Health till 100

Archive for 2008

There has been a lot of dispute lately in the fitness world over a particular portable fitness equipment called the Bowflex TreadClimber.

Supposedly, you can get great results using this machine without having to resort to grueling thigh exercises for your fitness quest like running, due to the fact that the Bowflex TreadClimber’s unique use of a mixture of a combination of movements.

Some of the different types of home exercise equipment are treadmills, elliptical trainers, stationary bicycles, cross-country ski machines, and free weights. To date there are 5 TreadClimber models available. All of the Bowflex TreadClimber models combine the forward action of a treadmill, upward action of a stair climber, and low-impact motion of an elliptical trainer. It would seem that this is the ultimate workout machine. And it would be if it weren’t for a minor “bug” that we have discovered on the lower end models.

Resistance is what makes this machines adjust from easy to hard to actually tread on. Contrary to what people think, it has nothing to do with making the machine go fast or slow. Generally speaking, most machines that have resistance ability have little arrows on the center console to let the user change the resistance.

Whatever the reason, many recent studies have already shown that more people than ever before are getting involved in personal fitness and more of them are choosing to purchase home exercise equipment in order to achieve their goals rather than the expense of joining a gym. After making the commitment to begin a diet and fitness program, the first step many people take is to purchase some sort of exercise equipment, like the Bowflex. 

The Bowflex TreadClimber has a hydraulic system with knobs above each piston. It is nearly impossible to change these resistance levers while in motion using the machine. As a matter of fact Bowflex actually strongly suggest that you get off the machine when adjusting the resistance.

When you can get past this little glitch, then this is actually a great machine that can lead to rapid weight loss. Overall this machine has a customer satisfaction rate of over 90 percent, which is good. All models of Bowflex TreadClimber come with a great guarantee supported by a company that prides itself on customer enjoyment.

If you are needing an option to Bowflex fitness and exercise machines, you could try Soloflex or Total Gym which is also highly recommended exercise equipment.

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Tags: exercise, Health, nutrition

A controlled cholesterol diet is necessary for people diagnosed with high cholesterol heart disease. Many new dietary guidelines for people suffering from cholesterol related heart disease have been created because the risks of heart disease increase substantially if the blood cholesterol level is not lowered.

The body needs basic cholesterol to manufacture bile salts for fat digestion, human hormones, and vitamin D. The liver is largely responsible for producing the cholesterol supply that our bodies need to function. There are two primary blood cholesterol types: HDL and LDL. LDL cholesterol is the dangerous molecule since high amounts of it will collect on the walls of arteries. The resulting sticky LDL deposits may eventually restrict or even stop blood flow.

Unwanted LDL cholesterol is present in saturated fats and fatty acids which should both be excluded from everyone’s diet (as much as is possible in our modern society). On the other hand, HDL is the beneficial cholesterol molecule that helps transport excess cholesterol to the liver from where it can be safely removed from the body. A typical cholesterol diet contains high amounts of soluble fiber which can help to increase the HDL concentration. Readily available soluble fiber can be found in common fruits and grains like oats or barley.

Including seafood in your diet does not necessarily increase bad cholesterol levels in the blood since it is considered dietary cholesterol. However, prepackaged or highly processed seafood probably has partially hydrogenated vegetable oil added in. These bad cholesterol foods introduces dangerous and unwanted saturated fats into your body.

Alternatively, dietary foods like nuts and fresh fish have monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. This type of low cholesterol diet can definitely improve your health by lowering LDL cholesterol to safer levels.

Based on scientific studies, it is now accepted that healthy adults can include an egg in their daily cholesterol diet program. Eating eggs does not by itself increase the likelihood of heart disease. There is little evidence linking eggs in a diet with the development of heart disease among healthy people. However, if you already suffer from high cholesterol or other conditions related to heart diseases, medical recommendations suggest only two egg yolks per week to meet safe cholesterol diet guidelines. Remember that it is safe to include as many egg whites as you want in your daily diet program. Eggs are an excellent source of nutrition since they have good levels of folate and vitamin B12 as well omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Eggs also supply the valuable antioxidant lutein as part of a healthy cholesterol diet.

