Foods that help prevent skin cancer and sun damage
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Grilled fish
There is a good article by SELF magazine over at MSNBC which lists several foods that have natural anti-cancer and sun damaging compounds. They list them by meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and give a variety of choices that help the body fight of the damage from the sun’s rays. But basically, the secret is anti-oxidants which are found in fruits and vegetables and Omega 3’s which are most abundant in fish. So, eating a diet that is heavy in fruits, vegetables and fish can have a very positive effect on your body. But you already knew that didn’t you?
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A Mediterranean diet that includes fish packed with inflammation-fighting omega-3 fatty acids — as well as citrus, fresh herbs and veggies rife with polyphenols — may slash your melanoma risk in half, the International Journal of Epidemiology reports. These compounds scour the body for potentially cancerous cells and help reverse some DNA defects early on.
Calcium Intake is Crucial to Good Health
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Got Calcium?
A study done in Sweden shows that Calcium is a very important mineral for many things- not just strong bones. Making sure you get enough calcium is really pretty easy. All foods list calcium on the nutrition label so you just keep track for a few days as you eat. If you are not getting enough, adjust your diet to include more calcium rich foods. Of course, the best natural source is dairy products but if you have problems with diary, you can always take a supplement. But I would try to stick to natural sources if possible since they are generally absorbed better by your body.
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Swedish researchers found that men who consumed the most calcium in food were 25 percent less likely to die over the next decade than their peers who took in the least calcium from food. None of the men took calcium supplements.
The top calcium consumers had a 25 percent lower risk of dying from any cause and a 23 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease during follow-up relative to men that had the least amount of calcium in their diet. Calcium intake didn’t significantly influence the risk of dying from cancer.
Men in the top third based on their calcium intake were getting nearly 2,000 milligrams a day, on average, compared to about 1,000 milligrams for men in the bottom third. The US Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for calcium intake is 1,000 milligrams for men 19 to 50 years old and 1,200 milligrams for men 50 and over.
Calcium could influence mortality risk in many ways, they note, for example by reducing blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar levels. For the men in the study, the main sources of calcium in the diet were milk and milk products and cereal products.
Groin Injuries on the Rise in Teenage Boys
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Most groin and testicular injuries to boys and men are a result of sports injuries. But, as crazy as this sounds, there is a game among teenage boys called “sack-tapping” where boys hit each other in the groin as a sort of test of manhood- as in “how much pain can you endure”. Some of it is just plain bullying and all of it is stupid and dangerous. MSNBC has an article describing the new “cultural phenomenon” and it is pretty disturbing. As the author points out, with the growth of viral communications like YouTube, this sort of thing can spread very quickly and really points to how cruel and mean our society is becoming.
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Though most won’t admit it unless they have to, more teen boys are being treated after cringe-worthy attacks in which they’re slapped or punched in the groin, sometimes causing serious harm requiring surgery, doctors say.
An msnbc.com poll of 100 urologists, conducted by Truth On Call, showed that 30 percent of the doctors had seen or treated pre-teen and teen boys for testicular trauma in the past year, including severe injuries caused by so-called “sack-tapping,†in which boys ambush others at school and elsewhere.
“There definitely has been a rise in the number of cases,†said Dr. Anthony Atala, a pediatric urologist and department chairman at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and spokesman for the American Urological Association. “We know it is going up.â€
Best Sunscreen is also one of the Cheapest
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sunscreen needed!
Consumer Reports just came out with their review of sunscreen and it turns out that the best product tested was also one of the cheapest. Sunscreen is extremely important if you are going to be out in the sun for any continuous amount of time. While we do need 15-20 minutes of sun per day for our bodies to make vitamin D (Vitamin D is made in the skin when exposed to sunlight) anything more than that can be risky. With skin cancer rate climbing every year, it is very important to protect yourself. Using sunscreen when you are at the beach, ball game or working in the yard will protect you not only from skin cancer, but also slow the aging of your skin.From MSNBC-
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Up & Up Sport Continuous, which sells at Target for less than $10 for two 6-ounce containers, won top honors for being the “Best Buy” sunscreen.
