Striving4Zen

The Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI) is algorithm designed to generate a single, summative score for the “overall nutritional quality” of a food based on it's micronutrient and macronutrient composition and several other of its nutritional properties (e.g., energy density). The ONQI is further designed to stratify foods into a rank order of relative nutritiousness both universally (i.e., across all food categories) and within specific food categories (e.g., breads, cereals, frozen desserts, etc.), while avoiding the characterization of any food as “good” or “bad” in absolute terms.

The ONQI enables the “average shopper” to choose foods on the basis of overall nutritional quality with the ease and fidelity of top nutrition experts.

It is designed to have applications at point of purchase in retail supermarkets, on food packaging, in restaurants, in print materials (e.g., books, periodicals), and on-line.

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Labels: ONQI

Rather than dealing with the problems inherent in a disease-ridden factory-farmed food system, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in mid-September it will allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach. Food irradiation is the controversial practice of bombarding food with high levels of x-rays (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. Unfortunately, in the process of irradiation, other hazards arise, like the creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of carcinogenic chemicals.

While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets (see symbol above right), there are currently no labeling requirements whatsoever for restaurants, schools, hospitals, or nursing homes serving irradiated produce or other nuked foods such as beef. Over the past decade, OCA and our allies in the organic community have prevented corporate agribusiness and the nuclear industry from contaminating organic standards. Food irradiation is prohibited on any product labeled as "organic." There is currently a 30 day comment period for the FDA's new rule.

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Labels: FDA, irradation, organic, toxic, vegetables

Any of Alabama's more than 35,000 state employees will be charged $25 per month for insurance that's usually free if they're too fat and don't work on losing the extra weight by January 2010, the Associated Press reported Monday.

While other states reward workers who meet criteria for what's considered healthy, Alabama would be the first state to penalize those who qualify as obese. The monthly charge would apply to any state employee with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or greater who "doesn't make progress" in slimming down, the wire service said. The state has yet to determine how much progress an employee would have to demonstrate.

A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. A person who is 5-feet, 6-inches tall and weighs 220 pounds would have a BMI of 35.5, the AP said.

The wire service cited statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that Alabama ranks second in the nation behind Mississippi as the state with the biggest weight problem. Nearly one-third of Alabamians are obese.

The director of Alabama's State Employees' Insurance Board said that a person with a BMI of 35 to 39 faces about $1,750 more in medical expenses each year than a person with a BMI of less than 25.

Alabama already charges a premium to state workers who smoke.

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Labels: great idea, health trend, innovative, Obesity, study

Starbucks is rolling out a serious reinvention of its breakfast food.

The more nutrition-friendly food — fewer calories, more protein, fiber and fruit — will show up Sept. 3 on the breakfast menu at most of the 11,570 locations in the U.S. and Canada. Six new items include hot oatmeal, an energy bar and a whole-grain apple bran muffin with fruit pieces.

Starbucks plans to revamp its lunch and dinner menus, too, in 2009. The goal is to lure back core customers who are visiting its stores less often and spending less when they do.

Industry consultant Malcolm Knapp says, "Starbucks is following a fundamental trend: People want to eat better-for-you food that tastes good."

Full article

Labels: breakfast, health trend, oatmeal, Starbuck's

New drink specially designed to give you all the benefits of red wine without the alcohol, all-natural Embodi is the only healthy drink to take advantage of the full antioxidant power of the red wine grape.

Perfect for those who want more out of life.

Labels: antioxidant, drinks, new product, red wine, resveratrol

Witch hazel is a naturally derived extract made from the bark and leaves of the North American Hamamelis virginiana shrub which grows from Nova Scotia west to Ontario, and south to Texas, and Florida. Native American Indians used witch hazel for a variety of medicinal purposes. Today it is sold primarily in an alcohol solution under brand names such as Dickinson’s.

There are two theories to account for witch hazel’s astringent properties. First, it is rich in tannins which in theory can cause a mild coagulation of skin proteins. This coagulation can dry, harden, and protect the skin. Second, witch hazel is typically prepared in alcohol which has a cooling effect on skin due to its low heat of evaporation. This cooling effect can cause a temporary contraction of the skin that feels astringent. Neither of these temporary firming mechanisms have a long term effect and are not likely to produce a “rebound” condition in which your skin will become even more loose.

Finally, it’s interesting to note that witch hazel is well studied for its skin protective properties. Pubmed is full of references including one that evaluates witch hazel’s ability to treat diaper rash.