In order to create a healthy diet to lower cholesterol, eating a combination of cholesterol lowering foods has been proven helpful. Eating a plant based diet high in cholesterol lowering foods makes an excellent cholesterol diet. A healthy diet program can include soy protein, high fiber content, nuts like almonds, and sandwich spreads containing plant sterols. Regardless of cholesterol level, a recommended cholesterol diet high in soy, soluble fiber, and nuts combined with fruits and vegetables always has a beneficial effect.

For the very useful tips about build your immune system (important for your general health) – visit this blog.

Tags: nutrition, Health, exercise

meditations

There is no question that the pace of life today is more hectic than ever and that an increasing number of people are dealing with feelings of rage, depression, anger, anxiety and stress, as well as many other negative emotions and reactions to modern day life. With such a pace and over-booked schedules, it is not uncommon to discover that you have somehow ended up functioning on “auto-pilot.” Mindfulness meditations have proven to be helpful for people who are feeling overtaxed and overwrought with life.

The concept of mindfulness meditations is to help you to be more aware, or mindful, of the many aspects of your life and of everything you are doing. So many times it is easy to get into a groove or a rut and fail to recognize patterns of behavior, attitudes, emotions and actions that begin to take over. Sometimes, it seems that it is easier to let habit or outside circumstances and influences “push” us through the day, and living starts to take on an aspect of “unconscious existing.”

For years, experts have said that it is impossible to change anything in your life that you are not aware of. When people slide into the coping method of going through the motions of living unconsciously, utilizing mindful meditations can be useful.

Taking time on a daily basis for mindful meditation practice is the way to become aware of the patterns that a person has fallen into. Once this awareness is brought about, the person who is meditating can then start to see their life from a different perspective and start to see where they can make changes and improvements. In general, meditation techniques help people to gain a more balanced, realistic and grounded view of their behaviors, attitudes and actions.

As you become more aware of all the different aspects of your life, your unique situation, and the environment you are surrounded by through mindfulness mediations, this in turn helps your body to relax, which also helps the nervous system to relax. As a result, stress can be greatly reduced simply by becoming aware through the meditation process.

Having an increased awareness of your own life and your environment is beneficial because it allows you to begin to take more control of your own life. Many people say that one of the things that cause them the most stress is the feeling of having no control of their lives. Mindful meditations can often be the way to become aware of the unconscious habits and patterns that will allow the person to take steps to change the patterns and regain control.

Tags: Health, nutrition, exercise

Actually no so called best diets for high cholesterol even exist. In truth, your own liver manufactures all of the cholesterol that anybody requires. Whether you eat a diet for high cholesterol or low cholesterol, cholesterol molecules are critical for proper bodily functions, and the liver makes the necessary cholesterol demanded by body processes.

Vitamin C

If you are a healthy baby boomer, you should have sufficient vitamin c and antioxidants in your regular diet for high cholesterol. The important issue is that bad cholesterol levels are dangerous, and high levels are caused by a dietary imbalance of vitamin C. With proper amounts of Vitamin C, your high cholesterol levels can be managed successfully.

Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes

The National Cholesterol Education Program of the US National Institutes of Health has created a diets for high cholesterol which basically requires therapeutic lifestyle changes. Changing food choices is an important initial step in lowering cholesterol before any drugs are prescribed. Some patients with high cholesterol issues are usually eating excessively fatty foods. Once they start to make recommended food choices, cholesterol begin to drop.

The main purpose of the best diets for high cholesterol is limiting saturated fat content that is a primary causative factor of high cholesterol. Lower consumption of milk products and red meat, increased amounts of soluble fiber, fresh fruits and vegetables, and replacing unhealthy animal fat with unsaturated fat sources like olive oil, canola oil or peanut oil are all helpful. It is important that your best diet for high cholesterol should not consist of more than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol per day. Care should be taken not to gain weight at all; in fact you should target and maintain a healthy weight.

