Choose Your Drink Wisely

Whether you drink sugar-sweetened or diet soda, new research suggests you may want to opt for H2O instead.

Cardiovascular Risk – Daily diet-soda drinker had a significantly higher risk of heart attacks and strokes than nondrinkers over an average 10-year follow up, a Columbia and University of Miami study reports.

Higher-Blood Pressure – for each 12-oz. serving of sugar-sweetened soda or fruit drink, sippers had a bump in blood pressure reported in a multi-university study.

Number 1 Nut

When it comes to antioxidants walnuts outscored eight other types of nuts in a recent analysis. They also have more of the healthy fats that are especially good for your heart. To reap the benefits you need to eat about seven walnuts a day.

What Liquids to Drink in Order to Lose Weight

What to drink is a problem for many people who are on a diet. Many people seem to then to draw a distinction between food calories and liquid calories. This means that someone who dieted fastidiously and worked out could sabotage his/her own efforts simply by drinking a big glass of high-calorie orange juice. Fortunately there are some drinks you can drink that can help, or at least not harm your weight-loss efforts.

Water-Simple water is the best liquid to take in both for weight loss and simple health. It delivers exactly what your body needs: water. It contains no calories, sodium, sugars or bad fats. Water also fills your stomach for free, helping you curb hunger and eat less at meals.
When you consume a cold drinks in your body, you burn about one calorie per ounce to warm the body temperature. Although eight calories per cup doesn’t seem like much, it’s an easy way to get just a little edge on your weight loss with each and every glass your drink. I recommend both ice water and unsweetened iced tea for this method, as neither drink carries any calories.

There a number of diet teas that purport to help you lose weight. Some of teas include stimulants similar to those found in diet pills or even laxatives to help excrete your way to losing weight. Diet spotlight reports that green tea, not specialized diet tea, has undergone a wide clinical study. Some of those studies found that green tea produces a thermogenic response in the body, boosting the metabolic rate by slightly raising body temperature. Your metabolism regulates how fast you burn calories, so green tea can lead to weight loss. Green tea also contains, a stimulant used in many diet pills, but it’s all natural.

Being a Nutritionist, I’ve found that sometimes nutrition can sometimes be difficult when you’re on a diet. Your limited calorie budget can make it hard to eat all the vitamins and minerals you need. Often high in calories, a nutrition or meal replacement shake can deliver the things your body needs quickly and efficiently, often in fewer calories than you would need to get the same benefit by eating food. Finding the right protein can be found with the help of a Nutritionist and/or Professional Personal Trainer.

"My Favorite Things List" "My Happy Planet Health Shots, Skin Nutrition, Glow

2.5 fl. oz.
Dietary Supplement. All-natural beauty drink. Be radiant inside and out. Glow adds to your overall hotness factor with ingredients like Coenzyme Q10, a natural antioxidant which helps your body fight free radicals. And everybody can use some more beta carotene and vitamin E & D. Let your inner beauty shine! No sugar added. No artificial preservatives. Recommended use: Glow is formulated to promote healthy skin and good health from within, by improving circulation and providing antioxidants for good health. (These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.) Made in Canada.
Ingredients
Other Ingredients: Filtered Water, Grape Juice from Concentrate, Lemon Juice from Concentrate, Natural Flavours, and Citric Acid.
Warnings
Not recommended for children, pregnant or breast feeding women or those taking blood pressure medication. Discontinue use and consult a health care practitioner if any adverse reactions occur. Do not consume if seal is broken.
Directions
Recommended Dose: Drink 1 bottle daily. Suitable for use year round. Our natural ingredients may settle in the bottom of the bottle so please shake well before opening.

Found at Whole Foods Market

6 Foods That Fight Heart Disease

6 Foods That Fight Heart Disease
Keeping your heart in tiptop shape doesn't necessarily mean popping a cholesterol-lowering statin tablet each day. One strategy, I’ve found that works as an alternative is eating foods that have been proven to fight heart disease; they are prescription-free and delicious, and can keep your heart healthy without risky side effects.

Chocolate:

Many studies today have found that heart attack survivors who ate chocolate two or more times a week slashed their risk of dying from heart disease by threefold. German researchers have also found that eating only one square of dark chocolate a week lowered the risk of heart attack and stroke by 39 percent. Other studies have also found that chocolate lowers blood pressure and improves blood flow. The high levels of antioxidants in chocolate seem to be the most likely candidates for chocolate's heart-healthy benefits.

High Cocoa Content Makes Dark Chocolate Healthy

Why does the cocoa content have to be so high? Because most of the healthy chocolate antioxidants in cocoa beans are destroyed by traditional processing methods. They're bitter, so they're fermented, roasted, and processed out. Who knew? These methods were developed to enhance taste not nutrition.

So how much cocoa do you need? You need a high cocoa content of at least 70% to make up for the loss. More cocoa means more beneficial chocolate antioxidants are likely to be in the bar or product.

