Ever wonder why you can’t lose weight even though you’re eating “healthy?”
More than likely it’s because you’re misinformed as to what really constitutes healthy food, nutritionist and dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot told Foxnews.com.
“When I see some of the food choices people make I wonder if it’s just that people don’t care,” said Zuckerbrot, author of the F-Factor Diet. “But I really think it’s just that people don’t know what’s good for them and what’s not.”
Here are 10 healthy foods that aren’t:
Olive oil: Sure it’s a heart-healthy monounsaturated oil, but it’s also rich in calories and fat. “Oil is oil,” Zuckerbrot said.
“Whether it’s olive oil or some other kind of oil, it still has 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon. You’re better off using a pat of butter (for bread) than dipping it in olive oil because the bread sops up the oil like a sponge. So a little bit of butter is better than a lot of olive oil.”
Tuna fish: Think that tuna sandwich is a light lunch? Think again. The average overstuffed tuna sandwich served in a restaurant contains 700 calories and 43 grams of fat.
The reason? The mayo. “Tuna fish has just 35 calories per ounce and it’s full of omega-3s, but mayonnaise has 100 calories per tablespoon,” Zuckerbrot said. “You’re better off having a turkey or even a roast beef sandwich. Even chicken salad is better than tuna salad, because tuna is so fine there’s a lot more surface area for the mayonnaise to fill.”
Granola: The term granola may be used to describe health-conscious people, but the cereal itself is actually quite fattening. That’s because granola cereals often contain oils, including high in saturated fat coconut oil, sugar, nuts and other high calorie foods.
“Something like Fiber One has 60 calories per half cup and 14 grams of fiber versus a half cup of granola, which was 240 calories, 5 to 10 grams of fat and just 3 grams of fiber,” Zuckerbrot said, adding that fiber is the key to feeling full and satiated.
Organic food: Organic food may be preservative and pesticide free, but that doesn’t mean it’s also calorie-free, said Zuckerbrot. “I mean they make organic potato chips so what does that tell you,” she said.
Sushi: Tuna sashimi is very healthy. A California roll or tempura roll, not so much, said Zuckerbrot.
“Japanese food is inherently healthy, but when you Americanize it and start adding things like cream cheese and avocado, that’s when you run into problems,” she said.
Tuna sashimi, for example, has about 35 calories and 1 gram of fat per ounce. But a spicy tuna roll has 290 calories and 11 grams of fat, and a tempura roll has 320 calories and 17 grams of fat. “You’re better off going with tuna sashimi, miso soup (36 calories) and a salad (35 calories with a tablespoon of non-creamy ginger dressing).”
Pizza: “Yes the sauce is high in lycopene, but all the lycopene in the world is not going to convince me pizza is a heart-healthy food,” Zuckerbrot said. “And mozzarella cheese is a good source of calcium, but it’s also high in calories.”
An average slice of pizza sold in New York City has between 600 and 700 calories. A more traditional slice, about one-twelfth of a pie, has between 300 and 400 calories, said Zuckerbrot. “And most people eat at least two slices to feel satisfied,” she said. “Your best bet is to eat one slice and get a salad or a cup of minestrone soup on the side so that you feel satisfied and save on the calories.”
Frozen diet meals: Sure Lean Cuisine and Weight Watcher frozen entrees are fairly low in calories and convenient, but they’re also highly processed and high in sodium.
“I understand the convenience factor, but most of these meals have more than 600 milligrams of sodium and the portions are really small and they’re not really satisfying,” Zuckerbrot said. “So you eat one for dinner and then by 9:00 you’re hungry again. You’re better off eating a slice of whole wheat bread with some light sauce and light mozzarella or an egg white omelet with some vegetables.”
Protein bars: Another convenient food, but not very nutritious. Zuckerbrot describes protein bars as her least favorite food and said they are basically glorified candy bars. They’re also often high in calories, fat and do little to satisfy a person’s hunger.
A better choice, said Zuckerbrot, is hitting the salad bar and grabbing lots of lettuce, artichokes and broccoli, topped with plain balsamic vinegar. For 100 to 200 calories, you get a lot more for a lot less calories.
Pretzels: They’re low in fat and low on nutrition. “They’re basically empty calories,” Zuckerbrot said. “Inherently, pretzels themselves are not unhealthy, but they’re basically all sugar so they’ll make you hungrier and you’ll gain weight as a result of over-eating."
Fat-free, sugar-free muffins: Regardless of whether a muffin is fat free or sugar free, they still usually have around 600 calories, according to Zuckerbrot.
“It’s nothing but cake in disguise, especially these double chocolate chip-type muffins,” she said. “But even bran muffins, they’re very dense, very high in calories. The same thing goes for scones. People think that because they’re not sweet, they’re healthy. But scones are full of butter.”
