Tuesday, August 31, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The relentless attempts to be thin take you further and further away from what could actually end your suffering: getting back in touch with who you really are. Your true nature. Your essence.
Diet Blamed for Cancer Increase
Rates of esophageal cancer in men have risen by 50 percent in Britain in a generation, an increase that is probably being driven in part by growing rates of obesity and poor diet, scientists said on Saturday.
As the "fat man of Europe," Britain is seeing far higher rates of a type of esophageal cancer called adenocarcinoma, which is related to obesity and eating a high saturated fat diet, researchers with the charity Cancer Research UK said.
"We think the obesity epidemic may be a big reason behind the increase. We know that being overweight significantly increases the risk of adenocarcinoma -- the main type of esophageal cancer that's on the up," said Janusz Jankowski of Barts & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, whose research was backed by the charity.
"Our changing diets are also likely to be influencing the rise, with people eating less fruit and vegetables."
In a telephone interview, Jankowski said adenocarcinoma rates in Britain were now among the highest in the world, including the United States, suggesting genetic factors, as well as obesity rates, may be having an influence.
"If you look at people who get this adenocarcinoma type of cancer, it seems to be mainly Anglo Saxon males," he said, whereas black populations appear to have lower rates.
Jankowski and colleagues are expecting to publish the results of research into the genetic factors that may be behind the causes of the disease within the next 6 months.
"Then we may have an answer on whether it is nature or nurture. I suspect it will be a combination, but the question is whether it is skewed one way or the other," he said.
The Cancer Research UK figures showed that while in 1983, 9.6 in every 100,000 men in Britain were diagnosed with esophageal cancer, now it is 14.4 -- an increase of 50 percent.
Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at the charity, said the figures were particularly worrying because esophageal cancer is very difficult to treat.
In Britain, only 8 percent of people with the disease survive at least five years.
As the "fat man of Europe," Britain is seeing far higher rates of a type of esophageal cancer called adenocarcinoma, which is related to obesity and eating a high saturated fat diet, researchers with the charity Cancer Research UK said.
"We think the obesity epidemic may be a big reason behind the increase. We know that being overweight significantly increases the risk of adenocarcinoma -- the main type of esophageal cancer that's on the up," said Janusz Jankowski of Barts & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, whose research was backed by the charity.
"Our changing diets are also likely to be influencing the rise, with people eating less fruit and vegetables."
In a telephone interview, Jankowski said adenocarcinoma rates in Britain were now among the highest in the world, including the United States, suggesting genetic factors, as well as obesity rates, may be having an influence.
"If you look at people who get this adenocarcinoma type of cancer, it seems to be mainly Anglo Saxon males," he said, whereas black populations appear to have lower rates.
Jankowski and colleagues are expecting to publish the results of research into the genetic factors that may be behind the causes of the disease within the next 6 months.
"Then we may have an answer on whether it is nature or nurture. I suspect it will be a combination, but the question is whether it is skewed one way or the other," he said.
The Cancer Research UK figures showed that while in 1983, 9.6 in every 100,000 men in Britain were diagnosed with esophageal cancer, now it is 14.4 -- an increase of 50 percent.
Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at the charity, said the figures were particularly worrying because esophageal cancer is very difficult to treat.
In Britain, only 8 percent of people with the disease survive at least five years.
Half of Your Taxes Will Go for Interest Under Obama
By: Ronald Kessler
Congressional Budget Office forecasts of government deficits and debt are supposed to be authoritative. But Congress forces the CBO to make unrealistic assumptions when issuing those estimates.
The latest assumptions include that the alternative minimum tax will not be adjusted annually for inflation and that discretionary spending unrelated to war will increase no faster than inflation.
Brian M. Riedl of the Heritage Foundation has stripped out these and other assumptions to come up with a more realistic look at the government’s spending and debt. Based on realistic assumptions:
By 2020, half of all income tax revenues will go toward paying interest on a $23 trillion national debt.
The national debt held by the public will surpass 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.
Federal spending per household, which has risen from $25,000 to nearly $30,000 during the past three years, will top $38,000 by 2020. The national debt per household, which was $52,000 before the recession, will approach $150,000 by 2020.
Over eight years under President Obama, budget deficits will total $10 trillion. That is triple the $3.3 trillion in deficits accumulated by President Bush. The public debt — $7.5 trillion at the end of 2009 — will triple to $23.5 trillion by 2020.
The expected additional costs of the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs will push the federal public debt to more than 300 percent of GDP by 2050 and above 800 percent of GDP by 2080.
Obama blames Bush for handing him a growing deficit. Never mind that the deficit is now nearly three times what it was under Bush. Meanwhile, Obama is lecturing European countries, which are cutting government spending, that they should reverse course and increase spending.
American consumers know better. Even as Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress spend like drunken sailors, Americans have cut back on their personal debt.
“I think the biggest threat we have to our national security is our debt,” Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said.
Because of Obama and the Democrats, America faces a financial crisis as devastating as a terrorist attack.
Congressional Budget Office forecasts of government deficits and debt are supposed to be authoritative. But Congress forces the CBO to make unrealistic assumptions when issuing those estimates.
The latest assumptions include that the alternative minimum tax will not be adjusted annually for inflation and that discretionary spending unrelated to war will increase no faster than inflation.
Brian M. Riedl of the Heritage Foundation has stripped out these and other assumptions to come up with a more realistic look at the government’s spending and debt. Based on realistic assumptions:
By 2020, half of all income tax revenues will go toward paying interest on a $23 trillion national debt.
The national debt held by the public will surpass 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.
Federal spending per household, which has risen from $25,000 to nearly $30,000 during the past three years, will top $38,000 by 2020. The national debt per household, which was $52,000 before the recession, will approach $150,000 by 2020.
Over eight years under President Obama, budget deficits will total $10 trillion. That is triple the $3.3 trillion in deficits accumulated by President Bush. The public debt — $7.5 trillion at the end of 2009 — will triple to $23.5 trillion by 2020.
The expected additional costs of the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs will push the federal public debt to more than 300 percent of GDP by 2050 and above 800 percent of GDP by 2080.
Obama blames Bush for handing him a growing deficit. Never mind that the deficit is now nearly three times what it was under Bush. Meanwhile, Obama is lecturing European countries, which are cutting government spending, that they should reverse course and increase spending.
American consumers know better. Even as Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress spend like drunken sailors, Americans have cut back on their personal debt.
“I think the biggest threat we have to our national security is our debt,” Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said.
Because of Obama and the Democrats, America faces a financial crisis as devastating as a terrorist attack.
GOP Charges Obama's Economic Policies 'Failing Miserably'
By: David A. Patten
President Obama huddled with top economic advisers to discuss the faltering economy on Monday, then strode out to the White House Rose Garden to reassure Americans: "I've got confidence in the American economy, and most importantly, I've got confidence in the American people."
Obama's address represented the latest administration effort at damage control over the economy. Some leading analysts now say the nation has about a 40 percent chance of slipping into another recession.
The president didn't offer new initiatives in his speech, but used it to chastise a "partisan minority" preventing passage of a $30 billion small-business loan program that would also provide firms up to $12 billion in tax breaks.
Republican leaders in the Senate object to extraneous expense items that have been attached to the bill and complain that Democrats have refused even to consider the three amendments to the bill Republicans have offered.
The president's remarks were unlikely to silence a growing chorus of critics objecting to his economic policies across the political spectrum.
"It's very, very clear the economic policies of the Obama administration and this Congress are failing miserably," Wisconsin GOP Rep. Rep. Paul Ryan told the media during a conference call Monday.
"All one has to do is travel throughout America and talk to an employer, talk to a manufacturer, talk to a service employer, and you'll find out that they are really nervous about this economy and they're pulling back," Ryan said. "The statistics are glaringly clear. There's real talk of a double dip."
Ryan, a member of the president's commission on budgetary reform that is expected to propose ways this year to reduce the flood of federal red ink, declared that the president's 2009 stimulus plan has failed and program will cost taxpayers $1.1 trillion once debt interest is factored in.
"The Keynesian experiment, which was more spending, has failed to produce the kinds of jobs, it didn't bring our unemployment down to 8 percent as promised," Ryan said. "We are still hovering around 10 percent. We are not producing the private sector jobs that we need to be."
The president's address followed a series of bad economic reports. On Friday, the government revised GDP growth in the second quarter down from 2.4 percent to 1.6 percent. Also last week, new home sales for July fell to the lowest levels since record keeping began in 1963.
The administration got more bad economic news Monday morning: The Commerce Department reported personal incomes rose just 0.2 percent in July. Although that was an improvement over June's numbers, it was just half the increase economists had expected. On a positive note, the department reported consumer spending rose 0.4 percent, the largest increase in four months.
Ryan estimates the U.S. economy would need to generate 250,000 jobs per month for five years in order to return the nation to pre-recession employment levels.
Instead, he said the economy "is going in the exact opposite direction that it ought to be going. Borrowing and spending isn't working, if borrowing and spending would be working, we'd be at full employment right now, because we're borrowing and spending more than we have in the modern era."
Ryan blames the fiscal policies of the federal government — taxes, talk of more stimulus, and proposed cap-and-trade legislation — for causing widespread uncertainty in the business community, which has prevented them from investing in new employees.
Obama tried to reverse that formula Monday, contending that Republican opposition to the current small-business loan legislation is placing business in a position of uncertainty.
Ryan blasted proposed tax increases scheduled to occur automatically in January when the Bush-era tax cuts expire, saying the administration and Democrats in Congress are replicating the economic policies the Japanese followed in the 1990s.
"We are buying ourselves our own lost decade," Ryan warned.
Democrats point to last week's Congressional Budget Office report stating the stimulus may have added as many as 3.3 million jobs. But former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin slammed the report on Monday for relying on the same economic models that projected the stimulus would hold unemployment below 8 percent.
"To run the computer model again guarantees you would get the same exact answer," Holtz-Eakin told reporters Monday. "And the CBO got the same answer.
"Repeating oneself doesn't change the facts," he said. "There is no new evidence that is generated that suggests the stimulus worked."
Criticism of the president's management of the economy no longer is coming just from the right.
The New York Times on Sunday published an editorial titled "Waiting for Mr. Obama." It urged: "If President Obama has a big economic initiative up his sleeve, as he hinted recently, now would be a good time to let the rest of us in on it."
The editorial continued: "The question, is whether Mr. Obama will lead." It also said, "Standing back is not doing the country or his party any good."
In his remarks Monday, the president again appeared to try to pin the blame on the Bush administration for the nation's economic woes.
"What we didn't know was that it took nearly a decade to dig the hole that we're in, and it would take longer than anyone of us would like to climb our way out," Obama said.
The economy has "come a long way" since he took office, he said, but added that too many businesses continue to struggle, and unemployment remains too high.
President Obama huddled with top economic advisers to discuss the faltering economy on Monday, then strode out to the White House Rose Garden to reassure Americans: "I've got confidence in the American economy, and most importantly, I've got confidence in the American people."
Obama's address represented the latest administration effort at damage control over the economy. Some leading analysts now say the nation has about a 40 percent chance of slipping into another recession.
The president didn't offer new initiatives in his speech, but used it to chastise a "partisan minority" preventing passage of a $30 billion small-business loan program that would also provide firms up to $12 billion in tax breaks.
Republican leaders in the Senate object to extraneous expense items that have been attached to the bill and complain that Democrats have refused even to consider the three amendments to the bill Republicans have offered.
The president's remarks were unlikely to silence a growing chorus of critics objecting to his economic policies across the political spectrum.
"It's very, very clear the economic policies of the Obama administration and this Congress are failing miserably," Wisconsin GOP Rep. Rep. Paul Ryan told the media during a conference call Monday.
"All one has to do is travel throughout America and talk to an employer, talk to a manufacturer, talk to a service employer, and you'll find out that they are really nervous about this economy and they're pulling back," Ryan said. "The statistics are glaringly clear. There's real talk of a double dip."
Ryan, a member of the president's commission on budgetary reform that is expected to propose ways this year to reduce the flood of federal red ink, declared that the president's 2009 stimulus plan has failed and program will cost taxpayers $1.1 trillion once debt interest is factored in.
"The Keynesian experiment, which was more spending, has failed to produce the kinds of jobs, it didn't bring our unemployment down to 8 percent as promised," Ryan said. "We are still hovering around 10 percent. We are not producing the private sector jobs that we need to be."
The president's address followed a series of bad economic reports. On Friday, the government revised GDP growth in the second quarter down from 2.4 percent to 1.6 percent. Also last week, new home sales for July fell to the lowest levels since record keeping began in 1963.
The administration got more bad economic news Monday morning: The Commerce Department reported personal incomes rose just 0.2 percent in July. Although that was an improvement over June's numbers, it was just half the increase economists had expected. On a positive note, the department reported consumer spending rose 0.4 percent, the largest increase in four months.
Ryan estimates the U.S. economy would need to generate 250,000 jobs per month for five years in order to return the nation to pre-recession employment levels.
Instead, he said the economy "is going in the exact opposite direction that it ought to be going. Borrowing and spending isn't working, if borrowing and spending would be working, we'd be at full employment right now, because we're borrowing and spending more than we have in the modern era."
Ryan blames the fiscal policies of the federal government — taxes, talk of more stimulus, and proposed cap-and-trade legislation — for causing widespread uncertainty in the business community, which has prevented them from investing in new employees.
Obama tried to reverse that formula Monday, contending that Republican opposition to the current small-business loan legislation is placing business in a position of uncertainty.
Ryan blasted proposed tax increases scheduled to occur automatically in January when the Bush-era tax cuts expire, saying the administration and Democrats in Congress are replicating the economic policies the Japanese followed in the 1990s.
"We are buying ourselves our own lost decade," Ryan warned.
Democrats point to last week's Congressional Budget Office report stating the stimulus may have added as many as 3.3 million jobs. But former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin slammed the report on Monday for relying on the same economic models that projected the stimulus would hold unemployment below 8 percent.
"To run the computer model again guarantees you would get the same exact answer," Holtz-Eakin told reporters Monday. "And the CBO got the same answer.
"Repeating oneself doesn't change the facts," he said. "There is no new evidence that is generated that suggests the stimulus worked."
Criticism of the president's management of the economy no longer is coming just from the right.
The New York Times on Sunday published an editorial titled "Waiting for Mr. Obama." It urged: "If President Obama has a big economic initiative up his sleeve, as he hinted recently, now would be a good time to let the rest of us in on it."
The editorial continued: "The question, is whether Mr. Obama will lead." It also said, "Standing back is not doing the country or his party any good."
In his remarks Monday, the president again appeared to try to pin the blame on the Bush administration for the nation's economic woes.
"What we didn't know was that it took nearly a decade to dig the hole that we're in, and it would take longer than anyone of us would like to climb our way out," Obama said.
The economy has "come a long way" since he took office, he said, but added that too many businesses continue to struggle, and unemployment remains too high.
Five Natural Cures For A Broken Heart
Robert Spuhler // Staff Writer
He or she is gone, and isn’t coming back. We all know that feeling, but what is almost as bad is what comes next: The sleepless nights, the lack of energy, the anxiety. While no magical elixir will cure your heart-ache, we do know how to treat all the side effects. Here are five ways to cure the additional problems that come on due to a broken heart:
1. Insomnia: With thoughts of him or her running through your mind, it’s no wonder you can’t sleep. So try a glass of lavender or chamomile tea, as both have sedating properties.
2. Nausea: His or her name make you sick? Try ginger. Mild cases can be solved using ginger ale (that’s why mom used to give you ginger ale and saltines when you were sick as a kid), while heavy duty nausea might need ginger capsules.
3. Mental Lethargy: If people keep telling you to “snap out of it,” then snapping into some vegetables can do the trick. Mental clarity can often come back to diet, so make sure you are eating right.
4. Fatigue: If you always feel tired, make sure you’re getting enough rest. But if that doesn’t solve it, ginseng can put that extra pep in your step, and it’s easier on your system than massive amounts of caffeine.
5. Anxiety: Feeling constantly nervous? How about some poppy seeds? Poppy has calming and anti-inflammatory qualities. Just make sure you’re not taking a drug test at work any time soon; the poppy seed can cause false positives in drug testing for opium.
What do you do when your heart is broken?
He or she is gone, and isn’t coming back. We all know that feeling, but what is almost as bad is what comes next: The sleepless nights, the lack of energy, the anxiety. While no magical elixir will cure your heart-ache, we do know how to treat all the side effects. Here are five ways to cure the additional problems that come on due to a broken heart:
1. Insomnia: With thoughts of him or her running through your mind, it’s no wonder you can’t sleep. So try a glass of lavender or chamomile tea, as both have sedating properties.
2. Nausea: His or her name make you sick? Try ginger. Mild cases can be solved using ginger ale (that’s why mom used to give you ginger ale and saltines when you were sick as a kid), while heavy duty nausea might need ginger capsules.
3. Mental Lethargy: If people keep telling you to “snap out of it,” then snapping into some vegetables can do the trick. Mental clarity can often come back to diet, so make sure you are eating right.
4. Fatigue: If you always feel tired, make sure you’re getting enough rest. But if that doesn’t solve it, ginseng can put that extra pep in your step, and it’s easier on your system than massive amounts of caffeine.
5. Anxiety: Feeling constantly nervous? How about some poppy seeds? Poppy has calming and anti-inflammatory qualities. Just make sure you’re not taking a drug test at work any time soon; the poppy seed can cause false positives in drug testing for opium.
What do you do when your heart is broken?
The 3 Steps To Having The Power of Completion - By Dwayne H. Klassen
What is incomplete in your life? What part of YOU are you ignoring?
So many people focus on getting their goals listed and strive very hard to achieve them. This is both admirable and encouraged behavior to help move you forward. We all know the power of setting and achieving goals. However, something often gets missed out. We brush over or ignore the behavior patterns that hold us back from getting those goals in the first place. It is very difficult to truly move forward if we still have parts of ourselves still stuck in a lower vibration.
Throughout our lives we experience cycles of experiences; cycles of good times and bad, lack and abundance, fear and love. These also can be seen as cycles of completion if they are processed properly.
To truly get complete with these cycles it requires the will and desire to do so, or you are destined to repeat them.
Let's dig a little deeper and I'll explain a little more. You are on a journey in this life time to get complete on the lessons you are meant to learn. Take a look at your life right now. Is there an area of your life that you are not thrilled with that tends to revisit you over and over again? It could be poor relationships - attracting the same type of people that do not appreciate you. It could be your financial world - perhaps dept and financial struggle has dogged you most of your life. Maybe it is in your business world; you are a serial entrepreneur launching failed business after failed business. There are many more examples you can add here but this gives you an idea of the incompletions that are common.
Do you wonder why the Law of Attraction doesn't seem to work for you? It's not enough to goal set, visualize and affirm your way out of these patterns. These patterns are too deep in the subconscious for that. It is like if you were in a boat and lazily skimming your hand over the surface of the ocean expecting the deepest depths of the great blue sea to feel your desire for change.
The Power of Completion is about cleaning up the habits and thoughts that do not serve you. It is about going to the depths of who and what you truly are.
If you are seriously sick and tired of being sick and tired, fed up, at your wits end and desperate for change, then here are 3 steps you can take to get the Power of Completion working for you:
1) Get real and take full responsibility for where you are at in your life right now.
Nothing outside of you, no not your family, your genetic makeup, or your circumstances are to blame for where you find yourself. At a subconscious level you are getting something out of it. You have to go deep and find out why your ego has put your here. Suspend judgment if you can and write down what comes up for you. Write out a, "How I Limit Myself" list. In this list write down your justifiers and behaviors that you know limit your growth, but more than that, how you have benefited from the limitations you have put on your life. I know it sounds odd, but try it. You may be surprised at what truths can come out.
2) What part of you is not being heard?
