Greetings,

So I found this and thought, wow, can you believe that the best way to overcome arthritis is good old fashioned “diet and exercise”, who would have thought…

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…

You might remember that Debbie and I used to own a health club, I guess they should’ve called to interview one of us, huh?

So let me see if we got this right, instead of having surgery, we should exercise and loose weight?

Remember that the New York Times is the –

how do they put it, “the paper of record…” so now it may start to catch on!

All the best,

Lou & Debbie

'Magic' arthritis treatment may be old-fashioned diet and exercise

THE NEW YORK TIMES EXPLORES ARTHRITIS TREATMENTS THAT CAN BE DONE AT HOME

What's the best treatment for osteoarthritis? Many patients are seeking out surgery, but simply losing weight and wearing the right shoes may offer more of a benefit, according to the New York Times "Well" blog.

Nearly 27 million U.S. residents currently live with life-limiting osteoarthritis, and they are "relying more and more heavily on surgery," according to David Felson, a rheumatologist and epidemiologist at Boston University School of Medicine. While Felson endorsed the benefits of hip replacement surgery, he told the Times that knee replacements can be significantly less helpful. Knee replacement surgery rose 800% among U.S. residents 65 and older between 1979 and 2002, but up to one-third of patients will never experience an improvement, according to Felson.

Though many patients turn to surgery to relieve pain, Felson says old-fashioned diet and exercise may have the same effect:

•   Weight loss combined with a well-design exercise program significantly reduced the pain of 450 men and women with osteoarthritis, according to a Wake Forest University trial;

•   Exercises that strengthen quadriceps, like leg presses, wall squats, and mini squats, can restore and preserve a range of motion, according to arthritis prevention expert Glen Johnson;

•   Wearing specially designed wedge-shape shoes may help take stress off arthritic knees and hips, according to the Times;

•   Bracing an arthritic knee can help, too—according to Felson—because an unloader brace can shift stress away from the damaged part of the joint; and

•   Eating foods rich in vitamin K, like broccoli, kale, and cabbage may benefit joints.

The severity of pain is directly "correlated with the degree of muscle weakness," Felson wrote in an article published in NEJM (Brody, Well,  New York Times, 7/9).

The 7 Tricks Restaurants Play to Separate You From Your Money

Greetings,

I often wondered about marketing, that being what I have done for most of my life, as it pertains to restaurants.   I found this and it explains why we do what we do.  We have to remember that everything we are exposed to is designed for a reason.  Next time your at a restaurant, maybe you’ll think about this.

All the Best

Lou & Debbie

The 7 Tricks Restaurants Play to Separate You From Your Money

Menu engineering is used by restaurants to steer you to order high-profit items. Yahoo finance has collected a list of some common menu ploys:

1.            First in show. You are more likely to order the first item on a list in a given section of the menu (such as the "chicken" or "beef" section.) That's where many restaurants place the most profitable dish of that type.

2.            Menu Siberia. Unprofitable dishes, on the other hand, tend to get banished to a corner that's less noticeable.

3.            Visual aids. Many menus box off something they want to promote, because if you draw a line around it, people will order it. Photos also sell dishes.

4.            Package deals. Even if only a small percentage of the McDonald's customers spend some extra dollars on a meal package that translates to millions in additional revenue.

5.            Dollar-sign avoidance. Some menus avoid dollar signs and decimals -- keeping money abstract makes spending less threatening.

6.            The small plate-large plate conundrum. A restaurant may offer two sizes of the same dish; that price differential is almost pure profit.

7.        Ingredient embroidery. If the menu makes each ingredient   

       sound ultra-special, it will sell better; it may be the same dish 

       you would get anywhere else, but you'll start to think you can 

       only get it there.

First U. S. Clinical Trial To Treat Prostate Cancer With Diet Begins

Greetings,

Its great to see that someone is finally looking at something natural to treat disease.  When universities are starting investigating how a healthy diet can heal naturally, I can hardly believe it.  How did this one get past the FDA and big pharma?

All the best,

Lou & Debbie

First U. S. Clinical Trial To Treat Prostate Cancer With Diet Begins

Some of the very healthy foods -- such as cauliflower, brussels sprouts and broccoli -- that many boys desperately sought to shun from their diets in childhood just may be the key to staving off prostate cancer in adulthood. That hypothesis is the impetus of a new clinical trial underway at University of California (UC) San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

The study will evaluate the effect that comes from a change in diet, supported with telephone counseling and exercise, in stopping or delaying the start or progression of prostate cancer. It is the first clinical trial in the U.S. that is a non-supplement study on prostate cancer/diet.

"Ours is the first study to focus on changing the entire lifestyle rather than just giving the participants a supplement pill," said J. Kellogg Parsons, MD, MHS, urologic oncologist at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. "We focus on more vegetables, less meat, and comprehensive counseling which encourages a more active lifestyle."

Participants in the Men's Eating and Living (MEAL) Study will be eating at least seven servings of colorful, robust-flavored produce per day, particularly cruciferous vegetables and tomato products, fruit, as well as whole grains, beans or other legumes.

"Evidence in previous studies suggests that a diet high in vegetable intake and low in meat and fat intake may decrease the risk of prostate cancer progressing or even beginning," said Parsons.