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316477,00.html
Monday, May 18, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
America’s Unhealthiest Restaurants
Your favorite fast food restaurant is often like your favorite city: Visit some neighborhoods and you live the high life. Visit others and you’re just plain asking for trouble. And that’s where Eat This, Not That! comes in: We’ve analyzed and graded 66 different chain restaurants—fast food and sit-down—to determine which ones have healthy options, and which could turn out to be diet disasters.
What we found will surprise you. Specifically, some of the fast food joints you’ve come to think of as terrible for you actually ranked alright—McDonald’s scored a B+, for example, so the Micky D’s drive-thru just might be your fast-lane to weight loss. Something even more shocking, though: more than half of the sit-down restaurants we graded ended up with our lowest scores!
To separate the commendable from the deplorable, we calculated the total number of calories per entrée. This gave us a snapshot of how each restaurant compared in average serving size—a key indicator of unhealthy portion distortion. Then we rewarded establishments with fruit and vegetable side-dish choices, as well as offering whole-wheat bread. Finally, we penalized places for excessive amounts of trans fats and menus that tempt you with fat-laden desserts. Hey, if the neighborhood is crowded with shady characters, sooner or later, one of them will jump you.
Here’s our restaurant report card for some of the unhealthiest restaurants in America. It’ll help you stay on the safer side of town.
D+
Baskin-Robbins
We thought we'd see some improvements after we identified Baskin's Heath Shake as the Worst Drink on the Planet. All they did was lower it from 2,300 to 1,900 calories, leaving an almost equally egregious drinkable disaster to set back unsuspecting sippers. It’s typical of the menu there; B-R’s soft serve is among the most caloric in the country, the smoothies contain more sugar than fruit, and most of what Baskin sticks into a cup winds up with more fat than what'll end up on your plate at a steakhouse buffet. Check out our complete list of the 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America to see the other liquid offenders. If you learn how to make smart choices when you sip, you can lose a few pounds a month—without giving up your favorite foods, or ever dieting again.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: With frozen yogurt, sherbet, and no-sugar-added ice cream, Baskin's lighter menu is the one bright spot. Just be sure to ask for your ice cream in a sugar or cake cone—the waffle cone will swaddle your treat in an extra 160 calories.
D+
Carl’s Jr.
Most fast-food restaurants today are making at least some attempt to offset their bulging burgers and deep-fried sides with healthier options such as lean sandwiches or yogurt parfaits. But Carl's Jr. is swimming against the nutritional tide, trying to attract those with hearty appetites and less concern about fat, salt and calories. The lightest item on the breakfast menu, for instance, is the Hash Brown Nuggets—but even they have 21 grams of fat, and 5.5 of them are trans fats. (As a rule, you should try to get 2 grams or fewer of the stuff in an entire day!) The burgers are worse, and there's not a side on the menu that hasn't been given a long, bubbling bath in their trans-fatty frying oil.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Find another place to grab lunch. Failing that, you should settle on either the Charbroiled Chicken Salad with Low-Fat Balsamic Dressing or the Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich—the only sandwich on the menu with fewer than 400 calories.
D+
Denny’s
Too bad the adult menu at Denny's doesn't adhere to the same standard as the kids' menu. The famous Slam breakfasts all top 800 calories, and the burgers are even worse. The Double Cheeseburger is one of the worst in the country, with 116 grams of fat, 7 of which are trans fats! (This explains why it made our list of the worst burgers in America (and what you should eat instead). Make sure you try to avoid it (and all others on the list) whenever possible.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The Fit Fare menu gathers together all the best options on the menu. Outside of that, stick to the sirloin, grilled chicken, or soups. For breakfast, order a Veggie Cheese Omelet or create your own meal from a la carte options such as fruit, oatmeal, toast, and eggs.
D+
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen’s taste for excess rivals that of other fast-food failures such as Carl's Jr. and Hardees. But unlike Carl's, DQ offers an avalanche of ice cream creations to follow up its sodium-spiked, trans-fatty foods. Here's a look at one hypothetical meal: a Bacon Cheddar GrillBurger with Onion Rings and a Small Snickers Blizzard is a staggering 1,740-calorie meal with 2,640 mg sodium and 83 grams of fat—2 grams of which are trans fats.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Play solid defense. Skip elaborate burgers, fried sides, and specialty ice cream concoctions entirely. Order a Grilled Chicken Sandwich or an Original Burger, and if you must have a treat, stick to a small soft-serve or a small sundae.
D+
Ruby Tuesday
The chain earned its fame from a hearty selection of hamburgers. The problem: They average 75 grams of fat a piece—more than enough to exceed the USDA's recommended limit for the day. Even the veggie and turkey burgers have more than 850 calories! The chain rounds out its menu with a selection of appetizers that hover around 1,000 calories (supposedly to be split 4-ways), a smattering of high-impact entrées like potpie and ribs, and a sloppy selection of salads that is just as bad.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Solace lies in the three Ss: steak, seafood, and sides. Sirloins, salmon, and shrimp all make for relatively innocuous eating, especially when paired with one of Ruby Tuesday's half dozen healthy sides such as mashed cauliflower and baby green beans. Other than that, impersonate Mick Jagger and think about occasionally saying goodbye to Ruby Tuesday!
