym, but you can’t pig out on deserts everyday with-out paying the price.
Read more!
Bird Flu Web-Tracking
Scientists have incorporated a new tool in their research: wheresgeorge.com, tracking worrisome potential bird flu outbreaks. The website devoted to tracking dollar bills as they circulate throughout the country.
As stated in the journal Nature, by making the website a powerful prediction tool, those scientists believe that tracking the circulation of money may closely match how a disease may spread. It is difficult for humans to contract the avian flu, but the virus is expected to mutate into an easily spread form that has spark fears of a pandemic and has intensified these fears.
For this purpose, scientists would like to track humans with tracking devices as they would animals to decipher their travel patterns. Unable to this, researchers have discovered that tracking money simulates patterns close to how a virus is spread through human contact.
And at the wheresgeorge.com website, users register money, spend it, and return to the website to see where it goes. By doing this, researchers found that about 57% of money spent circulated between 30 miles and 500 miles away from the point of sale within nine months. Around 25% traveled beyond that distance. Those researchers keep on planning to build a model of disease patterns based on the collected data from the site.
To trace the historical pattern of the disease, an avian flu Google Earth mashup has already been put together by Nature.
Read more!
As stated in the journal Nature, by making the website a powerful prediction tool, those scientists believe that tracking the circulation of money may closely match how a disease may spread. It is difficult for humans to contract the avian flu, but the virus is expected to mutate into an easily spread form that has spark fears of a pandemic and has intensified these fears.
For this purpose, scientists would like to track humans with tracking devices as they would animals to decipher their travel patterns. Unable to this, researchers have discovered that tracking money simulates patterns close to how a virus is spread through human contact.
And at the wheresgeorge.com website, users register money, spend it, and return to the website to see where it goes. By doing this, researchers found that about 57% of money spent circulated between 30 miles and 500 miles away from the point of sale within nine months. Around 25% traveled beyond that distance. Those researchers keep on planning to build a model of disease patterns based on the collected data from the site.
To trace the historical pattern of the disease, an avian flu Google Earth mashup has already been put together by Nature.
Read more!
Homocysteine Weakens Bones
Heart disease, breast cancer and osteoporosis (weakening of the bones) are the leading health issues facing women in America. Deaths from heart attack in men have been decreasing for 15 years, but have remained steady for women. Most women are aware of the risk factors of heart disease, such as high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats, cigarette smoking, diabetes, obesity and physical inactivity.
Homocysteine is an amino acid that has been linked to increased risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots. Researchers from Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston found that high blood levels of homocysteine increase the risk of hip fractures in older adults. Women with high homocysteine concentrations had a nearly 200 percent greater chance of sustaining a hip fracture than those with lower levels. Consuming adequate amounts of folic acid is the best way to lower homocysteine. Folate is a vital nutrient for women. Good food source include asparagus, avocado, beans, beets, broccoli, liver, cereals, corn, peanut butter, peas, spinach and tofu.
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Homocysteine is an amino acid that has been linked to increased risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots. Researchers from Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston found that high blood levels of homocysteine increase the risk of hip fractures in older adults. Women with high homocysteine concentrations had a nearly 200 percent greater chance of sustaining a hip fracture than those with lower levels. Consuming adequate amounts of folic acid is the best way to lower homocysteine. Folate is a vital nutrient for women. Good food source include asparagus, avocado, beans, beets, broccoli, liver, cereals, corn, peanut butter, peas, spinach and tofu.
Read more!
Milk, It Does a Body Good!
There is nothing more humbling than discovering that simple advice parents and grandparents have handed out for generations holds great truth. Only recently have researchers begun piecing together observations obtained in complex experiments and extensive surveys about one of the most common of all food products, to discover that one of the most repeated phrases of parenthood may hold a key to America’s obesity problem. It may actually offer a simple, cheap and effective tool for weight loss.Drink Your Milk!
This command has been spoken, sometimes yelled, at nearly every family dining table. That familiar white beverage served ice cold in a glass at home, or lukewarm in tiny cartons with missing kids on the back at school, may be a missing link to explain the growing number of adults and children who are becoming plumper and plumper every year.