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Labels: natural products, skin care, witch hazel

Herbs and spices are rich in antioxidants, and they are also potent inhibitors of tissue damage and inflammation caused by high levels of blood sugar.

When researchers tested extracts from 24 common herbs and spices, they found a direct correlation between antioxidant phenol content and the ability of the extracts to block the formation of compounds that contribute to damage caused by diabetes and aging.

Spices such as cloves and cinnamon have phenol levels that are 30% and 18% of dry weight, respectively, while herbs such as oregano and sage are 8 and 6% phenol by dry weight. Blueberries, which are widely touted for their antioxidant capabilities, contain roughly 5% phenol by dry weight.

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Labels: antioxidant, cinnamon, cloves, healing with food, healthy diet, phenols, spices

Nostrums that promise to smooth wrinkled skin are a staple of snake-oil salesmen everywhere, but now there is strong evidence that certain kinds of treatment are effective. Over the past decade, researchers have been learning which treatments work, and why.

The key is a growing understanding of the skin’s connective tissue, called the dermal collagen, and a recognition that damage to the mechanical properties of the collagen outside the skin cells, and not necessarily genetic damage to the cells themselves, causes wrinkled skin.

A recent review in The Archives of Dermatology concludes that three anti-aging treatments are proven clinically effective: the topical application of retinol; carbon dioxide laser resurfacing; and injection of hyaluronic acid, a moisture-retaining acid that occurs naturally in the skin. Each depends on the same mechanism, the interaction of skin cells called fibroblasts with the collagen they produce.

“This is an area where there’s a lot of hype and not much substance,” said David J. Leffell, a professor of dermatology and surgery at Yale who was not involved in the review. But, he said, this study is “good science.”

Theory and experiment back these treatments, the authors write. Fibroblasts — connective tissue cells — secrete a complex group of polysaccharides and proteins that creates collagen, which gives the skin shape and elasticity and supports the blood vessels that permeate it. The network of collagen tissue is maintained by its mechanical tension with these skin cells.

Skin deteriorates as it ages, but its exposure to sunlight inhibits the ability of fibroblasts to produce collagen. The hands, face, neck and upper chest all suffer more than unexposed skin, and light-pigmented people wrinkle more readily than others. This damage, the authors write, is essentially an accelerated version of chronological aging. Ultraviolet radiation induces production of the same enzymes that degrade collagen with age.

Collagen fibers last as long as 30 years. But with age and ultraviolet exposure, they deteriorate and fragment, and fragmented collagen impairs the collagen-producing function of the fibroblasts that created it. As the fragmented collagen accumulates, new collagen production declines, the connections between the fibroblasts and the collagen weaken, and the skin, now lacking support, begins to wrinkle.

But there are treatments that counter this process. Topical application of retinol, a form of vitamin A, was the first to be proved useful. Although the molecular pathways are not well understood, retinol causes new collagen to form in chronologically aged skin and in skin damaged by ultraviolet light.

Skin creams with retinol are available over the counter, but many do not indicate the concentration of the active ingredient. “Many products just refer to retinol or vitamin A as a buzzword,” said Gary J. Fisher, the lead author of the review and a professor of dermatology at the University of Michigan.

Concentrations of 0.2 to 0.6 percent are enough, Dr. Fisher said, but preparations strong enough to have an effect can also have a side effect, a rash called retinoid dermatitis. Dr. Fisher’s advice is to stop using it if a rash occurs. The rash can sometimes be avoided if the concentration is increased gradually.

Retinol also makes the skin more sensitive to damage from ultraviolet light, so protection from the sun while using it is essential. “O.T.C. products tend to try to walk the line between effects and side effects,” Dr. Fisher said. “But many intentionally keep the concentration too low to have any benefit.”

Dr. Robyn S. Gmyrek, an assistant professor of dermatology at Columbia University, is also skeptical of over-the-counter wrinkle creams. “If something shows true biological activity, it’s regulated as a drug,” she said. “A cream bought over the counter is certainly not going to do what prescription-strength retinol will do.” Dr. Gmyrek was not involved in the study.

Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing is another well-tested treatment for wrinkles. The laser removes thin layers of skin without damaging surrounding tissue. As the wound heals, new collagen is produced. The treatment works first by inducing high levels of matrix metalloproteinase, or MMP, an enzyme that destroys fragmented collagen. Then it reduces MMP and increases the production of new and undamaged replacement material. The procedure is also used for removing scars, warts and birthmarks.