There are several guidelines made by the TLC that cover all the primary food groups. A series of government guidelines have been
developed showing the number and size of acceptable portions. The chart was adapted from the traditional healthy food pyramid to help plan a diet that has safer levels of saturated fats and cholesterol. It is probably better, and definitely more realistic, to follow a low cholesterol diet, rather than trying to survive on a 100% cholesterol free diet.

High Cholesterol Foods

All animal products are considered high cholesterol foods, including but limited to eggs, poultry, red meat, fish and whole milk products. Of course sweets like cookies, pies, cakes, and muffins would be considered highly processed and unhealthy food choices. These have large amounts of fat including trans-fats. Finally, deep fried and fatty foods are very high cholesterol. It is necessary to consume known high cholesterol content foods in moderation. Do not overindulge a high cholesterol diet on a regular basis.

When changing your lifestyle to a healthy diet for high cholesterol, expect to lose weight or maintain your current weight while selecting the proper foods to achieve lower blood cholesterol levels. The basic dietary guidelines are simple to understand and should be easy to follow, but we suggest that you develop a customized menu based on your specific likes and dislikes in food selection and budget restrictions.

Read also about how to build immune system – your health IS important.

Tags: exercise, nutrition, Health

bulging vertebral discs are one of the most significant problems an individual could deal with related to the back. In fact, this problem can cause intense pain in addition to disability. This article will discuss what herniated discs are, what causes them, the most common symptoms associated with them, as well as the most effective treatments for herniated discs.

In order for us to understand what herniated discs are, however, we must first discuss what a normal spinal disc is. The spinal discs are cushions that separate each set of vertebrae in the spine. Each disc is composed of a strong outer covering called the annulus, as well as a soft jelly center called the nucleus.

When a person has herniated discs, the outer covering tears for one reason or another (which we’ll discuss in just a moment), and the jelly begins to shift away from the center toward the torn part of the disc. This causes a “bulge” in the wall of the disc, which is why the condition is referred to as a bulging disc.

The cause of this can vary, but most often this problem is caused by a traumatic event (such as a car accident, a fall, or lifting something heavy). It may also be caused by a hereditary weakness in the wall of the disc, as well as toxins building up in the body. Toxins, believe it or not, will weaken the walls of the spinal discs, predisposing you to developing herniated discs.

These toxins usually build up in the system because of poor dietary choices, not drinking enough water, smoking, drinking excessive alcohol, etc. All of these things make a big difference in the health of the discs of your spine.

One thing you may find interesting about the spinal discs is that they are designed to not feel pain sensations. Now, this may sound strange at first, because this health problem can cause quite a bit of pain. However, if you think about it, it makes sense – the main purpose of the spinal discs is to absorb shock, and if you were able to feel this, you would be in pain all day!

So, if this is true, why is this problem so painful? Well, the spinal nerves are located directly behind the spinal discs, so if you develop herniated discs, the bulge will typically apply pressure on these nerves, which can be very painful.

In addition to that, disability is often associated with herniated discs as well, simply because the nerves of the spine control everything in the body. If there is pressure applied to these nerves, they will stop working properly, and other problems will be the end result.

For example, herniated discs in the cervical spine (neck) will not only cause neck pain, but you may also experience headaches, shoulder, arm and hand pain, numbness or weakness, chest pain, thyroid problems (which could lead to weight problems), as well as ringing in the ears and blurred vision.

You may not have thought that these symptoms could be caused by a condition in the neck, but this is very common because these parts of the body are controlled by the nerves in the neck.

In the thoracic area (upper back, between the shoulder blades), herniated discs can lead to upper back pain, pain radiating around the rib cage, chest pain, heart palpitations (feeling like your heart is beating very strongly and quickly in your chest), shortness of breath, and headaches.