We all have aspects of the personality that we prefer to ignore or suppress: there's the angry self, the lonely self, the not worthy self, the pompous self, the happy self, the fearful self, the loving self and so on. We tend to float in and out of these selves often staying in one area or another to both our benefit and our detriment. If you know you are unhappy, angry or fearful and you try to go on without truly processing the energy and learn the lesson it is trying to teach you. You will continue to repeat it. The self wants to be heard! Take some time to get quiet and breathe into the self that you have identified you are most troubled with. Ask that self, "What do you need to express?" You may need a pillow or cushion and a box of tissue because your emotions will be encouraged to express freely. You may feel the need to rage, scream and beat it out of the pillow. Do not censor or filter your feelings and expression. These selves have waited a long time to get out what needs to be said. Once you have exhausted your expression of that self. Ask yourself, "Am I complete?" If nothing more comes forth then that self is complete and you can move on to the next self you need to clear out.
3) Love and forgiveness are a very important aspect in the Power of Completion.
You have not loved yourself to the degree your soul cries out for. You are so busy wondering why you can't find love, money or friends yet it has been within you all along. All of what you desire comes from a strong sense of self love. You have to love yourself first before you can share it with another. I am not talking about romantic love here. I am talking about a spiritual, all encompassing love. A love you feel at the core of who you are.
You have punished yourself for too long. It is time to let go and forgive yourself for all you have endured. Forgiveness is the kindest act you can do for yourself and for another. This exercise will not be easy for some, but it is truly is powerful. Stand in front of a mirror; Look deep into your own eyes; Say to yourself-with all the sincerity and love you can muster, "I forgive you!" That's right! "I forgive you" Now start playing the tape of your life where you feel you messed up, hurt someone, were not in your truth, or limited your life in any way. Forgive yourself...say, "I forgive you" every time a hurtful or troubling memory is triggered. This can be a very trying experience, but very freeing. You are starting the process of letting go of all the old selves that you have been a prisoner to for all these years. It won't happen overnight but it is a beginning.
The Power of Completion can go into all areas of your life; do you have a song inside you, a canvas to paint, a relationship to heal, or a destiny to follow? When you get complete with that which is still left undone in your life, it frees you up to explore the passion and possibility that is out there for you.
The Power of Completion is a simple and very effective process, but it is not easy as painful emotions and memories can be triggered. It is highly recommended that you seek a qualified coach to guide you through the process of completion.
We are at an epoch in human history. The Power of Completion is occurring on a planetary level. 2012 is about the completion of a grand cycle and the beginning of a new and empowering cycle. A new age of consciousness and awareness is coming. Getting complete with the cycles in your life that hold you back now will better prepare you to manifest the life you deserve and desire.
Show Up for your life and life will Show Up for you!
So many people focus on getting their goals listed and strive very hard to achieve them. This is both admirable and encouraged behavior to help move you forward. We all know the power of setting and achieving goals. However, something often gets missed out. We brush over or ignore the behavior patterns that hold us back from getting those goals in the first place. It is very difficult to truly move forward if we still have parts of ourselves still stuck in a lower vibration.
Throughout our lives we experience cycles of experiences; cycles of good times and bad, lack and abundance, fear and love. These also can be seen as cycles of completion if they are processed properly.
To truly get complete with these cycles it requires the will and desire to do so, or you are destined to repeat them.
Let's dig a little deeper and I'll explain a little more. You are on a journey in this life time to get complete on the lessons you are meant to learn. Take a look at your life right now. Is there an area of your life that you are not thrilled with that tends to revisit you over and over again? It could be poor relationships - attracting the same type of people that do not appreciate you. It could be your financial world - perhaps dept and financial struggle has dogged you most of your life. Maybe it is in your business world; you are a serial entrepreneur launching failed business after failed business. There are many more examples you can add here but this gives you an idea of the incompletions that are common.
Do you wonder why the Law of Attraction doesn't seem to work for you? It's not enough to goal set, visualize and affirm your way out of these patterns. These patterns are too deep in the subconscious for that. It is like if you were in a boat and lazily skimming your hand over the surface of the ocean expecting the deepest depths of the great blue sea to feel your desire for change.
The Power of Completion is about cleaning up the habits and thoughts that do not serve you. It is about going to the depths of who and what you truly are.
If you are seriously sick and tired of being sick and tired, fed up, at your wits end and desperate for change, then here are 3 steps you can take to get the Power of Completion working for you:
1) Get real and take full responsibility for where you are at in your life right now.
Nothing outside of you, no not your family, your genetic makeup, or your circumstances are to blame for where you find yourself. At a subconscious level you are getting something out of it. You have to go deep and find out why your ego has put your here. Suspend judgment if you can and write down what comes up for you. Write out a, "How I Limit Myself" list. In this list write down your justifiers and behaviors that you know limit your growth, but more than that, how you have benefited from the limitations you have put on your life. I know it sounds odd, but try it. You may be surprised at what truths can come out.
2) What part of you is not being heard?
We all have aspects of the personality that we prefer to ignore or suppress: there's the angry self, the lonely self, the not worthy self, the pompous self, the happy self, the fearful self, the loving self and so on. We tend to float in and out of these selves often staying in one area or another to both our benefit and our detriment. If you know you are unhappy, angry or fearful and you try to go on without truly processing the energy and learn the lesson it is trying to teach you. You will continue to repeat it. The self wants to be heard! Take some time to get quiet and breathe into the self that you have identified you are most troubled with. Ask that self, "What do you need to express?" You may need a pillow or cushion and a box of tissue because your emotions will be encouraged to express freely. You may feel the need to rage, scream and beat it out of the pillow. Do not censor or filter your feelings and expression. These selves have waited a long time to get out what needs to be said. Once you have exhausted your expression of that self. Ask yourself, "Am I complete?" If nothing more comes forth then that self is complete and you can move on to the next self you need to clear out.
3) Love and forgiveness are a very important aspect in the Power of Completion.
You have not loved yourself to the degree your soul cries out for. You are so busy wondering why you can't find love, money or friends yet it has been within you all along. All of what you desire comes from a strong sense of self love. You have to love yourself first before you can share it with another. I am not talking about romantic love here. I am talking about a spiritual, all encompassing love. A love you feel at the core of who you are.
You have punished yourself for too long. It is time to let go and forgive yourself for all you have endured. Forgiveness is the kindest act you can do for yourself and for another. This exercise will not be easy for some, but it is truly is powerful. Stand in front of a mirror; Look deep into your own eyes; Say to yourself-with all the sincerity and love you can muster, "I forgive you!" That's right! "I forgive you" Now start playing the tape of your life where you feel you messed up, hurt someone, were not in your truth, or limited your life in any way. Forgive yourself...say, "I forgive you" every time a hurtful or troubling memory is triggered. This can be a very trying experience, but very freeing. You are starting the process of letting go of all the old selves that you have been a prisoner to for all these years. It won't happen overnight but it is a beginning.
The Power of Completion can go into all areas of your life; do you have a song inside you, a canvas to paint, a relationship to heal, or a destiny to follow? When you get complete with that which is still left undone in your life, it frees you up to explore the passion and possibility that is out there for you.
The Power of Completion is a simple and very effective process, but it is not easy as painful emotions and memories can be triggered. It is highly recommended that you seek a qualified coach to guide you through the process of completion.
We are at an epoch in human history. The Power of Completion is occurring on a planetary level. 2012 is about the completion of a grand cycle and the beginning of a new and empowering cycle. A new age of consciousness and awareness is coming. Getting complete with the cycles in your life that hold you back now will better prepare you to manifest the life you deserve and desire.
Show Up for your life and life will Show Up for you!
Four Steps to Conquering Fear and Stress - By Lisa Rickwood
Picture this:
You're sitting in a bank foyer, anxiously awaiting a loans officer. Your heart is pounding; you need the loan to grow your company with additional equipment. As each minute creeps by, you feel your anxiety building.
'What if I don't get the loan?' you think. Suddenly, your brain is filled with a dozen scenarios of doom and gloom for your business. Panic sets in...
Suddenly, the officer appears in front of you and replies, "We're ready for you..."
What do you do when you're stressed and filled with fear? Simple. You use five key strategies to help you instantly calm down and control your thoughts.
Stress has a bad rap. When we mention stress, most of us think of negative stress -lost papers, relationship issues, work issues, finances - the sky's the limit. What we don't think about is positive stress.
Positive stress may include: moving, new relationships, starting a new career, deadlines, coaches who push us past our comfort zones. Not all stress is bad but it may feel intensely uncomfortable.
Stress starts in the mind, followed by the body. When you place 10 people in a room and expose them to the same stimuli, they will react differently. This is because we're all hard-wired differently and we all come from distinct backgrounds. Our past is what we use to decipher if something is stressful or not.
For example, if you were bit by a large spider when you were seven years-old, you might have a huge fear of spiders. However, if you never had a bad encounter with spiders and found them interesting as a child, you may not have any fear of them whatsoever. The past dictates your stress level but you can break the stress habit.
When you control your mind, you control the stress. When you control the stress, you are more in control of your actions and the reactions.
Step One: Breathe deep.
When you're faced with a stressful situation, the first thing many of us do is react. We react with emotion and the emotion often hijacks our thoughts. There's no way you can think rationally when you're deathly afraid of a spider in front of you; all you think about is how stressed you are and how you want to get the 'heck out of there'-pronto.
When you breathe deep, your breathing slows down and this in turn slows down your thoughts. When you slow down your thoughts, you have space and time to decide how to react ot something.
Recently, I tried an adventure activity called: Monkido. This is an extremely challenging physical course that involves being 60 feet above ground in trees. You have two lifelines which are attached to ropes and your harness and you climb across netting, ladders, swaying logs, zip-lines and more. I made it through all the tough courses and was in the black area navigating across swaying sideways logs. All of a sudden, my lifelines were tangled above and I had to back-track and I panicked. I was swaying 60 feet above ground and the stress was immense. I quickly told myself to 'breathe deep, slow down, concentrate...' My breathing slowed down, I focused and a strange sort of calm enveloped me. I slowly and strategically climbed across the swaying logs and made it to the other tree. Then I climbed across a tight-rope. This only happened because I became aware of my breathing, slowed it down, slowed down my mind and minimized my panic. Was I still scared? You bet your a#* I was but I was able to function and perform the act.
Step Two: Smile.
The brain is designed in such a way that when you smile, you feel a sense of happiness. It's programmed in your DNA as a baby; when you smile, you don't feel stress. If your smile is authentic, it spreads to your thoughts. It's impossible to feel unhappy and stressed when you're smiling. So try this next time you feel the stress monster gaining control. You many need to fake it for a few minutes but your mind will follow your actions.
Step Three: Exercise.
We're all aware of the importance of exercising for health, wellness and longevity but it's extremely important for stress reduction. When you move your body, get your heart rate up and have more blood flow to the mind and body, you decrease your stress. Stress hormones like cortisol, have a chance to be eliminated from the body and the good hormones like endorphins, put you in a happy state of being. It's extremely difficult to feel really stressed after you lift weights and do an intense cardio routine. Try it and tell me if you're still really stressed after working out.
Step Four: Mindset.
The key to managing stress is managing your mindset and you can do this by the three methods mentioned but also by having a positive mindset. Are you a glass half empty person or a glass half full? Even positive people have things happen that challenge their beliefs but they do go back to being dominantly positive. Positive thinking will eliminate a lot of fears and stress automatically. If you find it hard to be positive, read books, listen to CDs and hang out with people who have a different, more positive mindset from yourself. Coaches, mentors and positive friends will make the difference.
When you apply these four key steps, you'll feel more in control of stress, it won't control you. And the next time you're faced with asking for a loan or dealing with pesky spiders, you'll conquer your fears and minimize stress instantly.
You're sitting in a bank foyer, anxiously awaiting a loans officer. Your heart is pounding; you need the loan to grow your company with additional equipment. As each minute creeps by, you feel your anxiety building.
'What if I don't get the loan?' you think. Suddenly, your brain is filled with a dozen scenarios of doom and gloom for your business. Panic sets in...
Suddenly, the officer appears in front of you and replies, "We're ready for you..."
What do you do when you're stressed and filled with fear? Simple. You use five key strategies to help you instantly calm down and control your thoughts.
Stress has a bad rap. When we mention stress, most of us think of negative stress -lost papers, relationship issues, work issues, finances - the sky's the limit. What we don't think about is positive stress.
Positive stress may include: moving, new relationships, starting a new career, deadlines, coaches who push us past our comfort zones. Not all stress is bad but it may feel intensely uncomfortable.
Stress starts in the mind, followed by the body. When you place 10 people in a room and expose them to the same stimuli, they will react differently. This is because we're all hard-wired differently and we all come from distinct backgrounds. Our past is what we use to decipher if something is stressful or not.
For example, if you were bit by a large spider when you were seven years-old, you might have a huge fear of spiders. However, if you never had a bad encounter with spiders and found them interesting as a child, you may not have any fear of them whatsoever. The past dictates your stress level but you can break the stress habit.
When you control your mind, you control the stress. When you control the stress, you are more in control of your actions and the reactions.
Step One: Breathe deep.
When you're faced with a stressful situation, the first thing many of us do is react. We react with emotion and the emotion often hijacks our thoughts. There's no way you can think rationally when you're deathly afraid of a spider in front of you; all you think about is how stressed you are and how you want to get the 'heck out of there'-pronto.
When you breathe deep, your breathing slows down and this in turn slows down your thoughts. When you slow down your thoughts, you have space and time to decide how to react ot something.
Recently, I tried an adventure activity called: Monkido. This is an extremely challenging physical course that involves being 60 feet above ground in trees. You have two lifelines which are attached to ropes and your harness and you climb across netting, ladders, swaying logs, zip-lines and more. I made it through all the tough courses and was in the black area navigating across swaying sideways logs. All of a sudden, my lifelines were tangled above and I had to back-track and I panicked. I was swaying 60 feet above ground and the stress was immense. I quickly told myself to 'breathe deep, slow down, concentrate...' My breathing slowed down, I focused and a strange sort of calm enveloped me. I slowly and strategically climbed across the swaying logs and made it to the other tree. Then I climbed across a tight-rope. This only happened because I became aware of my breathing, slowed it down, slowed down my mind and minimized my panic. Was I still scared? You bet your a#* I was but I was able to function and perform the act.
Step Two: Smile.
The brain is designed in such a way that when you smile, you feel a sense of happiness. It's programmed in your DNA as a baby; when you smile, you don't feel stress. If your smile is authentic, it spreads to your thoughts. It's impossible to feel unhappy and stressed when you're smiling. So try this next time you feel the stress monster gaining control. You many need to fake it for a few minutes but your mind will follow your actions.
Step Three: Exercise.
We're all aware of the importance of exercising for health, wellness and longevity but it's extremely important for stress reduction. When you move your body, get your heart rate up and have more blood flow to the mind and body, you decrease your stress. Stress hormones like cortisol, have a chance to be eliminated from the body and the good hormones like endorphins, put you in a happy state of being. It's extremely difficult to feel really stressed after you lift weights and do an intense cardio routine. Try it and tell me if you're still really stressed after working out.
Step Four: Mindset.
The key to managing stress is managing your mindset and you can do this by the three methods mentioned but also by having a positive mindset. Are you a glass half empty person or a glass half full? Even positive people have things happen that challenge their beliefs but they do go back to being dominantly positive. Positive thinking will eliminate a lot of fears and stress automatically. If you find it hard to be positive, read books, listen to CDs and hang out with people who have a different, more positive mindset from yourself. Coaches, mentors and positive friends will make the difference.
When you apply these four key steps, you'll feel more in control of stress, it won't control you. And the next time you're faced with asking for a loan or dealing with pesky spiders, you'll conquer your fears and minimize stress instantly.
Monday, August 30, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Joy is a sustained sense of well-being and internal peace—a connection to what matters.
Fibromyalgia: 7 Ways to Ease Symptoms
If you have fibromyalgia, you know that life is 10 times harder. The complex chronic pain disorder affects every part of your day. So how can you cope? Here are 7 symptom tamers...
It’s bad enough that you have fibromyalgia, a painful, puzzling disorder. What’s worse is that every symptom – from brain fog to pain, fatigue and depression – hurts not only yourself but also your relationships, work life and physical, emotional and mental health.
There's no cure, which means you just have to learn to live with fibromyalgia and take steps to ease its symptoms.
“Effectively treating fibromyalgia requires a combination of medication and lifestyle skills,” says Daniel Clauw, M.D., fibromyalgia expert and professor of anesthesiology and medicine at the University of Michigan. He’s also director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center there.
Here are 7 expert tips to manage your symptoms:
1. Start exercising.
Working out is great for everyone, but it can especially help fibromyalgia sufferers, who often feel stiffness (especially after waking in the morning) and restless leg syndrome.
Exercising regularly – whatever you can manage on a routine basis – can boost mood, ease pain, improve sleep, reduce fatigue, improve circulation and strengthen your heart. Among recommended activities for fibromyalgia patients: stretching, walking, yoga, cycling, swimming, water aerobics and strength training.
“Take small steps toward becoming more active as your symptoms begin to improve,” Clauw advises.
But be careful: Sometimes exercise can be counterproductive, says Stephen MacPherson, N.D., a naturopathic doctor at the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Center in Seattle, Wash. Many are so fatigued, that it makes it difficult to exercise.
Know your limit, he advises, and consult your doctor before starting or changing an exercise program.
2. Try various therapies.
Fibromyalgia patients suffer pain more intensely than other people do. They may feel it all over their body or in multiple tender points.
Water therapy, light aerobics, application of heat or cold, acupuncture, and osteopathic or chiropractic manipulation have helped fibromyalgia patients, say the experts at the National Fibromyalgia Association. So has physical therapy.
It can increase mobility, improve physical function and ease pain. Experts at the National Pain Foundation believe that physical therapy can help people regain their muscle tone and flexibility.
Massage may help some people, but not everyone should have one because even light pressure could worsen the pain, MacPherson advises. “A medium-pressure massage can make a person feel like they’ve been hit by a truck the next day.”
Like exercise, all therapies must be gradually implemented, he says.
3. Eat a healthy diet.
Eating lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats and dairy also will energize you, lower weight and improve overall health as you battle fibromyalgia.
Janet Horn, M.D., Lifescript’s women’s health expert and a practicing physician in Baltimore, suggests eliminating the following foods, which appear to bother some people with fibromyalgia:
Food additives like MSG and nitrates (the preservative in hot dogs and bacon)
Aspartame (NutraSweet)
Sugar
4. Get enough sleep.
Pain, stress and anxiety can rob you of the ability to sleep. But that’s exactly what you need to manage one of fibromyalgia’s major symptoms: fatigue.
Many of MacPherson’s patients have sleep apnea. “We sometimes recommend that people go to a sleep study and get checked out,” he says.
Talk to your doctor to see whether sleep meds are appropriate for you. And try to implement good sleep habits. Here are some suggestions from the University of Maryland's Sleep Disorder Center:
Make your bedroom comfortable by reducing noises and extreme temperatures.
Use light and comfortable bed linens and garments.
Begin rituals to help you relax at bedtime, such as taking a soothing bath or enjoying a light snack.
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including weekends and holidays.
If you nap, keep it to less than one hour and take it before 3 p.m.
Avoid caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes.
Stay away from fatty, spicy foods that may upset your stomach or cause heartburn.
Set aside time during the day to get all your worries out of your system.
Go to bed only when you're sleepy and reserve the bed only for sleeping and sex.
5. Pay attention to your sex life.
Women with fibromyalgia commonly experience pain with their menstrual cycles and during intercourse. Pain or joint/muscle stiffness may interfere with their ability to enjoy intimacy.
On top of the physical challenges, negative changes in self-perception, such as feeling unattractive, uncomfortable or simply not feeling sexy, may lead to a loss of desire.
Plus, stress and anxiety can get in the way of good sex.
If you’ve fallen into a habit of avoiding sex for these or any other reasons, talk to your doctor.