To understand this revelation, it’s necessary to backtrack through a maze of seemingly unrelated research to find the subtle hints and clues that led one researcher of fully investigate the relationship between dairy products and weight loss. Milk, as is well known, is an excellent source of calcium, promoted to build strong bones and teeth. Beyond its role in rebuilding bones and preventing the age-related onset of osteoporosis (brittle bones), calcium also plays a central part in many other processes in the body. Calcium is active when it’s present as an ion (an electrically charged atom), so most calcium is bound to proteins, phosphates or chelates (types of chemical compounds) in order to prevent uncontrolled contractions from causing harmful or fatal damage.
Calcium was previously considered only for the local actions it caused, such as muscle contractions or bone formation. However, it has become evident that calcium is closely monitored by the body; changes in the dietary level of calcium can alter the metabolism in unimagined ways.
Read more!
Lower Cortisol Fat Levels
In addition to lower insulin levels, another hormone of great interest is cortisol, the stress hormone. It has been shown that vitamin D3, through the actions of calcium, increase local cortisol levels in fat tissue. It’s speculated that high-calcium diets may lower cortisol levels through suppression of vitamin D3. Improved insulin sensitivity and lower cortisol levels are definitely effects that can positively impact weight loss goals.
The researchers remain uncertain as to why dairy-derived calcium is so much more effective, but postulated that other active ingredients in dairy products may contribute to weight loss. They speculated that a bioactive fragment in dairy, one that’s able to inhibit an enzyme called ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme), may block hormonal signaling in the fat cells, decreasing fat storage. The high concentration of branched-chain amino acids, particularly leucine, in dairy, may help maintain or promote the retention of metabolically active skeletal muscle during hypocaloric dieting. There are many other bioactive properties not considered in the authors’ discussion, such as cyclic dipeptides or biogenic amines, which can affect the appetite, nutrient partitioning or metabolic rate.
It would have been of value if the researchers had measured serum parathyroid hormone or vitamin D3 levels, though it’s well established that calcium supplementation will lower these hormones. Further, adding additional groups to study the dose-response relationship of calcium to determine the optimal dose would have been noteworthy.
Read more!
The researchers remain uncertain as to why dairy-derived calcium is so much more effective, but postulated that other active ingredients in dairy products may contribute to weight loss. They speculated that a bioactive fragment in dairy, one that’s able to inhibit an enzyme called ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme), may block hormonal signaling in the fat cells, decreasing fat storage. The high concentration of branched-chain amino acids, particularly leucine, in dairy, may help maintain or promote the retention of metabolically active skeletal muscle during hypocaloric dieting. There are many other bioactive properties not considered in the authors’ discussion, such as cyclic dipeptides or biogenic amines, which can affect the appetite, nutrient partitioning or metabolic rate.
It would have been of value if the researchers had measured serum parathyroid hormone or vitamin D3 levels, though it’s well established that calcium supplementation will lower these hormones. Further, adding additional groups to study the dose-response relationship of calcium to determine the optimal dose would have been noteworthy.
Read more!
Vitamin Supplements Protect Against Iron Loss
Many active women have low iron levels that make them susceptible to anemia and fatigue. Intense exercise training can make the problem worse. Active women are often iron-deficient or anemic. Iron is essential for exercise performance and day-to-day energy levels.
Iron is involved in transporting oxygen to cells and eliminating carbon dioxide from body. Iron helps maintain a healthy immune system that protects against illness and infections. Women lose iron by damaging red blood cells during repeated contact with the ground and through the sweat.
The RDA for women is 15 milligrams of iron per day. Spanish researchers found that swimmer who took supplements of vitamins C and E and beta-carotene (C: 1,000 milligrams per day; E: 500mg/day; beta-carotene: 30 mg/day) had normal measures of iron metabolism, while those taking placebo (phony treatment) showed depleted iron stores. Vitamin supplements are important during intense exercise training to compensate for losses of vital nutrients.
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Iron is involved in transporting oxygen to cells and eliminating carbon dioxide from body. Iron helps maintain a healthy immune system that protects against illness and infections. Women lose iron by damaging red blood cells during repeated contact with the ground and through the sweat.
The RDA for women is 15 milligrams of iron per day. Spanish researchers found that swimmer who took supplements of vitamins C and E and beta-carotene (C: 1,000 milligrams per day; E: 500mg/day; beta-carotene: 30 mg/day) had normal measures of iron metabolism, while those taking placebo (phony treatment) showed depleted iron stores. Vitamin supplements are important during intense exercise training to compensate for losses of vital nutrients.
