Health Habits

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Posts Tagged ‘health’

Did You Take Your Vitamin D This Morning?

November 19th, 2009

vitamin-D

Winter is on the way people.

And along with the frigid temperatures and slushy sidewalks, winter means less sunshine.

And less sunshine means less Vitamin D.

And, according to this study, less Vitamin D means you have an increased risk of stroke, heart disease and death.

The Study

For more than a year, the Intermountain Medical Center research team followed 27,686 patients who were 50 years of age or older with no prior history of cardiovascular disease. The participants had their blood Vitamin D levels tested during routine clinical care. The patients were divided into three groups based on their Vitamin D levels – normal (over 30 nanograms per milliliter), low (15-30 ng/ml), or very low (less than 15 ng/ml). The patients were then followed to see if they developed some form of heart disease.

Researchers found that patients with very low levels of Vitamin D were 77 percent more likely to die, 45 percent more likely to develop coronary artery disease, and 78 percent were more likely to have a stroke than patients with normal levels. Patients with very low levels of Vitamin D were also twice as likely to develop heart failure than those with normal Vitamin D levels.

The researchers concluded “that among patients 50 years of age or older, even a moderate deficiency of Vitamin D levels was associated with developing coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and death,” she says. “This is important because Vitamin D deficiency is easily treated.

If increasing levels of Vitamin D can decrease some risk associated with these cardiovascular diseases, it could have a significant public health impact. When you consider that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America, you understand how this research can help improve the length and quality of people’s lives.”

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So, did you take your Vitamin D today?

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What does Healthy Look Like?

November 19th, 2009

According to research out of the UK, the color of a person’s skin affects how healthy and therefore how attractive they appear.

And since the color of a person’s skin is directly influenced by the quality of their diet, the researchers concluded that your diet may be crucial to achieving the most desirable complexion and therefore maximizing your attractiveness.

So, it’s true…you are what you eat.

Or, in this case, you’re as attractive as you eat.

Note - Researchers were looking exclusively at Caucasian test subjects. The research was not concerned with racially differentiated skin colors.

The Study

Using specialist computer software, a total of 54 Caucasian participants of both sexes were asked to manipulate the skin color of male and female Caucasian faces to make them look as healthy as possible. They chose to increase the rosiness, yellowness and brightness of the skin.

“Most previous work on faces has focused on the shape of the face or the texture of the skin, but one of the most variable characteristics of the face is skin color,” said Dr. Ian Stephen who is now at the University of Bristol.

“We knew from our previous work that people who have more blood and more oxygen color in their skins looked healthy, and so we decided to see what other colors affect health perceptions.

Skin that is slightly flushed with blood and full of oxygen suggests a strong heart and lungs, supporting the study’s findings that rosier skin appeared healthy. Smokers and people with diabetes or heart disease have fewer blood vessels in their skin, and so skin would appear less rosy.

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The preference for more golden or ‘yellow-toned’ skin as healthier might be explained by the ‘carotenoid pigments’ that we get from the fruit and vegetables in our diet. These plant pigments are powerful antioxidants that soak up dangerous compounds produced when the body combats disease. They are also important for our immune and reproductive systems and may help prevent cancer.

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They are the same dietary pigments that brightly colored birds and fish use to show off their healthiness and attract mates, and the researchers think that similar biological mechanisms may be at work in humans.

“In the West we often think that sun tanning is the best way to improve the color of your skin,” said Ian Stephen, “but our research suggests that living a healthy lifestyle with a good diet might actually be better.”

Melanin, the pigment that causes the tan color when skin is exposed to the sun makes the skin darker and more yellow, but participants in the study chose to make skin lighter and more yellow to make it look healthier.

Conclusion

Beauty = Health

And until all of us start carrying our health records around with us, we will have to rely on our ancient “lizard brains” to determine if another person looks healthy and therefore attractive.

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We (almost) have the technology to make you leaner, stronger, fitter…

November 18th, 2009

Back in the 70s, Colonel Steve Austin was the Six Million Dollar Man…a NASA astronaut nearly killed during a test flight.

But, luckily for him, NASA had the technology to rebuild him…better than he was before..better..stronger..faster

And luckily for all of us, we are pretty close to having the technology to help make us leaner..stronger..fitter…and healthier.

