Brain Fitness Training Is The New Resolution

By Martin G Walker

If historians are correct, the ancient Babylonians, one of
the earliest civilized societies, practiced the art of the
New Year's resolution. To this day, cultures around the
world use the turning of the year as a time to reflect on
what's past while looking to the future. This New Year more
people than ever before will be making brain fitness
training their top resolution.

Many of the traditional favorites - losing weight,
exercising, quitting smoking, to name a few - already move
us in the direction of better brain health. Brain training
takes us a big step further by fostering brain plasticity, a
state that we can use to improve our memory, concentration,
and mental acuity while helping to stave off the onset of
Alzheimer's symptoms and early dementia.

Although scientists had long since dismissed the idea that
the adult brain could grow and change, research from the
last few years overturns that theory with studies proving
quite the opposite. The right conditions can cause the
production of new neural nerve cells and the brain, in fact
proves to be remarkably adept at rewiring connections work
more effectively with the right training. (The concept of
brain plasticity is even being applied in new therapies for
stroke victims, restoring motor capabilities that
traditional therapies could not.)

Brain Training Benefits

Academics: Good brain training software may be one of the
most effective and affordable test prep programs you can
buy. Test prep typically helps you increase your test scores
but won't help you do better in school, whereas brain
training can boost your attention and general
problem-solving ability. And if you have a diagnosed
learning dysfunction, it's possible that a targeted brain
exercise will help. Where possible, many learning
specialists have begun to use brain training in preference
to accommodations as a way to address a deficit directly
rather than working around it.

Career Improvement: If your career involves creative
problem-solving and focused mental activity brain training
provides a way to stay sharp. Modern workplace demands tend
to disrupt the brain's ability to form memories and
stimulate new cell growth. Brain training can significantly
increase effectiveness and success in the workplace.

Long-Term Mental Health And Well-Being: Unless we do
something to stop it, by age 40 our brains have begun to
decline. With regular mental exercise, however, we can
reduce or eliminate memory loss, and lower our risk of
developing Alzheimer's symptoms and dementia. Researchers
have even found that depression responds to the kind of
stimulated neural growth that brain training can induce.

Self-Growth: The recent upsurge in brain training
technologies has revealed that brain exercise can lead to
improvements in seemingly unrelated areas - such as musical
ability and self-esteem. When we reflect on the brain's
central role in any and all aspects of thinking (including
feeling) this begins to make perfect sense. If we're already
engaged in activities such as physical exercise, yoga,
reading, therapy, and mindfulness meditation, a program of
mental exercise fits right in.

Making The Resolution Stick

Studies have shown that we tend not to keep our New Year's
resolutions. Women will do better at them if they share them
with their friends. And men succeed more often if the goals
are broken down into manageable milestones. Brain training
has the built-in advantage of challenge and reward. If we
find a training program that works for us, it will become an
activity we look forward to. Many programs also provide the
option to share our achievements in some form of on-line
community, and to track our detailed progress through our
training scores.

The brain training marketplace can be a little confusing at
first. There are many products out there and it's not always
clear which ones work. Some training programs provide don't
require much focus and attention and won't stimulate brain
plasticity. Others might work extremely well but cost
several hundred dollars and demand a significant time
commitment.

It's important to verify a program's scientific basis. The
vendor should state clearly what improvements the program
will bring about and in what time period. And the product
should come with a training schedule that will help you
judge whether it is right for you.

Brain training could be the best New Year's resolution
you'll ever make. With the right level of commitment it can
bring about a big jump in mental ability and set us on the
road to long-term brain health.

Oxford-trained scientist, author, and technologist, Martin
G. Walker is a member of The British Neuroscience
Association, Learning and The Brain, and MENSA. His company
(http://mindevolvesoftware.com) Mind Evolve Software

publishes free information on the field of neuroscience and
brain training as well as effective and affordable
(http://mindsparkebrainfitnesspro.com) brain training
software under the brand name Mind Sparke.

5 Questions To Ask About Meal Replacement Diets

So you've decided to start a meal replacement program.
Before you begin however, you need to ask a few simple but
helpful questions. Protect you health, and save yourself
some money by first asking the following five questions:

1. Does the program work? The first question may seem
obvious, but many do not even bother to ask. Does the
program actually work? Your goal in being on any diet is
weight loss. Stray away from programs that cannot prove how
well they work or that do not provide any guidance or
support. If a program does what it says, it should be able
to provide success stories from some of its customers. If
it can't you should start looking elsewhere.

2. What kind of professional supervision is provided? A
meal replacement program should only be undertaken with
proper medical supervision. Medical evaluation and
emotional support are both very important in any weight loss
program, especially a meal replacement program. If you are
investing your time and money in a program, it should offer
you professional guidance by qualified professionals.

3. What kind of ongoing maintenance support do you offer?
Losing the weight is only the first step. It is the very
beginning of a lifelong change in lifestyle and dietary
habits. You will need support to stay on track once you've
reached your goal weight. Choose programs that help keep
you motivated and connected with follow up support, and
offer options for intervention should you start to regain
weight.

4. How much does it cost? The important point of this
question is not that you should try to skimp out and choose
the "cheapest" program, but you should choose a program that
gives you your money's worth. You could end up paying
thousands of dollars for food, enrollment fees, and other
hidden fees for a regimen that is poorly designed that
doesn't work. Furthermore, it may offer no training or
support. However, a program that is less expensive could be
highly effective. All in all, choose the best program that
fits your budget.

5. Are there hidden fees, and can you get a refund? A true
sign of confidence is a weight loss program that offers a
money back guarantee. A program that is confident in what
it can do will have no problems with offering to give you
your money back if you are not completely satisfied with the
results. Also, be careful of hidden fees, like additional
consultation and supplement fees. Reputable weight loss
programs will always be upfront with what it's going to cost
you to participate.

Relaxation And Stress Management

Many people get caught up in their day to day lives and
focus on the future which can bring about anxiety or stress.
Stress can cause many problems such as concentration issues,
lack of good judgment, negativity and lack of productivity.
The best way to combat these feelings of stress is through relaxation.
Relaxation plays a key roll in leading a healthy happy life.
Relaxation takes as little as ten minutes a day and can be as simple
as breathing exercises, or as challenging as a kick boxing class,
the choice is yours.

Relaxation can happen anywhere, at work, at home or on a
little deserted island off the coast of Mexico. Unfortunately
not everyone can take a nice vacation to that dream island or
a seven year sabbatical. Many need to learn to relax in the
comfort of their own homes and lives. The key is to find something
you enjoy and teach your mind to relax when you do it.

There are many ways in which you can relax. Finding your
method is really your biggest obstacle, but it is easy, just
think about what you enjoy most. Maybe you like listening to
music, reading, meditating or walking. Any of these
activities can be a relaxation method and can be scaled down
to as little as ten minutes.

Watching TV, listening to music, surfing the web and
reading all offer a break from regular day to day
situations. They each create an alternative world that is
entirely your own. Your mind visually escapes into a place
that is different and exciting instead of dull, boring and
always the same as so many of us think our lives are.

Learning to control your breathing and meditation can be a
little more complicated since you must learn these
techniques in order for them to work properly. Meditation
can help you learn to reflect on situations and to control
your breathing to calm your mind. These techniques need to
be mastered and exercised in order to achieve the maximum
result. Once you have achieved your goal, you can relax at
the drop of a hat and find inner control in as little as ten
minutes.

Other people prefer to hit the gym to relax. Some like to
run, walk or lift weights. Others might prefer cycling,
kick boxing or tai chi classes. Running and walking burn off
excessive built up energy, however not everyone wants to run
a marathon. For them there are other types of classes which
sole purpose is relaxation such as yoga. Many people choose
to skip the classes and gym all together and simply walk
their dogs in the park.

