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According to the National Center For Health Statistics, Heart Disease was the leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2004. If you want to avoid being a statistic, it’s time to think about a heart healthy diet.
A study run by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School ranked daily meal plans and food recommendations of eight popular weight-loss programs. With 70 as a perfect score, here’s how they ranked:
- Ornish, 64.6.
- Weight Watchers high-carbohydrate, 57.4.
- New Glucose Revolution, 57.2.
- South Beach Phase 2, 50.7.
- Zone, 49.8.
- MyPyramid, 48.7.
- Weight Watchers high protein, 47.3.
- Atkins 100-g carbohydrate, 46.
- South Beach Phase 3, 45.6.
- Atkins 45-g carbohydrate, 42.3.
“We were most surprised by the fact that the MyPyramid wasn’t even in the top three. We figured that this would be a model diet because it is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary recommendations,” said the study’s author clinical psychologist Sherry Pagoto.She went on to assure the public that these rankings aren’t an indication of the general healthfulness of any particular diet. All of the diets are potentially healthy and have been shown in a variety of studies to result in weight loss, which is important to improving heart health.
One important thing to consider is your personal food preference. Because no matter how healthy a diet is, if you aren’t going to stick to it, what good is it to you in the long run? For example, if you really like carbohydrates, you’re better off with Weight Watchers than Atkins. But, people with a family history of heart disease should consider using this study as a guide when choosing a diet plan, Pagoto said.
To those of us ignorant about acupuncture, who would have thought that sticking needles in your body could relieve pain? But, new research shows that using acupuncture before and during an operation can cut a patient’s need for more traditional painkillers.
“From a pain perspective, you can reduce the amount of morphine that the patient uses and improve the quality of analgesia and pain control,” said lead researcher Dr. Tong J. Gan, a professor and vice chairman of anesthesiology at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C.
Morphine is a potent painkiller used in hospitals. But it can often produce side effects. In the new study, Dr. Gan and his team analyzed data from 15 clinical trials looking at the use of acupuncture to reduce postoperative pain. They found that adjunctive acupuncture could reduce post-op itchiness by 30 percent, nausea by 50 percent, and dizziness by 60 percent. About eight out of 10 patients will experience those side effects from postoperative morphine, Gan said.
The studies Gan reviewed used Chinese acupuncture, but he said that similar effects would occur with other styles and whether needles, electrical or manual acupuncture was used. Adjunctive acupuncture is “not widely used because people need to be educated,” Gan said.
A recent story on msnbc.com reported that citizens in the United States are on average twice as fat as our European counterparts. And it’s leading us down a one-way street to Broke Town. Obesity leads to all kinds of chronic ailments that add $100-$150 billion in annual healthcare costs, according to a report published in the journal Health Affairs.
About 33 percent of Americans are obese, compared with 17 percent in 10 European countries reviewed.
We each need to do our part. But things have gotten so dire here in the U.S. that one city official is looking to put a moratorium on the opening of fast food joints.
The ordinance proposed by Councilwoman Jan Perry would stop new fast-food restaurants from opening in southern Los Angeles, California for up to two years. The area is reported to have the most fast food restaurants in the country.
“While limiting fast-food restaurants isn’t a solution in itself, it’s an important piece of the puzzle,” said Mark Vallianatos, director of the Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College.
Count Hardee’s fast food restaurants among the un-PC, as they just rolled out a breakfast burrito that packs a serious punch… to the gut. If you eat one of their new Country Breakfast Burritos, you’re going to get more calories than you were probably counting on. Try counting to 920! Not to mention that it has 60 grams of fat.
My heart just skipped a beat. But it may not beat too much longer if I ate many of these burritos that contain two egg omelets filled with bacon, sausage, diced ham, cheddar cheese, hash browns and sausage gravy.
What was once the Rhythm Nation could soon be the Weight Loss Nation. Janet Jackson, one of music’s biggest influencers, has announced she’s putting ink to paper to share her personal struggle with weight gain and loss. The book is currently in progress and has not yet been given a title, but Miss Jackson says she’s “really coming from the soul with it.”