And finally, herniated discs in the lumbar region of the back (the low back) can lead to low back pain, pain radiating down the leg (this may also be experienced as a burning sensation or numbness), pain in the feet, bowel and bladder problems (constipation, diarrhea, problems controlling your bladder), as well as sexual organ problems.

So, the question is, how do you deal with this condition? Unfortunately, the traditional treatment of bulging discs are usually not very effective for this condition.

Most doctors will prescribe medications (such as pain relievers and muscle relaxers), pain injections (such as cortisone or epidurals), physical therapy, and surgery (usually as a last resort, because the success rate of surgery for the back is very low).

The reason these therapies are not very effective is because they are all designed for one thing – their goal is to numb the aggravated nerve and reduce the inflammation in the area (which is also primarily affecting the nerve).

While this goal sounds good since the source of the symptoms is the aggravated nerve, any relief you experience from these therapies is usually temporary because they do not heal the source of the pain, which is the damaged disc.

The problem with herniated discs is that the spinal discs do not receive very good blood flow. Blood is responsible for transporting oxygen and nutrients to damaged tissues for faster healing, and because the discs do not receive this blood supply, they tend to be very stubborn when it comes to healing.

What are your options, then? There are alternative methods that are usually more effective at getting to the source of the problem, and actually encouraging the disc to heal which leads to longer-lasting relief.

For example, chiropractic is usually very helpful, as well as massage therapy, acupuncture, axial decompression therapy, and cold laser therapy.

However, after helping thousands of patients with this condition over the last 8 years, I can tell you from experience that it usually requires a specific combination of these treatments in order to achieve the best results.

If you would like to learn more about the most effective therapies for herniated discs, as well as the combination of those therapies that I recommend for the best results, you can click here (healing herniated discs) to get all the details.

Tags: nutrition, Health, exercise

A speedy weight loss plan will involve significant changes in your life if it is to be successful. A Atkins diet food list could work for you. One of the most important aspects of losing weight is attitude and changing bad habits and replacing them with new but good ones, something that requires a certain consistency. Many factors are involved in how quickly an individual will lose weight, for example:

Genetic conditions, previous mental anguish, desire to lose weight and more.

Being overweight affects each person in many different ways! Excessive weight causes many problems, and a solid Atkins diet free plan is vital for successful weight loss. Fatness affects overall quality of life, self-esteem, depression, health risks, and physical abilities but there are many positive changes once a person has experienced weight loss. Is it surprising that rapid Atkins diet food list is so popular where there is so much to be gained, anyone contemplating this type of program needs to start eating a healthy diet as well as taking part in daily physical activity.

Your chosen diet plan must be fairly flexible so it will suit your tastes but this should not be relied upon to do all the work for you, this is perfectly natural so do not become despondent. If you are not losing weight as fast as you would like, you can always change aspects of the plan you are on and adjust the amount of exercise you carry out each day but you will know your body and limitations better than anyone else, and this is quite natural.

Exercise programs must be suit each person so if walking is all that can be done, then walking is an excellent exercise and it won’t hurt if there is a little muscle built up in the process because it burns calories faster. Drinking water regularly throughout the day is very important, drink plenty of water on your rapid weight loss program, at least six large glasses per day and don’t forget it also flushes out toxins from the body. Fried foods are generally bad for you even when they are chicken or fish, both of which contain more fat than beef when it is fried.

Food that is grilled is generally better for your health so when presented with this option, take this over fried food. Many people think it is a good idea to give up carbohydrates like bread, pasta, potatoes for example but as they bring our energy are necessary for day to day actions including exercise, however it is quite probable that weight will start to rise again if you do not maintain a reasonable calorie level each day and stick to your Atkins diet.

For more increase immune system info – please read this blog.

Tags: nutrition, Health, exercise

The amazing miracle weight loss system that can make you lose 10 pounds in 10 days no matter what you eat! Eat as much as you want, eat more than you want, eat double what you want, and still lose weight with no exercise! Drop one pant size in a day, but beware because this might work so well you’ll pop out of existence! If these advertising claims are true then fast weight loss is a miracle reality of the modern world, requiring no effort on the dieter’s part.

