Keeping Fit is A Daily Battle

By David Zinczenko

If some doctors had their way today, Americans would be more medicated than industrial feedlot cattle. But what most people don’t realize is that the first line of defense against stress, fatigue, depression, and so many other maladies is found in supermarket aisles, not in the drug store.

Research shows that the vitamins, minerals, and active compounds specific to certain fruits, vegetables, and even chocolate and red wine have an immediate and lasting impact on your mood, your health, your fitness — even your sex life.

Whether you have a big presentation at work, or the need to burn a few hundred extra calories a day (and who doesn’t want to do that?), why not put food to work for you? Here are seven research-backed quick cures just waiting for you in the fresh produce bins and supermarket shelves.

1. When You’re Stressed…

Eat This:
1 Cup of Low-Fat Yogurt or 2 Tbsp of Mixed Nuts

Scientists in Slovakia gave people 3 grams each of two amino acids — lysine and arginine — or a placebo and asked them to deliver a speech. Blood measurements of stress hormones revealed that the amino acid–fortified public speakers were half as anxious during and after the speech as those who took the placebo. Yogurt is one of the best food sources of lysine; nuts pack tons of arginine.

Not That!
A Can of Soda

A study from the American Journal of Public Health found that people who drink 20 ounces of soda daily are three times more likely to be depressed and anxious, compared with those who drink less.

2. When You Want to Increase Your Metabolism…

Drink This:
Green Tea

Catechins, the powerful antioxidants found in green tea, are known to stoke your metabolism, making it burn hotter and torch more calories. A study by Japanese researchers found that participants who consumed 690 milligrams of catechins from green tea daily had significantly lower body-mass indexes and smaller waist measurements than tea-totalers (i.e., they avoid the stuff).

Not That!
Nothing

Skipping meals lets your body’s calorie-burning furnace go cold. Spread out snacks throughout the day. Try a cup of yogurt with fresh fruit or almonds between breakfast and lunch, and a hard-boiled egg or hummus with vegetables in the afternoon.

3. When You’re Low on Energy…

Eat This:
A Handful of Trail Mix

Raisins provide potassium, which your body uses to convert sugar into energy. Nuts stock your body with magnesium, which boosts metabolism and improves nerve and muscle function. (When magnesium levels are low, your body produces more lactic acid — the same fatigue-byproduct that makes your muscles ache at the end of a workout.)

Not That!
Espresso-Based Drinks

Sure, the caffeine will perk you up, but the spike in blood sugar that follows — with anywhere from 16 grams (latte) to 59 grams (white chocolate mocha) of sugar coursing through your veins — will ultimately launch your own personal energy crisis. Stick to brewed coffee with one packet of sugar, max.

4. When You Need a Brain Boost…

Eat This:
Blueberries

Antioxidants in blueberries help protect the brain from free-radical damage, which could decrease your risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and improve cognitive processing. Wild blueberries, if you can find them (or grow them!), have even more brain-boosting antioxidants than the cultivated variety.

Not That!
Ice Cream

Sugary foods incite sudden surges of blood glucose that, in the long term, cause sugar highs and lows, and make you as distractable as a toddler in the Disney store. And foods high in saturated fat can clog blood vessels and slow the flow of nutrients and blood to the brain.

5. When You’re Under the Weather…

Drink This:
Ginseng Tea, Hot or Iced

In a Canadian study, people who took 400 milligrams of ginseng a day had 25 percent fewer colds than people who popped a placebo. Ginseng helps kill invading viruses by increasing the body’s production of key immune cells.

Not That!
Caffeinated Beverages and Energy Drinks

Excessive caffeine messes with your sleep schedule and sabotages key immune agents. And insufficient sleep opens the door to colds, upper respiratory infections, and other ills. What’s more, caffeine can dehydrate you, and hydration is vital during illness: Fluids not only transport nutrients to the problem zones, but also carry away toxins.

6. When You Need to Wake Up and Go…

Eat This:
Eggs and Whole-Wheat Toast

Eggs are a great source of protein, and having them for breakfast sets you up for a perfect day of eating. Saint Louis University researchers found that people who eat eggs for breakfast consume 264 fewer calories the rest of the day than those who eat bagels and cream cheese.

Not That!
Bagel and Cream Cheese

At 500 calories and 20 grams of fat, this deli disaster is one of the worst ways to start your day. Sixty grams of fast-burning carbohydrates will cause a dip in energy and a spike in hunger, long before lunchtime. The same goes for croissants, danish, donuts, and pancakes.

7. When You Want to Get ”In the Mood”…

Eat This:
Dark Chocolate

The cocoa in chocolate contains stimulants that increase your body’s sensitivity. Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine, a chemical that can give you a slight natural high. And Italian researchers found that women who often eat chocolate have a higher sex drive than those who don’t. Make sure your chocolate has at least 60 percent cacao.

