Archive for the 'Dieting Do's and Dont's' Category
In professional cooking, portions matter. That is why it is important to make sure that you have the proper implements when you make cooking your career.
A cooking scale can help you measure your ingredients properly. It can also help you measure the finished product when you do your portioning. Keep one handy in your kitchen!
There is a new and safe way to lose weight. Scientists have extracted Hoodia p57 from hoodia gordonii, a cactus-like plant that thrives in the South African dessert. This substance is said to curb your appetite, hence, lessen one’s food intake.
Weight loss can be experienced safely. The substance is also an energy booster and can increase or burn your metabolism faster. Combined with diet and exercise, this could reveal a slimmer you.
The old adage “we are what we eat” received further support this week, and may even suggest “we are what our parents ate” when a new study by researchers in the US revealed that healthy men who have a diet low in folate have a higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm. Chromosomal abnormalities in sperm are known to cause a range of congenital conditions such as Down sydrome and learning and development disorders.
The study is the work of scientists at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and is published in the 19th March issue of the journal Human Reproduction.
Women of childbearing age are encouraged to maintain a healthy intake of folate because it is essential for healthy fetal development, and to prevent neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida or anencephaly (severe type of brain damage). That is why folic acid is now added to bread, cereal, flour and other grain products in the US.
But this is the first study to suggest that folate intake in men may affect their children.
Researcher at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and coordinator of the study, Suzanne Young, said:
“Recent studies have suggested that paternal diet affects sperm count and motility, which is important for conception, but this new study takes it further to say that male diet may be important for healthy offspring as well.”
Young said their study was the first to examine the effects of diet on chromosomal abnormalities in sperm.
“These abnormalities would cause either miscarriages or children with genetic syndromes if the sperm fertilized an egg,” explained Young.
The researchers said that about 1 to 4 per cent of healthy male sperm has an abnormal number of chromosomes, or aneuploidy. These abnormalities arise when cells divide (meiosis) in the testis, but their cause is not well understood.
If an aneuploidic sperm fertilizes a normal egg, the fetus would either miscarry or develop a chromosomal disorder, such as trisomy, where cells have three copies of each chromosome instead of the more usual two (one from each parent).
In this study the investigators looked at three chromosomes linked with common types of aneuploidy in live births: X, Y and chromosome 21. Down syndrome, for example, is caused by having an extra chromosome 21. Klinefelter syndrome, which can affect language and learning development, is caused by an extra X chromosome in boys, and boys carrying an extra Y chromosome have XYY syndrome, also linked to learning and behavioral difficulties.
The participants were 97 non-smoking men with no previous history of reproductive or fertility problems. The aged from 22 to 80 and were either still working at or had retired from a government research laboratory.
The men filled in questionnaires about their diet and supplements like multi-vitamins and other nutrients. Semen samples were taken up to a week later.
After taking out the effects of age, alcohol and medical history, the results showed that men who reported the highest folate intake had a 19 per cent lower rate of aneuploidic sperm that men with moderate folate intake, and 20 per cent lower than men with the lowest folate intake.
The analysis did not show any links between aneuploidy and other nutrients such as zinc, calcium, beta-carotene and other vitamins, said the researchers, who concluded that:
“Men with high folate intake had lower overall frequencies of several types of aneuploid sperm.”
Co-principal investigator of the study, professor of epidemiology and maternal and child health at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, Brenda Eskenazi, said:
“”The emphasis related to the birth of a healthy baby has been weighted towards the health and diet of women, not just during pregnancy, but before.”
“What we’re finding now is that a nutritious diet, specifically folate intake, may be beneficial for men as well when it comes to producing healthy offspring,” she added.
Folate, which occurs naturally in a range of foods such as liver, leafy green vegetables, peas, beans, lentils and citrus fruits, is a water soluble vitamin of the B group.
Folate is essential for DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and the development of new cells. It also helps to control homocysteine, an amino acid that has been linked to heart disease.