D
Chili’s
From burgers to baby back ribs, Chili's serves up some of the saltiest and fattiest fare on fast-food row. In fact, with 3,810 mg of sodium and 122 grams of fat, Chili's Smokehouse Bacon Triple Cheese Big Mouth Burger earns the distinction as being one of the worst burgers in America. The Guiltless Grill menu is Chili's attempt to offer healthier options, but with only eight items and an average sodium count of 1,320 mg, there’s meager hope for nutritional salvation.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: There's not too much to choose from after you omit the ribs, burgers, fajitas, chicken, and salads. You're better off with a Classic Sirloin and steamed vegetables or broccoli. Another decent option is the Chicken Fajita Pita with Black Beans and Pico de Gallo. A lot of the appetizers, while delicious, are worrisome too—one from Chili’s made it on our list of Worst Appetizers in America.
D
Uno Chicago Grill
Uno has some serious strikes against it: The chain invented the deep-dish pizza, they encouraged gluttony with their Bigger and Better menu, and in 1997 they faced false-advertising charges for erroneously claiming that some of their pizzas were low in fat. They've cleaned up some of the more conspicuous health hazards and have increased nutritional transparency at all of their stores, but from appetizers to desserts, this menu is still riddled with belt-busting fat.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: First off, cast aside the bloated breadstick that Uno tries to sneak onto most plates. Next, choose flatbread over deep-dish pizzas—it could save you more than 1,000 calories. Beyond that, stick to soups or entree items served with Mango Salsa.
D
Chevy’s
Don't let the made-fresh-daily shtick distract you; Chevy's massive portions push many of the meals beyond the 1,000-calorie threshold. The taco trader’s menu has three strikes against it: 1.) the consistently high amount of fat in its entrees (the average salad has 67 grams); 2.) the outrageous salt levels that make it difficult to find a meal with fewer than 2,000 mg of sodium (you should get around that amount in an entire day of eating); and 3.) the chain earns its poor score by failing to offer complete nutritional disclosure. It provides no information for its appetizers or quesadillas, for instance, and although it maintains it uses trans-fat free oils, there's no trans-fat data for the full entrees.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The best items on the menu are the Homemade Tortilla Soup, with just 393 calories and a full 26 grams of protein, and the Santa Fe Chopped Salad, which has only 470 calories when you order it without cheese. If you can't resist an entrée, order it without all the fixin's—tamalito, rice, sour cream, and cheese. That should knock more than 300 calories off your meal.
D-
On the Border
On the Border is a subsidiary of Brinker International, the same parent company that owns Chili's and Romano's Macaroni Grill. It should come as no surprise then that this chain is just as threatening to your health as its corporate cohorts. The overloaded menu offers appetizers with 120 grams of fat, salads with a full day's worth of sodium, and taco entrées with an horrific 960 calories—and that’s the calculation without rice and beans. Border crossing is a decidedly dangerous enterprise.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The Border Smart Menu highlights four items with fewer than 600 calories and 25 grams of fat. Those aren't great numbers considering they average 1,800 mg of sodium apiece, but that's all you've got to work with.
D-
Romano’s Macaroni Grill
For years now we've been on Romano's case to clean up the menu at the beloved Macaroni Grill. So far we've had no luck. This Italian grease spot serves some of the worst appetizers in the country, offers not one dinner entrée with fewer than 800 calories, and hosts no fewer than 60 menu items with more than 2,000 mg of sodium—almost an entire day’s worth of the salt! A select few menu items earn the restaurant's Sensible Fare logo—a fork with a halo over it—but unfortunately these items can still carry up to 640 calories and 25 grams of fat.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Macaroni Grill will let you build your own dish. Ask for the marinara over a bed of the restaurant's whole-wheat penne, and then top it with grilled chicken and steamed vegetables. Just beware their salads—one of them made our list of America’s Worst Salads!
D-
Baja Fresh
It's a surprise Baja Fresh's menu has yet to collapse under the weight of its own fatty fare. About a third of the items on the menu have more than 1,000 calories, and most of them are spiked with enough sodium to melt a polar icecap. Order the Shrimp Burrito Dos Manos Enchilado-Style, for instance, and you're looking at 5,130 mg sodium—that's more than 2 days' worth in one sitting!
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Unless you're comfortable stuffing 110 grams of fat into your arteries, avoid the nachos at all costs. In fact, avoid almost everything on this menu. The only safe options are the tacos, or a salad topped with salsa verde and served without the belly-busting tortilla bowl.
F
Applebee’s, IHOP, Outback, T.G.I. Friday’s
These titans of the restaurant industry are among the last national chains that don’t offer nutritional information on their dishes. Even after years of badgering their representatives, we still hear the same old excuses: it’s too pricey, it’s too time-consuming, it’s impossible to do accurately because their food is so fresh, or we have too much variety. Our response is simple: If nearly every other chain restaurant in the country can do it, then why can’t they?