Thanks to researchers at St. Louis University, we may soon have access to smartphone applications that will help us transform our bodies from fat to fit.

And I am not talking about first generation apps that tell you the number of calories in a Big Mac or produce a generic computer generated workout.

CADA interface

I am talking about software that is being used currently on a group of elderly Chinese diabetic patients (not necessarily the most tech-savvy group on the planet).

This new technology uses interactive smartphone games and various logging features to help the elderly diabetics manage their health and learn more about their condition.

Initial studies of the interactive diabetes self-management system, called the Chinese Aged Diabetic Assistant (CADA), are promising, researchers found. The system enables diabetics to track their blood glucose, weight, diet, exercise, mood and blood pressure – valuable information that will assist their doctors in providing the best care possible.

“This project did not start out as a gaming project, but we did a lot of groundwork – from looking at the health care infrastructure in China to conducting focus groups with older diabetics and interviewing various providers – and found that gaming was a persuasive way to engage patients in managing their personal health.”

The games vary in purpose. For example, researchers created a “food pyramid” type game, which encourages gamers to eat a balanced diet, limit high-sugar foods and watch their daily intake of fat and salt.

Applications including a trivia game and a tile matching game, in which gamers connect the necessary components for a healthy lifestyle, were popular educational choices among the test group.

While games engage and motivate the patients, smartphones makes the technology convenient.

First, smartphones are mobile, meaning patients can use them at any time or any place. They can be used as small, inexpensive computers even if no network infrastructure is in place. If connections are in place, smartphones make it easy for patients to share health information with their providers, care givers and others within personal network. Also, because many users are already mobile phone owners, including some smartphone users, adapting the technology is feasible for patients, providers and hospitals.

Smartphone technology may even offer a solution to better managing health care costs for chronic conditions, says Mark Gaynor, Ph.D., associate professor of public health at the School of Public Health.

“The only way to cut the cost of caring for people with chronic conditions is to enable the patients to self manage their health. In order to do that, though, self-management must be reasonable and easy to do. Smart phone technology makes it easy for patients to track important health information.”

So what about us non-diabetics?

There are almost endless opportunities for using smartphone technology in health care, researchers say.”Imagine walking into a McDonalds and having your cell phone recognize your location and make healthy menu recommendations – all this and more is possible with smartphone technology.” (why do they always use McDonalds as the restaurant example?)

Researchers say smartphones can make tracking one’s health easier and more convenient. In the future, CADA users will be able to share information with their providers and receive important health reminders. They are also working on Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as a scale that communicates with the phone to record and track daily measurements and a blood sugar monitor that automatically records daily readings on the phone.

And while it’s true that this technology doesn’t have the pizzazz of a pair of bionic legs, I think that its potential to integrate healthier behaviors into our day to day lives is powerful stuff.

True, it took an explosion in global obesity levels to get peoples attention, but finally, there is growing public awareness that we can and should take better care of our bodies.

And, if tools like the CADA smartphone make it easier to get fit, then maybe, just maybe, we aren’t doomed to a future where we evolve into this…

wall-e-captain-fat

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CrossTraining for Strength

November 17th, 2009

zydrunas savickas Occasionally, I still design training programs for Strongman and Powerlifting competitors.

And the hardest thing about designing those programs is that these guys never, ever want to do anything except train for strength.

No rehab/prehab work, no HIIT, no flexibility/joint mobility work and certainly no cardio.

They are all too afraid that if they do any of that stuff, they will lose strength.

Arggghhhh!!!

No matter what I say, they don’t want to listen.

So, when I read the excerpt to this study, I actually laughed out loud….and then sent out a bunch of emails beginning with “I told you so”.

The Study

Researchers compared a traditional resistance training program designed to increase strength with a CrossTraining style of program that combined strength & endurance training.

The study lasted 16 weeks and was tested on 38 sedentary, apparently healthy males (25 yr +/- 8 mo).

Subjects were age matched and assigned to 1 of 3 groups.

A control group (Con)
A resistance training group (Res)
A crosstraining group (Cross)

After 16 weeks, no changes were found in the strength of the subjects in the Con group .

But surprisingly, after 16 weeks, researchers found that both the Res group & the Cross group were equally effective at “eliciting improvements in strength”.

