Eating chicken prevents cancer?

Good news for KFC! Bad news for you if you fall for this piece of news.

Read my rantings on a page I wrote with the headline: Chicken Prevent Cancer - Another Crop of Crap?

It seems like a well paid, heavily funded advertisement to me. What do you think?

Healthy Holiday Choices

I hope you don't have to make difficult diet choices during the holidays. Most often the menus at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other times that pull family together.

If you have a special diet, e.g. if you are trying to lose weight, do you feel peer pressure when friends and family meet for dinner during the holidays? Do you feel like you need to be apologetic?

Well, take a stand like I do. I have no apologies. I don't care how long it took to fry the chicken or whether or not the recipe came from Mars. I'm making the healthy choice regardless...

Or you can please the cook, kill yourself, and hope that you get the chance to take off the extra pounds you will gain or lower the increase in your cholesterol after everybody goes back home. But then again, will you have to do yourself the same thing next time?

Why not just come out and say, "no thanks" now, so you don't have to feel the guilt next time? You might even get some of your dear cousins on the "healthy choice band waggon" with you.

Anyway, have a healthy, happy Christmas and an even greater 2006.

Breathe fresh healthy air

It's 30°F outside and you have decided that this winter air is not for you. So you soon find yourself spending the better part of the winter months somewhat a prisoner of old man winter.

Suppose I tell you that you are not the only one who loves the warmth on the inside? Many airborne microbes do too!

During the colder months one of your healthiest decisions could be to breathe fresh healthy air. Everybody seems to get stuck inside.

Those who smoke at home, and clean with toxic chemicals add other contaminants to the air. There is also more demand for the air in your house at this time as well, since kids are on vacation, friends and family are visiting, and you may be thinking of not running your heating/air conditioning too much because the energy costs have doubled this year.

Well, so could your cost for family health care in the future.

Do like I do every now and then. Make sure you are wearing proper clothing and then just pop your head outside and grab a breath of fresh, healthy air. I even took my camera and caught a nice shot of our Georgia skyline.

Your lungs will love the taste of fresh life. Do it.

Looking younger than you are?

Have you ever met someone who likes to let you guess their age? People like that are usually sure you are going to pick a number they have passed several birthdays ago...

And you usually do.

These are usually adults who have either been blessed with a petite frame, a youthful look, or they are those whom most other people would call health enthusiasts or fitness freaks.

It doesn't matter what we call people, or what they do to keep looking younger than they are after every birthday. The fact is, they are looking younger than they are.

If you go around feeling comfortable carrying extra weight on your pear or apple shaped frame, the odds are against you. Health and longevity vary from one individual to another, but many of us let it gradually slip away from us.

Losing some weight can make a stranger think you are much younger than you actually are. Keeping your overweight look can do the opposite. Quick weight loss without the muscle toning effect of regular exercise can make you look sick and older too. So what's the trick?

To keep looking younger and feeling younger than the number used to describe your age, optimize your life habits: eat right, exercise, rest, and trust your Creator to reward your health habits with good health and longevity.

Eating habits and pills

These statistics about eating habits are incredible. Look at this:

• about 80% of Americans do not eat fruits or vegetables rich in carotenoids (an anti-oxidant)
• some 84% of us do not eat high-fiber grain food, like whole wheat bread and cereal
• 64% of adults 20 years and older are either overweight or obese

Yet we keep the nutritional supplement industries booming. Yes, we prefer to get our dietary fiber from a bottle (maybe in pill form, even) than from our bread, fruits, and vegetables.

I have never seen anything more effective in preventing constipation than water, high fiber foods, and an occasional walk in the park, and flax in worse case scenarios. Yet, Metamucil and MiraLax wear the plug-pulling crown on the market. Why?

Poor eating habits and pills... Is this a sign that we're over-sold on modern science and the medical technology and economy on which it sits?

If you ever see anyone on a high fiber diet, who gets adequate exercise, and water and suffers from constipation you have made a great discovery!

Do you eat your juice?

I found this interesting about fruits and fruit juice. For example, orange juice is more convenient to have than an orange, but not as good. Consider that

• the orange juice lost its fiber
• requires more insulin to be assimilated
• is less effective in lowering cholesterol
• does not stabilize your appetite as much as the fruit itself, and
• has more calories, weight for weight

That's why I prefer to eat my juice than drink it.