Your Survival Strategy: Write letters, make phone calls, beg, scream, and plead for these restaurants to provide nutritional information on all of their products. Here’s the contact information for each of the restaurants that refuse to fess up!
Applebees: 888-59APPLE, or send an e-mail to http://www.applebees.com/GuestContact.aspx
IHOP: 818-240-6055 (press 1 for Guest Visit issues)
Outback: Send an e-mail at http://www.outback.com/contactus/generalcomment.aspx
T.G.I. Friday's: 800-FRIDAYS
For a comprehensive Restaurant Report Card on all of the other fast food and chain restaurants, please click here for the whole list.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/26542/americas-unhealthiest-restaurants
What we found will surprise you. Specifically, some of the fast food joints you’ve come to think of as terrible for you actually ranked alright—McDonald’s scored a B+, for example, so the Micky D’s drive-thru just might be your fast-lane to weight loss. Something even more shocking, though: more than half of the sit-down restaurants we graded ended up with our lowest scores!
To separate the commendable from the deplorable, we calculated the total number of calories per entrée. This gave us a snapshot of how each restaurant compared in average serving size—a key indicator of unhealthy portion distortion. Then we rewarded establishments with fruit and vegetable side-dish choices, as well as offering whole-wheat bread. Finally, we penalized places for excessive amounts of trans fats and menus that tempt you with fat-laden desserts. Hey, if the neighborhood is crowded with shady characters, sooner or later, one of them will jump you.
Here’s our restaurant report card for some of the unhealthiest restaurants in America. It’ll help you stay on the safer side of town.
D+
Baskin-Robbins
We thought we'd see some improvements after we identified Baskin's Heath Shake as the Worst Drink on the Planet. All they did was lower it from 2,300 to 1,900 calories, leaving an almost equally egregious drinkable disaster to set back unsuspecting sippers. It’s typical of the menu there; B-R’s soft serve is among the most caloric in the country, the smoothies contain more sugar than fruit, and most of what Baskin sticks into a cup winds up with more fat than what'll end up on your plate at a steakhouse buffet. Check out our complete list of the 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America to see the other liquid offenders. If you learn how to make smart choices when you sip, you can lose a few pounds a month—without giving up your favorite foods, or ever dieting again.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: With frozen yogurt, sherbet, and no-sugar-added ice cream, Baskin's lighter menu is the one bright spot. Just be sure to ask for your ice cream in a sugar or cake cone—the waffle cone will swaddle your treat in an extra 160 calories.
D+
Carl’s Jr.
Most fast-food restaurants today are making at least some attempt to offset their bulging burgers and deep-fried sides with healthier options such as lean sandwiches or yogurt parfaits. But Carl's Jr. is swimming against the nutritional tide, trying to attract those with hearty appetites and less concern about fat, salt and calories. The lightest item on the breakfast menu, for instance, is the Hash Brown Nuggets—but even they have 21 grams of fat, and 5.5 of them are trans fats. (As a rule, you should try to get 2 grams or fewer of the stuff in an entire day!) The burgers are worse, and there's not a side on the menu that hasn't been given a long, bubbling bath in their trans-fatty frying oil.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Find another place to grab lunch. Failing that, you should settle on either the Charbroiled Chicken Salad with Low-Fat Balsamic Dressing or the Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich—the only sandwich on the menu with fewer than 400 calories.
D+
Denny’s
Too bad the adult menu at Denny's doesn't adhere to the same standard as the kids' menu. The famous Slam breakfasts all top 800 calories, and the burgers are even worse. The Double Cheeseburger is one of the worst in the country, with 116 grams of fat, 7 of which are trans fats! (This explains why it made our list of the worst burgers in America (and what you should eat instead). Make sure you try to avoid it (and all others on the list) whenever possible.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The Fit Fare menu gathers together all the best options on the menu. Outside of that, stick to the sirloin, grilled chicken, or soups. For breakfast, order a Veggie Cheese Omelet or create your own meal from a la carte options such as fruit, oatmeal, toast, and eggs.
D+
Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen’s taste for excess rivals that of other fast-food failures such as Carl's Jr. and Hardees. But unlike Carl's, DQ offers an avalanche of ice cream creations to follow up its sodium-spiked, trans-fatty foods. Here's a look at one hypothetical meal: a Bacon Cheddar GrillBurger with Onion Rings and a Small Snickers Blizzard is a staggering 1,740-calorie meal with 2,640 mg sodium and 83 grams of fat—2 grams of which are trans fats.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Play solid defense. Skip elaborate burgers, fried sides, and specialty ice cream concoctions entirely. Order a Grilled Chicken Sandwich or an Original Burger, and if you must have a treat, stick to a small soft-serve or a small sundae.