But before men hoping to become dads rush out to buy folic acid or start maxing out on lentils, they should take note, as the researchers themselves suggested, that this study only found a link between folate and healthy sperm, it did not establish for certain that there is a cause and effect relationship.
Study co-principal investigator and chair of the Radiation Biosciences Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Andrew Wyrobek, cautioned:
“We can’t yet say that increasing folate in your diet will lead to healthier sperm.”
“But we did come up with enough evidence to justify a larger, clinical and pharmacological trial in men to examine the causal relationships between dietary folate levels and chromosomal abnormalities in their sperm,” added Wyrobek.
This information will help us set dietary folate levels that may reduce the risk of miscarriage or birth defects linked to the fathers,” he said.
If further research supports these findings, the researchers suggest it might be a good idea to increase the current recommended 400 micrograms
“OTTAWA — Dr. David McKeown, Toronto’s medical officer of health, is calling on Canadian politicians to address the country’s growing obesity rate by banning junk food advertising to children under 13.
In an interview with Canwest News Service Sunday, McKeown said it’s important to exert influence on what children are eating because dietary patterns established early in life tend to persist.”
What’s with people? Now we have to legislate diets because parents can’t teach their children healthy habits? It’s a parents responsibility to teach their children a healthy resistance ot low-brow marketing and avertising. The truth is, the marketing doesn’t target kids. It targets a certain type of people who respond by buying, and these kids don’t drive themselves to McDonald’s. Mom or Dad or both are hauling the kids up there, or maybe they’re just bringing it home. Either way, it’s laziness.
And tro try to shove it off on the government to deal with is just another lazy strategy. Handle up and resist the temptation to poison your body and teach your children how to do the same!
Is Your Weight Affecting Your Health?
Your Body Mass Index (BMI) is a tool that can help adults determine whether you are at risk for a weight-related illness by correlating the ratio between your height and weight with body fat. The body mass index (BMI) is an index number (a ratio of weight/height) that has been used in nutrition research to determine which height/weight relationship are safer, and which numbers correspond to greater risk.
BMI is used as a screening tool to identify possible weight problems for adults. However, BMI is not a diagnostic tool. For example, a person may have a high BMI. However, to determine if excess weight is a health risk, a healthcare provider would need to perform further assessments. These assessments might include skin-fold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet, physical activity, family history, and other appropriate health screenings.
Set a reasonable goal weight to maximize your chances of success.
Reaching your goal weight can be a wonderful accomplishment filled with excitement and pride. If you set unrealistic goals, however, you will never experience these feelings.
When You Have More than Just a Few Pounds to Lose
Farmington, Conn. - Losing weight is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions made every year. But for people who vow to lose a significant amount of weight, that New Year’s resolution needs to last a lifetime.
“The most important thing I tell people who set out to lose more than just a few pounds is that they are not alone,” said Meredith Belden, a nutritionist and registered dietician at the University of Connecticut Health Center. “Help and support is available to people who decide to change their eating and exercise habits,” she said, noting that recent studies suggest about 60 percent of Americans are overweight.
Having a buddy to cheer you on, motivate you, and share tips with, could mean losing more weight faster. But how to you choose a diet buddy?
Decide first whether you want someone who will diet with you, or who will just be your cheerleader and sounding board.
One of the keys to weight loss is the dieter’s ability to determine whether they are truly hungry OR if they are simply fondling a box of the munchies.
It’s a great challenge but we’re here to help with a list of our best tips for distinguishing hungries from munchies:
ALTHOUGH doctors today are trained to treat disease, one physician said: “Health, strangely enough, is not our field. Health is the responsibility of each person.”
Joe, mentioned in the previous article, accepted this responsibility after undergoing surgery for a severely blocked coronary artery. He made needed changes in his eating and reaped wonderful benefits. “You’ve experienced coronary regression, Joe,” his doctor happily reported. “The diet you’ve practiced has worked.”
What kind of adjustments can we make in our diet? How can we take responsibility for our health and eat in a way that is likely to improve it?
Read the rest of this entry »