Healing takes two to three weeks, and the wound has to be cleaned with saline or diluted vinegar and treated with ointments to prevent scarring. In most cases, the procedure is done only once, Dr. Fisher said, and lasts many years.

There are now some less invasive laser procedures, the authors write, but their effectiveness is doubtful.

The third effective treatment is injecting a form of hyaluronic acid, similar to a substance the skin normally produces, into the dermis that underlies the wrinkles. This was originally designed as a space filler, with no intended physiological effect. But as the injection stretches the dermis, the fibroblasts respond by producing more collagen and less MMP. The authors cite studies that have demonstrated that increased collagen production is visible within a month after the injection. The benefit lasts about six months, Dr. Fisher said.

This type of hyaluronic acid, he said, should not be confused with hyaluronic acid in some topical cosmetic products. Rubbing such products on the skin will not stimulate collagen production.

Do the benefits of these treatments outweigh the risks?

“It’s a matter of the kind of problem a person perceives and how he wants to deal with it,” Dr. Fisher said. “For these treatments, which have sound research behind them, and for people who want to improve their appearance, the benefits far outweigh any problems.”

The authors have no ties to companies that make skin care products, but the University of Michigan, where they teach, has patents on the use of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors in the treatment and prevention of aging skin.

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Labels: Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing, collagen, hyaluronic acid, MMP, plastic surgery, retinol, skin care, wrinkles

Inflammation is linked to bad digestion, arthritis, heart disease and other ailments. Luckily, a naturally anti-inflammatory diet can help, says Ashley Koff, RD, author of Recipes for IBS.

Here are her tips for getting started:

Spice it up! Nature gives us potent anti-inflammatory weapons in the form of turmeric (curcumin) and ginger. Experiment with other spices for flavor and anti-bacterial properties.

Get protein from vegetable sources and grass-fed animals. Think quinoa, millet, pumpkin seeds, hemp, flax, walnuts, lentils and beans. When eating animals, choose lean sources like grass-fed chicken, eggs, buffalo, and wild fish like sardines and salmon (avoid fish high in mercury).

Consume natural sugar. Skip sweeteners and products with high fructose corn syrup and instead enjoy the natural sweetness and healing nutrients of fruits.

Eat foods instead of food products. Avoid preservatives, hormones, chemicals and partially hydrogenated oils in favor of healthy fats like those in avocado, walnuts, hemp and chia.

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Labels: eating healthy, healing with food, healthy diet, inflammation

America's latest drinking problem isn't about alcohol.

Concerned about the cost of bottled water -- and its environmental consequences -- many people are turning back to tap water to quench their thirst. But as evidence mounts of contaminants in public systems, unease about the water supply is growing.

Engineers say that U.S. water quality is among the world's best and is regulated by some of the most stringent standards. But as detection technology improves, utilities are finding more contaminants in water systems. Earlier this year, media reports of trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in water across the country drew attention from U.S. senators and environmental groups, who are now pushing for regulation of these substances in water systems.

Of particular concern, experts say, are endocrine-disrupting compounds -- found in birth-control pills, mood-stabilizers and other drugs -- which are linked to birth defects in wildlife. Also alarming are antibiotics, which if present in water systems, even in small amounts, could contribute to the rise of drug-resistant strains of bacteria, or so-called super bugs.

The actual health effects of drugs in water systems are unclear. The levels that have been detected are relatively small compared with those of other regulated contaminants, such as mercury and benzene. A 2008 study funded by the Denver-based Awwa Research Foundation -- a nonprofit research group that was established by the American Water Works Association -- concluded that it is "highly unlikely" that pharmaceuticals will pose a threat to human health.

But many medical experts argue that more studies need to be done -- and note that the amount of drugs in the water matters less than who drinks it. Some drugs, even in small amounts, can be especially harmful to infants, pregnant women or those with chronic health conditions, for example.

Drugs are only one category of contaminants found in tap water. A 2005 study released by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, found that tap water in 42 states is contaminated with more than 140 unregulated chemicals, including MTBE, perchlorate and industrial solvents.

Protesting a Disinfectant

Even chemicals used to clean and disinfect drinking water are causing worry. Citizens' groups in states such as CA, NY and VT are protesting the increasing use of chloramine -- a combination of chlorine and ammonia -- to disinfect drinking water. Utilities are using chloramine because of Environmental Protection Agency limits on chlorine byproducts.