Your sexual health is as important as your physical, mental and emotional health. A physician will not only help you troubleshoot the problem, but recommend ways to boost your libido and self-esteem and help you manage the pain or discomfort.
6. Reduce stress.
Fibromyalgia can affect memory and cause “fibro fog,” an inability to think clearly, which can be particularly frustrating when you’re trying to perform simple tasks.
“Constant stress can drain the endocrine system and alter hormone levels,” which may be a cause of fibromyalgia, MacPherson says.
Try these tips to manage your stress load:
Pace your daily activities. Fibromyalgia patients sometimes unknowingly exacerbate pain and fatigue by overdoing it when they’re feeling well, Clauw says.
Try relaxation techniques. Methods that help reduce stress and pain include breathing and relaxation exercises, meditation, aromatherapy and biofeedback. The latter uses a machine to help patients read their body’s signals to reduce anxiety and pain.
Set boundaries. You may want to speak to your supervisor at work about modifying your schedule, reducing your workload or simply identifying and communicating your needs to your boss and coworkers, according to the KnowFibro guide.
See a behavioral cognitive therapist. This form of psychotherapy examines how our thinking influences how we feel and what we do. Fibromyalgia sufferers can have a lot of emotional distress, MacPherson says, and therapy may help to manage it.
7. Try herbs and supplements.
Magnesium and acetyl-L-carnitine may help ease symptoms, says Suzy Cohen, R. Ph., Lifescript’s Pharmacist and author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist.
“Magnesium reduces nerve pain and muscle pain,” she says. “When the mineral runs low, the body experiences more pain.”
It's also used to make ATP, an energy molecule, which may help with fatigue, she says.
“And the body uses acetyl-L-carnitine to make another hormone, acetylcholine, which is used in the brain to improve mood, memory and concentration difficulties, which often coincide with fibromyalgia.”
Always check with your doctor about any supplements, herbs, or other therapies you’re considering.
How Much Do You Know About Fibromyalgia?
Described by Hippocrates in ancient Greece, fibromyalgia is one of the world’s oldest medical mysteries. How much do you know about the illness?
It’s bad enough that you have fibromyalgia, a painful, puzzling disorder. What’s worse is that every symptom – from brain fog to pain, fatigue and depression – hurts not only yourself but also your relationships, work life and physical, emotional and mental health.
There's no cure, which means you just have to learn to live with fibromyalgia and take steps to ease its symptoms.
“Effectively treating fibromyalgia requires a combination of medication and lifestyle skills,” says Daniel Clauw, M.D., fibromyalgia expert and professor of anesthesiology and medicine at the University of Michigan. He’s also director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center there.
Here are 7 expert tips to manage your symptoms:
1. Start exercising.
Working out is great for everyone, but it can especially help fibromyalgia sufferers, who often feel stiffness (especially after waking in the morning) and restless leg syndrome.
Exercising regularly – whatever you can manage on a routine basis – can boost mood, ease pain, improve sleep, reduce fatigue, improve circulation and strengthen your heart. Among recommended activities for fibromyalgia patients: stretching, walking, yoga, cycling, swimming, water aerobics and strength training.
“Take small steps toward becoming more active as your symptoms begin to improve,” Clauw advises.
But be careful: Sometimes exercise can be counterproductive, says Stephen MacPherson, N.D., a naturopathic doctor at the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Center in Seattle, Wash. Many are so fatigued, that it makes it difficult to exercise.
Know your limit, he advises, and consult your doctor before starting or changing an exercise program.
2. Try various therapies.
Fibromyalgia patients suffer pain more intensely than other people do. They may feel it all over their body or in multiple tender points.
Water therapy, light aerobics, application of heat or cold, acupuncture, and osteopathic or chiropractic manipulation have helped fibromyalgia patients, say the experts at the National Fibromyalgia Association. So has physical therapy.
It can increase mobility, improve physical function and ease pain. Experts at the National Pain Foundation believe that physical therapy can help people regain their muscle tone and flexibility.
Massage may help some people, but not everyone should have one because even light pressure could worsen the pain, MacPherson advises. “A medium-pressure massage can make a person feel like they’ve been hit by a truck the next day.”
Like exercise, all therapies must be gradually implemented, he says.
3. Eat a healthy diet.
Eating lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats and dairy also will energize you, lower weight and improve overall health as you battle fibromyalgia.
Janet Horn, M.D., Lifescript’s women’s health expert and a practicing physician in Baltimore, suggests eliminating the following foods, which appear to bother some people with fibromyalgia:
Food additives like MSG and nitrates (the preservative in hot dogs and bacon)
Aspartame (NutraSweet)
Sugar
4. Get enough sleep.
Pain, stress and anxiety can rob you of the ability to sleep. But that’s exactly what you need to manage one of fibromyalgia’s major symptoms: fatigue.
Many of MacPherson’s patients have sleep apnea. “We sometimes recommend that people go to a sleep study and get checked out,” he says.
Talk to your doctor to see whether sleep meds are appropriate for you. And try to implement good sleep habits. Here are some suggestions from the University of Maryland's Sleep Disorder Center:
Make your bedroom comfortable by reducing noises and extreme temperatures.
Use light and comfortable bed linens and garments.
Begin rituals to help you relax at bedtime, such as taking a soothing bath or enjoying a light snack.
Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including weekends and holidays.
If you nap, keep it to less than one hour and take it before 3 p.m.
Avoid caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes.
Stay away from fatty, spicy foods that may upset your stomach or cause heartburn.
Set aside time during the day to get all your worries out of your system.
Go to bed only when you're sleepy and reserve the bed only for sleeping and sex.
5. Pay attention to your sex life.
Women with fibromyalgia commonly experience pain with their menstrual cycles and during intercourse. Pain or joint/muscle stiffness may interfere with their ability to enjoy intimacy.
On top of the physical challenges, negative changes in self-perception, such as feeling unattractive, uncomfortable or simply not feeling sexy, may lead to a loss of desire.
Plus, stress and anxiety can get in the way of good sex.
If you’ve fallen into a habit of avoiding sex for these or any other reasons, talk to your doctor.
Your sexual health is as important as your physical, mental and emotional health. A physician will not only help you troubleshoot the problem, but recommend ways to boost your libido and self-esteem and help you manage the pain or discomfort.
6. Reduce stress.
Fibromyalgia can affect memory and cause “fibro fog,” an inability to think clearly, which can be particularly frustrating when you’re trying to perform simple tasks.
“Constant stress can drain the endocrine system and alter hormone levels,” which may be a cause of fibromyalgia, MacPherson says.
Try these tips to manage your stress load:
Pace your daily activities. Fibromyalgia patients sometimes unknowingly exacerbate pain and fatigue by overdoing it when they’re feeling well, Clauw says.
Try relaxation techniques. Methods that help reduce stress and pain include breathing and relaxation exercises, meditation, aromatherapy and biofeedback. The latter uses a machine to help patients read their body’s signals to reduce anxiety and pain.
Set boundaries. You may want to speak to your supervisor at work about modifying your schedule, reducing your workload or simply identifying and communicating your needs to your boss and coworkers, according to the KnowFibro guide.
See a behavioral cognitive therapist. This form of psychotherapy examines how our thinking influences how we feel and what we do. Fibromyalgia sufferers can have a lot of emotional distress, MacPherson says, and therapy may help to manage it.
7. Try herbs and supplements.
Magnesium and acetyl-L-carnitine may help ease symptoms, says Suzy Cohen, R. Ph., Lifescript’s Pharmacist and author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist.
“Magnesium reduces nerve pain and muscle pain,” she says. “When the mineral runs low, the body experiences more pain.”
It's also used to make ATP, an energy molecule, which may help with fatigue, she says.
“And the body uses acetyl-L-carnitine to make another hormone, acetylcholine, which is used in the brain to improve mood, memory and concentration difficulties, which often coincide with fibromyalgia.”
Always check with your doctor about any supplements, herbs, or other therapies you’re considering.
How Much Do You Know About Fibromyalgia?
Described by Hippocrates in ancient Greece, fibromyalgia is one of the world’s oldest medical mysteries. How much do you know about the illness?
Obama’s Land Grab Is a ‘Bad Idea’
The Obama administration plans to have the federal government acquire millions of acres of private land even though it can’t afford to maintain the land it already owns.
H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), points out that the federal government already owns about one-third of the land in the United States, and in some states it owns more than half. But millions of acres of government-owned land are lost to wildfires largely due to federal mismanagement.
The country’s national parks suffer from a $9 billion-plus backlog for repairs, maintenance and improvements, Burnett notes. “Our country was never meant to be a crown colony or federal estate, and in this economy, it hardly seems right to increase funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which will be used to purchase private lands,” Burnett says.
Acquiring more land is a “bad idea,” and instead federal lands could be sold to the states, nonprofit groups or private companies, which could use them to generate revenue and help reduce the deficit, the NCPA suggests.
And rather than have the Land and Water Conservation Fund spend money to buy new lands, the federal government could use the funds to improve and maintain the lands it already owns.
Said Burnett: “This would be a win-win for the public, the environment, and the federal Treasury.”
H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), points out that the federal government already owns about one-third of the land in the United States, and in some states it owns more than half. But millions of acres of government-owned land are lost to wildfires largely due to federal mismanagement.
The country’s national parks suffer from a $9 billion-plus backlog for repairs, maintenance and improvements, Burnett notes. “Our country was never meant to be a crown colony or federal estate, and in this economy, it hardly seems right to increase funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which will be used to purchase private lands,” Burnett says.
Acquiring more land is a “bad idea,” and instead federal lands could be sold to the states, nonprofit groups or private companies, which could use them to generate revenue and help reduce the deficit, the NCPA suggests.
And rather than have the Land and Water Conservation Fund spend money to buy new lands, the federal government could use the funds to improve and maintain the lands it already owns.
Said Burnett: “This would be a win-win for the public, the environment, and the federal Treasury.”
Toxin-Free Cells Fight Disease
One of the keys to keeping healthy and youthful even as we celebrate more birthdays is to keep our cells energetic. A growing body of evidence shows that one of the most common effects of aging is a progressive loss of mitochondrial function — which means that our cells have more and more difficulty making energy efficiently. When this occurs, the mitochondria begin to produce enormous numbers of free radicals.
We are all exposed to a great number of mitochondrial poisons, which cause damage by triggering inflammation. (For a detailed discussion on inflammation and its role in many diseases, see my newsletter "Inflammation: The Real Cause of Most Diseases.") These poisons include pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, industrial chemicals, vaccinations, MSG (and other forms of glutamate food additives), mercury, lead, cadmium, aluminum, and fluoride. Most of us are exposed to all of these, and many of these poisons have synergistic toxicity.
When our cells begin to have difficulty making energy, we become weak and listless — we sleep during the day and tire easily. Also, our organs begin to fail and are increasingly subject to disease and toxins from the environment, as well as toxic foods.
Mitochondrial failure in our brain is even more ominous. A number of studies have shown that when the mitochondrial energy production falls, even modestly, the brain cells become hypersensitive to the toxic effect of glutamate (excitotoxicity). Even normal levels of brain glutamate can cause destruction of brain connections and actual brain cells. We see elevated brain glutamate with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, strokes, and head injuries.
In all of these conditions, brain energy levels are low because of mitochondrial malfunction, and the malfunction begins long before symptoms develop. Our mitochondria also contain DNA, and this DNA is more sensitive to damage by free radicals and lipid peroxidation products because mitochondrial DNA has very few repair enzymes.
It has been shown that at age 70 our nuclear DNA oxidizes 10 times faster and mitochondrial DNA oxidizes 15 times faster than when we were young. So, not only do we produce more free radicals as we age, we are more vulnerable to their damage.
This is why we should increase the strength of our antioxidant network as we age. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to boost mitochondrial function, which has been shown to protect the brain and body from free radical damage. These supplements do just that:
• Vitamins B-1, B-6, B-12
• Niacinamide
• Riboflavin
• Folate
• Vitamin K
• R-lipoic acid
• Acetyl-L-carnitine
• CoQ10
• Magnesium
• Zinc
• Pyruvate
For more information on the benefits of supplements, read my special report "Key Vitamins that Save Your Heart, Prevent Cancer and Keep You Living Long."
Antioxidants also protect the mitochondria from damage by the free radicals they produce. Of particular concern are the lipid peroxidation products, such as acrolein and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), which are very destructive. We see high levels of these lipid peroxidation products in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, heart failure, head injuries, and strokes.
These caustic oxidized fats are resistant to most antioxidant vitamins, but are neutralized by flavonoids, such as curcumin, quercetin, ellagic acid, luteolin, and proanthocyanidins (from grape seed extract). Most of these are available as supplements, and the others can be taken as vegetable blends.
My report "Stop Aging Naturally" will even give more in-depth ways to slow the relentless march of time and keep your body healthy and youthful.
We are all exposed to a great number of mitochondrial poisons, which cause damage by triggering inflammation. (For a detailed discussion on inflammation and its role in many diseases, see my newsletter "Inflammation: The Real Cause of Most Diseases.") These poisons include pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, industrial chemicals, vaccinations, MSG (and other forms of glutamate food additives), mercury, lead, cadmium, aluminum, and fluoride. Most of us are exposed to all of these, and many of these poisons have synergistic toxicity.
When our cells begin to have difficulty making energy, we become weak and listless — we sleep during the day and tire easily. Also, our organs begin to fail and are increasingly subject to disease and toxins from the environment, as well as toxic foods.
Mitochondrial failure in our brain is even more ominous. A number of studies have shown that when the mitochondrial energy production falls, even modestly, the brain cells become hypersensitive to the toxic effect of glutamate (excitotoxicity). Even normal levels of brain glutamate can cause destruction of brain connections and actual brain cells. We see elevated brain glutamate with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, strokes, and head injuries.
In all of these conditions, brain energy levels are low because of mitochondrial malfunction, and the malfunction begins long before symptoms develop. Our mitochondria also contain DNA, and this DNA is more sensitive to damage by free radicals and lipid peroxidation products because mitochondrial DNA has very few repair enzymes.
It has been shown that at age 70 our nuclear DNA oxidizes 10 times faster and mitochondrial DNA oxidizes 15 times faster than when we were young. So, not only do we produce more free radicals as we age, we are more vulnerable to their damage.
This is why we should increase the strength of our antioxidant network as we age. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to boost mitochondrial function, which has been shown to protect the brain and body from free radical damage. These supplements do just that:
• Vitamins B-1, B-6, B-12
• Niacinamide
• Riboflavin
• Folate
• Vitamin K
• R-lipoic acid
• Acetyl-L-carnitine
• CoQ10
• Magnesium
• Zinc
• Pyruvate
For more information on the benefits of supplements, read my special report "Key Vitamins that Save Your Heart, Prevent Cancer and Keep You Living Long."
Antioxidants also protect the mitochondria from damage by the free radicals they produce. Of particular concern are the lipid peroxidation products, such as acrolein and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), which are very destructive. We see high levels of these lipid peroxidation products in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, heart failure, head injuries, and strokes.
These caustic oxidized fats are resistant to most antioxidant vitamins, but are neutralized by flavonoids, such as curcumin, quercetin, ellagic acid, luteolin, and proanthocyanidins (from grape seed extract). Most of these are available as supplements, and the others can be taken as vegetable blends.
My report "Stop Aging Naturally" will even give more in-depth ways to slow the relentless march of time and keep your body healthy and youthful.
The Best Breakfasts for Weight Loss
The health benefits of breakfast include weight control, mental focus and overall well-being. Here’s how to choose a delicious, nutritious morning meal that fits your hectic lifestyle...
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
You’ve probably heard that adage dozens of times, but do you heed it?
Most Americans don’t – they eat their biggest meal at night; 20% don’t have breakfast at all.
“We should be eating the exact opposite way,” says Karen E. Brewton, R.D., a clinical dietitian at Methodist Wellness Services in Houston. “We don’t need a huge meal [when] we’re getting ready to rest.”
In fact, breakfast isn’t just important, it’s vital – to weight loss, well-being and performing at your mental best.
Your brain needs morning fuel (glucose), which is provided by food, especially carbohydrates. Without a healthy breakfast, you’ll suffer a mental slump by midmorning.
Then there’s your long-term health: Skipping breakfast puts you at greater risk for heart disease and metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms that can lead to cardiac problems or diabetes.
But what should you have for breakfast, and how can you find time for it? We have answers to help you start each day right.
The Best Breakfasts for Weight Loss
Skipping your morning meal may seem like a simple way to cut calories. Yet all the respected research shows that breakfast is essential for maintaining a healthy weight.
“I have patients who skip breakfast to limit their day’s food intake,” Brewton says. “These are the absolute wrong calories to cut if weight loss is their goal.”
Those who pass on breakfast end up overeating at lunch and dinner, more than making up for the morning calorie deficit, Brewton says.
The most convincing evidence comes from the National Weight Control Registry, an organization that studies successful long-term weight loss. It compiled data on 6,000 people who’ve lost 30 pounds and maintained the loss for at least a year. Nearly 80% of these successful losers said they eat a morning meal every day.
And a 2008 study of 12,000 adults published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that eating a healthy breakfast promoted wise food choices the rest of the day.
Best bet: Eggs! Men and women who ate two eggs for breakfast lost 65% more weight and showed a 61% greater reduction in BMI than those who ate a bagel, according to a 2008 Saint Louis University study.
Obviously, you can’t eat eggs fried in butter and achieve this result. Try these low-fat, low-calorie cooking methods instead:
Poaching. Just break eggs into hot water and cook until firm. Serve over whole-wheat toast with fruit on the side.
Hard-boiling. Hard-boiled eggs last a week in the fridge, so keep a half-dozen on hand. A whole-grain English muffin and a cup of berries are perfect accompaniments.
Microwaving. Mix eggs with chopped bell pepper, onion, mushroom and low-fat cheese and pour into a mug. Nuke for 45 seconds or until cooked through (stirring if needed). Eat as an omelet or plop the veggie-egg disc on toast.
Baking. Create a “crustless quiche” by pouring an egg-veggie mixture into muffin tins; bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean). Freeze leftovers, then heat them in the microwave for less than a minute.
To avoid food-borne illness (such as salmonella) from eggs, follow these rules: Throw out cracked or dirty eggs, avoid cross-contamination between raw eggs and other foods, cook them until both the yolks and whites are firm, and refrigerate egg-containing dishes immediately.
The Best Breakfasts for Staying Satisfied and Sharp
“Breakfast should be a balance of carbs, fat and protein, and contain about 400 calories,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and author of The Flexitarian Diet (McGraw-Hill). “This combination will curb your appetite and keep you going throughout the day.”
Your morning meal should also give you a jump-start on your daily fiber intake (of about 25-30 grams), which also keeps you feeling full.
Best bets: Low-glycemic foods that won’t cause a rapid rise and fall in blood sugar levels. Here’s why: Foods low on the glycemic index heighten production of GLP-1, a gut hormone that leads to appetite suppression and a full feeling in your belly.
In a 2009 study at King’s College in London, people who ate a low-GI breakfast had 20% higher blood levels of GLP-1 and 38% lower levels of insulin than those who ate a high-GI breakfast.
More good news: Low-glycemic fare also increases the fat-burning effects of moderate exercise (such as walking) after breakfast.
Choose these low-GI foods each morning to keep you feeling full, energetic and mentally focused:
Breads and cereals made from whole grains, such as oats, barley, rye and wheat, or any kind of bran. A 2007 Lund University in Sweden study at found that a low-GI breakfast of healthy carbohydrates can prevent blood sugar spikes. It also improves mental focus for up to 10 hours.
A great low-GI, stick-to-your-ribs breakfast is a bowl of oat groats. These are the least-processed version of oats, so they take a lot longer to digest than quick-cook oatmeal. (Steel-cut oats are second best.) They also take a while to prepare, but you can slow-cook them in a crockpot overnight with cinnamon sticks or a splash of reduced fat coconut milk.