The magazine tested 12 leading sunscreens to see how effective they were at blocking both ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B radiation. The products were then reevaluated after volunteers wore the screens in water for 80 minutes. In addition to the Target brand, many of the other leading sunscreens ranked by Consumer Reports offered very good protection against UVA and excellent protection against UVB at a reasonable price, the agency said.
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One of the things to remember is that name and price have very little to do with effectiveness- the 2 top rated products were both house brands, one from Target and the other from Walgreens. Some of the lowest rated products were very expensive name brands like Avon and Burt’s Bees. Here are the top 4 and worst 4.
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The top 4 sunscreens rated by Consumer Reports, based on how well they protected against UVA and UVB rays while worn on volunteers who soaked in water for 40 or 80 minutes.
— Up & Up Sport Continuous (Target) spray SPF 30
— Walgreens Sport Continous spray SPF 50
— Banana Boat Sport Performance Continuous spray SPF 30
— Aveeno Continuous Protection spray SPF 50
And the lowest scoring sunscreens:
— La Roche-Posay Anthelios 40 with Mexoryl SX crea SPF 40 ($18.82 per ounce)
— Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus IR3535 Expedition pump spray SPF 30 (Doesn’t block UVA rays)
— Burt’s Bees Chemical-Free with Hemp Seed Oil lotion SPF 30 (Doesn’t block entire UVA spectrum)
Source: Consumer Reports
Got Milk? You are probably not lactose intolerant…
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Got Milk?
A new study has shown that many people who think they are lactose intolerant really aren’t. There isn’t any definitive answer as to why people seem to have symptoms when they can absorb lactose normally, but some researchers think that it is mostly psychological or perhaps irritable bowl syndrome.
For years I thought I was lactose intolerant- then I started drinking small portions of milk, cheese and yogurt with no problems. So one thing that I recommend is that you not drink large amounts of milk at one time, but instead drink less than 1/2 cup a couple of times a day. I think you will find that in smaller amounts, you are fine.
This is important since milk is a great source of nutrition and nutrients such as protein and calcium. So try adding dairy products back into your diet in small amount and you will probably find that you can handle it without problems.
Diabetes linked to lack of sleep
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A new study has shown that insulin sensitivity decreases markedly (19-25%) in people who do not get enough sleep the night before. The real importance of this study is that Type 2 diabetes might be slowed in some people if they simply got enough sleep. The human body is a remarkable and finely tuned machine that is amazingly adaptable but also needs certain things to function properly. Sleep is one of those things! Of course, diet and exercise are the primary reasons for most cases of diabetes, but for people who do watch their diet and do get enough exercise, getting enough sleep is a relatively easy way to decrease their chance of getting diabetes. Shoot for 7-9 hours if you are and adult and more for children.
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Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to adequately use insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, to control glucose sugar produced from food. Sugar levels rise and can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and major arteries.
The disease, linked to poor diet and lack of exercise, is reaching epidemic levels. An estimated 180 million people now suffer from diabetes around the world.
Previous studies have found that several nights of poor sleep can result in impaired use of insulin, but Donga said this was the first study to examine the effects of only a single bad night’s sleep.
The Dutch scientists examined nine healthy people — once after a night of eight hours sleep and once after a night of just four hours.
The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), showed that partial sleep restriction during a single night reduced some types of insulin sensitivity by 19 to 25 percent.
“Our data indicate that insulin sensitivity is not fixed in healthy (people), but depends on the duration of sleep in the preceding night,” Donga wrote in the study.
Posted by: Curt | Under: Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Prime/fit, Sports, Youth/fit | Add Comment
The US military has a big problem- most young adults and teenagers are not qualified for military service and obesity is one of the biggest factors. CNN has the whole story-
More than a quarter of young adults are unable to meet physical requirements to join the military, creating a potential threat to national security, a group of retired armed forces leaders said Tuesday.
“It’s not drug abuse, it’s not asthma, it’s not flat feet — by far the leading medical reason is being overweight or obese,” said retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Norman Seip at a news conference.