Hogwash! But even though they mostly aren’t true, the Atkins diet plan does work with some effort on your part. Americans spend over 40 billion dollars a year on pills, programs and weight loss products that simply don’t work. That doesn’t stop people from coming up with all sorts of crazy diets and weight loss products. Remember Beyonce’s starvation “master cleanse” diet? It consisted of taking in nothing but lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water. Seriously! It also claimed to cleans the system from years of built up toxins. Who knew, maple syrup destroys toxins. Next time a poisonous snake bites someone have them eat some pancakes. Then there are the magic pills, creams, and diet supplements that guarantee to burn pounds without exercise, guaranteed. No that wasn’t a typo, they mention the word guarantee so often it starts to lose meaning. And when they don’t mention exactly what is involved in the “guarantee” it doesn’t have any meaning. It’s simply a way of making people think the Atkins diet plan product works.

Another diet is the VLCD or Very Low Calorie Diet. They work, and studies prove it. The problem is they are often sold to people for home use to drop a few pounds. That’s a problem because of their nature. VLCD’s are extreme diets designed for seriously overweight people. These diets often have people eat half or less of their daily caloric intake. They’re designed to be implemented in medically supervised closed settings, where people can’t cheat. When used outside of a closed setting, often a clinic called a “fat farm,” these diets can be dangerous to the dieters health and will generally not work because of binge eating after a period of partial starvation.

Atkins diet plan, do work, but can create a number of problems with the body if not supervised and given advice by a doctor. Painful Gallstones develop in up to 25% of people who lose large amounts of weight over a few months. Careless dieters can often become dehydrated because they don’t realize a large portion of the water people need to drink comes from foods. It’s easy to compensate for this by drinking more water. Malnutrition can develop from not eating enough protein over a long period of time. The body can even become unable to process protein, which leads to serious illness and even death.

Atkins diet plan is a great idea. But it’s not for some people, and should be administered and supervised by qualified medical professionals.

P.S. For the general health related tips about increase immune system please visit this blog.

Tags: nutrition, Health, exercise

Tags: exercise, Health, nutrition

There can be no hope for a project that begins with the expressed thought:

“I WANT to LOSE…10 pounds”,

“I NEED to LOSE…20 pounds”, or

“My GOAL is to LOSE…100 pounds”

Even though they are all noble and achievable goals, what the mind hears is “I’m gonna LOSE”; and 99 times out of a hundred that is exactly what happens.

You LOSE; your wasteline GAINS…following your instructions exactly.

Most of us “career dieters” are already on our 5th, 10th or 55th attempt to achieve that ideal weight.

But no matter the activity or your skill level, if you keep repeating mentally and verbally that you want to LOSE…YOU WILL!

It doesn’t matter if the activity is golf, grade point average, or baking a cake. A desire to LOSE soon becomes a reality.

Weight control is a mental activity as much as a physical one.

In fact, any new activity involves the mind first, whether it is to achieve that ideal weight or to put a person on the moon.

First the idea is born…then the mind and body go to work to make the idea a reality. Over the last half century we have seen innumerable “impossibilities” become realities and become parts of our daily lives:

How about the computer you are currently using; or

Fed Ex—overnight delivery anywhere in the world; or

Microwave cooking?

The list goes on and on.

They all began as an idea; and you can be sure that none of the minds behind these seeming “miracles” ever pursued their dreams with an “I will LOSE attitude.

The set backs became stepping stones, learning experiences, and eventual progress toward the goal.

It’s been the WINNERS not the LOSERS who have made the biggest difference in the world; and in their own personal lives.

Back to the original premise of this article: If you’ve begun your current diet program to LOSE, you already have.

You probably can find, somewhere in your house, a chart that lists your current weight in the UPPER left hand corner, with your goal weight listed in the BOTTOM right hand corner.