Your body will tell you what it likes and what it doesn't
like, you just need to learn to listen. Take note of what
worked and what didn't while you were practicing different
relaxing techniques. If one doesn't work don't be afraid to
try a different approach. Make sure to keep yourself
motivated by reminding yourself you will be healthier and
happier in the end and think how nice it is to do something
enjoyable.

Teaching your body something new is always a challenge,
however once you get the hang of it, it is like riding a
bike, your body won't forget how. It is important to find an
activity which you enjoy and know you will stick with, but
you must make a conscious effort to remind and train your
body to relax while performing this task. It may take time,
but in the end the rewards will be fantastic for your mind,
body and lifestyle.

Panic Attacks and Anxiety

Although panic attacks and anxiety can be related to each
other, they can also be completely separate entities with
their own set of symptoms. Either of these conditions can
become problematic if the symptoms escalate beyond the
normal range. It is at this point, that treatment will need
to be sought.

Anxiety is a reaction to stress, and this is considered to
be normal. It is something that can help someone deal with
tense situations in different areas of one's life, such as
at work, school, or just something that requires facing a
crowd of people. If anxiety starts to become an excessive
and irrational dread of facing everyday situations, it has
crossed into the area of a disabling disorder.

Panic attacks and anxiety differ in the fact that, while
anxiety usually builds to a point, panic attacks can hit at
any time with no warning. Unlike anxiety, a panic attack is
an irrational fear of something that can't be named. There
is rarely any obvious reason for the feelings of panic, and
is much more intense than the feelings of anxiety or being
overly stressed.

One out of every 75 people in the world will have a panic
attack at some point in their lives. The good news is that
most of these adults will never have another panic attack.
However, these statistics show that panic attacks and
anxiety are the most common emotional disorders, even more
so than bipolar disorders, ADHD, depression, OCD
schizophrenia, phobias, and alcohol abuse. In addition to
this, people suffering from panic and anxiety disorders
rarely go looking for help with their problem.

Of course, there are similarities between panic attacks and
anxiety attacks, and anxiety attacks can lead to panic
attacks. Suffer from enough anxiety and it can escalate into
a panic attack. So if you begin to find yourself becoming
overly anxious, it's time to get help in bringing it under
control before it gets too much to cope with.

Panic attacks and anxiety are not pleasant and can actually
become quite debilitating. But people who suffer from
anxiety or panic attacks can take some comfort in knowing
there is help around to lead a regular life. All it takes is
asking for the help you need.

Butter, Margarine and Heart Disease

Shortly after World War II, margarine replaced butter in the U.S. food supply. Margarine consumption exceeded butter in the 1950s. By 1975, we were eating one-fourth the amount of butter eaten in 1900 and ten times the amount of margarine. Margarine was made primarily of hydrogenated vegetable oils, as many still are today. This makes it one of our primary sources of trans fat. The consumption of trans fats from other sources also likely tracked closely with margarine intake.


Coronary heart disease (CHD) resulting in a loss of blood flow to the heart (heart attack), was first described in detail in 1912 by Dr. James B. Herrick. Sudden cardiac death due to CHD was considered rare in the 19th century, although other forms of heart disease were diagnosed regularly by symptoms and autopsies. They remain rare in many non-industrial cultures today. This could not have resulted from massive underdiagnosis because heart attacks have characteristic symptoms, such as chest pain that extends along the arm or neck. Physicians up to that time were regularly diagnosing heart conditions other than CHD. The following graph is of total heart disease mortality in the U.S. from 1900 to 2005. It represents all types of heart disease mortality, including 'heart failure', which are non-CHD disorders like arrhythmia and myocarditis.

The graph above is not age-adjusted, meaning it doesn't reflect the fact that lifespan has increased since 1900. I couldn't compile the raw data myself without a lot of effort, but the age-adjusted graph is here. It looks similar to the one above, just a bit less pronounced. I think it's interesting to note the close similarity between the graph of margarine intake and the graph of heart disease deaths. The butter intake graph is also essentially the inverse of the heart disease graph.

Here's where it gets really interesting. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has also been tracking CHD deaths specifically since 1900. Again, it would be a lot of work for me to compile the raw data, but it can be found here and a graph is in Anthony Colpo's book The Great Cholesterol Con. Here's the jist of it: there was essentially no CHD mortality until 1925, at which point it skyrocketed until about 1970, becoming the leading cause of death. After that, it began to fall due to improved medical care. There are some discontinuities in the data due to changes in diagnostic criteria, but even subtracting those, the pattern is crystal clear.

The age-adjusted heart disease death rate (all forms of heart disease) has been falling since the 1950s, largely due to improved medical treatment. Heart disease incidence has not declined substantially, according to the Framingham Heart study. We're better at keeping people alive in the 21st century, but we haven't successfully addressed the root cause of heart disease.

Was the shift from butter to margarine involved in the CHD epidemic? We can't make any firm conclusions from these data, because they're purely correlations. But there are nevertheless mechanisms that support a protective role for butter, and a detrimental one for margarine. Butter from pastured cows is one of the richest known sources of vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 plays a central role in protecting against arterial calcification, which is an integral part of arterial plaque and the best single predictor of cardiovascular death risk. In the early 20th century, butter was typically from pastured cows.

Margarine is a major source of trans fat. Trans fat is typically found in vegetable oil that has been hydrogenated, rendering it solid at room temperature. Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction that is truly disgusting. It involves heat, oil, hydrogen gas and a metal catalyst. I hope you give a wide berth to any food that says "hydrogenated" anywhere in the ingredients. Some modern margarine is supposedly free of trans fats, but in the U.S., less than 0.5 grams per serving can be rounded down so the nutrition label is not a reliable guide. Only by looking at the ingredients can you be sure that the oils haven't been hydrogenated. Even if they aren't, I still don't recommend margarine, which is an industrially processed pseudo-food.

One of the strongest explanations of CHD is the oxidized LDL hypothesis. The idea is that LDL lipoprotein particles ("LDL cholesterol") become oxidized and stick to the vessel walls, creating an inflammatory cascade that results in plaque formation. Chris Masterjohn wrote a nice explanation of the theory here. Several things influence the amount of oxidized LDL in the blood, including the total amount of LDL in the blood, the antioxidant content of the particle, the polyunsaturated fat content of LDL (more PUFA = more oxidation), and the size of the LDL particles. Small LDL is considered more easily oxidized than large LDL. Small LDL is also associated with elevated CHD mortality. Trans fat shrinks your LDL compared to butter.

In my opinion, it's likely that both the decrease in butter consumption and the increase in trans fat consumption contributed to the massive incidence of CHD seen in the U.S. and other industrial nations today. I think it's worth noting that France has the highest per-capita dairy fat consumption of any industrial nation, along with a comparatively low intake of hydrogenated fat, and also has the second-lowest rate of CHD, behind Japan.

Is There A Link Between Coffee And High Blood Pressure?

It's no surprise to my friends and family that I pride
myself on living a healthy lifestyle. This is why, I
suppose only half-joking, that they refer to my Grande
coffee from Starbucks as my "vice."

A friend recently told me to "watch out," while at Starbucks
the other day as I drank my coffee because her doctor told
her that coffee can contribute to high blood pressure, or
hypertension.

Watch out? My friend was telling me this quite literally,
as she was exhaling cigarette smoke. Did her doctor mention
that this behavior is far more a contributor to high
blood pressure?

Did the doctor actually state that more than anything, my
friend's overindulgence in food, smoking and sometimes
alcohol largely caused her hypertension but she only heard
"coffee?" Hard to know but I was curious, why did the
doctor even list coffee as a contributor?

To date, there is no definitive evidence that coffee leads
to the development of high blood pressure.

Some studies have shown that drinking coffee does raise
one's blood pressure slightly, but only temporarily. In
fact, these same studies have shown that over time, this
slight increase in blood pressure is reduced.