Citizens Concerned About Chloramine in San Francisco, says that hundreds of residents have had reactions, such as rashes and respiratory problems, to the disinfectant. Some byproducts of chloramine can be more toxic than chlorine byproducts, says Michael Plewa, a professor of genetics at the U of Illinois who has studied disinfection byproducts.

The EPA says chloramine is safe in drinking water and has been used for decades.

In the absence of federal regulation of certain chemicals in water systems, some states have stepped in. California, for one, has set standards for various compounds that are not regulated by the EPA, including perchlorate, an ingredient used in rocket fuel that was spilled into groundwater during the Cold War and has been found in many water systems. Massachusetts has set standards for perchlorate and requires that water utilities in the state test for MTBE, a gasoline additive.

Tap Versus Bottled

Health concerns extend to bottled water, says Sarah Janssen, a science fellow at the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group based in NY. "A lot of bottled water is actually tap water, so there is no assurance that what is coming from the bottle is any safer than what is coming from the tap," she says.

In fact, experts say tap water is held to more stringent standards by the EPA, and tested more often, than bottled water, which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Utilities are required by law to send annual reports to their customers detailing contaminants found in water systems and whether they exceed levels set by the EPA. They're not required to list unregulated contaminants in these reports.

Water that is tested by utilities is generally tested at the plant. It still has to travel through your pipes to get to your tap, so if you have pipes that are a couple of decades old, it may be a good idea to get the water from your tap tested in a lab -- especially if you are pregnant, nursing or have small children, says the NRDC's Dr. Janssen.

Water filters aren't foolproof. Those that are certified by NSF International -- a nonprofit group that tests food and water products -- can get rid of unwanted chemicals to EPA's standards, but consumers should be aware that trace amounts of chemicals may still be left in their water.

Carbon filters, which come in the form of a faucet mount or a pitcher, are the most commonly used and cost about $30, says Rick Andrew, operations manager of the drinking water treatment unit program at NSF. These can be fairly effective in removing many contaminants, but need to be replaced about every two months.

Other options -- such as reverse-osmosis systems, which use a semipermeable membrane to remove contaminants, or ultraviolet light treatment, which prevents micro-organisms from reproducing -- can be more effective, but they cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Some consumers have found the cost is worth it, especially if members of the family have certain health conditions.

Full article....

Labels: bottled water, drinking, EPA, filters, health and safety, reverse osmosis, tap water, toxic, toxins, water

The belief that pizza, chocolate, and other teen-favored foods can cause acne has persisted for decades, even though most dermatologists maintain it’s a myth. But a new study suggests that some foods really do promote this scourge of young and old alike—only they’re not the usual suspects.

In a recent review of the dietary history of more than 47,000 women, it was “nature’s perfect food”—milk—that was linked to higher rates of teenage acne, not pizza and chocolate. The study found that those who drank more than three glasses a day as teens were 22% more likely to report severe acne than those who drank much less. The rate was even higher (44%) for women who had favored skim milk. (The researchers aren’t sure why skim milk would be more likely to cause pimples, but say that processing may cause certain problem components to become more active in the body.) They also found a link between acne and several other dairy foods, such as sherbet, cream cheese, and cottage cheese.

How does milk wreak havoc on your skin? The study authors think hormones may be the culprit. Most milk comes from pregnant cows, they say, which produce a laundry list of hormones that make it into their milk, including some that are known to trigger acne.

So what to do if you’re a pimply teen in need of calcium for healthy bones? You don’t need to swear off milk entirely, says Clement Adebamowo, study author and research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health; just get to know—and use—alternative sources of calcium. He also says the study found no connection between acne and yogurt and cheeses other than cottage and cream cheese. If you do cut back on dairy, be aware that it can take a few weeks for any improvement to show up.

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Labels: acne, Dairy, eating healthy, hormones, milk, skin care

Honey has many uses for helping the skin. Most recently, in fact, researchers from New Zealand found that burned skin covered with antibiotic ointment healed much more slowly than burned skin coated with honey. Honey not only soothes the pain of burned skin, but it also reduces inflammation and prevents further infection. Being that the burned skin covered with honey healed about four days faster than burned skin covered in antibiotic creams, bringing a small jar with you on that sunny vacation your planning may not be a bad idea.