About 27 percent of young adults are medically ineligible for the military, according to Mission: Readiness, a group of retired admirals, generals, and other senior military leaders.
Mission: Readiness’ report, “Too Fat to Fight,” said that 75 percent of young Americans between the ages of 17 to 24 do not qualify for the military because of failure to graduate [from high school], criminal records or physical problems. The study cited Department of Defense and health data.
While school lunches and nutrition are important, the big problem is lifestyle. Most kids can eat pretty much anything they want if they are active and exercise enough. But with the rise of the video game and TV generation, most kids don’t get anywhere near enough physical activity. When you add to that a diet rich in high calorie, high sugar junk food you can see where the problem comes from. Eating fresh, nutritional food is just not a part of the average American’s lifestyle and that is what we need to get back to if we are going to have any chance of saving our kids from an adulthood of diabetes, heart disease and all of the associated problems.
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Sports, Supplements, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
If you live in the southern US right now, you are in one of the worst allergy seasons in many years. Soon, as spring moves north, the allergy problem will attack up there too. Back when I was growing up, my father used to call allergies “hay fever” because they had the effect of making you feel like you are really sick- and many people do have pretty severe allergic reactions to the pollen from plants. So what do you do? Well, taking some common precautions will make a big difference. Prevention has a list of 9 things that make allergies worse and one of them is simply ignoring them until you are miserable. Taking your allergy medicine before you head out into the pollen will help a lot. Generic Zyrtec and Claritin are available everywhere pretty cheaply.
Some things you eat and drink can also make your allergies worse since they trigger histamine release in the body- wine has this effect on many people. The opposite of this is the effect that natural, local honey has. Eating natural, locally produced honey tends to help with allergies since it contains pollen from local plants that your body adapts to over time- sort of like a vaccine.
The other thing you can do that helps is to exercise. even when you feel tired and sluggish because of your allergies, going to the gym and exercising will definitely make you feel better and help clear your head.
Training With the Stars- Apolo Ohno
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Great video showing a typical training day for Apolo Ohno as he was preparing for the Olympics. I live his attitude- “No regrets, no regrets”. The 45 minute session on the stairs is sick… Remember, stairs are a great way to exercise no matter where you are. If you’re traveling, you can hit the stairs in the hotel and get a great leg/cardio workout in 30 minutes.
“Superfoods” for Disease Fighting and Anti-aging
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Blueberries
Here is a good quick list of some of the foods that appear to have the best disease fighting and anti-aging properties. The thing I like about this list is that there is nothing really crazy on it and all the foods are readily available at the grocery store. From Prevention-
PROTECT YOUR HEART
•   Fill up on barley
•   Fill up on pinto beans
•   Fill up on grapes
•   Fill up on macadamia nuts
•   Fill up on mineral water
•   Avoid energy drinks
STRENGTHEN YOUR BONES
•   Fill up on lean top sirloin
•   Fill up on broccoli
•   Avoid salt
PROMOTE DIGESTION
•   Fill up on blueberries
•   Fill up on popcorn
•   Fill up on bananas
•   Avoid dried plums
SHARPEN YOUR VISION
•   Fill up on collard greens
•   Fill up on low-fat or nonfat milk
•   Fill up on nuts
•   Avoid refined foods
PROTECT YOUR BREASTS
•   Fill up on cauliflower
•   Fill up on sweet potatoes
•   Fill up on tomato sauce
•   Avoid grapefruit
CLEAR YOUR LUNGS
•   Fill up on pears
•   Fill up on edamame
•   Fill up on brown rice
•   Avoid soft drinks
PAIN PROOF YOUR JOINTS
•   Fill up on olive oil
•   Fill up on oranges
•   Avoid beer or hard liquor
BOOST YOUR MEMORY
•   Fill up on apples
•   Fill up on chicken breast
•   Fill up on coffee
•   Avoid liver
SMOOTH YOUR SKIN
•   Fill up on canned light tuna
•   Fill up on dark chocolate
•   Fill up on black tea with citrus peel
•   Fill up on carrot juice
•   Avoid alcohol