High-quality protein, such as eggs, lean Canadian bacon and non- or low-fat dairy products. A 2009 University of Kansas study showed that people who eat healthy protein in the morning retain a greater sense of fullness throughout the entire day.
Tips: Scramble eggs or fry Canadian bacon with cooking spray (not butter or margarine) to keep fat content low. For more protein power, sprinkle nuts on top of your low-fat yogurt.
The Best Breakfasts for Heart Health
Besides the above-mentioned benefits, eating breakfast is good for your ticker.
Studies have shown that people who skip it have higher cholesterol levels and are at greater risk for developing high blood pressure or metabolic syndrome.
Best bets: Whole grains, along with low-fat protein, such as skim milk. Consuming high-fiber, high-nutrient cereals is linked to a reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
And morning cereal eaters tend to eat more fiber and calcium, and fewer fats, throughout the day.
In a 2007 University of Calgary in Canada study, people who ate a low-fat breakfast of cereal and skim milk were far less prone to the physical consequences of stress – including high blood pressure – than those who ate high-fat fast food.
The heart-healthiest cold cereals include:
Multigrain Cheerios: 110 calories, 3 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (per 1 cup serving)
Wheaties: 100 calories, 3 grams fiber, 0.5 gram fat (per 3/4 cup serving)
Kashi Honey Sunshine: 100 calories, 5 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (per 3/4 cup serving)
Kashi Mighty Bites: 120 calories, 3 grams fiber, 1.5 grams fat (per 1 cup serving)
Wheat Chex: 169 calories, 5 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (per 3/4 cup serving)
Nature's Path Heritage Flakes: 120 calories, 5 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (per 3/4 cup serving)
Best Breakfasts When You’re in a Rush
It’s Monday morning (even Tuesday or Friday) and you’re racing out the door… as usual. You barely have time to make yourself presentable, let alone sit down to breakfast. Here are some nutrient-rich and highly portable a.m. meals:
Breakfast dog: Spread peanut butter on a slice of whole-grain bread, wrap it around a banana, and eat it like a hot dog.
DIY granola: On Sunday night, mix a healthy cereal (such as Multigrain Cheerios or Wheaties) with almonds and raisins. Divide the mixture into five plastic baggies, one for each weekday. Munch on the cereal in transit, or add it to low-fat milk bought from your office vending machine.
Bagel ‘n’ cheese: Throw a whole-grain bagel, an apple and a mozzarella cheese stick into a paper bag. Who says brown-bagging is just for lunch?
Fast food: If this is your only choice, tread carefully. At McDonald’s, opt for the 167-calorie Fruit ‘n’ Yogurt Parfait or a 250-calorie (without cheese) Egg McMuffin, with a side of apple slices.
At Starbucks, a good bet is a 16-ounce nonfat latte (130 calories) and a to-go-bowl of Perfect Oatmeal (240 calories with dried-fruit topping).
At convenience stores like 7-11, go to the counter and grab a banana, a hard-boiled egg and coffee. And stay far away from the donuts.
Best Foods for Women Who Hate Breakfast
So you’re not a “breakfast person”? Many women claim they just aren’t hungry in the morning, so they forgo eating. If you do, take a look at your nighttime choices.
“This is a big red flag that you’re eating too much in the evening,” Blatner says. “I ask my patients to cut down on dinner to ensure that they’ll be hungry for breakfast the next day.”
Some women skip morning meals because they dislike traditional American breakfast fare. But there’s no rule against eating other things before noon.
Sample the following popular breakfasts from across the world. They’re so different from the usual cereal and scrambled eggs, you’ll feel as if you’re on vacation.
Cheese or yogurt, fresh-baked whole-grain bread, fruit and café au lait. The French call this petit dejeuner (or little lunch).
Miso soup, soybeans over rice, tea. The Japanese way to start the day.
Greek yogurt drizzled with honey or feta cheese, olives, whole-grain bread, fruit, black tea. A majestic Mediterranean meal.
Fish or meat and vegetables over rice. In China, breakfast and dinner are often very similar.
Mangoes topped with avocado cream, plus bread and jam. The Brazilians really know how to eat. Make delicious avocado cream with lower-fat ingredients: 1 medium avocado, 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro.
Breakfast taco. A favorite in southern Texas: scrambled eggs and shredded chicken or lean beef, topped with salsa and wrapped in a corn tortilla.
Huevos rancheros. This Mexican dish – fried eggs on a tortilla topped with spicy tomato sauce (or salsa) – becomes healthier if you poach the eggs and use whole-wheat tortillas.
Adapted from an article originally published in Viv magazine.
Are You A Good Cook?
You love to cook, but how much do you really know about food preparation?
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
You’ve probably heard that adage dozens of times, but do you heed it?
Most Americans don’t – they eat their biggest meal at night; 20% don’t have breakfast at all.
“We should be eating the exact opposite way,” says Karen E. Brewton, R.D., a clinical dietitian at Methodist Wellness Services in Houston. “We don’t need a huge meal [when] we’re getting ready to rest.”
In fact, breakfast isn’t just important, it’s vital – to weight loss, well-being and performing at your mental best.
Your brain needs morning fuel (glucose), which is provided by food, especially carbohydrates. Without a healthy breakfast, you’ll suffer a mental slump by midmorning.
Then there’s your long-term health: Skipping breakfast puts you at greater risk for heart disease and metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms that can lead to cardiac problems or diabetes.
But what should you have for breakfast, and how can you find time for it? We have answers to help you start each day right.
The Best Breakfasts for Weight Loss
Skipping your morning meal may seem like a simple way to cut calories. Yet all the respected research shows that breakfast is essential for maintaining a healthy weight.
“I have patients who skip breakfast to limit their day’s food intake,” Brewton says. “These are the absolute wrong calories to cut if weight loss is their goal.”
Those who pass on breakfast end up overeating at lunch and dinner, more than making up for the morning calorie deficit, Brewton says.
The most convincing evidence comes from the National Weight Control Registry, an organization that studies successful long-term weight loss. It compiled data on 6,000 people who’ve lost 30 pounds and maintained the loss for at least a year. Nearly 80% of these successful losers said they eat a morning meal every day.
And a 2008 study of 12,000 adults published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that eating a healthy breakfast promoted wise food choices the rest of the day.
Best bet: Eggs! Men and women who ate two eggs for breakfast lost 65% more weight and showed a 61% greater reduction in BMI than those who ate a bagel, according to a 2008 Saint Louis University study.
Obviously, you can’t eat eggs fried in butter and achieve this result. Try these low-fat, low-calorie cooking methods instead:
Poaching. Just break eggs into hot water and cook until firm. Serve over whole-wheat toast with fruit on the side.
Hard-boiling. Hard-boiled eggs last a week in the fridge, so keep a half-dozen on hand. A whole-grain English muffin and a cup of berries are perfect accompaniments.
Microwaving. Mix eggs with chopped bell pepper, onion, mushroom and low-fat cheese and pour into a mug. Nuke for 45 seconds or until cooked through (stirring if needed). Eat as an omelet or plop the veggie-egg disc on toast.
Baking. Create a “crustless quiche” by pouring an egg-veggie mixture into muffin tins; bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean). Freeze leftovers, then heat them in the microwave for less than a minute.
To avoid food-borne illness (such as salmonella) from eggs, follow these rules: Throw out cracked or dirty eggs, avoid cross-contamination between raw eggs and other foods, cook them until both the yolks and whites are firm, and refrigerate egg-containing dishes immediately.
The Best Breakfasts for Staying Satisfied and Sharp
“Breakfast should be a balance of carbs, fat and protein, and contain about 400 calories,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and author of The Flexitarian Diet (McGraw-Hill). “This combination will curb your appetite and keep you going throughout the day.”
Your morning meal should also give you a jump-start on your daily fiber intake (of about 25-30 grams), which also keeps you feeling full.
Best bets: Low-glycemic foods that won’t cause a rapid rise and fall in blood sugar levels. Here’s why: Foods low on the glycemic index heighten production of GLP-1, a gut hormone that leads to appetite suppression and a full feeling in your belly.
In a 2009 study at King’s College in London, people who ate a low-GI breakfast had 20% higher blood levels of GLP-1 and 38% lower levels of insulin than those who ate a high-GI breakfast.
More good news: Low-glycemic fare also increases the fat-burning effects of moderate exercise (such as walking) after breakfast.
Choose these low-GI foods each morning to keep you feeling full, energetic and mentally focused:
Breads and cereals made from whole grains, such as oats, barley, rye and wheat, or any kind of bran. A 2007 Lund University in Sweden study at found that a low-GI breakfast of healthy carbohydrates can prevent blood sugar spikes. It also improves mental focus for up to 10 hours.
A great low-GI, stick-to-your-ribs breakfast is a bowl of oat groats. These are the least-processed version of oats, so they take a lot longer to digest than quick-cook oatmeal. (Steel-cut oats are second best.) They also take a while to prepare, but you can slow-cook them in a crockpot overnight with cinnamon sticks or a splash of reduced fat coconut milk.
High-quality protein, such as eggs, lean Canadian bacon and non- or low-fat dairy products. A 2009 University of Kansas study showed that people who eat healthy protein in the morning retain a greater sense of fullness throughout the entire day.
Tips: Scramble eggs or fry Canadian bacon with cooking spray (not butter or margarine) to keep fat content low. For more protein power, sprinkle nuts on top of your low-fat yogurt.
The Best Breakfasts for Heart Health
Besides the above-mentioned benefits, eating breakfast is good for your ticker.
Studies have shown that people who skip it have higher cholesterol levels and are at greater risk for developing high blood pressure or metabolic syndrome.
Best bets: Whole grains, along with low-fat protein, such as skim milk. Consuming high-fiber, high-nutrient cereals is linked to a reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
And morning cereal eaters tend to eat more fiber and calcium, and fewer fats, throughout the day.
In a 2007 University of Calgary in Canada study, people who ate a low-fat breakfast of cereal and skim milk were far less prone to the physical consequences of stress – including high blood pressure – than those who ate high-fat fast food.
The heart-healthiest cold cereals include:
Multigrain Cheerios: 110 calories, 3 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (per 1 cup serving)
Wheaties: 100 calories, 3 grams fiber, 0.5 gram fat (per 3/4 cup serving)
Kashi Honey Sunshine: 100 calories, 5 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (per 3/4 cup serving)
Kashi Mighty Bites: 120 calories, 3 grams fiber, 1.5 grams fat (per 1 cup serving)
Wheat Chex: 169 calories, 5 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (per 3/4 cup serving)
Nature's Path Heritage Flakes: 120 calories, 5 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (per 3/4 cup serving)
Best Breakfasts When You’re in a Rush
It’s Monday morning (even Tuesday or Friday) and you’re racing out the door… as usual. You barely have time to make yourself presentable, let alone sit down to breakfast. Here are some nutrient-rich and highly portable a.m. meals:
Breakfast dog: Spread peanut butter on a slice of whole-grain bread, wrap it around a banana, and eat it like a hot dog.
DIY granola: On Sunday night, mix a healthy cereal (such as Multigrain Cheerios or Wheaties) with almonds and raisins. Divide the mixture into five plastic baggies, one for each weekday. Munch on the cereal in transit, or add it to low-fat milk bought from your office vending machine.
Bagel ‘n’ cheese: Throw a whole-grain bagel, an apple and a mozzarella cheese stick into a paper bag. Who says brown-bagging is just for lunch?
Fast food: If this is your only choice, tread carefully. At McDonald’s, opt for the 167-calorie Fruit ‘n’ Yogurt Parfait or a 250-calorie (without cheese) Egg McMuffin, with a side of apple slices.
At Starbucks, a good bet is a 16-ounce nonfat latte (130 calories) and a to-go-bowl of Perfect Oatmeal (240 calories with dried-fruit topping).
At convenience stores like 7-11, go to the counter and grab a banana, a hard-boiled egg and coffee. And stay far away from the donuts.
Best Foods for Women Who Hate Breakfast
So you’re not a “breakfast person”? Many women claim they just aren’t hungry in the morning, so they forgo eating. If you do, take a look at your nighttime choices.
“This is a big red flag that you’re eating too much in the evening,” Blatner says. “I ask my patients to cut down on dinner to ensure that they’ll be hungry for breakfast the next day.”
Some women skip morning meals because they dislike traditional American breakfast fare. But there’s no rule against eating other things before noon.
Sample the following popular breakfasts from across the world. They’re so different from the usual cereal and scrambled eggs, you’ll feel as if you’re on vacation.
Cheese or yogurt, fresh-baked whole-grain bread, fruit and café au lait. The French call this petit dejeuner (or little lunch).
Miso soup, soybeans over rice, tea. The Japanese way to start the day.
Greek yogurt drizzled with honey or feta cheese, olives, whole-grain bread, fruit, black tea. A majestic Mediterranean meal.
Fish or meat and vegetables over rice. In China, breakfast and dinner are often very similar.
Mangoes topped with avocado cream, plus bread and jam. The Brazilians really know how to eat. Make delicious avocado cream with lower-fat ingredients: 1 medium avocado, 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro.
Breakfast taco. A favorite in southern Texas: scrambled eggs and shredded chicken or lean beef, topped with salsa and wrapped in a corn tortilla.
Huevos rancheros. This Mexican dish – fried eggs on a tortilla topped with spicy tomato sauce (or salsa) – becomes healthier if you poach the eggs and use whole-wheat tortillas.
Adapted from an article originally published in Viv magazine.
Are You A Good Cook?
You love to cook, but how much do you really know about food preparation?
Lifestyle changes curb overnight bathroom trips
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If you're frequently bothered by waking in the middle of the night to empty your bladder, there may be some simple and drug-free lifestyle adjustments that can help, a small study suggests.
So-called "nocturia" is the complaint of getting up at least once a night to urinate -- either due to a heightened production of urine or the inability of the bladder to hold it, sometimes as a result of an underlying medical problem. The condition can contribute to fatigue and depression, and raise the risk of heart disease and gastrointestinal disorders.
However, as experts note, nocturia is also very normal, especially as people age. And not everyone affected is bothered by it.
The standard treatments for frequent nighttime urination include "medical therapy as well as lifestyle modifications such as fluid restrictions," senior researcher Dr. Koji Yoshimura of Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Kyoto, Japan, told Reuters Health in an email. "However, the efficacy of the lifestyle therapy has not been established so far."
Yoshimura and his colleagues studied 56 people complaining of nocturia who were about 75 years old, on average. They tested the effects of four easy lifestyle changes: fluid restriction, limiting any excess hours in bed, moderate daily exercise and keeping warm while sleeping.
Each patient was advised of the benefits of each modification, including a recommendation to limit their fluid intake to about 2 percent of their body weight during the day -- avoiding too much in the evening. This translates to about one and a half quarts of water for a 165-pound person.
After four weeks, the participants' average number of nighttime bathroom trips dropped. More than half of the patients experienced an improvement of more than one episode a night, Yoshimura and colleagues report in The Journal of Urology. Total urine volume also decreased (from 923 to 768 milliliters).
Dr. Serge Marinkovic of St. Francis Hospital, in Indianapolis, who was not involved in the study, noted that the effectiveness of the lifestyle changes was comparable to that of drug interventions.
Current medication options for nocturia include a synthetic version of a hormone that keeps the body from making urine at night, a drug that blocks the ability of the bladder muscles to contract, and antidepressants that make it harder to urinate by increasing tension at the bladder neck, he told Reuters Health.
"None of these medications are a great cure, and all have side effects, including dry mouth, constipation and heartburn," Marinkovic said. "They're significant enough for up to 70 percent of patients to stop using the drug within 6 months."
A limitation of the current study, Marinkovic noted, is the fact that patients were not monitored to determine how well they actually adhered to each of the behavior modifications. Another limitation is the lack of an untreated control group, which means a placebo effect can't be ruled out.
In his practice, Marinkovic typically starts off with his nocturia patients by going over a medical history to rule out underlying conditions such as diabetes or renal problems. Then he has them keep a diary of fluid intake and nighttime symptoms, which helps him prescribe behavioral changes such as fluid restriction. On top of this, he often adds medications, he said.
But again, not everyone is bothered by frequent trips to the bathroom during the night, Marinkovic emphasized.
"I saw a guy two weeks ago who gets up four times a night, and it's not a problem for him," he said. "He told me he does some of his best thinking when he's walking to the bathroom."
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/nuc57n The Journal of Urology, September 2010.
So-called "nocturia" is the complaint of getting up at least once a night to urinate -- either due to a heightened production of urine or the inability of the bladder to hold it, sometimes as a result of an underlying medical problem. The condition can contribute to fatigue and depression, and raise the risk of heart disease and gastrointestinal disorders.
However, as experts note, nocturia is also very normal, especially as people age. And not everyone affected is bothered by it.
The standard treatments for frequent nighttime urination include "medical therapy as well as lifestyle modifications such as fluid restrictions," senior researcher Dr. Koji Yoshimura of Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Kyoto, Japan, told Reuters Health in an email. "However, the efficacy of the lifestyle therapy has not been established so far."
Yoshimura and his colleagues studied 56 people complaining of nocturia who were about 75 years old, on average. They tested the effects of four easy lifestyle changes: fluid restriction, limiting any excess hours in bed, moderate daily exercise and keeping warm while sleeping.
Each patient was advised of the benefits of each modification, including a recommendation to limit their fluid intake to about 2 percent of their body weight during the day -- avoiding too much in the evening. This translates to about one and a half quarts of water for a 165-pound person.
After four weeks, the participants' average number of nighttime bathroom trips dropped. More than half of the patients experienced an improvement of more than one episode a night, Yoshimura and colleagues report in The Journal of Urology. Total urine volume also decreased (from 923 to 768 milliliters).
Dr. Serge Marinkovic of St. Francis Hospital, in Indianapolis, who was not involved in the study, noted that the effectiveness of the lifestyle changes was comparable to that of drug interventions.
Current medication options for nocturia include a synthetic version of a hormone that keeps the body from making urine at night, a drug that blocks the ability of the bladder muscles to contract, and antidepressants that make it harder to urinate by increasing tension at the bladder neck, he told Reuters Health.
"None of these medications are a great cure, and all have side effects, including dry mouth, constipation and heartburn," Marinkovic said. "They're significant enough for up to 70 percent of patients to stop using the drug within 6 months."
A limitation of the current study, Marinkovic noted, is the fact that patients were not monitored to determine how well they actually adhered to each of the behavior modifications. Another limitation is the lack of an untreated control group, which means a placebo effect can't be ruled out.
In his practice, Marinkovic typically starts off with his nocturia patients by going over a medical history to rule out underlying conditions such as diabetes or renal problems. Then he has them keep a diary of fluid intake and nighttime symptoms, which helps him prescribe behavioral changes such as fluid restriction. On top of this, he often adds medications, he said.
But again, not everyone is bothered by frequent trips to the bathroom during the night, Marinkovic emphasized.
"I saw a guy two weeks ago who gets up four times a night, and it's not a problem for him," he said. "He told me he does some of his best thinking when he's walking to the bathroom."
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/nuc57n The Journal of Urology, September 2010.
Quitting smoking helps after serious heart attack damage too
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - It's never too late for smokers to do their hearts good by kicking the habit -- even after a heart attack has left them with significant damage to the organ's main pumping chamber, a new study suggests.
Past studies have found that smokers who kick the habit after suffering a heart attack have a lower rate of repeat heart attacks and live longer than their counterparts who continue to smoke.
But little has been known about the benefits of quitting among heart attack patients left with a complication called left ventricular (LV) dysfunction -- where damage to the heart's main pumping chamber significantly reduces its blood-pumping efficiency.
So it has been unclear whether that dysfunction might "drown out" the heart benefits of smoking cessation, said Dr. Amil M. Shah, the lead researcher on the new study and a staff cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
But in their study, Shah and his colleagues found that heart attack survivors with LV dysfunction may stand to benefit as much from smoking cessation as other heart attack patients do.