D+
Ruby Tuesday
The chain earned its fame from a hearty selection of hamburgers. The problem: They average 75 grams of fat a piece—more than enough to exceed the USDA's recommended limit for the day. Even the veggie and turkey burgers have more than 850 calories! The chain rounds out its menu with a selection of appetizers that hover around 1,000 calories (supposedly to be split 4-ways), a smattering of high-impact entrées like potpie and ribs, and a sloppy selection of salads that is just as bad.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Solace lies in the three Ss: steak, seafood, and sides. Sirloins, salmon, and shrimp all make for relatively innocuous eating, especially when paired with one of Ruby Tuesday's half dozen healthy sides such as mashed cauliflower and baby green beans. Other than that, impersonate Mick Jagger and think about occasionally saying goodbye to Ruby Tuesday!
D
Chili’s
From burgers to baby back ribs, Chili's serves up some of the saltiest and fattiest fare on fast-food row. In fact, with 3,810 mg of sodium and 122 grams of fat, Chili's Smokehouse Bacon Triple Cheese Big Mouth Burger earns the distinction as being one of the worst burgers in America. The Guiltless Grill menu is Chili's attempt to offer healthier options, but with only eight items and an average sodium count of 1,320 mg, there’s meager hope for nutritional salvation.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: There's not too much to choose from after you omit the ribs, burgers, fajitas, chicken, and salads. You're better off with a Classic Sirloin and steamed vegetables or broccoli. Another decent option is the Chicken Fajita Pita with Black Beans and Pico de Gallo. A lot of the appetizers, while delicious, are worrisome too—one from Chili’s made it on our list of Worst Appetizers in America.
D
Uno Chicago Grill
Uno has some serious strikes against it: The chain invented the deep-dish pizza, they encouraged gluttony with their Bigger and Better menu, and in 1997 they faced false-advertising charges for erroneously claiming that some of their pizzas were low in fat. They've cleaned up some of the more conspicuous health hazards and have increased nutritional transparency at all of their stores, but from appetizers to desserts, this menu is still riddled with belt-busting fat.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: First off, cast aside the bloated breadstick that Uno tries to sneak onto most plates. Next, choose flatbread over deep-dish pizzas—it could save you more than 1,000 calories. Beyond that, stick to soups or entree items served with Mango Salsa.
D
Chevy’s
Don't let the made-fresh-daily shtick distract you; Chevy's massive portions push many of the meals beyond the 1,000-calorie threshold. The taco trader’s menu has three strikes against it: 1.) the consistently high amount of fat in its entrees (the average salad has 67 grams); 2.) the outrageous salt levels that make it difficult to find a meal with fewer than 2,000 mg of sodium (you should get around that amount in an entire day of eating); and 3.) the chain earns its poor score by failing to offer complete nutritional disclosure. It provides no information for its appetizers or quesadillas, for instance, and although it maintains it uses trans-fat free oils, there's no trans-fat data for the full entrees.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The best items on the menu are the Homemade Tortilla Soup, with just 393 calories and a full 26 grams of protein, and the Santa Fe Chopped Salad, which has only 470 calories when you order it without cheese. If you can't resist an entrée, order it without all the fixin's—tamalito, rice, sour cream, and cheese. That should knock more than 300 calories off your meal.
D-
On the Border
On the Border is a subsidiary of Brinker International, the same parent company that owns Chili's and Romano's Macaroni Grill. It should come as no surprise then that this chain is just as threatening to your health as its corporate cohorts. The overloaded menu offers appetizers with 120 grams of fat, salads with a full day's worth of sodium, and taco entrées with an horrific 960 calories—and that’s the calculation without rice and beans. Border crossing is a decidedly dangerous enterprise.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: The Border Smart Menu highlights four items with fewer than 600 calories and 25 grams of fat. Those aren't great numbers considering they average 1,800 mg of sodium apiece, but that's all you've got to work with.
D-
Romano’s Macaroni Grill
For years now we've been on Romano's case to clean up the menu at the beloved Macaroni Grill. So far we've had no luck. This Italian grease spot serves some of the worst appetizers in the country, offers not one dinner entrée with fewer than 800 calories, and hosts no fewer than 60 menu items with more than 2,000 mg of sodium—almost an entire day’s worth of the salt! A select few menu items earn the restaurant's Sensible Fare logo—a fork with a halo over it—but unfortunately these items can still carry up to 640 calories and 25 grams of fat.
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Macaroni Grill will let you build your own dish. Ask for the marinara over a bed of the restaurant's whole-wheat penne, and then top it with grilled chicken and steamed vegetables. Just beware their salads—one of them made our list of America’s Worst Salads!
D-
Baja Fresh
It's a surprise Baja Fresh's menu has yet to collapse under the weight of its own fatty fare. About a third of the items on the menu have more than 1,000 calories, and most of them are spiked with enough sodium to melt a polar icecap. Order the Shrimp Burrito Dos Manos Enchilado-Style, for instance, and you're looking at 5,130 mg sodium—that's more than 2 days' worth in one sitting!