They concluded that “concurrent resistance and endurance training (CrossTraining) does not impede muscular strength gains and can be prescribed simultaneously for the development of strength in sedentary, apparently healthy males and thus may invoke all the physiologic adaptations of resistance and endurance training at once.

So, for all of those guys who think that doing some HIIT or (shudder) cardio is going to steal all of your strength…RELAX

Samson and Delilah - Peter Paul Rubens

CrossTraining (done properly) can give you the best of both worlds.

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Losing Weight is Simple…but it ain’t easy

November 16th, 2009

I just about got my butt kicked at the gym this weekend…by a 50-something, morbidly obese woman with a fetish for unproductive cardio workouts.

Here’s what happened.

After finishing my workout, I was chatting with some other gym members about the best ways to lose weight, get fit, etc.

During the conversation, I made the unfortunate decision to proclaim that losing weight is simple, but not easy.

Bad move on my part. Little did I know that our conversation was being overheard by the aforementioned 50-something morbidly obese cardio junkie.

And after hearing my comment, she decided to join the conversation. Unfortunately, she pretty much went nuclear.

I couldn’t make out much of what she was saying due to all of the screaming and profanity, but I think the gist of it was that:

I didn’t know what I was talking about
She had “fat” genetics and her obesity wasn’t her fault
I was prejudiced against overweight people
and then the profanity started again.

The entire gym stopped…and watched.

Fun times.

Luckily for me, I was so blissed out on my post-workout endorphins, that this verbal onslaught had little effect on my good mood, and I was able to weather the storm. And, with the help of the other gym members, we calmed her down and she actually started to listen.

Over the next 20 minutes, we discussed a lot of the lies and half-truths surrounding weight loss.

I explained that successful weight loss is as simple as:

Choosing an effective nutrition program
Choosing an effective exercise program
Learning how to control destructive thoughts & emotions.

But, it is learning how to control those thoughts and emotions that makes successful weight loss nearly impossible for a lot of people.

Ergo…simple, but not easy.

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And, believe it or not, 20 minutes after it all started, Ms. Angry Cardio Junkie and I were hugging it out…which was a little gross considering she had just finished 80 minutes of cardio.

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Fitness Equipment Deathmatch #1

November 13th, 2009

In the tradition of my Nutrition Deathmatches #1 and #2, today’s post compares and contrasts two different pieces of fitness equipment.

First up, the Wellness Belt

To be completely honest, I had never heard of the Wellness Belt until this morning when I heard a commercial for this product while listening to a radio station marketed towards Zoomers.

I could not believe what I was hearing.

According to the commercial, the Wellness Belt is the health breakthrough that every soon to be senior citizen has been waiting for.

Simply by wearing the ultra-fashionable Wellness Belt throughout your day to day activities, you will experience:

Effortless Weight Loss
The Elimination of Back Pain
A Reversal of Osteoporosis
Improved cardio-vascular fitness, a reduction in cholesterol, high blood pressure and a lowered risk of heart attack
Improved posture, reduced back pain, less intense headaches and migraines, increased neck range of motion and elimination of menstrual cramping. People with scoliosis have reported reduced tightness in the spine.
Increased free time as you never have to exercise ever again

Sounds great!!!

How do I get one?

Well, I’ll tell you.

For a limited time, you can save $30 off the regular price!!!

That’s right. For just $167.97 +s/h & applicable taxes, you too can own your very own Wellness Belt.

OR for less money, I can buy a set of 6 indestructible exercise bands and a single kettlebell.

With this equipment, I can expect to experience:

Actual Fat Loss
Increased Muscle Mass
Increased Strength
Increased Anaerobic Endurance
Improved Body Image
Improved Sex Appeal
An Improvement in many types of Pain (back, head, neck) caused by Muscular Imbalances
A Potential Improvement in Osteoporosis due to increased Osteoblast production caused by longitudinal loading of the long bones of the body.
Improved Cardio-Vascular Fitness
Increased pride as I know that I earned my new and improved body.

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What to do, what to do?

On one hand, I have a product that requires no effort, is unlikely to do anything useful and is only being purchased by the self-deluded and extremely dim-witted.

On the other hand, I have a set of products that are going to require time, effort and buckets of sweat. But in return, I am pretty sure to transform my body into something I can be proud of.