Not That!
The Third Glass of Wine

The alcohol in wine affects your prefrontal cortex, which can decrease inhibition and up your sexual appetite. But only for the first glass or two. Beyond that, the toxic affects of alcohol in your system take over and are as likely to make you sleepy as they are to make you sexy. The more pouring, the more snoring.

This news is another proof of the saying - “Use it or Lose it” :

WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Older men who have more sex will experience fewer erection problems, Finnish researchers reported in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
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The five-year study of 989 men aged 55-75 in Pirkanmaa, Finland, showed that having sexual intercourse less than once per week doubled the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED), compared to having sex once per week.

The researchers of the Department of Urology of Tampere University Hospital, in Finland, checked for other factors that may affect the incidence of ED, such as age and chronic medical conditions including diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and depression.

They found that ED affected 79 out of 1,000 men who reported making love less than once per week. The rate dropped to 32 per 1,000 among men making love once per week, and to 16 per 1,000 for those doing it three times or more per week.

“Regular intercourse has an important role in preserving erectile function among elderly men,” said Juha Koskimaki, one of the study’s authors.

“The investigators advise clinicians to support the sexual activity of their patients,” the study concluded.

By AP/BETSY BLANEY

(LUBBOCK, Texas) — A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra — but don’t necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long.

Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body’s blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas, one of the nation’s top producers of the seedless variety.

Found in the flesh and rind of watermelons, citrulline reacts with the body’s enzymes when consumed in large quantities and is changed into arginine, an amino acid that benefits the heart and the circulatory and immune systems.

“Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction and maybe even prevent it,” said Bhimu Patil, a researcher and director of Texas A&M’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center. “Watermelon may not be as organ-specific as Viagra, but it’s a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side effects.”

Todd Wehner, who studies watermelon breeding at North Carolina State University, said anyone taking Viagra shouldn’t expect the same result from watermelon.

“It sounds like it would be an effect that would be interesting but not a substitute for any medical treatment,” Wehner said.

The nitric oxide can also help with angina, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems, according to the study, which was paid for by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

More citrulline — about 60 percent — is found in watermelon rind than in the flesh, Patil said, but that can vary. But scientists may be able to find ways to boost the concentrations in the flesh, he said.

Citrulline is found in all colors of watermelon and is highest in the yellow-fleshed types, said Penelope Perkins-Veazie, a USDA researcher in Lane, Okla.

She said Patil’s research is valid, but with a caveat: One would need to eat about six cups of watermelon to get enough citrulline to boost the body’s arginine level.

“The problem you have when you eat a lot of watermelon is you tend to run to the bathroom more,” Perkins-Veazie said.

Watermelon is a diuretic and was a homeopathic treatment for kidney patients before dialysis became widespread.

Another issue is the amount of sugar that much watermelon would spill into the bloodstream — a jolt that could cause cramping, Perkins-Veazie said.

Patil said he would like to do future studies on how to reduce the sugar content in watermelon.

The relationship between citrulline and arginine might also prove helpful to those who are obese or suffer from type-2 diabetes. The beneficial effects — among them the ability to relax blood vessels, much like Viagra does — are beginning to be revealed in research.

Citrulline is present in other curcubits, like cucumbers and cantaloupe, at very low levels, and in the milk protein casein. The highest concentrations of citrulline are found in walnut seedlings, Perkins-Veazie said.

“But they’re bitter and most people don’t want to eat them,” she said.

By Alison McCook

Pilates may do more for your gut than stomach crunches, but don’t expect it to work miracles on your cardiovascular fitness or body weight, according to new study findings.

Developed in the early 20th century for dancers, Pilates has now become a mainstay of gyms across the U.S. However, there is little information about how many calories people typically burn with the technique.

After monitoring ten people during Pilates workouts, researchers found that a basic routine burns as many calories as a session of moderate stretching.

Intermediate workouts burned as many calories as basic stepping, while advanced workouts approximated the calories burned during speed walking at 4.5 miles per hour.

However, Pilates exercises appeared to provide a better workout for the external obliques, or muscles on either side of the abdomen, than basic crunches. The move known as the “Criss-Cross” gave those muscles the best workout.

The “Teaser” and “Roll-Up” exercises also challenged the rectus abdominis muscle, in the mid-section of the abdomen, more than standard bent-knee crunches.

These findings show that Pilates can be great for the abdominal muscles, but won’t do much to help you lose weight, study author Dr. Michele Olson of Auburn University Montgomery in Alabama told Reuters Health.