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Labels: burns, DIY, honey, skin

Last month, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health came out with another report, in what has been a parade of dire warnings about obesity in the US. In a study in the July issue of Obesity, they concluded that unless our eating habits or exercise habits change, 86% of the American population will be overweight or obese by 2030. The obese are more susceptible to an array of health problems, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Widespread obesity also means that today's children may even have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

But poor health isn't the only way Americans pay for all that extra weight, there's also a hefty financial price attached. Here are the top five costs associated with obesity:

1. Lower wages: Stanford University researchers found that obese men and women earn, on average, $3.41 per hour less than their peers. Employers tend to pay obese workers less when they're footing the bill for their insurance, researchers said, speculating that it could be an unconscious reaction on the part of the employer to having to pay higher premiums for a more obese workforce.

2. Fewer work hours: On average, obese workers tend to lose a week of work a year due to ailments related to their weight, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

3. Higher medical costs: Overweight males incur medical costs that are $170 more annually than their leaner co-workers, while overweight females incur costs $495 higher than their counterparts, Finkelstein and Zuckerman write.

4. Extra air travel costs: Budget airlines such as Southwest require obese people or people who may take up more than one seat to buy an adequate number of seats on the flight. And heavier passengers burn more fuel.

5. More gasoline: Obviously, more weight burns more gasoline in cars, too.

Full article...

Labels: Obesity, study

Conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are often waxed to prevent moisture loss, protect them from bruising during shipping, and increase their shelf life. When purchasing non-organic fruits and vegetables, you should ask your grocer about the kind of wax used on their surface even if you are going to peel it; carnauba wax (from the carnauba palm tree), beeswax, and shellac (from the lac beetle) are preferable to petroleum-based waxes, which contain solvent residues or wood rosins. Yet, it is not just the wax itself that may be of concern but the other compounds often added to it - ethyl alcohol or ethanol for consistency, milk casein (a protein linked to milk allergy) as "film formers" and soaps as flowing agents.

Unfortunately, at this point in time, the only way we know of to remove the wax from non-organic produce is to remove the skin, as washing will not remove the wax or any bacteria trapped beneath it. If you choose to do this, use a peeler that takes only a thin layer of skin, as many healthy vitamins and minerals lie right below the skin.

Organically grown fruits and vegetables do not contain wax coatings, allowing you to enjoy all of the nutritional benefits offered by the skin.

Non-organic fruits and vegetables that are commonly waxed include:

Cucumbers

Bell peppers

Eggplant

Potatoes

Apples

Lemons and Limes

Oranges

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Labels: eating healthy, fruits and veggies, organic, toxins, wax

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies that protect global and individual health, produces the Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce, based on the results of nearly 43,000 pesticide tests.

Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories in the Guide to Pesticides, the following twelve foods had the lowest pesticide load when conventionally grown:

• Broccoli
• Eggplant
• Cabbage
• Banana
• Kiwi
• Asparagus
• Sweet peas (frozen)
• Mango
• Pineapple
• Sweet corn (frozen)
• Avocado
• Onion

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Labels: environmental working group, food shopping, fruits and veggies, organic

When did Pepsi become an advocate for health?

The valuable local food lessons of Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma seem not to have registered at the ADA—or, at least, not enough to have supplanted its need to court corporate sponsors for its annual conference.

One of those sponsors, the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), recently released Alli, the first over-the-counter diet pill to gain approval from the Food & Drug Administration and promoted at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo. GSK launched a “Meet Alli” tour last year in malls nationwide, where dietitians offered consultation and free Alli pills for six months to weight-conscious shoppers.

Why, then, was a diet pill promoted at the ADA’s annual keynote event when the most important factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to eat right? And how did “the nation’s food and nutrition experts” stray from promoting the fruits, vegetables and whole grains featured on the covers of their books? Could it be related to the more than $10,000 that GSK contributed to ADA as a corporate sponsor within the last year? ADA’s other corporate sponsors include Unilever, National Dairy Council, PepsiCo, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Mars Inc. and Abbott Nutrition.

Hunger and Environmental Nutrition (HEN), a group of dietitians who are concerned about public health within the ADA that has more than 900 members, focuses on nutritious foods and clean water in the context of a secure and sustainable environment. One evening during the conference, HEN held a “Food and Film Feastival” in Philadelphia’s historic Reading Terminal Market where it served locally grown, seasonal foods, as well as micro-brewed beer, while showing guests films about food and the struggles today’s farmers face to stay in business.

Helen Costello, the past chair of HEN, said she felt stuck between a rock and a hard place in the debate over local and organic foods. “This is an issue of food safety, when 22 million pounds of beef are recalled as a symptom of a consolidated food industry. One affected animal ruins the whole lot. But it’s complicated because our culture wants cheap food.