Darn it, I cant decide.

What do you think?

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What the Diet Gurus Won’t Tell You

November 12th, 2009

dietbooks2008

In under two months time, it’s going to be a brand New Year – 2010.

And a lot of you are going to make that most famous of New Years Resolutions.

I am going to lose weight.

And, most of you are going to fail…miserably.

Here’s why.

There are 3 Main Types of Weight Loss Plans

Eat Less Food
Eat Less of Specific Types of Food (most commonly Carbs or Fat)
Get More Exercise

And of course, most of the so-called “diet-experts” mix and match these three main plans to come up with their proprietary “miracle” weight loss program.

So, how come, year after year, millions of people:

Start a new diet
Quit that diet
Try another diet
Quit that diet
etc, etc, etc…

Don’t they have any will power?

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Of course, they have will power. Just as much as anybody else. Just as much as that skinny guy or gal that can’t quit smoking or gambling or watching too much reality tv.

Problem is, will power isn’t enough for most dieters.

Not when you consider the following list of factors that make dieting a can’t-win proposition for most people.

Health Habit’s List of Diet Killers

When dieters eat less food:

Their metabolism slows down
Specific brain chemicals increase appetite
Their “obesity” hormones join with those brain chemicals and appetite becomes an insatiable hunger
Neural pathways created by years of poor eating habits are abandoned (that’s good).
New (diet-friendly) neural pathways are created (once again – good)
Unfortunately, the old pathways are designed like super-highways while the new ones are more like bike trails. One bad meal and the old pathways come back online and the diet is broken.
Psychologically, the elimination of their standard diet results in feelings of loss & punishment.
Emotionally, dieters feel like they are being punished.
Socially, friends & family members often (unconsciously) try to sabotage the diet.

When dieters restrict food groups:

Metabolism may or may not slow down - metabolism is mainly affected by caloric intake and, to some extent, the amount of protein consumed.
The brain chemicals and hormones cry out for the restricted food.
Neural pathways are affected in the same way as above.
Psychologically, we see similar feelings of deprivation.
Same emotional response
Same social response amongst family members.
Amongst casual acquaintances, the social response can be even worse. In social situations (parties, restaurants) dieters who avoid carbs or fats can be perceived by others as being “difficult”
Low-fat dieters can suffer in a myriad number of ways. Impaired hormone production, damaged hair, skin & nails, alleriges, systemic inflammation, etc…
Low-carb dieters often suffer at first from the lack of readily available sugar as a fuel source. Over time, this problem resolves itself.
Unfortunately, the lack of fiber in the low-carb diet often doesn’t resolve itself. And we all know what a lack of fiber can do to a person’s bathroom habits.

When exercise is the sole weight loss method:

Exercise does all sorts of great things for your body – (improves mood, body image, strength, flexibility, general health, etc), but as the saying goes, you can’t out-train a bad diet. It is way too easy to eat 500 calories of delicious chocolate cake than it is to burn off 500 calories of body-fat.
And, to make things worse, studies have shown that exercise increases hunger.

And the problems get even worse for repeat dieters.

After numerous failed attempts at weight loss, these poor souls have created super-thick neural pathways dedicated exclusively to dietary failure.

They just don’t believe they can succeed.

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Seems pretty grim, doesn’t it?

So, what are we going to do?

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Here’s what I do for my clients.

Choose a diet/meal plan that keeps their metabolism humming along.
Choose a diet/meal plan that meshes well with their personality & their lifestyle
Create an exercise plan that boosts metabolism and makes them fitter, stronger & lighter.
Prepare them mentally and emotionally for the challenge that they face. Let them know that their hormones and neural pathways and brain chemicals want them to stay fat. But that with diet and various psychological tools, they can overcome their physiology.
Help them re-frame how they see their diet. Instead of eating for convenience, they’re eating for nutrition. Instead of missing out on ice cream, they’re upping their sex appeal. Instead of being normal, they’re becoming better – healthier, fitter, stronger, sexier.
Make them understand that this is a challenge that they can win. Others have faced the same challenge and have succeeded. I lend them my confidence. Every day I see people succeed & fail at weight loss. I have built some massive neural pathways when it comes to my belief in successful weight loss. I just need them to believe that I believe. Weird, but true.