Researchers are starting to notice that the reason coffee is
so often associated with the actual contributors to
hypertension (cigarettes, and obesity) is because many
people tend to combine drinking coffee with these bad
behaviors.

Does this mean that coffee causes hypertention? No - it is
not coffee's fault that some people cannot drink a cup of
coffee without partnering it with cigarettes and/or over
eating.

While I'm always excited to read about amazing results from
people who've given up coffee and reduced their blood
pressure, I'm even more interested in knowing what other bad
behaviors where dropped when these people gave up coffee.

I believe moderation truly is the key as far as coffee (and
well, everything) is concerned. I like my coffee and will
continue to drink my occasional cup until proven otherwise.

Leptin Resistance and Sugar

Leptin is a major hormone regulator of fat mass in vertebrates. It's a frequent topic on this blog because I believe it's central to overweight and modern metabolic disorders. Here's how it works. Leptin is secreted by fat tissue, and its blood levels are proportional to fat mass. The more fat tissue, the more leptin. Leptin reduces appetite, increases fat release from fat tissue and increases the metabolic rate. Normally, this creates a "feedback loop" that keeps fat mass within a fairly narrow range. Any increase in fat tissue causes an increase in leptin, which burns fat tissue at an accelerated rate. This continues until fat mass has decreased enough to return leptin to its original level.

Leptin was first identified through research on the "obese" mutant mouse. The obese strain arose by a spontaneous mutation, and is extremely fat. The mutation turned out to be in a protein investigators dubbed leptin. When researchers first discovered leptin, they speculated that it could be the "obesity gene", and supplemental leptin a potential treatment for obesity. They later discovered (to their great chagrin) that obese people produce much more leptin than thin people, so a defeciency of leptin was clearly not the problem, as it was in the obese mouse. They subsequently found that obese people scarcely respond to injected leptin by reducing their food intake, as thin people do. They are leptin resistant. This makes sense if you think about it. The only way a person can gain significant fat mass is if the leptin feedback loop isn't working correctly.

Another rodent model of leptin resistance arose later, the "Zucker fatty" rat. Zucker rats have a mutation in the leptin receptor gene. They secrete leptin just fine, but they don't respond to it because they have no functional receptor. This makes them an excellent model of complete leptin resistance. What happens to Zucker rats? They become obese, hypometabolic, hyperphagic, hypertensive, insulin resistant, and they develop blood lipid disturbances. It should sound familiar; it's the metabolic syndrome and it affects 24% of Americans (CDC NHANES III). Guess what's the first symptom of impending metabolic syndrome in humans, even before insulin resistance and obesity? Leptin resistance. This makes leptin an excellent contender for the keystone position in overweight and other metabolic disorders.

I've mentioned before that the two most commonly used animal models of the metabolic syndrome are both sugar-fed rats. Fructose, which accounts for 50% of table sugar and 55% of high-fructose corn syrup, is probably the culprit. Glucose, which is the remainder of table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, and the product of starch digestion, does not have the same effects. I think it's also relevant that refined sugar contains no vitamins or minerals whatsoever. Sweetener consumption in the U.S. has increased from virtually nothing in 1850, to 84 pounds per year in 1909, to 119 pounds in 1970, to 142 pounds in 2005 (source).

In a recent paper, Dr. Philip Scarpace's group (in collaboration with Dr. Richard Johnson), showed that a high-fructose diet causes leptin resistance in rats. The diet was 60% fructose, which is extreme by any standards, but it caused a complete resistance to the effect of leptin on food intake. Normally, leptin binds receptors in a brain region called the hypothalamus, which is responsible for food intake behaviors (including in humans). This accounts for leptin's ability to reduce food consumption. Fructose-fed rats did not reduce their food intake at all when injected with leptin, while rats on a normal diet did. When subsequently put on a high-fat diet (60% lard), rats that started off on the fructose diet gained more weight.

I think it's worth mentionong that rodents don't respond to high-fat diets in the same way as humans, as judged by the efficacy of low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss. Industrial lard also has a very poor ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats (especially if it's hydrogenated), which may also contribute to the observed weight gain.

Fructose-fed rats had higher cholesterol and twice the triglycerides of control-fed rats. Fructose increases triglycerides because it goes straight to the liver, which makes it into fat that's subsequently exported into the bloodstream. Elevated triglycerides impair leptin transport from the blood to the hypothalamus across the blood-brain barrier, which separates the central nervous system from the rest of the body. Fructose also impaired the response of the hypothalamus to the leptin that did reach it. Both effects may contribute to the leptin resistance Dr. Scarpace's group observed.

Just four weeks of fructose feeding in humans (1.5g per kg body weight) increased leptin levels by 48%. Body weight did not change during the study, indicating that more leptin was required to maintain the same level of fat mass. This may be the beginning of leptin resistance.

The Fundamentals

I heard an interview of Michael Pollan yesterday on Talk of the Nation. He made some important points about nutrition that bear repeating. He's fond of saying "don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food". That doesn't mean your grandmother specifically, but anyone's grandmother, whether she was Japanese, American or African. The point is that commercial food processing has taken us away from the foods, and traditional food preparation methods, on which our bodies evolved to thrive. At this point, we don't know enough about health to design a healthy synthetic diet. Diet and health are too complex for reductionism at our current level of understanding. For that reason, any departure from natural foods and traditional food processing techniques is suspect.

Mainstream nutrition science has repeatedly contradicted itself and led us down the wrong path. This means that traditional cultures still have something to teach us about health. Hunter-gatherers and certain other non-industrial cultures are still the healthiest people on Earth, from the perspective of non-communicable disease. Pollan used the example of butter. First we thought it was healthy, then we were told it contains too much saturated fat and should be replaced with hydrogenated vegetable margarine. Now we learn that trans fats are unhealthy, so we're making new margarines that are low in trans fats, but are still industrially processed pseudo-foods. How long will it take to show these new fats are harmful? What will be the next industrial fat to replace them? This game can be played forever as the latest unproven processed food replaces the previous one, and it will never result in something as healthy as real butter.

The last point of Pollan's I'll mention is that the world contains (or contained) a diversity of different cultures, living in dramatically different ways, many of which do not suffer from degenerative disease. These range from carnivores like the Inuit, to plant-heavy agriculturalists like the Kitavans, to pastoralists like the Masai. The human body is adapted to a wide variety of foodways, but the one it doesn't seem to like is the modern Western diet.

Pollan's new book is In Defense of Food. I haven't read it, but I think it would be a good introduction to the health, ethical and environmental issues that surround food choices. He's a clear and accessible writer.

Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and happy holidays to everyone!

LDL Cholesterol And Heart Disease

Cholesterol is a substance that is found in our blood. It is
usually associated with other substances, notably the
lipoproteins named LDL and HDL. The association with HDL is
good for our health whereas the association with LDL is bad.
Let us find out how these associations actually affect our
health and how we can guard against their adverse effect on
our health.

HDL cholesterol is beneficial to the body and must be
transported to all parts of the body by the bloodstream,
whereas LDL cholesterol must be eliminated from the body via
the very same bloodstream. The body has a mechanism to
regulate the levels of LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol
in the blood. Bad eating and lifestyle habits cause the
cholesterol levels to exceed the normal healthy bounds thus
overloading the regulatory mechanism. If this condition
continues for a long time our health is jeopardized.

LDL cholesterol tends to stick to the inner walls of the
blood vessels it moves through. The coating reduces the
blood flow through the affected vessels. This means poor
circulation which translates to poor health. The coating may
increase to an extent where the blood vessel is severely
constricted. This condition is known as arteriosclerosis.