“More ADA members would like more local food,” she said, “but the organization takes a conservative view overall, adopting the mindset that organics can’t feed the world.”

HEN chair and executive director of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota, Mary Jo Forbord said that convincing the ADA to promote local food systems over corporate agribusiness is more of a marathon than a sprint. Forbord, a fifth-generation Minnesota farmer, said that currently, “There’s no public discourse. Consumers and citizens ought to write the Farm Bill, because we all pay for the system we have in place. It determines what we will eat, how our landscapes will be used, and who will reap the benefits. Agricultural policy needs to line up with food policy, with goal of health in the broad sense—for people, communities and ecosystems.”

For the time being, though, HEN will take baby steps like holding local-food festivals in lieu of launching an all-out, food-throwing mutiny against the ADA. Eventually, HEN hopes, ag-biotech, big pharma and fast-food representatives dressed in dietitians’ clothing will have no place at the table.

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Labels: ADA, American Dietetic Association, HEN, Michael Pollan, Oxford Health Alliance, Pepsi, politics

Dallas skin care start-up Organicare will launch a prestige USDA-certified organic range this month at Henri Bendel, Fred Segal and select Nordstrom and Dillard’s stores.

Organicare offers nine products from cleansers and toners to moisturizers, an exfoliator and antiaging serums priced from $35 to $125.

“You have the best of both worlds — performance and natural ingredients,” claimed Jamie O’Banion, president and creative director. “A woman wants that wrinkle gone, but if she has an option to go organic she will choose that.”

“There is a huge market for it, absolutely,” commented Alisa Marie Beyer, founder of The Benchmarking Co., a beauty research and consulting firm. “At the prestige level it is certainly the first time we have seen a comprehensive USDA-approved skin care line that is not just a few products or a few select organic ingredients.”

Each product is stamped with the USDA Organic seal, indicating 95% of the ingredients are grown without pesticides or herbicides and there are no synthetic elements or petrochemicals.

Organicare is the brainchild of O’Banion, 26, and her father, Terry James, a practicing cardiac anesthesiologist. James, who also owns Kersh Risk Management Inc. specializing in corporate wellness, financed Organicare, Smith noted.

“Dr. James wants to bring upscale pure performance skin care to the mass public,” Smith noted. “He wanted to keep prices under $100 so it is more affordable to all women.”

Full article...

Labels: new product, organic, Organicare, skincare

Gyms and fitness centers have begun stepping in to meet a small but growing demand for programs designed to not only hasten recovery but to address the fatigue of chemotherapy, the swelling of lymphedema and the loss of muscle tone.

Sponsored by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, this class for cancer patients has been around for some time, mostly in a league by itself. But in recent years, following studies that found exercise to be beneficial in combating the effects of cancer, the class has gained some company.

There have always been athletically inclined patients who stayed active, even competitive, in the wake of a diagnosis. A recent high-profile example is Eric Shanteau, an American Olympic swimmer who decided to put off testicular-cancer surgery until he had competed in Beijing.

But most of the roughly 10 million cancer survivors in the US are not amateur Lance Armstrongs. Many, though, are inspired by celebrities like Mr. Armstrong, seeing them as models for how to come out on the other side of often-debilitating treatment regimens.

A new program from the Y.M.C.A., in partnership with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, offers cancer fitness classes at more than a dozen Y’s in 10 states. At the women’s gym Curves International, researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia are looking at whether overweight breast-cancer patients can keep to a five-day-a-week Curves routine for six months. And survivors are organizing their own classes.

In some cases, oncologists are prescribing exercise, gently prodding patients to tackle whatever activity they can manage: light walking, simple stretches, exercise with resistance bands.

“The effects — what we call effect sizes in statistical research — were enormous,” she said, “and I was like ‘How come no one is talking about this?’ ” She had given up exercise a decade earlier, but the study inspired her to go back to the gym.

“I started feeling so much better,” she said. “And it struck me that if I’m feeling this good, then every cancer survivor should.”

Scientists also took notice of studies showing that those who were physically active and eating well were less likely to develop cancer. They then asked what impact exercise and diet would have on those with the disease, said Dr. Charles Fuchs, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston who studies cancer and exercise.

In the last eight years, a dearth of research has become a flood of studies. Among them is one sponsored by the National Cancer Institute in 2006 that looked at the effects of moderate exercise on groups of breast and prostate cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy for six weeks.