The researchers found that among 2,231 patients with LV dysfunction, those who quit smoking within six months of their heart attack were less likely to die within five years or suffer a repeat attack than smokers who continued the habit.
Of all patients, 463 were smokers at the time of the heart attack but had quit six months later; 268 were still smoking at the six-month mark. Among quitters, 15 percent died or suffered another heart attack by the end of the study, which followed the patients for up to five years.
That compared with a rate of 23 percent among patients who were still smoking six months after their initial heart attack.
When Shah's team accounted for a number of other factors -- including age, medical history and body weight -- smoking cessation itself was linked to a 40 percent reduction in the risk of death compared with persistent smoking.
Quitters were about 30 percent less likely to die, suffer a repeat heart attack or be hospitalized for heart failure during the study period.
"The findings aren't completely surprising," Shah told Reuters Health. But, he said, they offer reassurance to patients with LV dysfunction that they can benefit from smoking cessation -- and the magnitude of that benefit is similar to what has been seen among heart attack survivors without LV dysfunction.
"I've had patients who say, 'What's the point of quitting now?'" Shah noted. "But it's never too late to benefit from smoking cessation."
Some studies have found that smoking-cessation counseling begun in the hospital, and continued after discharge, may be particularly effective for heart attack patients.
Patients at hospitals that do not offer such counseling should speak with their cardiologist or primary care doctor about smoking cessation, Shah advised. Behavioral counseling will generally be the first step, he noted -- though for patients who ultimately need more, nicotine-replacement products or medications such as Zyban or Chantix may be options.
A number of studies have suggested that these products are generally safe for people with heart disease -- though, Shah pointed out, most of the data come from patients with stable heart disease, and not those who have just recently suffered a heart attack or other complication.
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/dew47n American Journal of Cardiology, published online August 13, 2010.
Past studies have found that smokers who kick the habit after suffering a heart attack have a lower rate of repeat heart attacks and live longer than their counterparts who continue to smoke.
But little has been known about the benefits of quitting among heart attack patients left with a complication called left ventricular (LV) dysfunction -- where damage to the heart's main pumping chamber significantly reduces its blood-pumping efficiency.
So it has been unclear whether that dysfunction might "drown out" the heart benefits of smoking cessation, said Dr. Amil M. Shah, the lead researcher on the new study and a staff cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
But in their study, Shah and his colleagues found that heart attack survivors with LV dysfunction may stand to benefit as much from smoking cessation as other heart attack patients do.
The researchers found that among 2,231 patients with LV dysfunction, those who quit smoking within six months of their heart attack were less likely to die within five years or suffer a repeat attack than smokers who continued the habit.
Of all patients, 463 were smokers at the time of the heart attack but had quit six months later; 268 were still smoking at the six-month mark. Among quitters, 15 percent died or suffered another heart attack by the end of the study, which followed the patients for up to five years.
That compared with a rate of 23 percent among patients who were still smoking six months after their initial heart attack.
When Shah's team accounted for a number of other factors -- including age, medical history and body weight -- smoking cessation itself was linked to a 40 percent reduction in the risk of death compared with persistent smoking.
Quitters were about 30 percent less likely to die, suffer a repeat heart attack or be hospitalized for heart failure during the study period.
"The findings aren't completely surprising," Shah told Reuters Health. But, he said, they offer reassurance to patients with LV dysfunction that they can benefit from smoking cessation -- and the magnitude of that benefit is similar to what has been seen among heart attack survivors without LV dysfunction.
"I've had patients who say, 'What's the point of quitting now?'" Shah noted. "But it's never too late to benefit from smoking cessation."
Some studies have found that smoking-cessation counseling begun in the hospital, and continued after discharge, may be particularly effective for heart attack patients.
Patients at hospitals that do not offer such counseling should speak with their cardiologist or primary care doctor about smoking cessation, Shah advised. Behavioral counseling will generally be the first step, he noted -- though for patients who ultimately need more, nicotine-replacement products or medications such as Zyban or Chantix may be options.
A number of studies have suggested that these products are generally safe for people with heart disease -- though, Shah pointed out, most of the data come from patients with stable heart disease, and not those who have just recently suffered a heart attack or other complication.
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/dew47n American Journal of Cardiology, published online August 13, 2010.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
To know that people care about how you're doing when the doings aren't so good—that's what love is.
Chaste or Cheating?
What’s cheating? Flirting with a stranger at a bar? Having lunch with your single co-worker? Kissing someone other than your partner? Men and women define it differently. We asked relationship experts to explain why. Plus, find out if you’re a likely two-timer with our quiz…
Years ago, I met a film critic who was in New York on assignment. He was married. I was not. There was an immediate spark. Drinks led to dinner and eventually back to his hotel room, where he was perfectly comfortable doing everything but. He drew the line at having sex. That, to him, was too far.
“It’s not cheating if we don’t have intercourse,” he said.
His wife probably would disagree, but I was struck by his definition of cheating.
Most people agree that it's bad, but the point at which flirting or idle curiosity becomes a betrayal is a gray area, particularly with laptops, BlackBerries and Facebook.
According to a 2007 MSNBC.com survey, about 22% of adults in monogamous relationships have cheated on their current partner. And nearly 50% of the 70,000 adults surveyed admitted being unfaithful at some point in their lives.
However, cheating didn’t always mean intercourse. Kissing, oral sex and online sex were also considered acts of infidelity by some.
In the era of instant messages, email, websites to help you stray (AshleyMadison.com) and phone texts, what’s the 21st century definition of cheating? If it’s all words and fantasy, does it count?
Real Life vs. Online
Relationship experts pretty much agree that any sex-related behavior that might anger your partner could be called cheating.
But online or virtual cheating, in which people can be intimate, even sexual, though not necessarily physical, makes things murkier.
Take racy email exchanges, for example. They're fine, healthy even, according to Steve Santagati, author of The Manual: A True Bad Boy Explains How Men Think, Date, and Mate − and What Women Can Do to Come Out on Top (Random House).
He says he fields tons of suggestive emails (with pictures!) from women at his relationship advice website BadBoysFinishFirst.com.
“I’ll flirt back and say something naughty or provocative,” he says. And though he has a girlfriend, he doesn’t consider this to be out of bounds.
“That’s not cheating, it’s electronic,” he explains. Still, Santagati stops short at actual meetings.
“I don’t step over the line and say, Let’s hook up,” he says. “There has to be physical, sexual contact for the buzzer to go off and you’ve officially cheated.”
But is that close enough to count?
Since cyber-sex is a relatively new social phenomenon, its language is still evolving, says Terri Orbuch, Ph.D., a scientist, marriage therapist and author of five relationship books.
“It’s not sex, but it is an affair. It is a betrayal,” she says. “Is it a sexual affair? I don’t know because the same kind of genital-genital or genital-mouth contact hasn’t occurred. The gray area is, Did I have a sexual affair because I had a sexual fantasy?”
Even if it’s all fantasy, it can have real-life consequences, as one of my guy friends found out when his wife stumbled onto the X-rated emails he was exchanging with an old girlfriend. No amount of explanation that nothing physical happened would convince her that he hadn’t actually cheated. She divorced him.
Same for another man whose girlfriend caught him in a virtual flirtation with someone else.
“She discovered the texts and felt horribly betrayed,” says Jack (whose last name was omitted, like others in this article, to protect his privacy). “She wished I had just slept with the girl," he says, because she felt the texting was more intimate and personal.
Virtual affairs let people dance close to the edge while still “rationalizing it because technically they haven’t touched another person,” says clinical psychologist Dennis Sugrue, Ph.D., co-author of Sex Matters For Women (Guilford Press).
“The problem is that anyone who thinks they have such absolute control over their emotions and desires is kidding themselves,” he says.
Even virtual relationships can evolve into something physical. After connecting emotionally online, it can be tempting to want to meet him or her in person. By some estimates, 31% of people end up having sex with someone they first connected with online.
“It becomes a very slippery slope,” Sugrue says.
The Gender Gap
The MSNBC survey found that men and women have different standards for cheating: 89% of women said that kissing someone other than their partner was cheating; 77% of men agreed.
Sending a flirtatious email to a co-worker? It’s cheating, said 73% of women, compared to 53% of men.
Guys focus on whether their partners have done the deed with someone else.
But for women, a strong emotional connection to someone else is enough to qualify as infidelity.
For more on gender differences, check out 6 Reasons Why Women Cheat and 9 Reasons Why Men Cheat.
Those with a more permissive view of sex may not consider sexually or emotionally charged emails to be cheating, given that you’ve only exchanged thoughts and fantasies, not fluids.
So does that leave cheating in the eye of the beholder? Pretty much. Because rather than a one-size-fits-all definition of what constitutes cheating, it’s really more about the understanding you and your partner have, Sugrue says.
Not everyone draws the line in the same place.
For example, my friend Alicia’s husband says “the mere wish” of being with someone else qualifies as cheating. That would make adulterers of the thousands who fantasize about George Clooney or Angelina Jolie.
On the other hand, I also know another couple, married 17 years with two kids, who have an open marriage (aka consensual infidelity), which seems to work for them.
That's an extreme, of course, but most people fall somewhere in between. A stolen kiss with an ex-flame may be sinless for one person; a massage with a “happy ending” may be cheat-free for another.
Like my long-ago fling, you can rationalize all you like and split intellectual hairs about whether it is or isn’t cheating.
But as my friend Will, 35, puts it: “The precise semantics of who put what where (or didn’t) is just unnecessary detail. The big picture is, you breached your partner’s confidence.”
And that, relationship experts say, is probably the best gauge of whether you’re in questionable territory. If your partner would toss your stuff into the street and change the locks when they discovered what you’re up to, you’ve cheated.
Will You Cheat? Rate Your Risk
About 55% of women and 60% of men cheat at some point during their marriages. While you can't always control what your partner does, how likely is it that you'll be the one to do the straying? Take our cheating quiz and find out!
Will He Cheat? Rate the Risk
It's thought that about 60% of men cheat on their partners - and 70% of wives don't have a clue. Is your guy ever-true... or a sneaky cheat?
Years ago, I met a film critic who was in New York on assignment. He was married. I was not. There was an immediate spark. Drinks led to dinner and eventually back to his hotel room, where he was perfectly comfortable doing everything but. He drew the line at having sex. That, to him, was too far.
“It’s not cheating if we don’t have intercourse,” he said.
His wife probably would disagree, but I was struck by his definition of cheating.
Most people agree that it's bad, but the point at which flirting or idle curiosity becomes a betrayal is a gray area, particularly with laptops, BlackBerries and Facebook.
According to a 2007 MSNBC.com survey, about 22% of adults in monogamous relationships have cheated on their current partner. And nearly 50% of the 70,000 adults surveyed admitted being unfaithful at some point in their lives.
However, cheating didn’t always mean intercourse. Kissing, oral sex and online sex were also considered acts of infidelity by some.
In the era of instant messages, email, websites to help you stray (AshleyMadison.com) and phone texts, what’s the 21st century definition of cheating? If it’s all words and fantasy, does it count?
Real Life vs. Online
Relationship experts pretty much agree that any sex-related behavior that might anger your partner could be called cheating.
But online or virtual cheating, in which people can be intimate, even sexual, though not necessarily physical, makes things murkier.
Take racy email exchanges, for example. They're fine, healthy even, according to Steve Santagati, author of The Manual: A True Bad Boy Explains How Men Think, Date, and Mate − and What Women Can Do to Come Out on Top (Random House).
He says he fields tons of suggestive emails (with pictures!) from women at his relationship advice website BadBoysFinishFirst.com.
“I’ll flirt back and say something naughty or provocative,” he says. And though he has a girlfriend, he doesn’t consider this to be out of bounds.
“That’s not cheating, it’s electronic,” he explains. Still, Santagati stops short at actual meetings.
“I don’t step over the line and say, Let’s hook up,” he says. “There has to be physical, sexual contact for the buzzer to go off and you’ve officially cheated.”
But is that close enough to count?
Since cyber-sex is a relatively new social phenomenon, its language is still evolving, says Terri Orbuch, Ph.D., a scientist, marriage therapist and author of five relationship books.
“It’s not sex, but it is an affair. It is a betrayal,” she says. “Is it a sexual affair? I don’t know because the same kind of genital-genital or genital-mouth contact hasn’t occurred. The gray area is, Did I have a sexual affair because I had a sexual fantasy?”
Even if it’s all fantasy, it can have real-life consequences, as one of my guy friends found out when his wife stumbled onto the X-rated emails he was exchanging with an old girlfriend. No amount of explanation that nothing physical happened would convince her that he hadn’t actually cheated. She divorced him.
Same for another man whose girlfriend caught him in a virtual flirtation with someone else.
“She discovered the texts and felt horribly betrayed,” says Jack (whose last name was omitted, like others in this article, to protect his privacy). “She wished I had just slept with the girl," he says, because she felt the texting was more intimate and personal.
Virtual affairs let people dance close to the edge while still “rationalizing it because technically they haven’t touched another person,” says clinical psychologist Dennis Sugrue, Ph.D., co-author of Sex Matters For Women (Guilford Press).
“The problem is that anyone who thinks they have such absolute control over their emotions and desires is kidding themselves,” he says.
Even virtual relationships can evolve into something physical. After connecting emotionally online, it can be tempting to want to meet him or her in person. By some estimates, 31% of people end up having sex with someone they first connected with online.
“It becomes a very slippery slope,” Sugrue says.
The Gender Gap
The MSNBC survey found that men and women have different standards for cheating: 89% of women said that kissing someone other than their partner was cheating; 77% of men agreed.
Sending a flirtatious email to a co-worker? It’s cheating, said 73% of women, compared to 53% of men.
Guys focus on whether their partners have done the deed with someone else.
But for women, a strong emotional connection to someone else is enough to qualify as infidelity.
For more on gender differences, check out 6 Reasons Why Women Cheat and 9 Reasons Why Men Cheat.
Those with a more permissive view of sex may not consider sexually or emotionally charged emails to be cheating, given that you’ve only exchanged thoughts and fantasies, not fluids.
So does that leave cheating in the eye of the beholder? Pretty much. Because rather than a one-size-fits-all definition of what constitutes cheating, it’s really more about the understanding you and your partner have, Sugrue says.
Not everyone draws the line in the same place.
For example, my friend Alicia’s husband says “the mere wish” of being with someone else qualifies as cheating. That would make adulterers of the thousands who fantasize about George Clooney or Angelina Jolie.
On the other hand, I also know another couple, married 17 years with two kids, who have an open marriage (aka consensual infidelity), which seems to work for them.
That's an extreme, of course, but most people fall somewhere in between. A stolen kiss with an ex-flame may be sinless for one person; a massage with a “happy ending” may be cheat-free for another.
Like my long-ago fling, you can rationalize all you like and split intellectual hairs about whether it is or isn’t cheating.
But as my friend Will, 35, puts it: “The precise semantics of who put what where (or didn’t) is just unnecessary detail. The big picture is, you breached your partner’s confidence.”
And that, relationship experts say, is probably the best gauge of whether you’re in questionable territory. If your partner would toss your stuff into the street and change the locks when they discovered what you’re up to, you’ve cheated.
Will You Cheat? Rate Your Risk
About 55% of women and 60% of men cheat at some point during their marriages. While you can't always control what your partner does, how likely is it that you'll be the one to do the straying? Take our cheating quiz and find out!
Will He Cheat? Rate the Risk
It's thought that about 60% of men cheat on their partners - and 70% of wives don't have a clue. Is your guy ever-true... or a sneaky cheat?
Please Donate To Defenders of Wildlife
Killing entire wolf packs from helicopters. Gassing helpless pups in their dens. Surgically sterilizing alpha wolf pairs after killing off their families.
It’s all part of a disturbing plan to escalate wolf killing in the Northern Rockies by Wildlife Services -- the federal agency that helped exterminate wolves last century. We need your help to stop them.
Please donate now to stop the federal plan to brutally kill more protected wolves in the Northern Rockies and help us ensure a lasting future for these persecuted animals and other wildlife.
Thanks to the generous support of people like you, Defenders won our court battle to restore federal protections for wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies. But the danger to these wolves is still very real.
The Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program now wants to help Idaho officials kill off entire packs from helicopters. They are proposing to use poisonous gas to kill newborn pups and their mothers in dens. And they want to surgically sterilize alpha wolf pairs1 -- a practice never before used for other endangered wildlife.
It’s an outrageous plan that must be stopped.
With your compassionate support, we can stop the Wildlife Services plan and save the lives of wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.
The Wildlife Services plan to escalate the killing of protected wolves is just the latest threat to these magnificent animals.
Idaho officials continue to push their plan to kill up to 80 percent of the wolves in the central part of the state.2 Wyoming continues to pursue its shoot-on-sight wolf plan.3 And anti-wolf extremists are even prepared to take matters into their own hands by offering instructions on how to illegally poison wolves.4
Please donate now to help Defenders save these wolves.
The terrible Wildlife Services plan contains some of the most brutal and least effective ways to manage wolves -- and can even cause more conflicts between ranchers and these magnificent animals.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
More than 55,000 caring Defenders supporters have already spoken out against the outrageous Wildlife Services plan. And our staff is fighting to make sure it won’t be implemented.
Defenders is working hard on the ground -- and taking the lead where Wildlife Services should be: successfully working with ranchers in Idaho, Oregon and Montana using non-lethal methods to keep wolves -- and livestock -- out of harm’s way.
We’re countering extreme anti-wolf rhetoric and misinformation in the media, mobilizing tens of thousands of activists from across the country and fighting in court to overturn a Bush-era rule that makes it easier to kill federally protected wolves in the Northern Rockies.
Our wolves need your help to survive. Please donate now to support our important work.
For the Wild Ones,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife
It’s all part of a disturbing plan to escalate wolf killing in the Northern Rockies by Wildlife Services -- the federal agency that helped exterminate wolves last century. We need your help to stop them.
Please donate now to stop the federal plan to brutally kill more protected wolves in the Northern Rockies and help us ensure a lasting future for these persecuted animals and other wildlife.
Thanks to the generous support of people like you, Defenders won our court battle to restore federal protections for wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies. But the danger to these wolves is still very real.
The Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program now wants to help Idaho officials kill off entire packs from helicopters. They are proposing to use poisonous gas to kill newborn pups and their mothers in dens. And they want to surgically sterilize alpha wolf pairs1 -- a practice never before used for other endangered wildlife.
It’s an outrageous plan that must be stopped.
With your compassionate support, we can stop the Wildlife Services plan and save the lives of wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.
The Wildlife Services plan to escalate the killing of protected wolves is just the latest threat to these magnificent animals.
Idaho officials continue to push their plan to kill up to 80 percent of the wolves in the central part of the state.2 Wyoming continues to pursue its shoot-on-sight wolf plan.3 And anti-wolf extremists are even prepared to take matters into their own hands by offering instructions on how to illegally poison wolves.4
Please donate now to help Defenders save these wolves.
The terrible Wildlife Services plan contains some of the most brutal and least effective ways to manage wolves -- and can even cause more conflicts between ranchers and these magnificent animals.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
More than 55,000 caring Defenders supporters have already spoken out against the outrageous Wildlife Services plan. And our staff is fighting to make sure it won’t be implemented.
Defenders is working hard on the ground -- and taking the lead where Wildlife Services should be: successfully working with ranchers in Idaho, Oregon and Montana using non-lethal methods to keep wolves -- and livestock -- out of harm’s way.
We’re countering extreme anti-wolf rhetoric and misinformation in the media, mobilizing tens of thousands of activists from across the country and fighting in court to overturn a Bush-era rule that makes it easier to kill federally protected wolves in the Northern Rockies.
Our wolves need your help to survive. Please donate now to support our important work.
For the Wild Ones,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife
The Secret to Losing Belly Flab
Ever wonder if you can target weight loss to one area of your body – like that pooch on your belly? You can’t! But what you can do is create lean muscle tissue in your midsection.