If this situation carries on for a long time, the blood flow
is obstructed and the blood pressure increases leading to
overloading of the heart. The plaque can accumulate to such
an extent that it completely blocks the blood vessel, or it
may get dislodged from one location and lodge itself in a
narrower blood vessel, like a capillary, creating a blockage
there. Blood supply is choked off at that point, and leads
to blood starvation in the region beyond the blockage.

If this blood starvation occurs in a critical area of the body,
as for example in the brain, then we get a crisis. The
affected area of the brain shuts down and this leads to a
'stroke' wherein the body experiences paralysis in those
areas controlled by the area of the brain which has shut
down. If the blood vessels of the heart are affected by
blockage, then we get a critical situation known as a heart
attack. All this is due to an excess of LDL cholesterol in
the blood.

The best way to recover from this situation is to help the
body to regulate the amounts of HDL and LDL cholesterol. We
can do this by changing over to a low-fat diet, free of
foods that are rich in LDL. Some fats, like the omega-3 fats
found in fish, are actually helpful in reducing LDL
cholesterol. So we should include fish in our diet. Drink a
lot of water to increase blood circulation and excretion.

Check the medium your food is cooked in. Stop using
polyunsaturated vegetable oils because they change to
trans-fats on heating, and trans-fats are harmful for
health. Use olive oil instead, because it is a good cooking
medium. Just this much is good enough to bring about a
drastic reduction of LDL cholesterol.

Smoking actually helps to elevate the LDL cholesterol level
in the blood. Give up smoking and see the LDL cholesterol
beat a hasty retreat. Follow the other steps in this article
to ensure your freedom from a dangerous heart condition.

A stressful lifestyle adds fuel to fire if you have an
excessive LDL cholesterol level. Tension adds to the high
LDL cholesterol situation, whereas a tension free lifestyle
actually goes a long way to decreasing the LDL cholesterol
level.

If you (or a near one) suffer from a high LDL cholesterol
level, don't get all stressed about it. That will be
counter-productive. You should be positive instead. You can
do a lot to bring the LDL cholesterol levels down to normal.
Start having a good, healthy and balanced diet. Increase the
amount of your activity. Start exercising, and continue to
do so regularly. Stop smoking altogether. Not only will your
bad cholesterol level get itself back to where it belongs,
but your exposure to heart attack and stroke will disappear
as well.

8 Reasons Why Building Strength Should Be Your Primary Goal

Read this article right away to find a number of good
reasons why I think building strength should be your most
important goal (although you just want to build mega-muscles
and nuke lots of fat)...

1. Strength Training Is More Efficient:

Ever needed to lift something heavy? Move fixtures? Lift your
girlfriend up and pin her against the wall for a sizzling
make out session? All those things require strength, not
necessarily muscle size.

Actually, at times having extra muscle is not beneficial -
it weighs more, as a result if you have to run or walk long
distances it takes additional calories to sustain, in short you
have to eat more...

2. Building Strength Takes Less Time:

Majority of expert weightlifters spend up to 6 days in the
gym and some even do twice a day workouts. If you're like me
(or most people) lifting weights isn't your permanent job, and
therefore not likely to spend that much time in the gym.

You can turn in super strong training 3-4 days a week, and
spend not greater than 20-30 minutes in the gym each time -
That means you could be consuming 2 hours in the gym vs. 12.
It doesn't take long to improve strength.

3. Building Strength Is Encouraging:

Nearly no one has any goals when they go to the
gym, they think "I want to look better" but that's unclear
and open-ended. Knowing you want to add 5lbs to your
deadlift whenever you come in the gym though is VERY
motivating.

Plus, watching the weights build and seeing how far you've
progressed over the course of time is very motivating and
makes you want to keep going back to the gym.

4. Strength Makes It Simpler To Increase Volume:

Most weightlifters these days don't recognize that guys like
Arnold and bodybuilders from his day all did powerlifting
routines early on in their careers to build high starting
levels of strength and power.

They had a matchless "dense" look to their physiques from
all this heavy weight training. And were able to employ
heavier weights when it came to doing out-of-date
bodybuilding style set/rep schemes - so it was much easier
for these strong lifters to build muscle.

5. Better For Well-being:

There's been much contemporary research that shows strength
training helps to avoid age related diseases and
deteriorating diseases.

Losing muscle mass is an expected upshot of
aging, but strength training in particular will tell your
body to "hold on" to muscle mass as it needs it to continue
lifting weighty stuff. Also, your bones will become stronger
as well to support your framework of muscle mass.

6. Improves Self-Confidence:

There's nothing better than KNOWING you can lift a heavy
weight off the floor or press a heavy weight up on top of
your head. Or knowing that you have the strength to pull
yourself up and over a wall, up and over the edge of a cliff
and things like that. Knowing you are as strong as you look
is a big confidence booster.

7. Strength Training Is Better For Sports:

Strength is the source for all other physical qualities.
Boosting your strength enhances your power, explosiveness,
speed, agility, endurance, and the like.

Numerous sports - particularly martial arts -
require athletes to have high relative strength. They need
to be extraordinarily strong for their size since they have
to stay within a particular weight class.

There's nothing worse than putting on 20 MORE pounds of
muscle you have to carry down the field, or move around the
ring to avoid getting knocked out - and that 20 pounds of
muscle is doing you no good.

8. Strength Training Is Excellent For Females:

Nearly all women don't want to be like the hulk. They don't
want to gain 20 pounds of muscle. They just want to get
"toned". As I mentioned earlier, strength training is the
greatest way to get the toned look.

So if you're a girl you can get strong very quickly and
improve your health and quality of life without taking away
from your femininity in the least.

Why Interval Training Is The Best Way To Lose Body Fat

Interval training is effective because it makes use of a
diverse range of fat burning methods, leaving you lean and
mean and in control. The fat-burning techniques include such
things as steady state cardiovascular workouts, high
intensity interval training, and weight training, among
others.

Interval training is an approach where you alternate between
intense and easy workouts while resting in between. Your
workout will be in intervals, this way you provide your body
with the best exercise and you will burn the greatest amount
of fat as possible. This is the perfect solution for those
who want to lose a few pounds and be in top shape.

Steady state cardiovascular is working out in an exercise
that is at a fast pace for a specific period of time. You
will stay at that steady pace for the entire duration of the
exercise. Activities like this will involve exercising from
20 to 60 minutes. You want to work out at around 75% of your
maximum heart rate. The biggest benefit of this type of
exercise is it is easy for someone who is overweight to burn
the most calories in just one session.

High intensity interval training will help you lose as much
fat as possible. A person performing this workout will do
different rounds of high intensity mixed with low intensity
workouts. A good example of this would be running, walking
slowly, exercise bike, walking slowly, etc. This should go
on for up to 30 to 45 minutes.

Although the steady state works better to burn more fat in a
single workout, studies have proven that the interval
training works better over the long term. It actually works by
raising the body's metabolism. Although you are burning more
calories in a steady rate workout session, you are actually
burning more in the long run from the interval training sessions.
The reason being that even when you are at rest you are
burning fat. This enables your body to easily shed fat while
making it harder to gain back.

High intensity interval training can be quite hard for
certain people. If you are a low fitness person who is
completely out of shape it would be a good idea to start
with a workout that is less intense prior to starting on
something such as this.

Want the best interval training program to blowtorch
body fat and build muscle, all with little or no equipment
and only 3 short sessions a week? check it out NOW =>
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Check Out These 5 Powerful Foods For Detox And Weight Loss

So you want to start your weight loss detox program and
don't know where to begin. First of all you need to change
your diet. There are some foods that must be in your diet if
you want to detoxify your body and lose weight.

Here are the 5 powerful foods for detox and weight loss:

1. Lemon

It helps cleanse the lymphatic system.Among other important
phytonutrients it contains phosphorous that ensures the
proper functioning of the nervous system and sodium that
helps the toxins elimination process and supports the liver and
gallbladder.The liver plays an important role in the fat
metabolism. Keeping the liver healthy will help you maintain
your ideal weight. Drink 1 glass of hot water with a thin
slice of organic lemon first thing in the morning to
stimulate the liver.