             More Chocolate Antioxidants Retained
But what if you don't enjoy chocolate that dark (70% cocoa or more)? Maybe the new ways to process cocoa developed by Mars (Dove®), Barry Callebaut, and Natraceutical will let you enjoy chocolate with benefits.

These methods retain more of the antioxidants found in the cocoa bean. That should mean less cocoa needed and a milder flavor, right? But it's going to cost you more. Remember you can't put a price on good health, that's your insurance company's job.

All you really need to remember is that dark chocolate is healthy when it contains lots of cocoa. A bar with very little is just candy. So pick a product with a cocoa content of at least 70%, rich in flavor and flavonoids. A truly rare combination!

Alcohol.

Evidence is mounting that moderate drinking helps reduce the risk of heart disease. (Lol, let me expound on that a bit….Moderate drinking is defined as three to seven drinks each week for women and three to fourteen drinks weekly for men.) A recent study found that moderate drinking lowered the risk of cardiovascular death by 38 percent. Light drinkers (men or women who had three or fewer drinks a week) lowered their risk by 31 percent. However, this does include mixed drinks.

Fish

Fatty fish, such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel, contain omega-3 fatty acids, which studies have shown decrease the risk of abnormal heartbeats. They also lower blood pressure, decrease triglyceride levels, and slow the growth of atherosclerotic plaque. A recent study from the University of Athens in Greece found that eating fish once or twice a week helps preserve heart function in those patients who suffer from heart failure. The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of fatty fish each week.

Tea

A British study found that drinking one cup of tea each day could cut the risk of heart attack almost in half. In addition, a Greek study found that green tea dilated arteries in the heart and allowed blood to flow more freely, which may help protect from blood clots. But skip the milk: A German study found that although tea without milk prevents cardiovascular disease, adding milk counteracts the heart-healthy benefits.

Nuts

Many studies have shown that nuts lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol, reduce the risk of developing blood clots, and improve the lining of arteries. Almost every type of nut is healthy, says the Mayo Clinic, but walnuts have been studied many times and have been found to contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. A daily handful of almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts are also healthy, “ONLY” a handful.

Cranberries

Researcher’s at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania found that drinking three glasses of cranberry juice daily for a month significantly raised HDL ("good") cholesterol by 10 percent and lowered the risk of heart disease by 40 percent. Cranberries may even help those with genes for high cholesterol.

Life Sometimes Gets in the Way!!!

Sorry, about being away, but life did get in the way. I'm now back up and ready to go. Got a lot to share, hope you are there listening.

WellnessLady Blogger

America's Health Crisis NOT at it's Best!

Almost everybody knows modern America is in the midst of an all-you-can eat food fest that ha us literally busting at the seams. We are eating ourselves into sickness and premature death, but we also have a serious health care crisis with upward spiraling medical care costs. This type of thinking is affecting our children and the future of our country. It is weighing down our economy, sending many of our jobs overseas and pulling our nation into an economic downspin that will be almost impossible to recover from.

The economic costs of heart disease and other diet-related chronic diseases are staggering. Health care cost has increased over 70% since 2005 and our nation's medical costs now exceeds 5 trillion, over 6 times the amount spent on national defense. Though my blogs are normally health related and I can't help but mention about the business side of our economy, (in my opinion). These out-of-control costs play an important role in business failures, bankruptcies and loss of jobs. More than 50% of defaults on mortgages and rentals are the result of medical debt. We also have a major epidemic with "the changing faces" of the homeless. Well, that’s enough of my observations on that.

The Obesity Epidemic

Nutritionally-caused disease is now the largest of death throughout the world and for the first time globally the number of overweight individuals rivals the number of those who are underweight. Over the recent years, the growth of processed foods, convenience foods and fast foods has supplied high calorie foods with little nutrients to feed a relatively sedentary society.

In all regions, obesity appears to escalate as many incomes decrease or stay the same. Nowhere has the problem become larger than it is in American where we have the largest waistline in the world. In the United States, being overweight is now considered as the norm and almost all adults eventually get put on medications for their heart, diabetes, cholesterol or blood pressure. The number of obese Americans is higher than those who smoke. We now see less commercials banning smoking, use of illegal drugs or sufferings from other physical ailments. Obesity is a major risk factor associated with highly prevalent and serious diseases, such as heart disease (the #1 killer of women, killing 43% more African American Women than any other race), cancer and diabetes and the diet-style that creates these diseases fuel our out-of-control medical costs.

The average woman in America today weighs 50 pounds more than women did 80 years ago and has a considerably higher rate of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer to show for it. The rate of sudden cardiac death for the average American male has quadrupled in the past 70 years, and his risk of heart attack is ten time higher. Both sexes, on average, are 30 pounds heavier today than they were in the 1970’s. But it not just about weight, the problems are much bigger.