Lean muscle tissue is what gives you the ability to burn fat at rest. It’s the core secret to a revved up resting metabolism, which means how many calories you burn even when doing nothing; sleeping, standing, sitting, etc. It’ll help you slough off fat in all areas of your body, including your tummy.
So how do you get lean muscle? Strength training! It’ll help create what’s called the “after-burn” effect. When you do any kind of workout, your body has to do a little extra work when you’re done to recover to homeostasis, or its resting state. During this time, your body will continue burning calories. Studies have shown that the after-burn can last anywhere from 16 minutes to 16 hours!
So working out has two advantages: a revved up metabolism and the after-burn. Those are two very good reasons to exercise today!
To build lean abs and ignite your after-burn.
Your coach,
Jorge Cruise
Lean muscle tissue is what gives you the ability to burn fat at rest. It’s the core secret to a revved up resting metabolism, which means how many calories you burn even when doing nothing; sleeping, standing, sitting, etc. It’ll help you slough off fat in all areas of your body, including your tummy.
So how do you get lean muscle? Strength training! It’ll help create what’s called the “after-burn” effect. When you do any kind of workout, your body has to do a little extra work when you’re done to recover to homeostasis, or its resting state. During this time, your body will continue burning calories. Studies have shown that the after-burn can last anywhere from 16 minutes to 16 hours!
So working out has two advantages: a revved up metabolism and the after-burn. Those are two very good reasons to exercise today!
To build lean abs and ignite your after-burn.
Your coach,
Jorge Cruise
Are allergies associated with heart disease?
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Common allergies that bring on wheezing, sneezing and watery eyes could be next to join the list of factors linked to heart disease, suggests a large new study.
However, the researchers stress that the findings do not prove that allergies actually cause heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.
To look for ties between common allergic symptoms and heart disease, Dr. Jongoh Kim of Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and colleagues analyzed data on more than 8,600 adults aged 20 or older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 1988 and 1994.
They found that common allergies and heart disease frequently paired up.
Eighteen percent of the adults reported wheezing and 46 percent suffered bouts of a stuffy nose or itchy and watery eyes -- a combination of allergic symptoms known as rhinoconjunctivitis.
Heart disease was present in 6 percent of the adults overall. It was found in 13 percent of wheezing cases, 5 percent of rhinoconjunctivitis cases and 4 percent of people without any allergic symptoms.
After adjusting for other related factors, such as age and asthma, there was a 2.6-fold increased risk of heart disease with wheezing and a 40 percent increased risk with rhinoconjunctivitis, compared to no allergies. The association was mainly seen in women younger than age of 50.
Kim suggests that the intermittent inflammation that comes with allergies may lead to the thickening of artery walls, and eventually heart disease. It could also be that some people simply carry genes that are linked to the development of both allergies and heart disease, Kim added.
But given the nature of the study, the researchers are not yet able to say if allergies truly have a role to play in the development of heart disease.
Much more study is needed to "clearly see" whether there is a cause and effect relationship, Kim said. "And even if there is a cause and effect, it is not clear whether treating allergic disease can reduce the risk," Kim noted.
Dr. Carlos Iribarren, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, who was not involved in the study, said: "Because common allergic symptoms are highly prevalent in asthma, these findings are consistent with prior research conducted at Kaiser Permanente showing a significant association between self-report of asthma and future risk of coronary disease, particularly among women."
But he cautioned, in an email to Reuters Health, against jumping to any "premature conclusion, consumer-level advice or public health recommendation based on these findings."
Iribarren also noted that study subjects with allergy (particularly wheezing) had a greater burden of heart disease risk factors (for example, smoking, obesity, high blood pressure), compared with allergy-free subjects. Therefore, "allergists, internists and cardiologists should be made aware of this link and intensify cardiovascular risk profile assessment and modification among patients presenting with allergy."
Dr. Viola Vaccarino, of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told Reuters Health that the current findings also fit with studies she and her colleagues have done, "finding of an association of chronic inflammatory conditions such as asthma and other allergic conditions with coronary disease in women but not in men."
"Young women may have a stronger inflammatory response due to allergic conditions than men, perhaps due to estrogens," explained Vaccarino, who was also not involved in the current study.
It's also possible, she said, that "people with history of coronary heart disease are sicker with respiratory symptoms just because they have coronary heart disease and not vice-versa."
"I really wouldn't draw any strong message from this study," said Vaccarino. "I would not alarm the public with the news that common allergic symptoms (other than asthma) increase the risk of coronary heart disease in women, based on this study."
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/qut47n The American Journal of Cardiology, online August 13, 2010.
However, the researchers stress that the findings do not prove that allergies actually cause heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.
To look for ties between common allergic symptoms and heart disease, Dr. Jongoh Kim of Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and colleagues analyzed data on more than 8,600 adults aged 20 or older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 1988 and 1994.
They found that common allergies and heart disease frequently paired up.
Eighteen percent of the adults reported wheezing and 46 percent suffered bouts of a stuffy nose or itchy and watery eyes -- a combination of allergic symptoms known as rhinoconjunctivitis.
Heart disease was present in 6 percent of the adults overall. It was found in 13 percent of wheezing cases, 5 percent of rhinoconjunctivitis cases and 4 percent of people without any allergic symptoms.
After adjusting for other related factors, such as age and asthma, there was a 2.6-fold increased risk of heart disease with wheezing and a 40 percent increased risk with rhinoconjunctivitis, compared to no allergies. The association was mainly seen in women younger than age of 50.
Kim suggests that the intermittent inflammation that comes with allergies may lead to the thickening of artery walls, and eventually heart disease. It could also be that some people simply carry genes that are linked to the development of both allergies and heart disease, Kim added.
But given the nature of the study, the researchers are not yet able to say if allergies truly have a role to play in the development of heart disease.
Much more study is needed to "clearly see" whether there is a cause and effect relationship, Kim said. "And even if there is a cause and effect, it is not clear whether treating allergic disease can reduce the risk," Kim noted.
Dr. Carlos Iribarren, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, who was not involved in the study, said: "Because common allergic symptoms are highly prevalent in asthma, these findings are consistent with prior research conducted at Kaiser Permanente showing a significant association between self-report of asthma and future risk of coronary disease, particularly among women."
But he cautioned, in an email to Reuters Health, against jumping to any "premature conclusion, consumer-level advice or public health recommendation based on these findings."
Iribarren also noted that study subjects with allergy (particularly wheezing) had a greater burden of heart disease risk factors (for example, smoking, obesity, high blood pressure), compared with allergy-free subjects. Therefore, "allergists, internists and cardiologists should be made aware of this link and intensify cardiovascular risk profile assessment and modification among patients presenting with allergy."
Dr. Viola Vaccarino, of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told Reuters Health that the current findings also fit with studies she and her colleagues have done, "finding of an association of chronic inflammatory conditions such as asthma and other allergic conditions with coronary disease in women but not in men."
"Young women may have a stronger inflammatory response due to allergic conditions than men, perhaps due to estrogens," explained Vaccarino, who was also not involved in the current study.
It's also possible, she said, that "people with history of coronary heart disease are sicker with respiratory symptoms just because they have coronary heart disease and not vice-versa."
"I really wouldn't draw any strong message from this study," said Vaccarino. "I would not alarm the public with the news that common allergic symptoms (other than asthma) increase the risk of coronary heart disease in women, based on this study."
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/qut47n The American Journal of Cardiology, online August 13, 2010.
Melanoma drug works in 81 percent of patients
BOSTON (Reuters) - An experimental targeted cancer drug shrank advanced melanoma tumors in 81 percent of patients with the deadly and hard-to-treat cancer, doctors said on Wednesday.
The findings were part of an early phase study used to determine the best dose of the experimental drug PLX4032, now in late-stage clinical trials. The drug, from Roche and privately held Plexxikon, is designed to target tumor cells with a mutation in a gene called BRAF.
In two patients, tumors went away completely. In 24 others, the tumors shrank by more than 30 percent, the team reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The team said 81 percent of 32 patients with a BRAF mutation showed complete or partial shrinkage of their tumors.
"We can see the improvement in patients and it's happening quite rapidly, within a week or two of starting treatment," Dr. Keith Flaherty of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said in a telephone interview.
"For patients without symptoms, the hope is that it delays the time it takes for them to develop symptoms, and we have some belief that that is happening as we speak," said Flaherty, who worked on the study.
But the effect appears to be fleeting.
In all but two cases, where the cancer has stayed away for at least a year, the benefits have been temporary, typically lasting about six months, Flaherty said.
The hope is that the drug can be combined with other treatments to produce a long-lasting effect, comparable to the AIDS cocktail that maintains the health of many people with HIV, he said.
Preliminary findings with the new drug were reported in September 2009, but the data from more patients have been added, boosting confidence in its prospects.
Tumors shrank at all sites where the tumor had spread, including the bone, liver and small bowel.
Cancer-causing mutations in the BRAF gene occur in 50 percent to 60 percent of melanoma patients.
SECOND DRUG
Researchers are eager to test the drug with Bristol-Myers Squibb's experimental drug ipilimumab, the first treatment shown to extend lives of patients with advanced melanoma.
In June, researchers reported that more than 20 percent of patients with advanced melanoma were alive two years after treatment with ipilimumab - compared with a usual nine months.
Ipilimumab or "ipi" is a monoclonal antibody, an engineered version of a human protein that targets CTLA-4, a molecule that acts like a brake on the immune system.
"The data provided by Flaherty and colleagues represent a major advance in the treatment of metastatic melanoma," Keiran Smalley and Dr. Vernon Sondak of Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, said in a commentary in the same journal.
Side effects included rash, fatigue, joint pain and a high risk of a different type of skin cancer known as cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma. Of 87 patients enrolled in both stages, 18 developed such tumors, which are easier to treat.
The BRAF mutation is also found in about 8 percent of solid tumors, suggesting the drug might be effective in other forms of cancer.
Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, affecting 160,000 people worldwide each year. When melanoma has spread, conventional chemotherapy is typically effective only in 10 percent to 20 percent of the cases.
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/fyg37n New England Journal of Medicine, August 26, 2010.
The findings were part of an early phase study used to determine the best dose of the experimental drug PLX4032, now in late-stage clinical trials. The drug, from Roche and privately held Plexxikon, is designed to target tumor cells with a mutation in a gene called BRAF.
In two patients, tumors went away completely. In 24 others, the tumors shrank by more than 30 percent, the team reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The team said 81 percent of 32 patients with a BRAF mutation showed complete or partial shrinkage of their tumors.
"We can see the improvement in patients and it's happening quite rapidly, within a week or two of starting treatment," Dr. Keith Flaherty of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said in a telephone interview.
"For patients without symptoms, the hope is that it delays the time it takes for them to develop symptoms, and we have some belief that that is happening as we speak," said Flaherty, who worked on the study.
But the effect appears to be fleeting.
In all but two cases, where the cancer has stayed away for at least a year, the benefits have been temporary, typically lasting about six months, Flaherty said.
The hope is that the drug can be combined with other treatments to produce a long-lasting effect, comparable to the AIDS cocktail that maintains the health of many people with HIV, he said.
Preliminary findings with the new drug were reported in September 2009, but the data from more patients have been added, boosting confidence in its prospects.
Tumors shrank at all sites where the tumor had spread, including the bone, liver and small bowel.
Cancer-causing mutations in the BRAF gene occur in 50 percent to 60 percent of melanoma patients.
SECOND DRUG
Researchers are eager to test the drug with Bristol-Myers Squibb's experimental drug ipilimumab, the first treatment shown to extend lives of patients with advanced melanoma.
In June, researchers reported that more than 20 percent of patients with advanced melanoma were alive two years after treatment with ipilimumab - compared with a usual nine months.
Ipilimumab or "ipi" is a monoclonal antibody, an engineered version of a human protein that targets CTLA-4, a molecule that acts like a brake on the immune system.
"The data provided by Flaherty and colleagues represent a major advance in the treatment of metastatic melanoma," Keiran Smalley and Dr. Vernon Sondak of Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, said in a commentary in the same journal.
Side effects included rash, fatigue, joint pain and a high risk of a different type of skin cancer known as cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma. Of 87 patients enrolled in both stages, 18 developed such tumors, which are easier to treat.
The BRAF mutation is also found in about 8 percent of solid tumors, suggesting the drug might be effective in other forms of cancer.
Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, affecting 160,000 people worldwide each year. When melanoma has spread, conventional chemotherapy is typically effective only in 10 percent to 20 percent of the cases.
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/fyg37n New England Journal of Medicine, August 26, 2010.
Beck Says US Has 'Wandered in Darkness' Too Long
Conservative commentator Glenn Beck and tea party champion Sarah Palin appealed Saturday to a vast, predominantly white crowd on the National Mall to help restore traditional American values and honor Martin Luther King's message. Civil rights leaders who accused the group of hijacking King's legacy held their own rally and march.
While Beck billed his event as nonpolitical, activists from around the nation said their show of strength was a clear sign that they can make a difference in the country's future and that they want a government that will listen and unite.
Palin told the tens of thousands who stretched from the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the grass of the Washington Monument that calls to transform the country weren't enough. "We must restore America and restore her honor," said the former Alaska governor, echoing the name of the rally, "Restoring Honor."
Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2008 and a potential White House contender in 2012, and Beck repeatedly cited King and made references to the Founding Fathers. Beck put a heavy religious cast on nearly all his remarks, sounding at times like an evangelical preacher.
"Something beyond imagination is happening," he said. "America today begins to turn back to God."
Beck exhorted the crowd to "recognize your place to the creator. Realize that he is our king. He is the one who guides and directs our life and protects us." He asked his audience to pray more. "I ask, not only if you would pray on your knees, but pray on your knees but with your door open for your children to see," he said.
A group of civil rights activists organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton held a counter rally at a high school, then embarked on a three-mile march to the site of a planned monument honoring King. The site, bordering the Tidal Basin, was not far from the Lincoln Memorial where Beck and the others spoke about two hours earlier.
Sharpton and the several thousand marching with him crossed paths with some of the crowds leaving Beck's rally. People wearing "Restoring Honor" and tea party T-shirts looked on as Sharpton's group chanted "reclaim the dream" and "MLK, MLK." Both sides were generally restrained, although there was some mutual taunting.
One woman from the Beck rally shouted to the Sharpton marchers: "Go to church. Restore America with peace." Some civil rights marchers chanted "don't drink the tea" to people leaving Beck's rally.
Sharpton told his rally it was important to keep King's dream alive and that despite progress more needs to be done. "Don't mistake progress for arrival," he said.
He poked fun at the Beck-organized rally, saying some participants were the same ones who used to call civil rights leaders troublemakers. "The folks who used to criticize us for marching are trying to have a march themselves," he said. He urged his group to be peaceful and not confrontational. "If people start heckling, smile at them," Sharpton said.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia's delegate to Congress, said she remembers being at King's march on Washington in 1963. "Glenn Beck's march will change nothing. But you can't blame Glenn Beck for his March-on-Washington envy," she said.
Beck has said he did not intend to choose the King anniversary for his rally but had since decided it was "divine providence." He portrayed King as an American hero.
Sharpton and other critics have noted that, while Beck has long sprouted anti-government themes, King's famous march included an appeal to the federal government to do more to protect Americans' civil rights.
The crowd — organizers had a permit for 300,000 — was a sea of people standing shoulder to shoulder across large expanses of the Mall. The National Park Service stopped doing crowd counts in 1997 after the agency was accused of underestimating numbers for the 1995 Million Man March.
It was not clear how many tea party activists were in the crowd, but the sheer size of the turnout helped demonstrate the size and potential national influence of the movement.
Tea party activism and widespread voter discontent with government already have effected primary elections and could be an important factor in November's congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative races.
Lisa Horn, 28, an accountant from Houston, said she identifies with the tea party movement, although she said the rally was not about either the tea party or politics. "I think this says that the people are uniting. We know we are not the only ones," she said. "We feel like we can make a difference."
Ken Ratliff, 55, of Rochester, N.Y., who served as a Marine in the Vietnam War, said he is moving more in the tea party direction. "There's got to be a change, man," he said.
Palin told the crowd she wasn't speaking as a politician. "I've been asked to speak as the mother of a soldier and I am proud of that distinction. Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet and you can't take that away from me." It was a reference to her son, Track, 20, who served a yearlong deployment in Iraq.
Palin likened the rally participants to the civil rights activists from 1963. She said the same spirit that helped them overcome oppression, discrimination and violence would help this group as well.
"We are worried about what we face. Sometimes, our challenges seem insurmountable," Palin said. "Look around you. You're not alone."
Beck paced on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and spoke through a wireless microphone headset. "For too long, this country has wandered in darkness. ... Today we are going to concentrate on the good things in America, the things that we have accomplished — and the things that we can do tomorrow."
In one of his many references to King, Beck noted that he had spent the night before in the same Washington hotel where King had put the finishing touches on his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Clarence B. Jones, who served as King's personal attorney and his speechwriter, said he believes King would not be offended by Beck's rally but "pleased and honored" that a diverse group of people would come together, almost five decade later, to discuss the future of America.
Jones, now a visiting professor at Stanford University, said the Beck rally seemed to be tasteful and did not appear to distort King's message, which included a recommitment to religious values.
"I think it is the testimony to the power and greatness of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in enabling America to make a peaceful transition from apartheid and racial segregation to a multiracial society where Glenn Beck or anyone would hold a rally at the Lincoln Memorial," Jones said in a telephone interview.
Beck had appealed to those attending not to bring signs with them. But Mike Cash, a 56-year-old Atlanta businessman, found a way around that. Over his polo shirt, he wore a T-shirt that read "Treat Obama like a used tea bag, toss him out now!"
"I wouldn't have missed it (the rally) for anything," said Cash, who drove up with his family. "We are here kind of protesting about our government, too. I'm a businessman and I'm worried about taxes going up."
Many in the crowd watched the proceedings on large television screens. On the edges of the Mall, vendors sold "Don't Tread on Me" flags, popular with tea party activists. Other activists distributed fliers urging voters "dump Obama." The pamphlet included a picture of the president with a Hitler-style mustache.
While Beck billed his event as nonpolitical, activists from around the nation said their show of strength was a clear sign that they can make a difference in the country's future and that they want a government that will listen and unite.
Palin told the tens of thousands who stretched from the marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the grass of the Washington Monument that calls to transform the country weren't enough. "We must restore America and restore her honor," said the former Alaska governor, echoing the name of the rally, "Restoring Honor."
Palin, the GOP vice presidential nominee in 2008 and a potential White House contender in 2012, and Beck repeatedly cited King and made references to the Founding Fathers. Beck put a heavy religious cast on nearly all his remarks, sounding at times like an evangelical preacher.
"Something beyond imagination is happening," he said. "America today begins to turn back to God."
Beck exhorted the crowd to "recognize your place to the creator. Realize that he is our king. He is the one who guides and directs our life and protects us." He asked his audience to pray more. "I ask, not only if you would pray on your knees, but pray on your knees but with your door open for your children to see," he said.
A group of civil rights activists organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton held a counter rally at a high school, then embarked on a three-mile march to the site of a planned monument honoring King. The site, bordering the Tidal Basin, was not far from the Lincoln Memorial where Beck and the others spoke about two hours earlier.
Sharpton and the several thousand marching with him crossed paths with some of the crowds leaving Beck's rally. People wearing "Restoring Honor" and tea party T-shirts looked on as Sharpton's group chanted "reclaim the dream" and "MLK, MLK." Both sides were generally restrained, although there was some mutual taunting.
One woman from the Beck rally shouted to the Sharpton marchers: "Go to church. Restore America with peace." Some civil rights marchers chanted "don't drink the tea" to people leaving Beck's rally.
Sharpton told his rally it was important to keep King's dream alive and that despite progress more needs to be done. "Don't mistake progress for arrival," he said.