Read more!
Train Hard to Slow Bone Loss
American women sustain more than 1.5 million fractures every year– particularly to bones in the wrist, spine, and hips. Even young athletic women with unstable reproductive hormones are prone to fractures. In women after menopause, fractures related to low bone density cause disability, incredible pain, and even death.
Bone researchers stress the importance of “banking bone” while you’re young– building as much bone as possible between ages 8-30. Bone baking will buffer the effects of gradual bone loss during the rest of your life. You can’t do much about your peak bone density if you’re older than 25 or 30. But, you can prevent further bone loss.
German researchers found that post-menopausal women involved in a two-year program involving running, aerobics, jumping, strength training, and diet counseling maintained bone mass while control subjects continued less back pain. The study showed that it is never too late to begin a program that promotes bone health.
Read more!
Bone researchers stress the importance of “banking bone” while you’re young– building as much bone as possible between ages 8-30. Bone baking will buffer the effects of gradual bone loss during the rest of your life. You can’t do much about your peak bone density if you’re older than 25 or 30. But, you can prevent further bone loss.
German researchers found that post-menopausal women involved in a two-year program involving running, aerobics, jumping, strength training, and diet counseling maintained bone mass while control subjects continued less back pain. The study showed that it is never too late to begin a program that promotes bone health.
Read more!
Summing Up
Clearly, given all of the historical data and the results from this study, calcium deserves consideration in the supplement regimen of anyone seeking weight loss. Adding the hormonal impact recorded in this study, improving insulin sensitivity and decreasing cortisol production, increases the relevance of these findings for overweight individuals.
It’s very interesting to read about the greater effects noted when the source of calcium came from dairy products, as this would encourage one to incorporate milk, yogurt and cheese as food choices rather than pills. It is important to account for the caloric content of dairy foods, if they are used, in order to avoid accidentally consuming too many calories to allow for fat loss. While it’s tempting to consider ice cream as a fat loss tool, don’t be misled into believing calcium is a wonder drug. Calcium, particularly from dairy source, seems to be a healthy and available supplement to aid fat loss.
Read more!
It’s very interesting to read about the greater effects noted when the source of calcium came from dairy products, as this would encourage one to incorporate milk, yogurt and cheese as food choices rather than pills. It is important to account for the caloric content of dairy foods, if they are used, in order to avoid accidentally consuming too many calories to allow for fat loss. While it’s tempting to consider ice cream as a fat loss tool, don’t be misled into believing calcium is a wonder drug. Calcium, particularly from dairy source, seems to be a healthy and available supplement to aid fat loss.
Read more!
Blood Pressure Connection
The effect of calcium on bone strength seems obvious, as bones are composed of a crystalline matrix of calcium and other material. Less obvious, but well known in the scientific literature, is the effect of dietary calcium on blood pressure. Blood pressure is controlled in part by the relative constriction or dilatation of the major and minor arteries, which open close through the action of smooth muscle fibers in the artery wall. Oddly, studies have shown that diets rich in calcium lowered the calcium influx (entrance) into the smooth muscle of the artery walls, lowering blood pressure.Medications were developed, called calcium channel antagonists (such as Nifedipine) that pharmaceutically blocked the entry of calcium into the arterial smooth muscle, thereby lowering blood pressure. While studying the effect of calcium supplementation on blood pressure in obese subjects, one group noted that the subjects experienced an 11-pound decrease in body fat in one year. This effect led the investigators to further explore the potential of this simple and inexpensive intervention on obesity.
The first step was to review the existing literature to see if a weight loss effect was recorded in other calcium studies. Astonishingly, weight loss during calcium treatment or with high calcium diets was very common in studies ranging from dietary surveys to bone loss treatment and blood pressure regulation studies. Though the degree of weight loss was modest, so too was the amount of calcium used – supplementation with 600 to 1,000 milligrams per day.
Read more!
Is Your Magnesium Tank Running on Empty
You probably never gave much thought to magnesium intake – but you should. It’s major player in every tissue and cell in the body.