Those assigned to a daily program — taking walks of increasing distance and doing exercises with a resistance band — had less fatigue, greater strength and better aerobic capacity than those who were not instructed to exercise. This finding, and similar ones, has been replicated many times.

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Labels: cancer, exercise, Holistic Health, study

FRS is a healthy energy drink.

First, the “healthy” part. FRS contains all natural ingredients, such as cane sugar and grape juice concentrate (both natural sweeteners,) and antioxidants from fruits, vegetables, and green tea. One of those antioxidants is Quercetin, and the other is EGCG from green tea extract. Both fight off harmful free radicals that are present in your body.

Second, the “energy” from FRS. While most energy drinks are chock full of caffeine and other stimulants (in excessive quantities,) FRS goes a different route. They put so many healthy antioxidants in the drink that it doesn’t need stimulants. See, the antioxidants keep your body functioning properly and fighting off any free radicals that would normally sap your energy. So by stopping the free radicals, your body is free to create a steady stream of energy.

That’s FRS in a nutshell!

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Labels: Anti-oxidant, beverages, EGCG, energy drinks, free radicals, FRS, FRS Healthy Energy, green tea, quercetin

Another fro-yo stand (er, “flavor boutique”) has hit the city, and we’ll give this one credit for being somewhat original.

Eskimix offers its probiotic yogurt flavors in sweet and tart, and in addition to dozens of fruit, candy, and nut toppings, lets you add in vitamin and protein boosters and other good stuff such as barley juice and aloe vera (they also offer dairy-free tofu as a yogurt substitute).

As you can see from the menu, you can either mix your own flavor combos or try suggested ones like Cheesecake Crescendo (fruit, light cream cheese, and graham crackers) or Sedona Wellness (green apple, prickly-pear cactus, and lime). A limited breakfast menu offers an açaí bowl and Greek yogurt. Obviously, the lawyers who opened this place are banking on this being the Jamba Juice of fro-yo stands.

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Labels: cool new place, Eskimix, Fro-yo, NYC

Besides adding some crunch in your salad, cucumber is a treat for your skin. Below are some beauty benefits of cucumber:

Labels: cucumber, DIY, healing with food

If you have a normal arch, you're likely a normal pronator, meaning you'll do best in a stability shoe that offers moderate pronation control. Runners with flat feet normally overpronate, so they do well in a motion-control shoe that controls pronation. High-arched runners typically underpronate, so they do best in a neutral-cushioned shoe that encourages a more natural foot motion.

Normal Pronation: The outside part of the heel makes initial contact with the ground. The foot "rolls" inward about 5%, comes in complete contact with the ground, and can support your body weight without any problem. The rolling in of the foot optimally distributes the forces of impact. This movement is called "pronation," and it's critical to proper shock absorption. At the end of the gait cycle, you push off evenly from the front of the foot.

Overpronation: As with the "normal pronation" sequence, the outside of the heel makes the initial ground contact. However, the foot rolls inward more than the ideal 5%, which is called "overpronation." This means the foot and ankle have problems stabilizing the body, and shock isn't absorbed as efficiently. At the end of the gait cycle, the front of the foot pushes off the ground using mainly the big toe and second toe, which then must do all the work.

Underpronation: Again, the outside of the heel makes initial contact with the ground. But the inward movement of the foot occurs at less than 4% (i.e., there is less rolling in than for those with normal or flat feet). Consequently, forces of impact are concentrated on a smaller area of the foot (the outside part), and are not distributed as efficiently. In the push-off phase, most of the work is done by the smaller toes on the outside of the foot.

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Labels: definition, overpronate, pronation, running, underpronate

People who want to live a long and healthy life might want to take up running.

A study published yesterday shows middle-aged members of a runner's club were half as likely to die over a 20-year period as people who did not run. Running reduced the risk not only of heart disease, but of cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, researchers at Stanford University found.

"At 19 years, 15% of runners had died, compared with 34% of controls [non-runners]," Dr. Eliza Chakravarty and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Any type of vigorous exercise will likely do the trick, said Stanford's Dr. James Fries, who worked on the study.

The team surveyed 284 members of a nationwide running club and 156 similar, healthy people as controls. They all had similar social and economic backgrounds, and all were 50 or older.

Starting in 1984, each volunteer filled out an annual survey on exercise frequency, weight and disability for eight activities.

Most of the volunteers did some exercise, but runners exercised as much as 200 minutes a week, compared to 20 minutes for the non-runners.

At the beginning, the runners were leaner and less likely to smoke compared with the controls. And they exercised more over the whole study period in general.