Start walking

Ellen DeGeneres said this about her grandmother:

"My grandmother started walking 5 miles a day when she was 60 years old. Today she is 93 and we don't know the hell where she is."

Made me laugh. But if more of us started walking - I mean seriously forming the habit of walking a couple miles a day - we would get the chance of seeing 93 candles on our birthday cakes.

I do hope I'll be walking at 93. And what if they don't even know where I am? Who cares, I could be skiing in Colorado or some place.

Here is a secret. If you don't want your folk to go asking the Nursing Home people where you are (when you could be having fun in the sun), take my advice... start walking now.

If you do, you stand a greater chance of being far away up a mountain, or on a golf course and wearing your own jeans and t-shirt. If you don't, you increase your chance that a nurse will be escorting some fuzzy face kid of yours to bed #5, where you are the 'occupant' wearing some common unisex designer wear.

At that time, only Jesus could make you rise up and walk! Start walking.

Commit to lose weight

Last night I heard a lady talking how she really need to lose some weight. Someone who has never had that need before cannot really understand how difficult that is.

From her explaination, I realized that it is easier to love food than to enjoy the disciplined daily exercise to shed the pounds.

What would make you really commit (and proceed) to lose weight?

• Realizing that each pound of extra weight you lose adds years to your life?
• The sense of fulfillment and satisfaction you get, realizing that you actually accomplished something personal and important?
• The improved self-image, the pleasure of looking at the real you in your mirror and loving your image?
• The inspiration you will become to your friends, family, and associates.

Hey, we're talking about great rewards here just for losing weight.

But the greatest reward is the extra lease on a great life that you get just by walking off those pounds. But one last thing...

Weight loss is a tricky thing. It's not easy. If it were, you wouldn't be overweight in the first place. Take your time, preserve yourself. Don't fall for fad diets, the weight will surely come back after the fad is gone. The best way to lose weight is...

A CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE. Check out my articles on weightloss for more information.

Are Alzheimer's and Diabetes Twin Diseases?

Scientists are wondering...

Now, pardon me, but I have to vent my first thought before I digest the news. Does this mean more drugs, more of the same symptom-treating-prescriptions?

Could Alzheimer's and Diabetes share the same parents - poor lifestyle habits tipped over the edge by genetics? I wouldn't be too surprized.

Both diseases are a kind of starvation. Nutrients (glucose) cannot get into the cells. In Type 2 diabetes, the insulin receptor sites on the cells are blocked with fat cells. In Type 1 diabetes, the insulin manufacturing organ (pancreas) is vestigeal (or on a permanent vacation). And now, this new study cited by WebMD on FoxNews.com, is saying,

"At the most advances stage of Alzheimer's, the study showed insulin receptors were 80 percent lower than in normal brain."

Cellular starvation? Still, I have read an encouraging report of one Alzheimer's patient who, prior to a diet and exercise program, could not even change her own clothes. After a few months on a good vegetarian diet and daily outdoor exercise (e.g. walking) program she was able to take care of herself.

I believe a good diet is medicinal and that the popular (and typical) American diet only tastes good. But that's another post. Let's wait and see if the right people with the health interests bigger than financial interest will fund more research on this Alzheimer's disease.

But maybe the pharmaceutical drug lords are already on the money with this one anyway.

Health and Healthy Relationships

National Geographic Magazine, November 2005 Edition, carried the findings of a health and longevity study about three groups of people said to live the longest in the world.

From this,we find that family ties don't stretch to the nursing homes in Sardinia, Italy. Family stays together, and they live long and healthy together there. The influence of having close friends and family on health and longivity was also noticed among the other groups studied - Okinawans and Seventh-day Adventists.

I found this statement in one Seventh-day Adventist publication:

"Close relationships go hand-in-hand with good health." - Health by Choice, Not by Chance, p. 223

And another...

"People who have close ties to others, who share time and thoughts and worries and laughter with kindred souls, reap profound health benefits." - ibid. p.214

And relationships are mostly a matter of choice as well. That's why I maintain that our health is our choice. So choose health today.

P.S. You could include me in your circle of online friends. Subscribe to my RSS feed and/or my newsletter, and let's encourage each other to live healthier longer.

Diabetes Stories

This post by JJSDiabetes was really interesting. It's called Diabetes Stories. It features interviews from fifty diabetics, telling their experiences from diagnosis, to coping, and treatment.