SURVIVAL STRATEGY: Unless you're comfortable stuffing 110 grams of fat into your arteries, avoid the nachos at all costs. In fact, avoid almost everything on this menu. The only safe options are the tacos, or a salad topped with salsa verde and served without the belly-busting tortilla bowl.
F
Applebee’s, IHOP, Outback, T.G.I. Friday’s
These titans of the restaurant industry are among the last national chains that don’t offer nutritional information on their dishes. Even after years of badgering their representatives, we still hear the same old excuses: it’s too pricey, it’s too time-consuming, it’s impossible to do accurately because their food is so fresh, or we have too much variety. Our response is simple: If nearly every other chain restaurant in the country can do it, then why can’t they?
Your Survival Strategy: Write letters, make phone calls, beg, scream, and plead for these restaurants to provide nutritional information on all of their products. Here’s the contact information for each of the restaurants that refuse to fess up!
Applebees: 888-59APPLE, or send an e-mail to http://www.applebees.com/GuestContact.aspx
IHOP: 818-240-6055 (press 1 for Guest Visit issues)
Outback: Send an e-mail at http://www.outback.com/contactus/generalcomment.aspx
T.G.I. Friday's: 800-FRIDAYS
For a comprehensive Restaurant Report Card on all of the other fast food and chain restaurants, please click here for the whole list.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/26542/americas-unhealthiest-restaurants
Thursday, February 12, 2009
4 Simple Exercises for Strong, Shapely Arms
Do these exercises three to four times a week and within a month you'll start to see ripples you never knew you had
Warm-Up: Do three minutes of cardio before your arm routine to increase your heart rate, loosen your muscles, and help avoid injury. Jumping rope, climbing stairs, and walking on a treadmill are great options. Once your torso begins generating a little heat, do two sets of 24 small (about five inches in diameter) arm circles to warm up your biceps, triceps, and shoulder muscles. Move your arms forward for the first set, backward for the second set.
Cooldown: Stretch the muscles you just worked to reduce soreness and maximize flexibility. Sit in a chair, extend your arms in front of you, one over the other, and clasp your hands to stretch out your biceps. Switch arms and repeat. Then bend forward and clasp your hands behind your back. Lift them gently for a deep stretch in the triceps.
Tip: If you don't have hand weights, use cans of food or water bottles filled with sand or uncooked rice.
Push-Pull Kickback
How to Do It: Stand in a squat position, legs shoulder-width apart, knees bent at about 45 degrees, and chest leaning slightly forward. Hold a light dumbbell (three to five pounds is a good starting point for all these exercises) in each hand, palms facing your thighs. Bending your arms, bring your fists up toward your torso, in front of your armpits. Push the dumbbells straight out in front of you, fully extending your arms, knuckles up. Bending your arms, pull them toward your armpits and extend them back behind you until they're straight (shown). During this part of the exercise, pretend your upper arms are glued to your sides to better isolate the triceps. Do three sets of 12 repetitions.
What It Does: Works your chest and triceps. You'll see results along the backs of your arms and in the area where your shoulders meet your chest.
Shadowboxing
How to Do It: Stand upright, legs spaced slightly wider than your shoulders, hands in front of your face (like a boxer getting ready for a bout), with a light dumbbell in each hand. Extend your right fist as if you were hitting someone in the face, angling the punch toward the opponent's opposite ear. As you pull your arm back, imagine that you're ducking an incoming punch and bend your knees into a squat. Stand and repeat with the other arm. For the next punch, move your fist in a rapid upward motion, as if hitting someone just under the chin. Squat, stand, and repeat with the other arm. For the last punch, extend your arm as if punching someone on the side of the jaw with your knuckles (shown). Squat, stand, and repeat with the other arm. Do two to three sets of punches, 10 seconds for each set.
What It Does: Works your biceps, triceps, shoulders, and upper back -- the whole package. The squats will develop your glutes and quadriceps. The rapid and dynamic moves will give your heart a workout, too.
Double Biceps Curl
How to Do It: Stand upright, feet close together, knees relaxed. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, pressing your elbows close to your sides, palms facing forward. Bend your arms so your forearms form 90-degree angles in front of you. Squeezing your biceps, slowly lift the weights up toward your shoulders. Lower your arms to the starting position. Palms facing up, slowly curl your arms back up, this time to the outsides of your shoulders (shown). Again, remember to press your upper arms tightly against your sides to really work the biceps. Do three sets of 12 reps.
What It Does: Works the very centers of the biceps from multiple directions, creating chiseled definition.
Standing Push-Up
How to Do It: Stand facing a desk or a sturdy ledge. Place your hands shoulder-width apart on the surface in a push-up position and place your body at a 45-degree angle with the floor. Pull your navel inward and balance your weight on the balls of your feet (shown). With elbows close to your sides, bend your arms and bring your chest toward the desk as low as you can, inhaling as you descend. Slowly push yourself back up to the starting position, exhaling as you rise. Do two to three sets of 8 to 10 reps. To increase the challenge, do half the sets underhanded, gripping the desk or the ledge from below. This focuses the benefits on the lower triceps, which most women have a particularly hard time firming up. As you improve, intensify the exercise by moving your hands closer together.