SOURCE

Labels: exercise, healthy living, runner's high, running, study

Potassium helps regulate blood pressure and maintain normal heart and artery function. It also reduces the risk of stroke.

Labels: essential nutrient, healthy diet, potassium, Sweet potato, Whole Foods

“Just something to think about,” he says, “but with things like this, when you eat it in its natural form, there are benefits. But when you take it out and isolate it, for whatever reason, sometimes it doesn’t work. That’s why when I used to take vitamin C, I’d take it with orange juice.”

Function and most of its competitors use antioxidants—in marketing terms, antioxidants are the best thing these drinks have going. But there’s not much evidence that antioxidant-infused drinks provide any health benefit. They do their job in test tubes, says New York University nutrition professor Marion Nestle, but give antioxidants to real people in clinical trials and they show less of an effect. Maybe they only work in tandem with other food elements, or maybe we have our eye on the wrong ball—perhaps we’ve plucked the wrong compounds out of fruits and vegetables. But spicing our foods with antioxidants, Nestle later tells me, can be a waste of time. “In almost every case it’s been tested in clinical trials,” she says, “it’s been shown to have not much beneficial effect.” She says that in a few trials they’ve even had a harmful effect. “When it comes to vitamins and antioxidants, some is good; more is not better.”

Hughes takes in Robert’s comments and nods. “You’re totally right to point that out,” he says. “And yeah, certainly we’d have to have something that we know would work.” He takes the industry’s side of the argument: that beneficial compounds found naturally in foods are often processed out, or occur at such low levels that they don’t make much difference. If the science demonstrates that you can isolate a certain compound without losing efficacy, he says, then it can be consumed at high-enough concentrations to be useful.

“That falls under the category of better living through chemistry,” says Jennifer. She means it as encouragement, but clearly this isn’t the motto Hughes hopes to emblazon on the drinks. “When you have a population trending toward obesity like we do,” she continues, “maybe it’s time to medicalize food.”

“When you look at SoBe, it’s sweetened crap,” Nathanson says. “All these beverages are just sugar water. No one has been able to show that the products work. And I want to temper what I say because some of these guys are my friends and advertisers, but at the same time I’ve got to be real.”

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Labels: Anti-oxidant, beverages, functional medicine, Marion Nestle, Myth, nutrition, Sobe, Vitamin Water

Benzene is an industrial solvent and a known carcinogen, so food companies generally try to keep it out of their products.
However, two chemicals found in soda, sodium benzoate (a preservative) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), can react to form benzene, especially in the presence of heat or light.
In 2007, Coca-Cola and Pepsi agreed to settle lawsuits brought against them after benzene was detected in their products. The suit alleged that Pepsi’s Diet Wild Cherry drink had benzene levels nearly four times the maximum level set by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. Oopsy. Both companies agreed to reformulate; however, thousands of soft drinks containing benzoate and citric acids are still on the market.

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Labels: beverages, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, sodium benzoate, toxic, toxins

Labels: best foods, eating healthy, health food, healthy diet, men's health

Pitching the next great idea to prospective business partners, investors, service providers and fellow entrepreneurs just got easier with Vator.tv — a new venture that combines online video and networking. Based on the proverbial elevator pitch—the notion that you should be able to sum up a new business venture in the few minutes it takes to ride an elevator—Vator.tv is an online marketplace for new ideas.

Here's how it works: users sign up for a free account. Create pitches for their ideas, projects or businesses by uploading video, images, PPT or PDF files. Choose to share pitches with a personal network or the entire Vator.tv community. The website includes tips on creating compelling pitches, such as how to pack the most punch into a three-minute video clip.

Launched in June 2007, Vator.tv has some big names behind it, including angel investors Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Richard Rosenblatt, former Chairman of MySpace, and Georges Harik, a former Google executive who helped build Google's AdSense technology.

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Labels: entrepreneur, great idea, innovative, Vator.TV

Among superfoods, the humble beet is high on the list. Not only is the beet packed with nutrients, but beet pigments are loaded with powerful antioxidant compounds called betalains and phytochemicals.

They have the highest sugar content of all vegetables, yet are very low in calories. These colorful root vegetables contain powerful nutrient compounds that help protect against heart disease, birth defects and certain cancers, especially colon cancer.

Beets are an excellent source of the B vitamin, folate, and a very good source of manganese and potassium. Beets are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus.

SOURCE

Labels: beets, betalains, eating healthy, phytonutrients, vegetables