He poked fun at the Beck-organized rally, saying some participants were the same ones who used to call civil rights leaders troublemakers. "The folks who used to criticize us for marching are trying to have a march themselves," he said. He urged his group to be peaceful and not confrontational. "If people start heckling, smile at them," Sharpton said.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia's delegate to Congress, said she remembers being at King's march on Washington in 1963. "Glenn Beck's march will change nothing. But you can't blame Glenn Beck for his March-on-Washington envy," she said.
Beck has said he did not intend to choose the King anniversary for his rally but had since decided it was "divine providence." He portrayed King as an American hero.
Sharpton and other critics have noted that, while Beck has long sprouted anti-government themes, King's famous march included an appeal to the federal government to do more to protect Americans' civil rights.
The crowd — organizers had a permit for 300,000 — was a sea of people standing shoulder to shoulder across large expanses of the Mall. The National Park Service stopped doing crowd counts in 1997 after the agency was accused of underestimating numbers for the 1995 Million Man March.
It was not clear how many tea party activists were in the crowd, but the sheer size of the turnout helped demonstrate the size and potential national influence of the movement.
Tea party activism and widespread voter discontent with government already have effected primary elections and could be an important factor in November's congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative races.
Lisa Horn, 28, an accountant from Houston, said she identifies with the tea party movement, although she said the rally was not about either the tea party or politics. "I think this says that the people are uniting. We know we are not the only ones," she said. "We feel like we can make a difference."
Ken Ratliff, 55, of Rochester, N.Y., who served as a Marine in the Vietnam War, said he is moving more in the tea party direction. "There's got to be a change, man," he said.
Palin told the crowd she wasn't speaking as a politician. "I've been asked to speak as the mother of a soldier and I am proud of that distinction. Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet and you can't take that away from me." It was a reference to her son, Track, 20, who served a yearlong deployment in Iraq.
Palin likened the rally participants to the civil rights activists from 1963. She said the same spirit that helped them overcome oppression, discrimination and violence would help this group as well.
"We are worried about what we face. Sometimes, our challenges seem insurmountable," Palin said. "Look around you. You're not alone."
Beck paced on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and spoke through a wireless microphone headset. "For too long, this country has wandered in darkness. ... Today we are going to concentrate on the good things in America, the things that we have accomplished — and the things that we can do tomorrow."
In one of his many references to King, Beck noted that he had spent the night before in the same Washington hotel where King had put the finishing touches on his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Clarence B. Jones, who served as King's personal attorney and his speechwriter, said he believes King would not be offended by Beck's rally but "pleased and honored" that a diverse group of people would come together, almost five decade later, to discuss the future of America.
Jones, now a visiting professor at Stanford University, said the Beck rally seemed to be tasteful and did not appear to distort King's message, which included a recommitment to religious values.
"I think it is the testimony to the power and greatness of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. in enabling America to make a peaceful transition from apartheid and racial segregation to a multiracial society where Glenn Beck or anyone would hold a rally at the Lincoln Memorial," Jones said in a telephone interview.
Beck had appealed to those attending not to bring signs with them. But Mike Cash, a 56-year-old Atlanta businessman, found a way around that. Over his polo shirt, he wore a T-shirt that read "Treat Obama like a used tea bag, toss him out now!"
"I wouldn't have missed it (the rally) for anything," said Cash, who drove up with his family. "We are here kind of protesting about our government, too. I'm a businessman and I'm worried about taxes going up."
Many in the crowd watched the proceedings on large television screens. On the edges of the Mall, vendors sold "Don't Tread on Me" flags, popular with tea party activists. Other activists distributed fliers urging voters "dump Obama." The pamphlet included a picture of the president with a Hitler-style mustache.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Glow On:7 Foods For Gorgeous Skin
Celebrities are always touting the miraculous benefits of extremely expensive face creams which “normal” women couldn’t realistically afford. So how does a babe on a budget give great face without jeopardizing her finances? Nature has all the answers! Just adding these seven superfoods into your diet can give you a goddess-like gleam.
1. Romaine Lettuce
Get Your Glow On: Six leaves provide more than 100% of your DV of vitamin A. And according to Lisa Drayer, RD, and author of The Beauty Diet, all the potassium in romaine “gives skin a refreshing boost of nutrients and oxygen by improving circulation.”
2. Tomatoes
Get Your Glow On: You say tomato, we say amazing skin! When participants consumed 5 tablespoons of high-in-lycopene tomato paste daily for 3 months had nearly 25% more protection against sunburn in one study, it increased skin collagen and decreases wrinkles. What a fantastic fruit!
3. Strawberries
Get Your Glow On: This sweet little fruit will make you look delectable. A cup of strawberries has up to 130% of the DV of vitamin C which is an extremely potent antioxidant that boosts production of collagen fibers that help keep skin smooth and firm. Strawberries also have something called ellagic acid which is an antioxidant that protects the elastic fibers that keep skin from sagging.
4. Apples
Get Your Glow On: An apple a day keeps skin cancer away with Quercetin, an antioxidant contained in the apple peel. The varieties with the most Quercetin are Monroe, Cortland, and Golden Delicious.
5. Eggs
Get Your Glow On: It’s ok to get a little egg on your face! In fact, it’s good for you because eggs have two antioxidants, Lutein and zeaxanthin, which more than quadruple protection against the UV damage plus eggs make your skin softer, firmer, and better hydrated.
6. Almonds
Get Your Glow On: Don’t be afraid to go a little nuts! “Eating a handful of almonds every day boosts levels of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for skin health,” says Baumann.
7. Walnuts
Get Your Glow On: Don’t let your skin crack from dryness! Walnuts have lots of alpha-linolenic acid which is an omega-3 fat that keeps skin moist and su
1. Romaine Lettuce
Get Your Glow On: Six leaves provide more than 100% of your DV of vitamin A. And according to Lisa Drayer, RD, and author of The Beauty Diet, all the potassium in romaine “gives skin a refreshing boost of nutrients and oxygen by improving circulation.”
2. Tomatoes
Get Your Glow On: You say tomato, we say amazing skin! When participants consumed 5 tablespoons of high-in-lycopene tomato paste daily for 3 months had nearly 25% more protection against sunburn in one study, it increased skin collagen and decreases wrinkles. What a fantastic fruit!
3. Strawberries
Get Your Glow On: This sweet little fruit will make you look delectable. A cup of strawberries has up to 130% of the DV of vitamin C which is an extremely potent antioxidant that boosts production of collagen fibers that help keep skin smooth and firm. Strawberries also have something called ellagic acid which is an antioxidant that protects the elastic fibers that keep skin from sagging.
4. Apples
Get Your Glow On: An apple a day keeps skin cancer away with Quercetin, an antioxidant contained in the apple peel. The varieties with the most Quercetin are Monroe, Cortland, and Golden Delicious.
5. Eggs
Get Your Glow On: It’s ok to get a little egg on your face! In fact, it’s good for you because eggs have two antioxidants, Lutein and zeaxanthin, which more than quadruple protection against the UV damage plus eggs make your skin softer, firmer, and better hydrated.
6. Almonds
Get Your Glow On: Don’t be afraid to go a little nuts! “Eating a handful of almonds every day boosts levels of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for skin health,” says Baumann.
7. Walnuts
Get Your Glow On: Don’t let your skin crack from dryness! Walnuts have lots of alpha-linolenic acid which is an omega-3 fat that keeps skin moist and su
Back pain can be one of the most frustrating and painful experiences.
Back pain can be one of the most frustrating and painful experiences. It’s also one of the most commonly misdiagnosed problems.
That’s because back pain often isn’t caused by your back. It’s often an issue with your muscles or ligaments.
Let me explain.
Your body is filled with tendons that attach your muscles to your bones. There are also ligaments that attach bones to bones. As you age, your flexibility decreases. Muscles in your body shorten, and your joints lose their range of motion. These shortened muscles then pull your bones out of alignment. This causes undue pressure on nerves and tissues, resulting in back problems.
There are three things that mainstream medicine prescribes for back pain – and all three of them are wrong.
First, they promote unnecessary surgery. Second, they give you drugs.
Finally, the more thoughtful back doctors may promote stretching exercises. But the exercises I’ve often seen that come from orthopedics’ offices are just plain wrong. A lot of them wind up stretching the ligaments, which ends up stressing them and weakening them more. So, not only do they not work, they often wind up making the problem worse.
What’s worse, some doctors may even advise surgery before exploring alternative methods. In most cases surgery should be a last option. I’ve had many patients come into my office after having back surgery, complaining of the same symptoms and pain they had before the surgery. They wind up trading one problem for another.
Even some personal trainers and physical therapists are way off the mark. Many don’t know that you don’t want loose joints. Tighter joints mean stronger joints. Tighter joints mean you’re less likely to suffer an injury.
The good news is you don’t have to spend hours a day doing boring stretching exercises to deal with your back pain. There’s a correct and simple way to do them. It involves expansion of the spine. And it takes only a couple minutes a day:
They’re called hip flexors…
Most people don’t realize it, but between sitting at their desk, in their car, or watching television, they often spend 6 to 8 hours a day sitting down.
But your body wasn’t designed to spend so much time sitting down. And all this sitting can put enormous pressure on your hip flexor muscles.
This is a major cause of minor low back pain. Stretching your hip flexor muscles several times a week can prevent this kind of lower back pain.
Here’s how to do this stretch:
1. Stand up straight with your right foot forward and left foot back. Keep both feel flat on floor.
2. Put your hands on your hips and keep your back and hips in straight alignment.
3. Push forward with your hips, while maintaining your erect posture. Slowly, push your hips forward only until you feel a comfortable level of tension.
4. Hold for 10 seconds.
5. Then switch sides by reversing your leg stance and repeat.
This is just one simple exercise that works for me. I’ve also seen many of my patients get rid of their lower back pain by just doing this one exercise for a few days. But sometimes the solution is not this simple.
If you need extra help with your back pain, my colleagues at the Healthy Back Institute have published a brand-new book that enables you to find out exactly where your pain is coming from and how to deal with it. It’s called The 7-Day Back Pain Cure.
Many of my patients have been using this program with great results.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
That’s because back pain often isn’t caused by your back. It’s often an issue with your muscles or ligaments.
Let me explain.
Your body is filled with tendons that attach your muscles to your bones. There are also ligaments that attach bones to bones. As you age, your flexibility decreases. Muscles in your body shorten, and your joints lose their range of motion. These shortened muscles then pull your bones out of alignment. This causes undue pressure on nerves and tissues, resulting in back problems.
There are three things that mainstream medicine prescribes for back pain – and all three of them are wrong.
First, they promote unnecessary surgery. Second, they give you drugs.
Finally, the more thoughtful back doctors may promote stretching exercises. But the exercises I’ve often seen that come from orthopedics’ offices are just plain wrong. A lot of them wind up stretching the ligaments, which ends up stressing them and weakening them more. So, not only do they not work, they often wind up making the problem worse.
What’s worse, some doctors may even advise surgery before exploring alternative methods. In most cases surgery should be a last option. I’ve had many patients come into my office after having back surgery, complaining of the same symptoms and pain they had before the surgery. They wind up trading one problem for another.
Even some personal trainers and physical therapists are way off the mark. Many don’t know that you don’t want loose joints. Tighter joints mean stronger joints. Tighter joints mean you’re less likely to suffer an injury.
The good news is you don’t have to spend hours a day doing boring stretching exercises to deal with your back pain. There’s a correct and simple way to do them. It involves expansion of the spine. And it takes only a couple minutes a day:
They’re called hip flexors…
Most people don’t realize it, but between sitting at their desk, in their car, or watching television, they often spend 6 to 8 hours a day sitting down.
But your body wasn’t designed to spend so much time sitting down. And all this sitting can put enormous pressure on your hip flexor muscles.
This is a major cause of minor low back pain. Stretching your hip flexor muscles several times a week can prevent this kind of lower back pain.
Here’s how to do this stretch:
1. Stand up straight with your right foot forward and left foot back. Keep both feel flat on floor.
2. Put your hands on your hips and keep your back and hips in straight alignment.
3. Push forward with your hips, while maintaining your erect posture. Slowly, push your hips forward only until you feel a comfortable level of tension.
4. Hold for 10 seconds.
5. Then switch sides by reversing your leg stance and repeat.
This is just one simple exercise that works for me. I’ve also seen many of my patients get rid of their lower back pain by just doing this one exercise for a few days. But sometimes the solution is not this simple.
If you need extra help with your back pain, my colleagues at the Healthy Back Institute have published a brand-new book that enables you to find out exactly where your pain is coming from and how to deal with it. It’s called The 7-Day Back Pain Cure.
Many of my patients have been using this program with great results.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
The Fear Factor
Fear is definitely a strong and compelling force in our lives. And even though it has its positive aspects, for the most part we all tend to avoid fear like the plague. By definition, fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat. Perceived is the key word, because the danger attached to most people’s fear is more often than not imagined.
With this as our foundation today, I ask you to consider the following: What is it that you’re putting off or avoiding doing due to simple fear? What is it that you’re totally capable of doing but don’t do simply because of some perceived fear that you have? For some of you, this will take a bit of thought. For others, however, something will immediately come to mind. Fear, for many, is an immobilizing force that creates an invisible wall preventing you from taking action.
What’s your fear preventing you from doing and, as a result, what does your fear cost you?
Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare
www.innerdiet.com
Stressed? Angry? Not over your ex? Email your question to Dr. Sklare to get expert advice! Ask Dr. Sklare
With this as our foundation today, I ask you to consider the following: What is it that you’re putting off or avoiding doing due to simple fear? What is it that you’re totally capable of doing but don’t do simply because of some perceived fear that you have? For some of you, this will take a bit of thought. For others, however, something will immediately come to mind. Fear, for many, is an immobilizing force that creates an invisible wall preventing you from taking action.
What’s your fear preventing you from doing and, as a result, what does your fear cost you?
Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare
www.innerdiet.com
Stressed? Angry? Not over your ex? Email your question to Dr. Sklare to get expert advice! Ask Dr. Sklare
Overcome Cravings With a Small Snack
We humans are genetically programmed to eat all of the food we see, say scientists. That’s why if you eat ice cream straight from the container or chips straight from the bag, you always eat more than you intend. It’s also why many people tend to overeat at buffet-style restaurants.
To overcome such “see food” temptations, I have a neat trick: When you have an indulgent craving, don’t deprive yourself. Instead, eat smarter and carry healthy treats.
I love dark chocolate because of its antioxidant benefits - and it tastes great! My favorite kind is Green and Black's Organic 85% Dark Chocolate; it's delicious and has less sugar than milk chocolate and most other brands of dark chocolate. This way you can satisfy your craving while skipping out on the sugar crash. Plus, making smart choices about sugar and carbs will help keep your waistline in check.
Your coach,
Jorge Cruise
To overcome such “see food” temptations, I have a neat trick: When you have an indulgent craving, don’t deprive yourself. Instead, eat smarter and carry healthy treats.
I love dark chocolate because of its antioxidant benefits - and it tastes great! My favorite kind is Green and Black's Organic 85% Dark Chocolate; it's delicious and has less sugar than milk chocolate and most other brands of dark chocolate. This way you can satisfy your craving while skipping out on the sugar crash. Plus, making smart choices about sugar and carbs will help keep your waistline in check.
Your coach,
Jorge Cruise
Loews CEO Tisch Rips Obama's Policies
President Barack Obama’s policies are taking the economy in the wrong direction, says Jim Tisch, CEO of conglomerate Loews Corp.
Those policies have led businessmen to lose confidence in the economy and will thus keep growth subdued, he told Bloomberg.
Tisch specifically objects to the new laws for healthcare and financial regulation and to the moratorium on offshore drilling. Those policies are deterring business investment, he says.
“The thing that business people don’t like is uncertainty.”
Some corporate executives have criticized Obama for taking an adversarial stance toward business.
“Part of the problem is that business has very little confidence in what’s been going on and very little visibility,” Tisch said.
He was displeased with the president’s reaction to the BP oil spill, saying Obama didn’t take into account the oil industry’s interests.
“That sends a strong message to American industry that if your industry gets in trouble, there’s a possibility you won’t get a fair shake,” Tisch said. Loews owns half of Diamond Offshore Drilling, the country’s biggest deep-water driller.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini isn’t too pleased with Obama’s handling of the economy either.
“More of the country is beginning to recognize that we are not taking the right steps as a nation to ensure that our economy is on a long-term trajectory of growth and leadership,” he said in a speech Monday.
“Businesses have yet to resume broad-based hiring, and there remains a fundamental lack of confidence that is holding back our economy.”
Those policies have led businessmen to lose confidence in the economy and will thus keep growth subdued, he told Bloomberg.
Tisch specifically objects to the new laws for healthcare and financial regulation and to the moratorium on offshore drilling. Those policies are deterring business investment, he says.
“The thing that business people don’t like is uncertainty.”
Some corporate executives have criticized Obama for taking an adversarial stance toward business.
“Part of the problem is that business has very little confidence in what’s been going on and very little visibility,” Tisch said.
He was displeased with the president’s reaction to the BP oil spill, saying Obama didn’t take into account the oil industry’s interests.
“That sends a strong message to American industry that if your industry gets in trouble, there’s a possibility you won’t get a fair shake,” Tisch said. Loews owns half of Diamond Offshore Drilling, the country’s biggest deep-water driller.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini isn’t too pleased with Obama’s handling of the economy either.
“More of the country is beginning to recognize that we are not taking the right steps as a nation to ensure that our economy is on a long-term trajectory of growth and leadership,” he said in a speech Monday.
“Businesses have yet to resume broad-based hiring, and there remains a fundamental lack of confidence that is holding back our economy.”
FDA to give restaurants more time on calorie counts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators plan to give restaurant companies more time to comply with new rules that require clear calorie and nutritional information on menus.
Under the healthcare law passed in March, restaurants must clearly post calories and other nutrition details on their menus. The rules target restaurants with 20 or more locations, as well as other retail food outlets, and would affect huge national chains like McDonald's Corp and Yum Brands Inc , the operator of the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut fast-food chains.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has until March 2011 to put these rules into effect. But the agency said on Tuesday it would hold off on enforcing them for an unspecified time period so that companies could make the changes. It also asked for public comment on how long to refrain from enforcement.
Other companies likely to be affected by the new menu rules include Starbucks Corp, Olive Garden and Red Lobster owner Darden Restaurants Inc, and IHOP and Applebee's parent DineEquity Inc.
Consumer advocates and some public health experts praise menu disclosures as a way to help diners make better food choices and, hopefully, to help improve health in a nation where two out of three people are overweight or obese.
"It's going to help a lot of people watch their waistlines and calories," said Margo Wootan, a director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Some industry critics have argued that menu labeling rules - particularly if they were to involve a patchwork of different state and local laws - would be a burden that would add operating costs.
Dan Roehl, public affairs specialist for the National Restaurant Association, which often takes the lead on regulatory issues, said the industry supports a national standard for disclosing nutrition information.
"Once FDA completes the regulatory process, the industry will have all it needs to comply with the federal law ... It's important for our members to know what they need to do," Roehl said.
Privately-held Subway for years has prominently displayed calorie counts in its restaurants. The sandwich chain also suggests ways for customers to reduce calories by eliminating richer ingredients like cheese and mayonnaise.
Panera Bread Co in March began adding calorie counts to its menu boards ahead of the national requirements.
Nevertheless, most major chains have resisted posting such information without legislation and the threat of fines. Several states, counties and cities have proposed or passed laws requiring menu labeling, but only a handful - including New York City - have put them into effect.
Under the healthcare law passed in March, restaurants must clearly post calories and other nutrition details on their menus. The rules target restaurants with 20 or more locations, as well as other retail food outlets, and would affect huge national chains like McDonald's Corp and Yum Brands Inc , the operator of the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut fast-food chains.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has until March 2011 to put these rules into effect. But the agency said on Tuesday it would hold off on enforcing them for an unspecified time period so that companies could make the changes. It also asked for public comment on how long to refrain from enforcement.