A large number of the recorded cases are Type 1 diabetics; very disporportionate when compared to today's numbers in America. Over 90% of all diabetics are Type 2 cases nowadays. It would have been great to hear from more Type 2 patients.

You may notice (from pictures and from statements made by the interviewees) that most Type 2 patients have a weight problem. What does this say about the increasing problem of obesity we have today among children?

We keep on making more medicines, more studies are predicting increasing numbers of patients, while we are still looking for a "cure" for diabetes, but often inthe wrong places. Imagine looking in animal venom and laboratory coctails, while neglecting an effective education on lifestyle revention.

I am determined that my diabetic story should be different. And for those of you who may be genetically predisposed (and maybe all of us are, in some way), know that you do not have to add your story to the catalog of diabetic patients. Choose to be healthy - it's a lifestyle thing - and write your 'health story' in a different book.

Snacks and munches

I'm so thankful I discovered how puny the medically recommended diabetes diet is. Imagine, my dietician had me on 3 meals and 3 snacks per day. Most people would think that is good, but here's what I have found out.

• A typical meal takes about 4 hours before it passes through the stomach.
• The stomach, like all organs of the body, needs some time to rest between meals. Even your heart rests between beats. That's why the lower your regular heartbeat, the healthier your heart.
• Eating anything, snacking and munching, in less than 4 or 5 hours after a meal will slow your digestion of food. Researchers have found that up to 50% of your breakfast can remain in your stomach 13 hours after you eat it if you snack several times per day!
• Retaining food in our stomachs for extended periods of time not only brings indigestion, but causes weight gain (obesity) and other medical problems.
• To curb the need for snacking and munching between meals, eat high fiber carbohydrate meals, lots of fruit and vegetables at regular meal times.
• Only drink water between meals. Water has zero calories; it cleanses instead of fattens.

Do you think you can do that? Sure, you can.

I am type 2 diabetic, but I amd off all medication, my blood sugar levels are all normal, AND I eat ONLY THREE meals a day, 5 to 6 hours apart, with ZERO snacks or munches in between. I drink only water, lots of it.

What do I do if I play a game ping pong (my favorite indoor pasttime nowadays) and I feel hungry? I eat a fruit or some raw vegetables.

If you are diabetic or overweight, or hypertensive, or have high cholesterol, there you go... that's the formula to normalize things again. I have done it, thank God! You can too. I provide much more explanation of these principles on my new website - www.anti-diabetes-diet-supplements.com. You are welcome to take a look.

Snack it to you, one time

Do you need a snack? According to a food industry sponsored research study, we cannot get all out nutrients from regular meals.

Think about that clearly now, if you are not hungry, that is. Does that sound like a poor marketing gimmick or what?

But, on the other hand, it may be true. If our diet is poor then such conclusions are perfectly true. However, if we eat well balanced meals, with the right foods, e.g. a high fiber carbohydrate diet, we don't need snack.

In my next post I will show you why EVEN diabetics shouldn't, and don't need to, snack. It's amazing how commerce can drive our health until the hearse drives our bodies!

Don't snack. I bet you don't need to, if your diet is right.

The dirty milky way

Remember when I said that I fired my cow sometime ago? I really meant that, as humans, we don't need to feast from the bovine udder.

Now I have some more dirty stuff about cow's milk to help pasteurize you thinking, and hopefully, your diet.

Did you know that current US Public Health Service regulations state that

• after pasteurization, milk should contain no more than 20,000 bacteria per milliters, and that
• it should not contain more than 10 coliform bacteria per milliter?

What does this mean when you put that "pure white" stuff to your lips? One glass of milk with up to 5,000,000 bacteria is still acceptable (as pure) under those regulations.

It also means that 2,500 coliform bacteria are allowable, for good taste, per 8 oz of milk. Do you like the milky way, for you, for your kids?

Humans are the only members of the animal kingdom who drink milk after they are weaned. Including milk in the new food pyramid is a benefit more for the health of the economy than for people.

Why? Because we love to increase our cholesterol levels, clog our arteries, increase our risk of coronary having heart problems as long as we make money.

Our son was miserable baby until he was 9 months, when we learned about lactose allergies. Since we fired the cow, he has slept like a baby. He's now 16 years dairy-free, taller than his dad, semi-finalist national for scholarship, avid musician, and fit as a fiddle.