2. Avocado

It is an important source of glutathione, an anti-oxidant
that protects the liver. It binds with fat soluble toxins and
makes them water-soluble so they are easily excreted from the
body. For example, it binds with alcohol and helps the liver to
easily excrete it from the body thus protecting the liver from
damage.

3. Ginger

It has the ability to stimulate the digestive system.

4. Apple

It is a source of vitamin C and quercetin that help lower
the fat level in the body. It is also a source of vitamin E,
biotin, folic acid and other important phytonutrients and
promotes healthy muscles, nerves and the respiratory system.

Pectin is a fiber found in apples as well as beets and
citrus fruits. It binds to toxic heavy metals, preservatives
and additives and helps their excretion. All these
substances are a big burden on the digestive system and
promote weight gain.

5. Beetroot

This is a widely used detoxification aid. It contains
magnesium, manganese and folate. Beetroot is among the best
vegetable liver-cleansers. It also contains methionine that
helps reduce the cholesterol level.

Check out Fat Loss Foods for the 110 amazing fat fighting foods
guaranteed to melt stubborn body fat

How To Enjoy Eating Out Healthier

Dining out is a big part of our lives. Maybe you are eating
out frequently because you entertain clients. Perhaps you
don't like eating out. Regardless, if you want to keep a
nice fit body, restaurant meals will give you a huge
obstacle to overcome. In fact, eating out at restaurants is
one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up
while traveling.

I'm going to give you some very simple tricks you can use to
eat more healthy while dining out and stay lean.

The 3 vital things to avoid in restaurants are:

1. Any sodas, juices and other sugary foods (except fresh
fruits, which are great).
2. Deep fried foods (anything dropped in a scorching bath of trans fats).
3. Refined starchy foods.

Skip these 3 culprits and you'll eliminate most of the major
food sources that do the worst damage to our food supply -
trans fats, refined vegetable oils, refined starchy
carbohydrates, and refined sugars.

What you should try to do is, to skip the bread, skip the
french fries that come with every single sandwich on every
menu known to man, and reduce all of the heaping portions of
pasta and rice that are often loaded on your plate as well.

Substitute a salad for the typical french fries, pasta, or
rice, that most restaurant meals come with. And of course
eat your meat and other vegetables as usual.

Almost all restaurants that I have been to will always let
me substitute vegetables or a side salad for the french
fries or chips that come with all burgers or sandwiches.

Just a quick side note, it amazes me how many people
scrutinize my substitutions of veggies for fries by telling
me that I am 'not living' because I refuse to eat deep fried
french fries... are you kidding me! If french fries are your
idea of 'living it up', you need to get a better hobby!

Ironically, the same scrutinizers are the very first to
complain that they're fat, overweight and have tried
'everything' to lose their big guts. I'm not sure why people
think eating deep fried foods equals 'living it up'... I'm
for moderation with many things, but 2 things that should be
totally removed from every diet because they are simply
dangerous... is sodas and fries!

Take a look at the typical difference a simple substitution
makes between choosing smart and doing what other people
do...

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

* soda or other sweetened drink (and no, diet sodas are
NOT healthy!) * Burger or sandwich * chips
or french fries.

A MUCH smarter alternative if you care about your body and
health is this simple change:

* Salad or fresh raw veggies * Burger or other
delicious sandwich * unsweetened iced tea or water (no
diet pop - unless you like to drink poison!)

Make these 2 simple substitutions and save at least 400 -
900 calories every time you dine out... AND you are cutting
out the most harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding
the evil trans fats of deep frying foods and high fructose
corn syrup from the fries and soda.

On a side note: a semi-secret method to eat full portions of
breads, pasta, and rice, and actually get away with it
without packing on the extra fat is to schedule a high
intensity full body resistance training workout before your
scheduled meal time. This can be free weights or body weight
training.

It may be hard to fit the exercise into your schedule right
before a meal, if you can, the meal can be your
'post-workout meal'. After this high intensity resistance
training workout, your body will handle a higher amount of
carbs than it normally can to help replenish the muscle
glycogen depletion it had during the intense exercise.

Your typical moderate cardio exercise will NOT cut it for
this... it must be a high intensity resistance training
workout to deplete enough muscle glycogen to handle
restaurant portions of carbs.

I hope these dining tips help you choose smarter and
healthier for a leaner body next time you eat out.

Why Is Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle The Best Selling E-Book In Internet History?

Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is the #1 best selling diet
and fitness ebook in the history of the Internet. In fact,
it's one of the best selling e-books on ANY subject in the
history of the Internet -... And there's a reason why...

It's because thousands of women and men of every age are
burning off BODY FAT - not muscle or water weight - and
they're doing it naturally, without supplements, pills or
"magic potions," simply by using the proven,
scientifically-accurate and common-sense advice found inside
this amazing diet and fitness guidebook.

Tom Venuto, a respected fat loss expert, natural
bodybuilder, and personal trainer, has not just pumped out
yet another "diet program" into an already over-saturated
market. Tom's Burn the Fat can be more accurately described
as a "Fat Loss Bible." It is quite simply one of the most
complete, detailed, and precise guides to fat loss you will
ever read. What makes it so much different from other weight
loss publications on the market?

Well first of all, it's not a "weight loss" program,
it's a "fat" loss program. This may seem like semantics
or wordplay at first, but once you've read just the first
three chapters, there will be no doubt in your mind that
pursuing "weight loss" is not only the wrong goal, it may
be the reason that you've failed to reach and maintain your
ideal body weight. Burn The Fat shows you exactly why it's
fat you must lose, not "weight" (which includes muscle,
water and other lean tissue) and then goes on to show you
exactly how to do it.

Secondly, what makes Burn The Fat different is the amount of
attention that is paid to each and every element of
successful, healthy, permanent fat loss. Burn The Fat not
only thoroughly dispels the lies, myths and fallacies
surrounding a very confusing subject, it is simply the most
detailed book about fat loss ever written. By reading Burn
the Fat, Feed the Muscle, (or better yet, "studying it"),
you will learn more about fat loss than you could from an
entire semester of nutrition classes or from an entire shelf
of mainstream diet publications at your local bookstore.

You may be wondering, "Is this a low carb diet? A high
protein diet? A high fat diet? what type of program IS
it???" The truth is that Burn the Fat is neither a high
protein diet, or a low carb diet. That's because with the
information in this book, you will be able to easily
determine your own ideal protein, carbs and fats ratio. You
will be able to analyze your body type (are you an
endomorph, ectomorph, or mesomorph?), you will determine
your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate, or the amount of
"maintenance" calories your body requires every day), and
you will find out whether you are carb tolerant or carb
intolerant.

This personalized approach makes perfect sense because each
of us is a unique individual and no two people are exactly
alike in terms of body physiology and personal goals.

One of the most powerful chapters in the book is the first
one called, "How To Set Powerful, Compelling Goals That
Will Propel You Forward and Charge You Up with Unstoppable
Motivation." In this chapter, you will learn what is
probably the ultimate secret to burning fat and getting in
shape... and it has nothing to do with diets, supplements or
training programs. There's also a great quote in this
chapter from the legendary Green Bay Packers coach, Vince
Lombardi...

"The dictionary is the only place success comes before
work. Hard work is the price we must all pay for success."
That line does a nice job of expressing the "no quick fix"
philosophy behind the entire book. In the rest of the book,
you'll learn the complete and exact mechanics of fat loss -
explained on both a scientific and a practical level (which
you can easily apply in your own daily life in terms of what
to eat and how to exercise to burn fat).