So, come this January, what are you going to do?

Buy the latest bestselling diet book?

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I know that this post barely scratched the surface of a complex subject. And I am sure that I will be writing more about it in the coming months.

But, if you have any questions, feel free to comment or shoot me an email.

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The No Excuses Workout

November 11th, 2009

pushup desk
This workout is designed for all of those people who say they would like to exercise, but when push comes to shove:

they don’t have enough money for a gym membership, or
they can’t run because they have bad knees, or
they don’t have enough space in their tiny bachelor apartment.

It’s my No Excuses Workout.

Program Goals:

Improved Aerobic & Anaerobic Fitness
Accelerated Fat Loss
Increased Muscular Strength
Correction of Typical Muscular Imbalances

The workout consists of 2 workouts that can be performed twice per week for a total of 4 workouts

The remaining 3 days of the week can be devoted to the walking program outlined in Boomer Bodyweight Workout #1

WORKOUT #1

Superset #1

Perform the following two exercises back to back for 5 minutes with no rest between sets

Chair Squats – Maximum 20 reps per set
Push-Ups – Maximum 10 reps per set – choose a push-up version that matches your level of fitness

Superset #2

Perform the following two exercises back to back for 5 minutes with no rest between sets

1 Leg Deadlift – Maximum 10 reps per leg
Bodyweight Row using kitchen table – Maximum 20 reps

Superset #3

Perform the following two exercises back to back for 5 minutes with no rest between sets

Shuffle Lunge – Maximum 30 reps total for both legs
Plank – Work up to 60 seconds

Repeat all 3 supersets 2 to 3 times

One complete circuit of all 3 supersets takes 15 minutes + any rest you take between supersets. Two circuits will take 30 min +. Three circuits will take 45 min+

It’s important to keep rest to an absolute minimum. This is how you are getting the aerobic benefit of the workout.

WORKOUT #2

Superset #1

Perform the following two exercises back to back for 5 minutes with no rest between sets

1 or 2 Leg Hip Thrusts – Maximum 20 reps total for both legs

Bodyweight Tricep Extensions – Maximum 10 reps

Superset #2

Perform the following two exercises back to back for 5 minutes with no rest between sets

Bulgarian Split Squats – Maximum 10 reps per leg

Bear Crawls – Crawl 5 yards forward, reverse and crawl 5 yards backward

Superset #3

Perform the following two exercises back to back for 5 minutes with no rest between sets

Reverse Lunges – Maximum 10 reps per leg

Plank – Work up to 60 seconds

Repeat all 3 supersets 2 to 3 times

One complete circuit of all 3 supersets takes 15 minutes + any rest you take between supersets. Two circuits will take 30 min +. Three circuits will take 45 min+

It’s important to keep rest to an absolute minimum. This is how you are getting the aerobic benefit of the workout.

And remember to go at your own pace. The goal is to get healthy.

If you are a beginner, it is most important to learn how to perform the exercise well before picking up the intensity. Use some common sense people.

For advanced trainees, focus on reducing rest time and increasing the difficulty of the exercise.

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Transformation #1 – the Healthy Irishman – Workouts #2 & 3

November 10th, 2009

The transformation of the Healthy Irishman (and bro) continues

Todays workout is a HIIT session
Tomorrows workout is a resistance training session

And they’re both going to be nasty workouts

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Sesame Street v.s. Childhood Obesity

November 10th, 2009

grover sesame street exercise

Sesame Street has joined the battle against childhood obesity.

First, it was Grover getting into the gym and pumping some iron.

Then, it was the Cookie Monster kicking his cookie addiction and switching to a diet heavy on fruits and vegetables.

Things were looking good in this battle between fit and fat.

Unfortunately, not everyone believed in the cause. There were traitors amongst us….

Cookie Monster Defends His Honor Vs. Colbert – Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

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But luckily, for every Stephen Colbert, there is a Michelle Obama, willing to stand up against video games and Twinkies and Big Gulps.

On this weeks 40th anniversary show, First Lady Michelle Obama helped a group of children plant a vegetable garden on Sesame Street.

And just like those vegetable seeds will eventually take root and grow into mature plants, let’s hope that the message of eating healthy and exercising daily will take root in the minds of a new generation of Sesame Street viewers.
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