Who needs milk anyway? The same nutrients can be obtained from plant sources. How? Why not send me an email [healthychoice at bellsouth dot net] OR fill in the contact form at my website. I'll do my best to answer your questions.

Eat protein in moderation

The following is a warning from the American Diabetes Association, specifically for diabetics...

"Protein is found in both animal and plant foods. For healthy eating, it's best to get your protein from foods that are low in fat, calories, and cholesterol."

You don't need to read between the lines to see that:-

• Although meats, eggs, milk, and cheese are high in protein, they are also high in the things we should avoid, viz. fat and cholesterol.
• If you prefer to get your protein secondhand, use fish (good fish, not shellfish) in small portions and stay away from red meat.
• You can get all your protein (firsthand) from legumes, grains, and vegetables. Nuts and seeds are rich sources of protein and good dietary fats. These foods have just the right balance of nutrients, specially prepared by nature for our bodies.

But if dead animal carcases, gutted, greased, and garnished, still hold some appeal, just be careful. That's it. Like the old and helpless parental advice, "If you can't be good, be careful."

But still consider what Einstein said, "The best thing that could ever happen to mankind is the graduation to a vegetarian diet."

That dude got a few things right.

Good health, bad memory

Albert Schweitzer said, "Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory."

That's paradoxical for the simple reason that a bad memory is terribly unhealthy. And it seems that before the next Thanksgiving holidays come around, we may forget about the lessons we should have learned from the last one.

Did I hear anyone say, "I over-indulged" or "I knew I shouldn't have so much to eat"?

Do we forget how hard it is to get rid of those extra pounds we put on every year? Well, good health and a bad memory don't go together... take your pick.

Especially when it comes to looking at the food and standing there powerless, for the nth year in a row! Hey, for the happiness of you, don't over indulge next holiday season.

After you have had your reasonable share, look at the rest of the food as a mirror. Use your good memory and see yourself wearing a few more pounds around the waist in a few days. And if it's not the healthiest of food, think of it as taking one more step towards diabetes, high(er) cholesterol, and/or blood pressure...

Is it still worth it? Be moderate. Be happy.

Weight a minute, again

Everyone knows that whether or not we become overweight depends on the balance between energy expense and food intake.

Basic fact.

...if you are obese, you can
put your weight down
and
live longer...

So why can't we all take measures to counteract the "over blubbering" of ourselves? I think I'm ruling out ignorance as the problem here. So why does this seem to be getting worse? Is it because of the lack of self-control?

Well, in a previous post - Smart Weight Loss - I mentioned some simple practices that are effective weightloss measures.

The fact is, they require discipline and self-control. You cannot be on a "see-food" diet. Maybe someone needs to invent and develop some sort of culinary blinders.

And then there is the inactivity factor. We don't walk, or we walk just from the house to the car port and then from the car port to the house. Where is all that food fuel going?

I wish I could say that it was not going to WAIST and belly.

Open Sesame Seeds Again!

In my last post I ranted about the adulteration of sesame seeds by the fast food chains. This time I tell you why Arby's dot the bun with sesame seeds. Sesame seed is good food...

• Sesame seeds are rich in unsaturated fatty acids
• They are high in protein, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements
• Sesame seeds gives sexual vigor - and they won't make you go blind, as allegedly some popular sexual enhancers do
• They are used to make tahini - a very healthy butter or margarine substitute
• The practice of putting these seeds on bread goes way back to the time of the Egyptians
• Sesame seeds have been used to help promote milk secretion in lactating moms
• Sesame seeds is one of the highest plant sources of lecithin, an emulsifier which helps to keep the cholesterol in your blood dissolved.

So there are many reasons why the fast food makers tossed sesame seeds on the high cholesterol burgers they sell.

But the few seeds they put on these sickening foods are more of a decoration than anything else. They might as well paint those buns.

Here is healthy advice... stay away from the bait. A tiny dash of healthy sesame seeds is used just to give a perception of a healthy choice. Don't be tricked. You don't have to swallow a "whopper" of cholesterol, saturated fats, and fiberless carbohydrates in order to get a slim trace of healthy goodness.

Get some sesame seeds at your whole food store. Eat healthy. Live healthy. Live longer. And by the way...

Can anyone tell me where the phrase, "Open sesame" comes from?