If there is any drawback to the Burn The Fat ebook, it's
that it contains so much information, that some readers may
find it a bit overwhelming. Those who are looking for a
"Cliff's Note's" quick start type of fat loss program,
might be a bit intimidated at first. The good part however, is
that even these types of readers can feel confident and
assured that it will be worth the effort because this will
literally be the last book they ever have to buy on the
subject.

Who will benefit most from Burn the Fat?

In the broadest sense, anyone and everyone who needs to lose
weight will benefit from Burn The Fat. Men, women,
bodybuilders, fitness enthusiasts, and especially motivated
individuals and avid readers will love this book. Although
it was written by a bodybuilder, this book is certainly NOT
just for bodybuilders.

It's all about intelligent eating choices, planning,
hard work and lifestyle change. As Burn The Fat author Tom
Venuto says,...

"Burn the Fat is simple, but it's not easy."

In terms of graphic design, Burn the Fat is a clean and
professionally formatted PDF e-book. It's a little on the
plain side, being just text, but that makes it ideal for
printing and reading in the comfort of a favorite chair.
Because of it's size, it does require a robust printer and
a good stack of paper.

Initially, some people might think that Burn the Fat is priced
a little on the high side because $39 might seem like a fair
chunk of money for an ebook download. However, with the
amount of information contained within Burn The
Fat's 340 pages, along with the special bonus ebooks and
reports that come with it, you'll see its not only worth
the $39, but many times that amount.

As with any how-to publication, you're not really paying
for the materials used to compile the document, but for what
the information can do for you, and clearly, this
publication has changed many lives and the hundreds of
testimonials and success stories found on the Burn The Fat
website are proof of that (I recommend you take a look at
that "testimonials" page on the Burn The Fat website
because some of the before and after transformations are
simply incredible - as well as inspiring).

The Bottom line?

Anyone looking for a quick fix solution to fat loss, anyone
looking to be told fairy-tales, and anyone looking for a
"magic bullet" offered by the likes of body wraps, fat
burning pills, diet shakes, or "fat-burning" creams and
gels might be best advised to steer clear of Burn the Fat.

On the other hand, anyone tired of "spinning their wheels"
going nowhere, who wants the truth about fat loss and who is
ready and willing to put in the hard work and discipline and
make the lifestyle changes necessary to get a fat free body,
will find Burn The fat to be one of the best investments
they ever made in their lives. Click here to learn more
about Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat

Scared Of Losing Your Hair?

Although perhaps not desirable, hair loss is quite normal.
The list of all the possible causes is exceedingly long but
it is a common problem that affects millions of men, women,
and children. Although there are a number of fancy names for
types of hair loss, the correct medical term is Alopecia.
The most common type of hair loss in men is genetic; known
as male pattern baldness, it affects close to 95 percent of
males.

What most people don't know is that if your hair loss is
only moderate, it may be that your eating habits are causing
the problem and your diet needs to be assessed. The reason
for your condition may be at your work place if you deal
with chemicals or cosmetics, but some other reasons may be as
a consequence of personal situations such as stress, mental
tension or a hormonal imbalance.

In fact, hair loss is also common among women as they age,
although with women a thyroid condition is one of the more
common causes. By the time they reach sixty, forty percent
of women around the world will have experienced loss of some
form or another. Some women also have a hair loss problem
when they are pregnant; often lasting many months after the
child is born. In America approximately thirty million women
suffer from female pattern, hereditary baldness at some
point in their lives.

People who suffer with permanent hair loss now have a
relatively new but popular treatment called surgical hair
restoration which is considered to be the ultimate solution
to an increasing problem. It involves the process of
transplanting hair follicles from one area of the scalp to
another. Hair follicles that are healthy and undamaged are
taken from the scalp and transplanted to an area where the
follicles have been damaged for whatever reason. The
process only requires local anesthesia and is carried out on an
out-patient basis but has become one of the most regular
forms of hair restoration for men. Many women are now deciding
on hair transplant surgery as a method to hide scarring cause by
facelifts for example.

The most successful hair transplants are those where the
recipient tries to maintain his original looks and not to
attempt to appear like someone else. Existing medical
conditions could cause problems so these must be sorted out
before any hair transplant treatment is considered.

Even though hair restoration is a cosmetic procedure,
aspects involved are different from other forms of cosmetic
surgeries. Fortunately, the science of hair loss and hair
restoration is constantly advancing, so if you do not
respond to other medical treatments, surgical hair
restoration may be the only truly permanent solution to
baldness.

What You Can Do With Celery Seed

If you have simply bought yourself some celery seed on a
whim, or you are simply interested in finding out what it
can do for you, there is some information that you should
know about the seasoning celery seed. This seasoning has
been around for quite some time in a wide variety of
cultures, and you will find that with a little bit of work,
it can be easily integrated into your diet. Take some time
to look around and see what celery seed can do for you!

What is Celery Seed?

Celery seed comes from a plant called apium graveolons, not
the celery vegetable. There are a lot of other small, brown
seeds, which are similar in appearance, but the unique smell
of celery seed gives it away. They smell just like celery.
When you use celery seeds in your recipe, whether you are
making crockpot chicken noodle soup, a salad dressing, or a
vegetarian casserole, you will find these seeds impart the
flavor of celery without having to add stalks of celery to
the recipe.

How Can You Use Celery Seed?

You can use these seeds to flavor soups and salad dressings
as well as in pickling. Chicken noodle soup has a real kick
if you add some celery seed. If you suffer from bronchitis,
gout, arthritis, and various other inflammations, celery
seed is a scientifically proven homeopathic remedy.

Because celery seeds have a significant concentration of
phtalides, you will see that it has some scientifically
provable qualities as a sedative and a muscle-relaxant.
Consumption of celery seeds also leads to an antioxidant
effect.

How can I make a good celery seed salad dressing?

As well as being an excellent ingredient in homemade chicken
noodle soup, celery seeds are found in many types of salad
dressing. You can make your own by combining a teaspoon of
salt, a teaspoon of celery seed and a teaspoon of dry
mustard. Next, add a teaspoon of onion juice and trickle in
a cup of salad oil and a third of a cup of vinegar slowly.
The resulting dressing is mild yet tangy and is very tasty
on vegetable or fruit salads. You might prefer to add sugar
and pepper, depending on your taste.

What Foods are Good with Celery Seeds?

Celery should be added when you feel the recipe would suit
it. With a bit of experimentation, trial and error you might
even be able to come up with some fabulous new recipes.
Homemade chicken noodle soup is known for being extra tasty
with added celery seed, or crockpot chicken noodle soup if
you are at work all day and want to come home to a ready
meal. If you normally add celery to a certain recipe, try
celery seed instead for a change in texture. Coleslaw and
chicken potpie are other recipes, which suit a celery seed
flavor.

There are many reasons, as you can see, for using celery
seed. A bottle of celery seed keeps for up to 3 years so there
is no reason not to get some and experiment. Try making
some chicken noodle soup and adding celery seed
to taste. You definitely won't be disappointed with the
results!

Finally! a complete list of which foods are best to eat for
burning 38% more body fat. Discover the 110 amazing
fat fighting foods guaranteed to melt stubborn body fat =>
Fat Loss Foods

How To Get A Flat Stomach In Just 15 Minutes A Day

When it comes to weight loss, one of the most frequently
asked questions has definitely been how to lose belly fat.
That's not really surprising right? I mean, who doesn't want
a flatter stomach? Now while you can't specifically target
the belly when you want to burn fat, I'm going to show you a
really effective way to loose belly fat and strengthen your
abs.

The best way to go about getting rid of any fat is to
perform intense workouts. And to lose belly fat, this is
definitely among the best intense workouts you'll ever come
across.

This intense workout is known as High Intensity Interval
Training (HIIT). Why is HIIT so good? Because unlike
conventional jogging (for some reason, people think jogging
is the best weight loss exercise, when it definitely isn't),
HIIT increases your metabolism such that you will be burning
calories even after you are done with the workout. And here
is another thing really good about HIIT. Unlike jogging, you
can finish one HIIT workout in just 15 minutes. Who says
you have to spend a lot of time to work out?