“You can say Pilates is legitimate core training,” she said. But if you’re trying to lose weight, “you’re going to definitely have to supplement with something else,” such as a running regimen and diet, Olson noted.

During the study, Olson and her team asked ten people with an average of five years’ experience with Pilates to follow basic, intermediate and advanced Pilates workouts for 30 to 45 minutes each, and measured how many calories they burned.

In a separate experiment, the researchers measured the activity of the abdominal muscles in ten people as they completed five Pilates moves and a standard stomach crunch.

The researchers found that, on average, a person weighing 75 kilograms (or 165 pounds) burns 480 calories per hour from an advanced workout, 390 calories per hour from an intermediate routine, and 276 calories for every hour of a basic Pilates workout.

However, some exercises burned more calories than others. For instance, during the intermediate and advanced workouts, the “Roll-Over, “Jackknife” and “Boomerang” exercises used a higher-than-average amount of calories, while the “Hundred,” “Leg Circles” and the “Seated Twist” burned fewer calories, on average.

In terms of abdominal muscles, Pilates largely out-performed basic abdominal crunches.

Olson and her colleagues presented their findings last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness Summit & Exposition.

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

I’d like to start a little discussion today about carbohydrates… and in particular, “white foods” as well as potatoes. One reason I wanted to mention this is because so many health and fitness professionals trash talk potatoes about being a bad carbohydrate choice because of the high glycemic index. Some even say such ridiculous things as “avoid any and all white carbohydrates”.

Ok, now while I certainly agree that white bread and refined white sugar are two of the worst things we can be feeding our bodies, I definately don’t agree with avoiding any and all “white carbohydrates”. Now I know all of the buzz lately has been about colorful foods and the protective antioxidants that they contain. They tell you to focus on colors and stay away from white.

It’s true that colorful foods are great, but it is a big mistake to specifically avoid white foods! There are plenty of white foods that have specific nutrients that are hard to find elsewhere. Let’s look at a few examples…

Onions & Garlic

What about onions and garlic? They are both white and they are chock full of protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that aren’t easy to find elsewhere in a normal diet… such nutrients as allicin, quercetin (an important flavonoid), chromium, and other unique anti-inflammatory nutrients.

Cauliflower

Another example of something white that is great for you is cauliflower. Cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C, fiber, minerals, and special compounds such as glucosinolates and thiocyanates, which are specifically abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. And a little-known fact is that some of the compounds in cruciferous vegetables help to combat other estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment and can help prevent excess belly fat. So eat up on that cauliflower!

Mushrooms

Not many people realize this, but surprisingly, even white mushrooms have high levels of unique nutrients and antioxidants. White mushrooms are high in a couple types of antioxidants called polyphenols and ergothioneine.

Potatoes

Now that also leads us to another example - white potatoes (which by the way, can also be found in red, yellow, purple varieties, etc). Many health professionals claim that potatoes are a bad carbohydrate because they are thought to have a high glycemic index. First of all, if you’ve read my Truth about Six Pack Abs book, then you understand that glycemic index is not necessarily the most important factor in choosing your carbohydrates.

While a generalization can be made that most low glycemic index carbohydrate choices will help you lose body fat easier than high glycemic index choices, it is not all that it’s cracked up to be. There are many other factors that determine how your body will react-to and process the carbohydrates you ingest, such as glycemic load and also how you combine the high GI food with other foods.

For example, using glycemic load as an example… it is known that watermelon has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a normal serving of watermelon is just way too low for your body to start packing on body fat just because you ate a high glycemic index fruit. You would have to eat such an enormous quantity of watermelon just to get enough grams of carbohydrates to have any negative glycemic effect, that it is just non-sensical.

Not to mention that watermelon is also a great source of vitamins, minerals, and lycopene. There’s just no reason to avoid it simply because it has a high GI. My point is… candy bars, cupcakes, and donuts make you fat… NOT watermelons, carrots or potatoes.

Also, as i mentioned, food combinations are important in how your body processes the carbohydrates and the associated blood sugar and insulin response you receive. For example, if you mix a high glycemic index carbohydrate with an extra source of fiber, healthy fats, or even certain proteins, many times the blood sugar and glycemic response will be slowed down considerably by the way you combined the food. Again, I talk in detail about this entire topic in my Truth about Six Pack Abs book

Alright, so back to my point that white potatoes are actually a healthy carbohydrate as long as you eat them in the right form… with the entire skin, and please don’t ruin them by deep frying them into french fries either! French fries are one of the most evil things ever invented for your health, but only because we ruin them by soaking them in a scorching bath of trans fats in the deep fryer from the hydrogenated oils that are typically used.

Keep in mind that potatoes contain so many vitamins and minerals that the list is way too long to even try. Also, as long as you eat the skins, you get a decent shot of fiber too.