Although approximately 100,000 men are diagnosed annually with early stage, low-risk prostate cancer in the United States, low-risk prostate cancer is a slow-growing disease and many of those afflicted may not require immediate treatment. Unnecessary aggressive surgical or radiation treatment diminishes quality of life for thousands of men each year, but the UC San Diego study researchers see an opportunity to hone, and even re-define, treatment options and patient susceptibility within this particular patient demographic.

"Diet provides the participant/patient with a way to take control and fight what can be a distressing diagnosis," explained Parsons. "If diet is related to the risk of prostate cancer, it may well exert an impact on the earliest phases of the disease. One of the implicit messages that participants will take from this study is that low-risk prostate cancer can often be a condition to monitor: it is not a death sentence, nor is it a condition that necessarily requires radical, immediate, life-changing intervention."

Eligible participants are males up to 80 years of age who have been diagnosed with non-aggressive   within the last two years, are in the early stages, and have not yet received treatment of any kind.

Myths and musts about drinking water

Greetings,
So who would want to argue with Chuck Norris?
Not I for sure.  He has started to write for World Net Daily and he is all about health.
His series is called C-Force and I thought that we would share it with you all.
Enjoy
Lou & Debbie

Myths and musts about drinking water


Julia Child summed it up well when she said, "Water is the most neglected nutrient in your diet but one of the most vital."

In a previous article, I suggested a couple of great nutritional books. One of them was Dr. Don Colbert's "The Seven Pillars of Health," in which he simplifies complex matters and boils down the web of healthy lifestyle tips into simple steps.

Colbert's seven pillars are a part of what I consider eight basics, or foundational principles, that you must focus on to create a better you. And some of them might surprise you. If you even relatively master these eight, you will greatly increase your odds of a long, energetic and productive life. Based upon questions from readers, I'll be elaborating on each of them in future articles.

And it all starts with the most overlooked element to nutrition – water.

Water is critical throughout the body:

It helps transport nutrients and waste products in and out of cells and the body;

It is necessary for all digestive, absorption, circulatory and excretory functions;

It is critical for the proper function of every organ in the body;

It is needed for the utilization of water-soluble vitamins;

It helps to maintain proper body temperature;
That is why proper hydration is the first item on Dr. Colbert's checklist in examining all ill patients. Roughly 70 percent of the body is made up of water, so drinking water makes sense. It is the most foundational aspect of life and the single most important nutrient. Again, it is used in every bodily function.

The fact is you can live five to seven weeks without food but only five days without water.

Colbert says, "Many Americans live in a mildly dehydrated state with various irritating symptoms and never realize it."

Signs or symptoms of a lack of hydration include headaches, skin problems, digestion problems, back pain, arthritis, dry skin, being overweight, high blood pressure, asthma, memory loss and other ailments. Colbert testifies that in his medical practice, many people have actually experienced relief and even been cured through proper hydration.

The doctor recommends you don't wait until you're thirsty to drink water. Because the average body loses about two quarts through organ functions, perspiration, filtration and secretion, it is important to hydrate yourself regularly.

Thirst is actually your body's way of saying, "I've needed water for a while." If you wait to drink water, you're likely dehydrated to some degree.

And here's another hydration myth. I used to think I could get my daily dose of water in coffee, juice, soft drinks and milk, but chemicals and sugars often associated with these beverages (and certain types of caffeine, even in teas) actually dehydrate the body more than they replenish it.

There is an equation to figure the recommended amount of water you should drink. Your weight divided by 2 equals the number of ounces of water you need to consume daily. And not all of that needs to be drunk, as much of your food intake provides the liquid. For example, bananas are 70 percent water. Apples (80 percent), tomatoes (90 percent), watermelons (90 percent) and lettuce (95 percent) are also good sources of water.

In order to ensure the intake of quality water, use a reputable filtration system or drink good bottled water, because contaminants are plenty in much of our tap water.

With the essential role that water plays in life, you will benefit physically, mentally and spiritually, so remember that the road to a better you definitely begins with H2O.

Here is the Video to make it easier...

High Fructose Corn Syrup is now Getting a Name Change…

High Fructose Corn Syrup is now Getting a Name Change…

I got this from LiveScience, we can’t ever let our guard down.  Now when your shopping your going to have to really read the labels.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup Getting Rebranded as Corn Sugar

The good news: Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is at a 20-year low.
The bad news: The folks who make this insidious sweetener aim to re-brand it to boost sales.
High-fructose corn syrup is cheaper than cane sugar and acts as a food preservative, too, so the food industry loves the stuff. But it’s been added to so many foods — yogurt, cereal, bread, drinks and even condiments — that researchers have fingered it as a culprit in the obesity epidemic.
The Corn Refiners Association has in the past marketed high-fructose corn syrup as natural. Our Bad Medicine columnist Christopher Wanjek argues otherwise.
“High-fructose corn syrup could be all-natural if cornstarch happened to fall into a vat of alpha-amylase, soak there for a while, then trickle into another vat of glucoamylase, get strained to remove the Aspergillus fungus likely growing on top, and then find its way into some industrial-grade D-xylose isomerase. This funny coincidence didn’t happen in nature until the 1970s in a lab somewhere in Japan.”
Now the Corn Refiners Association plans to ask the FDA to allow high-fructose corn syrup to be called simple “corn sugar” instead, AP reports. And already the group is advertising it with that name. The adds also claims there’s no difference between corn sugar and cane sugar. Hmm.
Till next time...