Here is how you can properly perform the HIIT so that you
get the maximum benefit from it. All you need for this
workout is a good pair of running shoes, a stopwatch and
sports clothes. It's better if you head to the a track for
this workout. After you warm up and stretch, you will start
the workout.

What you are going to do is jog for 60 seconds and then
sprint as fast as you can for 30 seconds, then jog for 60
seconds and sprint for 30 seconds. Continue this for 15
minutes. Just make sure you include a healthy, varied diet.
If not, you will render this workout useless.

Want the best interval training program on the planet?
Get your free workout and meal plan here NOW =>
TurbulenceTraining.com

Attention Deficit Disorder - Fish Oil As An Excellent Treatment

Fish oil is an excellent treatment for ADD. This is how it
works and why.

Studies have shown that children with ADD and ADHD
(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) have
symptoms which are similar to that of people who are
deficient with essential fatty acids.

Information published in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition says that children "with lower compositions of
total omega 3 fatty acids had significantly more behavioral
problems, temper tantrums, and learning, health, and sleep
problems than did those with high proportions of omega 3
fatty acids." [Vol. 71, No. 1, 327S-330S]

Parents will surely like this natural form of treatment for
ADD kids, and the moment they know that they have several
choices; it makes it a lot easier for them to make a decision.
It gives them the chance to try the natural approach first.

Prescription drugs may be used, but we also need to
consider the serious side effects that can result when
these drugs are taken. Fish oil on the other hand, has no
bad side effects but only endless health benefits from childhood
through old age.

The promotion of this natural treatment for children with
ADD and ADHD is now endorsed by scientists. For example,
in a study that was published in Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes
and Essential Fatty Acids, the authors particularly stated that
treating ADD and ADHD with omega 3 fatty acids is "safe
compared to existing pharmacological interventions"
[Vol. 63, No.1-2, pp. 79-87]

It has become more exciting, as one scientist took time to
review all available studies on omega 3s, and posted a
statement in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry [Vol.
48:195-203], "that higher dosages of omega-3 fatty acids (2
to 4g daily) may ameliorate the symptoms of several
psychiatric conditions" ? that includes ADD and ADHD.

It is really a brave move to make such a statement, coming
from a scientist. We do not often see scientists becoming
so excited that they would go to the point of using the word
"ameliorate" in describing natural nutrients found in food.

"Ameliorate" refers to making a person feel better or
improve your health (similar to "cure") and would normally
be used for prescription drugs.

It is good to know that scientific studies back up the
need to find ADD fish oil treatment for your kids. And
certainly omega 3 fish oil is a very simple solution. By
simply adding more oily fish to your family's daily diet
plan can jump start things for you.

But this should not mean fish sticks and fish patties.
They are of course made of white meat fish, and do not
contain that much omega 3s. Also remember that omega 3s
are not produced by the body and must come from the diet.

What you need to provide is salmon, tuna, sardines,
mackerel or herring. The more you serve it, the better.
It can be a challenge to get 2 to 4 grams of fish oil daily
just by eating those fishes.

There is an easier alternative, and that is by
supplementing only the finest quality fish oil capsules to
your family's diet. If you prefer this natural approach over
traditional medicines, you'll need to look for a fish oil product
that is a 100% pure and free of toxins, a stable potency and
contains all the eight members of the omega 3 family.

U.S. Weight, Lifestyle and Diet Trends, 1970- 2007

For this post, I compiled statistics on U.S. weight, health and lifestyle trends, and graphed them as consistently as possible. They span the period from 1970 to 2007, during which the obesity rate doubled. The data come from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Some of the graphs are incomplete, either because the data don't exist, or because I wasn't able to find them. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30+; overweight is a BMI of 25+. Yes, it's frightening. It has affected adults and children (NHANES).
The percentage of Americans who report exercising in their spare time has actually increased since 1988 (BRFSS).
We're eating about 250 more calories per day, according to NHANES.
The 250 extra calories are coming from carbohydrate (NHANES).

We're eating more vegetables and fruit (USDA).
We're eating more meat by weight, although calories from meat have probably gone down because the meat has gotten leaner (USDA). This graph represents red meat, fish and poultry. The increase comes mostly from poultry. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts anyone?
We're eating more sugar (USDA). The scale of the graph doesn't allow you to fully appreciate that sweetener consumption had increased by a full 100 calories per day by 1999, although it has dropped a bit since then. This is based on food disappearance data. In other words, the amount consumed is estimated using the amount sold domestically, minus a percentage that approximates waste. High-fructose corn syrup has seized nearly 50% of the sweetener market since 1970.
Again, the scale of the graph doesn't allow you to fully appreciate the magnitude of the change here. In 2000, we ate approximately 2.5 ounces, or 280 calories, more processed grains per day than in 1970 (USDA). That has since decreased slightly (34 calories). You might be saying to yourself right now "hey, that plus the 100 calories from sugar adds up to more of an increase than the NHANES data show!" Yes, and I think that points to the fact that the data sets are not directly comparable. NHANES data are self-reported whereas USDA data are collected from vendors. Regardless of the absolute numbers, our processed grain consumption has gone way up since 1970.

Wheat is still king. Although we grow a lot of corn in this country, most of it gets fed to animals. We prefer eating wheat without first feeding it to an intermediary. In absolute quantity, wheat consumption has increased more than any other grain (not including corn syrup).
Bye bye whole milk. Hello skim milk (USDA).

This graph represents "added fats", as opposed to fats that occur naturally in meat or milk (the USDA does not track the latter). Added fats include salad oil, cooking oil, deep fry oil, butter, lard, tallow, etc. We are eating a lot more vegetable oil than we were in 1970. It comes chiefly from the industrial, omega-6 rich oils such as soybean, corn and canola. Added animal fats have increased slightly, but it's pretty insignificant in terms of calories.

There is an artifact in this graph that I have to point out. In 2000, the USDA changed the way it gathered vegetable oil data. This led to an abrupt, apparent increase in its consumption that is obvious on the graph. So it's difficult to make any quantitative conclusions, but I think it's clear nevertheless that vegetable oil intake has increased considerably.

Between 1970 and 1980, something changed in the U.S. that caused a massive increase in obesity and other health problems. Some combination of factors reached a critical mass that our metabolism could no longer tolerate. The three biggest changes in the American diet since 1970:

• An increase in cereal grain consumption, particularly wheat.
• An increase in sweetener consumption
• The replacement of meat and milk fat with industrial vegetable oils, with total fat intake remaining the same.

Mainstream America has done to itself what it did to native American and other indigenous cultures worldwide, with the same result.

Stop Bad Breath With These Simple Tips

Practically everybody in the world has had bad breath at
some point in their lives, although you can expect that not
many will readily admit it. Bad breath, also known as
halitosis, is actually a very common condition that may
result from several possible causes, including inadequate
dental hygiene, tooth cavities, gingivitis or smoking.

There are more than 400 different types of bacteria in our
mouth which cause bad breath. These bacteria in the mouth
release sulfur odors. Bad breath is stimulated by volatile
sulfur compounds (vsc), which are released by the break down
of proteins by the bacteria. Most of the odor is brought
about by anaerobic bacteria, which grow on the back of the
tongue. The beneficial effect of anaerobic bacteria is that
they aid in digestion by breaking down proteins. People
suffering from bad breath due to oral causes, are found to
have abnormally high amounts of anaerobic bacteria in the
oral cavity

Besides these bacteria, other sources of foul odor in the
mouth are the leftover food particles themselves. If you
don't clean your mouth properly, bits of food will be left
stuck in the crevices of your mouth and will eventually rot.
Also, regular consumption of spicy foods such as garlic, and
sulfur-rich foods like onion and cabbage, can lead to the
onset of halitosis as well. When ingested, the chemicals in
these foods are mixed into the bloodstream and eventually
released in the person's breath.