Magnesium is critical for a smooth-running metabolism, making new protein, fluid control in cells, conducting nerve impulses, muscle contraction and hormone secretion. Low magnesium levels are linked to heart disease, muscle cramps, abnormal heart rhythms, constipation, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney stones, migraine headaches, complications during pregnancy and fibromyalgia. Active lifestyles predispose women to magnesium depletion. Dieting for weight loss, prolonged exercise, drinking soft water, excessive sweating and chronic diarrhea can leave you with dangerously low magnesium levels. Increase magnesium intake by improving your diet.
Good sources of the mineral include water, whole grains and cereals (whole wheat bread, all-bran cereal, oat bran, brown rice), fruits (grapefruit, oranges, tomatoes, dates, bananas), vegetables (broccoli, potatoes, spinach), nuts, and beans (cashews, soybeans, pumpkin seeds, almonds, lima beans) and fish (Pollock, tuna, flounder, salmon). Take a multivitamin and mineral pill or magnesium supplement (250 milligrams; such as Maginex) to fill the gap in case you don’t eat the healthy foods you should.
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Magnesium is critical for a smooth-running metabolism, making new protein, fluid control in cells, conducting nerve impulses, muscle contraction and hormone secretion. Low magnesium levels are linked to heart disease, muscle cramps, abnormal heart rhythms, constipation, diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney stones, migraine headaches, complications during pregnancy and fibromyalgia. Active lifestyles predispose women to magnesium depletion. Dieting for weight loss, prolonged exercise, drinking soft water, excessive sweating and chronic diarrhea can leave you with dangerously low magnesium levels. Increase magnesium intake by improving your diet.
Good sources of the mineral include water, whole grains and cereals (whole wheat bread, all-bran cereal, oat bran, brown rice), fruits (grapefruit, oranges, tomatoes, dates, bananas), vegetables (broccoli, potatoes, spinach), nuts, and beans (cashews, soybeans, pumpkin seeds, almonds, lima beans) and fish (Pollock, tuna, flounder, salmon). Take a multivitamin and mineral pill or magnesium supplement (250 milligrams; such as Maginex) to fill the gap in case you don’t eat the healthy foods you should.
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Breathing Exercises Lower High Blood Pressure
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women and high blood pressure is a significant risk factor. Most physicians treat high blood pressure with drugs, such as diuretics that decrease body water or beta-blockers that reduce the work of the heart. Both have side effects. Researchers have had some success with alternative treatments, such as exercise, diet, and breathing exercises.
Israeli scientists found that practicing breathing exercises reduced blood pressure in patients diagnosed with the disease. They found the greatest reductions in blood pressure in older people who had the highest blood pressure.
High blood pressure is sometimes called the silent killer because the disease often has no symptoms. Lifestyle modification can help reduce high blood pressure but this not something you should attempt on your own. See your physician for an integrated program that can protect you from the effects of this dangerous disease.
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Israeli scientists found that practicing breathing exercises reduced blood pressure in patients diagnosed with the disease. They found the greatest reductions in blood pressure in older people who had the highest blood pressure.
High blood pressure is sometimes called the silent killer because the disease often has no symptoms. Lifestyle modification can help reduce high blood pressure but this not something you should attempt on your own. See your physician for an integrated program that can protect you from the effects of this dangerous disease.
Read more!
Bird Flu Possible Risk on Cat to Humans
If cats can get bird flu and not get ill, this could mean a possible risk to humans, says Michael Perdue, who works in the World Health Organization's Global Influenza Program. It could mean that the virus is adapting to mammals. Perdue says more research is needed on cats and bird flu.
A cat at an animal sanctuary in Graz, southern Austria, caught the H5N1 bird flu virus strain, but is not ill. As the virus can take a week to make its victim ill, perhaps the cat will eventually get sick, said Perdue.
If an animal carries the H5N1 virus but does not get ill, it could mean that it spreads the disease. If an animal dies of H5N1 infection, the spread stops there and then - however, if it is alive and moving around….
Perdue said evidence does not indicate that cats have been the source of infections that have wiped out whole flocks in poultry farms.
Perdue, in an interview with Reuters, said tests need to be carried out on the virus to find out whether it has changed genetically.
Virologists say that if the H5N1 strain can remain in animals and not make them ill, it will be much more difficult to monitor its spread. The chances of it mutating also increase.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist, editor of Medical News Today
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A cat at an animal sanctuary in Graz, southern Austria, caught the H5N1 bird flu virus strain, but is not ill. As the virus can take a week to make its victim ill, perhaps the cat will eventually get sick, said Perdue.