What It Does: Strengthens your triceps as well as your abdominals and shoulders, which can improve overall posture.
From Real Simple: Stretching 101
Warm-Up: Do three minutes of cardio before your arm routine to increase your heart rate, loosen your muscles, and help avoid injury. Jumping rope, climbing stairs, and walking on a treadmill are great options. Once your torso begins generating a little heat, do two sets of 24 small (about five inches in diameter) arm circles to warm up your biceps, triceps, and shoulder muscles. Move your arms forward for the first set, backward for the second set.
Cooldown: Stretch the muscles you just worked to reduce soreness and maximize flexibility. Sit in a chair, extend your arms in front of you, one over the other, and clasp your hands to stretch out your biceps. Switch arms and repeat. Then bend forward and clasp your hands behind your back. Lift them gently for a deep stretch in the triceps.
Tip: If you don't have hand weights, use cans of food or water bottles filled with sand or uncooked rice.
Push-Pull Kickback
How to Do It: Stand in a squat position, legs shoulder-width apart, knees bent at about 45 degrees, and chest leaning slightly forward. Hold a light dumbbell (three to five pounds is a good starting point for all these exercises) in each hand, palms facing your thighs. Bending your arms, bring your fists up toward your torso, in front of your armpits. Push the dumbbells straight out in front of you, fully extending your arms, knuckles up. Bending your arms, pull them toward your armpits and extend them back behind you until they're straight (shown). During this part of the exercise, pretend your upper arms are glued to your sides to better isolate the triceps. Do three sets of 12 repetitions.
What It Does: Works your chest and triceps. You'll see results along the backs of your arms and in the area where your shoulders meet your chest.
Shadowboxing
How to Do It: Stand upright, legs spaced slightly wider than your shoulders, hands in front of your face (like a boxer getting ready for a bout), with a light dumbbell in each hand. Extend your right fist as if you were hitting someone in the face, angling the punch toward the opponent's opposite ear. As you pull your arm back, imagine that you're ducking an incoming punch and bend your knees into a squat. Stand and repeat with the other arm. For the next punch, move your fist in a rapid upward motion, as if hitting someone just under the chin. Squat, stand, and repeat with the other arm. For the last punch, extend your arm as if punching someone on the side of the jaw with your knuckles (shown). Squat, stand, and repeat with the other arm. Do two to three sets of punches, 10 seconds for each set.
What It Does: Works your biceps, triceps, shoulders, and upper back -- the whole package. The squats will develop your glutes and quadriceps. The rapid and dynamic moves will give your heart a workout, too.
Double Biceps Curl
How to Do It: Stand upright, feet close together, knees relaxed. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, pressing your elbows close to your sides, palms facing forward. Bend your arms so your forearms form 90-degree angles in front of you. Squeezing your biceps, slowly lift the weights up toward your shoulders. Lower your arms to the starting position. Palms facing up, slowly curl your arms back up, this time to the outsides of your shoulders (shown). Again, remember to press your upper arms tightly against your sides to really work the biceps. Do three sets of 12 reps.
What It Does: Works the very centers of the biceps from multiple directions, creating chiseled definition.
Standing Push-Up
How to Do It: Stand facing a desk or a sturdy ledge. Place your hands shoulder-width apart on the surface in a push-up position and place your body at a 45-degree angle with the floor. Pull your navel inward and balance your weight on the balls of your feet (shown). With elbows close to your sides, bend your arms and bring your chest toward the desk as low as you can, inhaling as you descend. Slowly push yourself back up to the starting position, exhaling as you rise. Do two to three sets of 8 to 10 reps. To increase the challenge, do half the sets underhanded, gripping the desk or the ledge from below. This focuses the benefits on the lower triceps, which most women have a particularly hard time firming up. As you improve, intensify the exercise by moving your hands closer together.
What It Does: Strengthens your triceps as well as your abdominals and shoulders, which can improve overall posture.
From Real Simple: Stretching 101
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The 7 Best Foods for Weight Loss
Losing weight is not about starving yourself and subsisting on seltzer. Eat too little and the only place you'll feel lighter is your head. Plus, research shows that any pounds you lose will likely come back--plus more. One of the healthiest ways to shed pounds for good is to eat power foods that are naturally filling, nutrient-packed and, yes, proven to help you peel off pounds. Pile your plate with these prize possessions!
Steak
Women on a diet that included red meat lost more weight than those eating equal calories but little beef, according to a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. One reason: The protein in lean cuts of steak helps you keep muscle mass during weight loss, and muscle incinerates more calories than fat, so you will shed more stubborn pudge. Try it: Grill or broil a 4-ounce serving of top round or sirloin; slice thinly to top a salad, or mix with veggies for fajitas.