On the topic of potatoes not being so bad after all, I don’t remember where I saw this referenced, but I recently saw a particular study that had participants eat something like 7-9 whole potatoes per day for several weeks.

At the conclusion of the study, the potato eaters had actually consistently lost weight! I’d venture a guess that the reason the people lost weight is that they were probably so full from eating all of those damn potatoes, that they actually consumed less calories than normal! An average sized potato only has about 100-120 calories, and I can surely imagine you’d be full constantly from eating 7-9 potatoes each day.

Now I would never recommend going to those extremes, but my point is that an occasional potato is not going to hurt your efforts to get lean, especially if you combine it with some other fibrous vegetables and maybe a healthy fat and some protein. On that note, I have one of my favorite recipes for you, using potatoes.

Geary’s Lean-Body Potato Side Dish

* Desired quantity of baby potatoes (I like to use this mixture I found recently at a health food store… it is a mixture of white, red, yellow, and purple baby potatoes)
* 1 red pepper
* 1 green pepper
* 1 yellow pepper
* 1 or 2 onions
* a couple cloves of garlic, finely chopped
* 1 or 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* a little salt and pepper to taste (I like using a sea salt instead of normal commercial salt)

Cut the baby potatoes into slightly smaller pieces and place in a steamer until soft all the way through. Slice up the peppers and onions into strips and add with the chopped garlic into a pan with the olive oil. Cook the peppers, onions, and garlic until tender, and then add the steamed baby potatoes. Stir it all together and serve. This is a delicious and healthy side dish that goes great with chicken or red meat.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little topic today about potatoes, healthy carbohydrates, glycemic index, and my killer potato recipe idea!

If you enjoyed this article today, feel free to copy/paste this link and email to your friends and family that would be interested.

Every time we flip through a magazine or newspaper, it seems another nutrition article guaranteeing to fix our body’s ills, or improve our overall health and performance. Yet where does the truth lie? A recent edition of Newsweek says the mixed messages we are receiving from the so-called nutritionists and media often leave us confused than enlightened. Do we all need these vitamins, and in what form and amount?

There is no doubt that Vitamins are essential for good health. In fact, our bodily functions greatly depend on nutrition to keep it going - these vitamins and minerals are essential nutrition, and are referred to as micronutrients. The body only needs small amounts of micronutrients because it uses them without breaking them down, unlike carbohydrates and other macronutrients (proteins and fats). They are used by our body to function normally or to repair or rejuvenate. Most of us know that vitamin A is good for the eyes, and vitamin C is good for fast healing of wounds.

In times of stress, or illness, and in polluted environents, our body’s vitamin requirements change and we may just need to add a daily supplement to insure ourselves against illnesses. When we are training hard, for example, most of us would supplement our intake of protein with protein powder.

But the pertinent question: if one has a healthy diet, would it still be necessary to consume supplements? Until recently, nutritionists would have said no. However, today, according to The Harvard School of Public Health, there’s good evidence that taking a daily multivitamin makes good sense. There’s also a growing evidence that many vitamins do more than ward off the so-called diseases of deficiency, like scurvy and rickets. Intake of several vitamins above the minimum daily requirement may prevent heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and other chronic diseases. If one often feels tired and lethargic, unwell and stressed, an extra vitamin B may help the process of recharging the body.

Yet high doses of vitamins can be detrimental to our health. At high doses, vitamins start to behave like drugs, not supplements. To help ensure that people do not overdose on vitamins, authorities have dispensed with recommended levels of consumption.

Discretion
So my own advice, much as we would like to rely on pills, our wellbeing requires that we have regular exercise and a healthy diet - one that’s rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, along with smaller amounts of fish, nuts and dairy. Everything should be done in moderation, including the intake of vitamin supplements.

Your eyes benefit from strength training! From previous post, where we knew that there are sexual benefits for strength training, now another benefit is that it saves you from suffering glaucoma. Researchers at Mississippi State University report that you can reduce your risk of glaucoma with bench presses.

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness, affecting more than 67 million people worldwide. It affects the optic nerve, the connection between the eyeball and the brain. It’s caused by an abnormally high internal eyeball pressure and requires lifelong treatment and monitoring.

In the study by MSU, 30 people who performed three sets of bench presses reduced the pressure within their eyes, called intraocular pressure (IOP), by 15 percent.”Anything that lowers IOP reduces the pressure on the optic nerve, thus reducing the likelihood of nerve damage and glaucoma,” says Joseph Chromiak, Ph.D., the lead study author. Exercises that recruit a lot of muscle mass, such as bench presses or squats, reduce pressure best, Chromiak says.

Fitness machines. Learn More.