If an animal carries the H5N1 virus but does not get ill, it could mean that it spreads the disease. If an animal dies of H5N1 infection, the spread stops there and then - however, if it is alive and moving around….
Perdue said evidence does not indicate that cats have been the source of infections that have wiped out whole flocks in poultry farms.
Perdue, in an interview with Reuters, said tests need to be carried out on the virus to find out whether it has changed genetically.
Virologists say that if the H5N1 strain can remain in animals and not make them ill, it will be much more difficult to monitor its spread. The chances of it mutating also increase.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist, editor of Medical News Today
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Coffee Contains Life-Saving Antioxidants
Coffee has never carried the label of health food– until now. Coffee contains several beneficial antioxidants that protect vital cell membranes and DNA and slow the aging process.
Antioxidants help fight free radicals that are produced naturally during metabolism. Free radicals are like biological rust eating away at your tissues, while antioxidants prevent the damage.
Norwegian researches found that coffee provides more antioxidants to the body than do fruits, tea, wine, cereal or vegetables. Considering the entire diet, people who consumed the greatest amounts of coffee, wine and vegetables had the greatest amounts of whole body antioxidants. Coffee drinkers can hold their heads high because their beloved beverage has been elevated to the status of health food.
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Antioxidants help fight free radicals that are produced naturally during metabolism. Free radicals are like biological rust eating away at your tissues, while antioxidants prevent the damage.
Norwegian researches found that coffee provides more antioxidants to the body than do fruits, tea, wine, cereal or vegetables. Considering the entire diet, people who consumed the greatest amounts of coffee, wine and vegetables had the greatest amounts of whole body antioxidants. Coffee drinkers can hold their heads high because their beloved beverage has been elevated to the status of health food.
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High Protein Intake Improve Bone Health
Many women – particularly as they age – avoid high protein intake because they fear bone loss. This belief is based on several older studies that showed that consuming more protein than recommended (0.8 grams per kilogram body weight) decreases the ability to absorb dietary calcium. More recent studies show that high protein intake only impairs absorption when calcium in the diet is low (500 milligrams versus the recommended 1,200 mg per day). Tufts University scientists found that protein intake is essential to bone health. Older men and women given 1.55 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day not only had normal calcium absorption but showed increased levels of IGF-1 (an important bone growth chemical) and lower levels of a chemical marker of bone breakdown (N-telopeptide). The study showed that substituting protein for carbohydrates (keeping calorie intake the same) is good for skeletal health in older men and women – provided they take enough calcium in the diet or though health supplements products.
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Your Salt and Water Needs
Go to any college in the land and you will see legions of young women carrying water bottles in their hands or neatly tucked in their backpacks. Health experts promised them that drinking eight glasses of water a day improves skin texture, boosts energy levels, fights fat, makes you look younger, and gives you healthy urinary tract.
New guidelines from Institute of Medicine say that drinking that much water may be overkill. Rather, let thirst be your guide. You get water from foods, beverages such as coffee and tea, and your metabolism.
The average women needs 2.7 (91 oz.) liters of water per a day. This advice does not apply to active women. Replace fluids as you lose them when exercising vigorously – particularly in the heat. Weight loss using the metric system is the best way to measure water loss. If you lost one-half kilogram (1.1 pounds), you should drink 500 milliliters (one pint) of fluid. When exercising for more than one hour, drink a sports beverage containing carbohydrates, electrolytes (sodium, Chloride and potassium) and water. Drink extra water about 30 minutes before exercise and try to replace fluids early in your workout.
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New guidelines from Institute of Medicine say that drinking that much water may be overkill. Rather, let thirst be your guide. You get water from foods, beverages such as coffee and tea, and your metabolism.
The average women needs 2.7 (91 oz.) liters of water per a day. This advice does not apply to active women. Replace fluids as you lose them when exercising vigorously – particularly in the heat. Weight loss using the metric system is the best way to measure water loss. If you lost one-half kilogram (1.1 pounds), you should drink 500 milliliters (one pint) of fluid. When exercising for more than one hour, drink a sports beverage containing carbohydrates, electrolytes (sodium, Chloride and potassium) and water. Drink extra water about 30 minutes before exercise and try to replace fluids early in your workout.
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