She expresses that the journey can be different for everyone, and she’s merely sharing her own. During the past year the singer/actress lost an impressive 60 pounds, she says by eating less and exercising more.
Like many other celebrities who’ve publically struggled with their weight, including Oprah and Mariah Carey, Janet plans to share her experiences with her adoring public.
(Please visit again later for further updates on Janet Jackson’s upcoming book.)
It’s not a news flash to say that garlic is healthy. It’s been touted as a beneficial addition to your meals for a long time. While previous studies on garlic’s health effects have produced mixed results, there’s now solid research to reassert the positive claims.
Garlic may make vampires uptight, but it relaxes the blood vessels in we mere mortals. A new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham shows that red blood cells process compounds from digested garlic and turn them into the cell messenger hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow.
That means that eating garlic could increase your supply of H2S and play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease. Garlic is one of the few plants that contains the building blocks of hydrogen sulfide, and researchers say it’s the only one commonly used in our diet.
Are you looking for an excuse to not do your housework? Well, a new study says that it may be hazardous to your health.
According to the study, cleaning as little as once a week with common cleaning sprays and air fresheners could raise the risk of asthma in adults. Other studies have linked these products with increased asthma rates among cleaning professionals, but now it’s implied that it can put others at risk.
Weekly exposure to such cleaning materials could account for as many as one in seven adult asthma cases, the researchers wrote in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
“Frequent use of household cleaning sprays may be an important risk factor for adult asthma,” says Jan-Paul Zock, an epidemiologist at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, who led the study.
The most unfortunate part of the study was a lack of an alternative. Here’s the depressing catch-22: You keep a clean house, you may become asthmatic. You don’t clean enough, then the dust will get you.
If you’re shopping for new running shoes, more expensive doesn’t always equal more value. That’s good news for you and your checkbook, but don’t think you can go get a knockoff brand for $25 either. A team of Scottish scientists found no difference between $150 shoes and the relatively cheaper $80 versions. Not cheap, but comforting news nonetheless.
Lead researcher Rami Abboud, director of the Institute of Motion Analysis and Research at the University of Dundee, has some simple advice for you: Make sure the shoes fit!
“My advice to runners is to make sure that, first, the footwear fits your feet, and that if you are paying more, that doesn’t mean that you’re getting something better,” says Abboud.
The glycemic index is an effective way of evaluating your eating habits. The GI refers to how a particular food’s carbohydrate affects your blood sugar level. This will not only have a say in your weight, but your energy levels and, proponents will say, your susceptibility to certain diseases.
A new study reaffirms the disease risk.
The study, conducted by Dr. David S. Ludwig and his colleagues from Children’s Hospital Boston, asserts that people who eat lots of high GI foods not only risk weight gain, they also run the risk of developing a condition that can lead to liver failure and death. The condition is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
If you are new to the GI way of thinking, high-GI foods include white bread, white rice and potatoes. Low-GI foods include most fruits, lentils, soybeans, yogurt and many high-fiber grains.
According to new research, a Mediterranean diet may help Alzheimer’s patients live longer. For those of us on the younger side, it’s also great for your heart health.
So what’s all the fuss about the food eaten in this beautiful region of the world?
The Mediterranean diet is loaded with fruits, vegetables, grains and olive oil, and more fish than red meat. That’s not totally alien to what the rest of us think of as a healthy diet.
But wait!
Another staple to the diet is moderate consumption of red wine, which is probably largely responsible for its trendiness.
Regardless of what your motivation may be, here is a rundown as to why it can be such a healthy diet choice:
The core to the healthfulness of the diet is how low it is in saturated fats. There is plenty of fat, but usually in the form of olive oil, nuts and fish, which has the much-touted omega-3 fatty acids.
Now to the wine… having a glass with your dinner has been shown to have health benefits. Red wine contains antioxidants, which can help fight heart disease. A glass (or up to two for men) can also lower cholesterol. New information is coming out that it may even be good for reducing your risk for diabetes.
Of course, this isn’t the only way to eat your way to great health. But if the idea of olive oil, moderate amounts of bread and pasta, with a little wine and lots of fruits and veggies sounds tantalizing to you, then you should explore your options further.