Other companies likely to be affected by the new menu rules include Starbucks Corp, Olive Garden and Red Lobster owner Darden Restaurants Inc, and IHOP and Applebee's parent DineEquity Inc.
Consumer advocates and some public health experts praise menu disclosures as a way to help diners make better food choices and, hopefully, to help improve health in a nation where two out of three people are overweight or obese.
"It's going to help a lot of people watch their waistlines and calories," said Margo Wootan, a director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Some industry critics have argued that menu labeling rules - particularly if they were to involve a patchwork of different state and local laws - would be a burden that would add operating costs.
Dan Roehl, public affairs specialist for the National Restaurant Association, which often takes the lead on regulatory issues, said the industry supports a national standard for disclosing nutrition information.
"Once FDA completes the regulatory process, the industry will have all it needs to comply with the federal law ... It's important for our members to know what they need to do," Roehl said.
Privately-held Subway for years has prominently displayed calorie counts in its restaurants. The sandwich chain also suggests ways for customers to reduce calories by eliminating richer ingredients like cheese and mayonnaise.
Panera Bread Co in March began adding calorie counts to its menu boards ahead of the national requirements.
Nevertheless, most major chains have resisted posting such information without legislation and the threat of fines. Several states, counties and cities have proposed or passed laws requiring menu labeling, but only a handful - including New York City - have put them into effect.
Gene variants put diabetics at risk of kidney disease
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Some diabetics are at risk of developing chronic kidney disease if they have mutations in a certain gene, a long-term study in Hong Kong has found.
Kidney failure is an important cause of death for people with type 2 diabetes, and ethnic Chinese diabetics are more prone to developing chronic kidney disease than Caucasians.
The finding would help identify diabetes patients prone to developing kidney disease so they could be rigorously monitored and given more intensive preventive treatment, wrote the lead researcher in reply to questions from Reuters.
"Identification of those genetically at risk of developing renal complications can help identify these subjects for intensive management, and also may help to motivate individuals to be more compliant to treatment," wrote Ronald Ma of the Chinese University and Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong.
In a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Wednesday, Ma and colleagues said they tracked for nine years 1,172 diabetes patients in Hong Kong who were free of kidney disease at the start of the study.
By the end of the eight-year study period, 90 of them had developed kidney disease.
The researchers analysed the DNA of all the participants and found that four mutations of a particular gene - PRKCB1 - occurred far more frequently in the group with kidney disease.
"The risk for end-stage renal disease was approximately six times higher for patients with 4 risk alleles (mutations) compared with patients with 0 or 1 risk allele," they said.
The same findings were confirmed in another group of 1,049 diabetes patients.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body's inability to adequately use insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, to control glucose sugar produced from food. Sugar levels rise and can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and major arteries.
Diabetes is exploding in China due to changes in diet, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking and a worsening obesity problem. China has 94 million diabetic adults and another estimated 148.2 million Chinese are living with prediabetes.
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/qym27n JAMA/Journal of the American Medical Association, August 25, 2010.
Kidney failure is an important cause of death for people with type 2 diabetes, and ethnic Chinese diabetics are more prone to developing chronic kidney disease than Caucasians.
The finding would help identify diabetes patients prone to developing kidney disease so they could be rigorously monitored and given more intensive preventive treatment, wrote the lead researcher in reply to questions from Reuters.
"Identification of those genetically at risk of developing renal complications can help identify these subjects for intensive management, and also may help to motivate individuals to be more compliant to treatment," wrote Ronald Ma of the Chinese University and Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong.
In a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Wednesday, Ma and colleagues said they tracked for nine years 1,172 diabetes patients in Hong Kong who were free of kidney disease at the start of the study.
By the end of the eight-year study period, 90 of them had developed kidney disease.
The researchers analysed the DNA of all the participants and found that four mutations of a particular gene - PRKCB1 - occurred far more frequently in the group with kidney disease.
"The risk for end-stage renal disease was approximately six times higher for patients with 4 risk alleles (mutations) compared with patients with 0 or 1 risk allele," they said.
The same findings were confirmed in another group of 1,049 diabetes patients.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body's inability to adequately use insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, to control glucose sugar produced from food. Sugar levels rise and can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and major arteries.
Diabetes is exploding in China due to changes in diet, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking and a worsening obesity problem. China has 94 million diabetic adults and another estimated 148.2 million Chinese are living with prediabetes.
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/qym27n JAMA/Journal of the American Medical Association, August 25, 2010.
8 Germiest Public Places
Worried about you or your kids picking up diseases at school, restrooms or the mall? There’s good reason: Viruses and bacteria run rampant on surfaces you touch every day. We blow the lid on the 8 germiest public places. Plus, get tips for outsmarting infection...
Touch a germ-infected surface, then rub your nose or mouth, and the next thing you know, microbes are dancing the mambo in your body.
With cold and flus and run-of-the-mill bugs crawling about public places year round, germaphobes have plenty to worry about.
No wonder. Unfortunately, going anywhere people congregate can boost your chances of getting sick, says Philip Tierno, Ph.D., author of The Secret Life of Germs (Atria) and director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University's Langone Medical Center.
That’s because disease-carrying bacteria and viruses live practically everywhere — shopping malls, grocery stores, playgrounds, petting zoos, restaurants. They can survive up to two hours on shopping carts, escalator handrails, even doorknobs before they find their next victim.
“We encounter about 60,000 types of germs every year, but if you’re healthy, there’s no need to fear going out in public,” Tierno says: Only 1%-2% are potentially dangerous to people with normal immunity. Plus, the body has an incredible ability to fight off germs. Special cells called neutrophils and lymphocytes (white blood cells) attack any microscopic invader.
You can also give your defense system a boost by taking steps to prevent infection. Read on for the top 8 germiest public places and ways to stay healthy:
1. Grocery store
Germiest items: Shopping cart handles and seat buckets
Watch out! Shopping cart handles are a breeding ground for infectious viruses and gut-wrenching bacteria.
“Customers may sneeze, wipe their noses, then touch the cart handles,” says Lola Stamm, M.S., Ph.D., a microbiologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
They’re also contaminated by children’s dirty hands. And by leaky meat packages that you toss into your cart. Poultry and beef can contain bacterial bombs such as salmonella, campylobacter and E. coli, which cause severe diarrhea, intestinal swelling, nausea and vomiting, she says.
“If meat packages leak onto the conveyor belt, it could contaminate the food on the conveyor as well as your hands,” Stamm says.
About 70%-80% of the shopping carts tested nationwide had E. coli, says Charles Gerba, Ph.D., a University of Arizona microbiologist who spends a lot of time studying germs in public places.
Cart kid seats are E. coli hot spots “because they hold raw food and [diaper-wearing] kids,” he says. “And nobody disinfects.”
Be careful, too, around those enticing displays of fruits and veggies.
Sprinklers used to keep produce moist may contain Legionnella, Stamm says. The bacterium can cause “a deadly respiratory tract infection, particularly in older people and others with underlying health problems.”
Germ-free fix: Use disinfecting wipes on handlebars and seats - many stores now offer these at the entrance. And be sure to wash veggies and fruits before eating them.
2. Children’s playgrounds
Germiest items: The swings, jungle gym and other equipment
Playgrounds are germ minefields. Kids touch everything they see and often put them in their mouths.
The largest threat is from fecal bacteria from bird poop on playground equipment and diaper-wearing tots, Gerba says.
Another kid-friendly hot zone: petting zoos and exhibits with animals infected with E. coli, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Germ-free fix: Wash hands thoroughly or use hand sanitizer after returning from playground, using the bathroom and changing diapers. (Rub hands together for 20 seconds under clean running water, the CDC advises.)
3. Public restrooms
Germiest item: Sink
Most women worry about public toilets. Well, you can sit a little easier now: The porcelain throne is not the biggest restroom offender.
It’s the sink.
Bacteria swarm on the sink tap or faucet handles, Gerba says, because we touch them right after using the toilet.
Also, “the sink tap is a wet, moist environment,” so bacteria can survive there longer, he says.
Watch out for soap dispensers, too, because they’re handled by many filthy hands, Stamm says.
Airplane bathrooms are especially germy because they’re small and used by lots of people, says Gerba, who found E. coli on faucets and door handles in the dozens of samples from airborne restrooms.
In fact, an airplane’s faucet may be a greater threat than those in other public restrooms because the water is timed, so fliers have to touch them frequently to wash their hands properly, he says.
So what’s the cleanest part of a bathroom?
The toilet: About 48% of American women use covers or toilet paper to cover the seat, Gerba says.
Germ-free fix: Avoid touching moist surfaces and wash hands thoroughly after touching sink faucets and soap dispensers. And use a paper towel to turn the water off.
4. Offices
Germiest items: Telephones and desks
In a study of 113 work surfaces in offices in five of the nation’s big cities, Gerba found more than 25,000 bacteria hitching a ride on telephones. Desks and computer keyboards followed close behind.
In fact, your desk has 400 times more germs than a toilet seat, Gerba says. Why?
People don’t disinfect surfaces in offices, he says.
Another danger zone: Inside desk drawers, where workers stash food.
“Germs find plenty to snack on,” he says, like moldy fruit and opened bags of chips or crackers.
When it comes to germs, women are not the fairer sex. Bacterial levels in women’s offices were nearly three times higher than in men’s.
“Women seemed to have more stuff in their offices, from makeup bags to pictures of family and purses on their desks,” Gerba says.
Germ-free fix: Once a day, wipe down your desk, phone and keyboard with anti-bacterial wipes or cleaners.
5. Restaurants
Germiest items: Table surface, high chairs
No, contaminated food isn’t the biggest threat at restaurants — it’s the rag used to wipe the table “clean."
When busboys wipe down a table or chairs, their dirty rags may be spreading a small film of E. coli, he says.
They should put disinfectant on the rag after each use, but Gerba’s studies show that the same cloth was used on more than a dozen tables before it was disinfected.
High chairs harbor fecal bacteria too, because they hold diaper-wearing tots.
Germ-free fix: Carry sanitary wipes to swipe the tabletop and high chair when you’re seated.
6. Libraries
Germiest items: Countertops and surfaces
Libraries appear to be tidy, sterile places, but they crawl with as many germs as a fast-food restaurant.
Why so filthy? Lots of people shuffle through and peruse books, log on to computers and touch countertops, Gerba says.
Germ-free fix: Use hand sanitizer or wash your hands after thumbing through books or touching countertops.
7. Cruise ships
Germiest item: Handrails
Cruise ships are like floating cities, packed with thousands of people in a small space. That also makes them infection incubators.
From 2001-2005, gastrointestinal illness on ships increased 25.6%, according to a CDC study: The culprit? Norovirus.
Some of the largest outbreaks occurred in 2002-2006, when new strains of norovirus emerged,” says Capt. Jaret Ames, chief of the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program.
Noroviruses, which cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, are resistant to routine cleaning procedures and they’re easily transmitted in places people congregate, such as dining rooms, drinking fountains and shared restrooms.
Trouble is, they’re hard to avoid on a cruise ship.
“As soon as you step out of the cabin you’re in public area,” Ames points out.
Handrails pose the biggest infection risk because they’re among the first surfaces passengers touch when they board ship, Ames says. The viruses are most often brought on board by embarking passengers and crew.
A recent study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found that the cleanliness of a cruise ship's public restrooms may predict subsequent norovirus outbreaks. Researchers found that only 37% of 273 randomly selected public restrooms on cruise ships were cleaned daily. One researcher noted that there was a substantial risk for washed hands to become contaminated when the passenger exits the restroom, as only 35% of restroom exit knobs or pulls were cleaned daily.
Germ-free fix: Wash hands frequently throughout the day and before touching your mouth or face, especially when smoking and eating.
8. Malls
Germiest item: Escalator handles
How often do you hang onto the escalator handrails while catching a ride at a shopping mall or airport?
Hands off: They’re teeming with germs, according to a study published in a 2005 issue of the International Journal of Environmental Health Research. Scientists took samples from dozens of escalator handrails across the country and found 19% showed high bacterial contamination.
“The sheer volume of people who touch escalator handles makes it a bacteria hot spot,” Gerba says.
Germ-free fix: Don’t touch them. But if you do, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer afterward.
Is Your Hygiene Heinous?
Good hygiene cannot be underestimated - your health, not to mention reputation, depends on it.
Touch a germ-infected surface, then rub your nose or mouth, and the next thing you know, microbes are dancing the mambo in your body.
With cold and flus and run-of-the-mill bugs crawling about public places year round, germaphobes have plenty to worry about.
No wonder. Unfortunately, going anywhere people congregate can boost your chances of getting sick, says Philip Tierno, Ph.D., author of The Secret Life of Germs (Atria) and director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University's Langone Medical Center.
That’s because disease-carrying bacteria and viruses live practically everywhere — shopping malls, grocery stores, playgrounds, petting zoos, restaurants. They can survive up to two hours on shopping carts, escalator handrails, even doorknobs before they find their next victim.
“We encounter about 60,000 types of germs every year, but if you’re healthy, there’s no need to fear going out in public,” Tierno says: Only 1%-2% are potentially dangerous to people with normal immunity. Plus, the body has an incredible ability to fight off germs. Special cells called neutrophils and lymphocytes (white blood cells) attack any microscopic invader.
You can also give your defense system a boost by taking steps to prevent infection. Read on for the top 8 germiest public places and ways to stay healthy:
1. Grocery store
Germiest items: Shopping cart handles and seat buckets
Watch out! Shopping cart handles are a breeding ground for infectious viruses and gut-wrenching bacteria.
“Customers may sneeze, wipe their noses, then touch the cart handles,” says Lola Stamm, M.S., Ph.D., a microbiologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
They’re also contaminated by children’s dirty hands. And by leaky meat packages that you toss into your cart. Poultry and beef can contain bacterial bombs such as salmonella, campylobacter and E. coli, which cause severe diarrhea, intestinal swelling, nausea and vomiting, she says.
“If meat packages leak onto the conveyor belt, it could contaminate the food on the conveyor as well as your hands,” Stamm says.
About 70%-80% of the shopping carts tested nationwide had E. coli, says Charles Gerba, Ph.D., a University of Arizona microbiologist who spends a lot of time studying germs in public places.
Cart kid seats are E. coli hot spots “because they hold raw food and [diaper-wearing] kids,” he says. “And nobody disinfects.”
Be careful, too, around those enticing displays of fruits and veggies.
Sprinklers used to keep produce moist may contain Legionnella, Stamm says. The bacterium can cause “a deadly respiratory tract infection, particularly in older people and others with underlying health problems.”
Germ-free fix: Use disinfecting wipes on handlebars and seats - many stores now offer these at the entrance. And be sure to wash veggies and fruits before eating them.
2. Children’s playgrounds
Germiest items: The swings, jungle gym and other equipment
Playgrounds are germ minefields. Kids touch everything they see and often put them in their mouths.
The largest threat is from fecal bacteria from bird poop on playground equipment and diaper-wearing tots, Gerba says.
Another kid-friendly hot zone: petting zoos and exhibits with animals infected with E. coli, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Germ-free fix: Wash hands thoroughly or use hand sanitizer after returning from playground, using the bathroom and changing diapers. (Rub hands together for 20 seconds under clean running water, the CDC advises.)
3. Public restrooms
Germiest item: Sink
Most women worry about public toilets. Well, you can sit a little easier now: The porcelain throne is not the biggest restroom offender.
It’s the sink.
Bacteria swarm on the sink tap or faucet handles, Gerba says, because we touch them right after using the toilet.
Also, “the sink tap is a wet, moist environment,” so bacteria can survive there longer, he says.
Watch out for soap dispensers, too, because they’re handled by many filthy hands, Stamm says.
Airplane bathrooms are especially germy because they’re small and used by lots of people, says Gerba, who found E. coli on faucets and door handles in the dozens of samples from airborne restrooms.
In fact, an airplane’s faucet may be a greater threat than those in other public restrooms because the water is timed, so fliers have to touch them frequently to wash their hands properly, he says.
So what’s the cleanest part of a bathroom?
The toilet: About 48% of American women use covers or toilet paper to cover the seat, Gerba says.
Germ-free fix: Avoid touching moist surfaces and wash hands thoroughly after touching sink faucets and soap dispensers. And use a paper towel to turn the water off.
4. Offices
Germiest items: Telephones and desks
In a study of 113 work surfaces in offices in five of the nation’s big cities, Gerba found more than 25,000 bacteria hitching a ride on telephones. Desks and computer keyboards followed close behind.
In fact, your desk has 400 times more germs than a toilet seat, Gerba says. Why?
People don’t disinfect surfaces in offices, he says.
Another danger zone: Inside desk drawers, where workers stash food.
“Germs find plenty to snack on,” he says, like moldy fruit and opened bags of chips or crackers.
When it comes to germs, women are not the fairer sex. Bacterial levels in women’s offices were nearly three times higher than in men’s.
“Women seemed to have more stuff in their offices, from makeup bags to pictures of family and purses on their desks,” Gerba says.
Germ-free fix: Once a day, wipe down your desk, phone and keyboard with anti-bacterial wipes or cleaners.
5. Restaurants
Germiest items: Table surface, high chairs
No, contaminated food isn’t the biggest threat at restaurants — it’s the rag used to wipe the table “clean."
When busboys wipe down a table or chairs, their dirty rags may be spreading a small film of E. coli, he says.
They should put disinfectant on the rag after each use, but Gerba’s studies show that the same cloth was used on more than a dozen tables before it was disinfected.
High chairs harbor fecal bacteria too, because they hold diaper-wearing tots.
Germ-free fix: Carry sanitary wipes to swipe the tabletop and high chair when you’re seated.
6. Libraries
Germiest items: Countertops and surfaces
Libraries appear to be tidy, sterile places, but they crawl with as many germs as a fast-food restaurant.
Why so filthy? Lots of people shuffle through and peruse books, log on to computers and touch countertops, Gerba says.
Germ-free fix: Use hand sanitizer or wash your hands after thumbing through books or touching countertops.
7. Cruise ships
Germiest item: Handrails
Cruise ships are like floating cities, packed with thousands of people in a small space. That also makes them infection incubators.
From 2001-2005, gastrointestinal illness on ships increased 25.6%, according to a CDC study: The culprit? Norovirus.
Some of the largest outbreaks occurred in 2002-2006, when new strains of norovirus emerged,” says Capt. Jaret Ames, chief of the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program.
Noroviruses, which cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, are resistant to routine cleaning procedures and they’re easily transmitted in places people congregate, such as dining rooms, drinking fountains and shared restrooms.
Trouble is, they’re hard to avoid on a cruise ship.
“As soon as you step out of the cabin you’re in public area,” Ames points out.
Handrails pose the biggest infection risk because they’re among the first surfaces passengers touch when they board ship, Ames says. The viruses are most often brought on board by embarking passengers and crew.
A recent study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases found that the cleanliness of a cruise ship's public restrooms may predict subsequent norovirus outbreaks. Researchers found that only 37% of 273 randomly selected public restrooms on cruise ships were cleaned daily. One researcher noted that there was a substantial risk for washed hands to become contaminated when the passenger exits the restroom, as only 35% of restroom exit knobs or pulls were cleaned daily.
Germ-free fix: Wash hands frequently throughout the day and before touching your mouth or face, especially when smoking and eating.
8. Malls
Germiest item: Escalator handles
How often do you hang onto the escalator handrails while catching a ride at a shopping mall or airport?
Hands off: They’re teeming with germs, according to a study published in a 2005 issue of the International Journal of Environmental Health Research. Scientists took samples from dozens of escalator handrails across the country and found 19% showed high bacterial contamination.
“The sheer volume of people who touch escalator handles makes it a bacteria hot spot,” Gerba says.
Germ-free fix: Don’t touch them. But if you do, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer afterward.
Is Your Hygiene Heinous?
Good hygiene cannot be underestimated - your health, not to mention reputation, depends on it.
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