A very easy and effective tip in getting rid of bad breath
is to simply brush your teeth after each meal. While eating,
it is inevitable that some food bits will get stuck in
between our teeth or gums. If not removed immediately, these
will attract the smelly bacteria that cause bad breath. The
action of brushing will remove these food particles and
prevent bacteria from building up. You should brush your
teeth after every meal if possible, especially if you eat
foods that are rich in sugar or protein. Another tip to
avoid bad breath is to make sure that you brush the surface
of your tongue as well, especially the rear portion. People
usually neglect to clean that back area of the tongue,
turning it into a very good breeding ground for the bacteria
that you certainly don't want in your mouth.

If you go to your local pharmacy, you can ask for a tongue
cleaner that you can use to scrub the back of your tongue.
However, you can also use an inverted teaspoon for this.
Simply hold the teaspoon with the hollow part facing down
and gently scrape the furthest part of the tongue. Some
people even use their toothbrushes for this.

Another useful tip for the prevention of bad breath is to
always keep your mouth moist. Oral bacteria thrive when the
mouth dries up and there is insufficient moisture. Saliva is
actually very good in preventing the growth of these
bacteria because it has natural antibacterial properties
that can kill these microorganisms. Chewing sugar-free gum
can help here because it stimulates the flow of saliva in
the mouth. Drinking eight to ten glasses of water a day is
also good in maintaining adequate moisture in the mouth
throughout the day.

Baking soda is a great aid in the fight against halitosis.
Although beneficial, some may feel the taste leaves
something to be desired. However, the end result is worth
the effort. If you do not prefer to dip your toothbrush in
the baking soda box, there are several brands of toothpaste
on the market now that contain baking soda.

Hydrogen Peroxide is an effective rinse because it adds
oxygen to the bacteria that thrive in an environment where
little to no oxygen exists, thus effectively killing the
anaerobic bacteria. Although if you do not have this handy
using plain water will also help loosen up the foods and
particles that have become lodged between the teeth and gums.
Adding lots of fruits and vegetables to your diet helps to kill the
bacteria because they are high in acids and fiber as opposed to
proteins and sugar.

So if you don't want to scare off people with your bad breath,
maintaining oral hygiene should be just as important as any
other aspect of your health. Try these simple tips and maybe
you'll get that kiss the next time!

The Myth of the High-Protein Diet

The phrase "low-carbohydrate diet" is a no-no in some circles, because it implies that a diet is high in fat. Often, the euphemism "high-protein diet" is used to avoid the mental image of a stick of butter wrapped in bacon. It's purely a semantic game, because there is no such thing as a diet in which the majority of calories come from protein. The ability of the human body to metabolize protein ends at about 1/3 of calories (1, 2), and the long-term optimum may be lower still. Low-carbohydrate diets (yes, the ones that are highly effective for weight loss and general health) are high-fat diets.

Healthy cultures around the world tend to consume roughly 10 to 20% of calories from protein:

Masai - 19%

Kitava - 10%

Tokelau - 12%

Inuit - 20%, according to Stefansson

Kuna - 12%

Sweden - 12%

United States - 15%

Human milk - 6%

The balance comes from fat and carbohydrate. Ask a traditional Inuit. If there's no fat on your meat, you may as well starve. Literally. "Rabbit starvation" was a term coined by American explorers who quickly realized that living on lean game is somewhere between unhealthy and fatal.

In the early 1900s, anthropologist and explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson lived for several years among completely isolated Canadian Inuit (Eskimo) who had never seen a white person before. They were literally a stone-age culture, completely uninfluenced by the modern world. They are representative of how some of our paleolithic ancestors would have lived. Here's Stefansson, quoted from My Life With the Eskimo (1913):

In certain places and in certain years, rabbits are an important article of diet, but even when there is an abundance of this animal, the Indians consider themselves starving if they get nothing else, - and fairly enough, as my own party can testify, for any one who is compelled in winter to live for a period of several weeks on lean meat will actually starve, in this sense: that there are lacking from his diet certain necessary elements, notably fat, and it makes no difference how much he eats, he will be hungry at the end of each meal, and eventually he will lose strength or become actually ill. The Eskimo who have provided themselves in summer with bags of seal oil can carry them into a rabbit country and can live on rabbits satisfactorily for months.

Dr. Loren Cordain, in his excellent paper "Plant-Animal Subsistence Ratios and Macronutrient Energy Estimations in Worldwide Hunter-Gatherer Diets", argues based on calculated estimates that historical hunter-gatherers generally consumed between 19 and 35% of calories from protein:

This high reliance on animal-based foods coupled with the relatively low carbohydrate content of wild plant foods produces universally characteristic macronutrient composition ratios in which protein is elevated (19- 35% of energy) at the expense of carbohydrates (22- 40% of energy).

Later, he states that the most plausible range of fat intakes is 28- 58%. I agree with his assertion that hunter-gatherer diets tended to be relatively high in protein compared with contemporary diets, but I think his protein numbers are a bit high. Why? Because he calculates macronutrient composition based on the whole-carcass fat content of "representative" animals such as deer.

It's clear from the anthropological literature that hunter-gatherers did not go after representative animals. They went after the fattest animals they could find. They knew exactly which animals were fattest in which seasons, which individuals were likely to be fattest within a herd, and which bodyparts were fattest on an individual animal. For example, Stefansson describes how the Inuit relied on (extremely fat) seal in the spring, wolf in the summer, and caribou and bear in the fall and early winter. If necessary, they would discard lean meat in favor of tongue, marrow, internal organs, back fat and other fat-rich bodyparts. This was in order to obtain a minimum of 65% of calories from fat.

Hunter-gatherers would sometimes even provision themselves with enough fat in advance to last a lean season or two. This was true for dozens of tribes along the Northwest coast of North America that relied chiefly on animal foods. Here's another excerpt from My Life With the Eskimo:

...[spring] is the season which the Eskimo give up to the accumulation of blubber for the coming year. Fresh oil is not nearly so palatable or digestible as oil that has been allowed to ferment in a sealskin bag through the summer, and besides that it is difficult often to get seals in the fall... Each family will in the spring be able to lay away from three to seven bags of oil. Such a bag consists of the whole skin of the common seal... This makes a bag which will hold about three hundred pounds of blubber, so that a single family's store of oil for the fall will run from nine hundred to two thousand pounds.

That's a lot of oil! Some of it would have been used to light oil lamps, but much of it would have been eaten. I think Cordain's estimate of the protein intake of hunter-gatherers is a bit high due to his underestimating fat intake. His paper shows that if you break historical hunter-gatherer cultures into 10 groups based on their reliance on animal foods, the most numerous group (46 out of 229) obtained 85- 100% of their food from animal sources. In other words, approximately 20% of historical hunter-gatherers were carnivorous or nearly so. If the human protein ceiling is 35% of calories, that means roughly one fifth of hunter-gatherers ate 65% or more of their calories as fat. It also means carnivory and high-fat diets are not just anomalies, they are part of the human ecological niche. Zero out of 229 groups obtained less than 16% of calories from animal foods. Vegetarianism is not part of our niche.

Further, although the human body can theoretically tolerate up to 35% protein by calories, even that amount is probably not optimal in the long term. I think that's suggested by the fact that diverse cultures tend to find a source of fat and/or carbohydrate that keeps their protein intake roughly between 10 and 20%. I think it's fine to eat plenty of protein, and there's no need to deliberately restrict it, because your tastes will tell you if you're eating too much. However, "high-protein diet" as a euphemism for low-carbohydrate diet is a misnomer. Low-carbohydrate diets are, and have always been, high-fat diets.