That chart literally screams out at you, “If you LOSE enough, you will get DOWN to your goal”. LOSE…DOWN…LOSE…DOWN–hardly an inspiring rally cry.

It’s not completely our fault. There are over twenty-nine million diet and diet related pages on the Internet. Most of those pages probably revolve around this “LOSE…DOWN” idea.

Everything from the “first stop” cabbage soup diet to the star-studded commercials for Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, or NutriSystem; all proclaim LOSING as a desirable goal.

Forget LOSING. We we HATE LOSING (another one that is almost definitely destined to fail), why not simply IMPROVE your current eating habits?

Instead of SACRIFICING your favorite foods, how about listing all the foods you ENJOY, and then picking from that long list the foods most likely to help you REACH your WEIGHT GOAL?

And finally, are you more likely to continue an activity that is pleasant, positive, and produces almost instant results; or would you prefer an endless horizon of tofu and cabbage soup?

But where to find such a list of healthy foods that you truly enjoy? And how to build a diet around them?

Here’s a couple of links that have helped us along the way. See for yourself at: Lose Weight At Home and Lose Weight Yourself

And don’t forget the basic build your immune system tips, it IS important to stay healthy.

Tags: nutrition, Health, exercise

As mere mortals, almost all of us experience ailments or challenges that afflict our minds.

Each of these ailments are accompanied by various symptoms – some very low key, others with increasing pain. Initial evidences of arthritis in its various forms are unfortunately in the latter category.

When a patient is diagnosed with arthritis, it’s important to know what kind of arthritis type it is and, of course, their doctor should tell them. Typically, there are three common forms of the degenerative disease. To learn more about each keep reading.

Osteoarthritis

This is the best known form of the disease, resulting in the degeneration of the joints. Elderly people generally experience this most. Despite the generality, osteoarthritis can surface much earlier in a person’s life, possibly caused by an injury, hereditary or congenital disorder, metabolic disorder, or trauma.

Osteoarthritis attacks the smooth cartilage on the bone ends. After it’s worn away, new born forms, causing an overgrowth along with intense pain when the dry and exposed joints move and grate together. The disease is not usually associated with inflammation.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

When assessing rheumatoid arthritis, the body joints are essentially attacked by the immune system just like it were an external foe. This response of the auto-immune system is something of a chain reaction since there is an inflammation of the synovial joints – shifting fingers and thumbs apart – ligaments are weakened from the swelling, and alignment of muscles are damaged.

Disability or even deformity can be the consequence. Opening a bottle or can, grabbing a pencil to write, or shaking the hand of another person can become seemingly an insurmountable chore necessitating that both hands be utilized. This arthritis can worsen over time or possibly remain dormant for a number of years before degenerating.

The disease is often diagnosed in 5 stages. Stage 1 has no visible or apparent symptoms other than those that can be detected through lab analysis. Stage 2 is accompanied by small amount of stiffness (usually in the mornings) and some swelling.

Stage 3 sees increased swelling and decreased mobility. This is the stage where drug treatments are usually introduced. Stage 4 experiences the disease spreading to the cartilage and joints. A stage 5 diagnosis means the damage caused by the rheumatoid arthritis is often irreparable.

A diagnostic conclusion of rheumatoid arthritis is typically founded on the existence of the following symptoms for a period longer than six weeks – stiffness of the joints after awakening, swelling in finger or joints of the wrists, soft tissue swelling around joints and swelling on each side of a joint.

Spondyloarthropathies

The term spondyloarthropathies actually refers to a number of arthritic disorders that affect the spine. Though it’s the third most common form of arthritis, it’s actually a blanket term to cover conditions such as psoriatic arthritis, intestinal arthropathy, reactive anthropathy, Reiter’s syndrome and more.

If you suspect you have arthritis, knowing the arthritis type of disease is critical to understanding your treatment. And remember, early diagnosis is critical, so see a doctor.

Tags: Health, nutrition, exercise