Eggs
The breakfast staple can trim off inches all over. Research from the Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge found that women on a low-calorie diet who ate an egg with toast and jelly each morning lost twice as many pounds as those who had a bagel breakfast with the same number of calories but no eggs. Turns out, egg protein is particularly satisfying, so you liikely eat less during the course of the day.
Try it: Enjoy a morning omelette or frittata, or top your lunchtime salad with hard-boiled eggs.
Lentils
These beans can help banish belly bloat and reduce your belt size. Chock full of protein and soluble fiber, lentils can stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent insulin spikes that cause your body to create excess fat, especially in the abdominal area.
Try it: Toss lentils in soups, salads or pasta sauce. Or try this delicious Lentil Pilaf with Turkey Sausage.
Pomegranates
Low in calories, this fruit gets high marks for taste and nutritional content, thanks to a healthy dose of folate, fiber and disease-deterring antioxidants.
Try it: Skip the juice and snack on the seeds instead. Toss them into salad in place of nuts. Or try these Pomegranate and Cranberry Bellinis from Giada DeLaurentiis (one of her holiday faves).
Chiles
Some like it hot, and for good reason. Eating spicy numbers will spike your metabolism, courtesy of a compound in chiles called capsaicin, which helps the body burn extra calories for 20 minutes after you eat them. Bonus: It can be downright painful to inhale a plate of chiles, so you'll eat slower, allowing your brain adequate time to register that it is full and prevent overeating.
Try it: Sample the savory entree that chef Nigella Lawson shared with SELF.
Quinoa
It might be hard to pronounce (it's KEEN-wah), but eating quinoa offers a simple way to ward off the munchies. The grain is teeming with fiber (2.6 grams per 1/2 cup) and protein to keep you humming and hunger-free for hours.
Try it: Replace the rice in stir-fries with quinoa.
Parmesan
Say cheese! Women who had one serving of whole milk or cheese daily were less likely to gain weight over time, a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds. Dieters who ate lowfat varieties of dairy did not experience the same benefit. Why? Whole dairy may contain more conjugated linoleic acid, which could assist in the fat-burning department. And since Parmesan is so flavorful, you only need a few sprinkles to gain maximum flavor without compromising its pound-shedding power.
Try it: Grate Parmesan over veggies such as broccoli or asparagus, or pair a 1-ounce portion with an apple.
Found at: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/7852/the-7-best-foods-for-weight-loss/
Steak
Women on a diet that included red meat lost more weight than those eating equal calories but little beef, according to a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. One reason: The protein in lean cuts of steak helps you keep muscle mass during weight loss, and muscle incinerates more calories than fat, so you will shed more stubborn pudge. Try it: Grill or broil a 4-ounce serving of top round or sirloin; slice thinly to top a salad, or mix with veggies for fajitas.
Eggs
The breakfast staple can trim off inches all over. Research from the Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge found that women on a low-calorie diet who ate an egg with toast and jelly each morning lost twice as many pounds as those who had a bagel breakfast with the same number of calories but no eggs. Turns out, egg protein is particularly satisfying, so you liikely eat less during the course of the day.
Try it: Enjoy a morning omelette or frittata, or top your lunchtime salad with hard-boiled eggs.
Lentils
These beans can help banish belly bloat and reduce your belt size. Chock full of protein and soluble fiber, lentils can stabilize blood sugar levels and prevent insulin spikes that cause your body to create excess fat, especially in the abdominal area.
Try it: Toss lentils in soups, salads or pasta sauce. Or try this delicious Lentil Pilaf with Turkey Sausage.
Pomegranates
Low in calories, this fruit gets high marks for taste and nutritional content, thanks to a healthy dose of folate, fiber and disease-deterring antioxidants.
Try it: Skip the juice and snack on the seeds instead. Toss them into salad in place of nuts. Or try these Pomegranate and Cranberry Bellinis from Giada DeLaurentiis (one of her holiday faves).
Chiles
Some like it hot, and for good reason. Eating spicy numbers will spike your metabolism, courtesy of a compound in chiles called capsaicin, which helps the body burn extra calories for 20 minutes after you eat them. Bonus: It can be downright painful to inhale a plate of chiles, so you'll eat slower, allowing your brain adequate time to register that it is full and prevent overeating.
Try it: Sample the savory entree that chef Nigella Lawson shared with SELF.
Quinoa
It might be hard to pronounce (it's KEEN-wah), but eating quinoa offers a simple way to ward off the munchies. The grain is teeming with fiber (2.6 grams per 1/2 cup) and protein to keep you humming and hunger-free for hours.
Try it: Replace the rice in stir-fries with quinoa.
Parmesan
Say cheese! Women who had one serving of whole milk or cheese daily were less likely to gain weight over time, a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds. Dieters who ate lowfat varieties of dairy did not experience the same benefit. Why? Whole dairy may contain more conjugated linoleic acid, which could assist in the fat-burning department. And since Parmesan is so flavorful, you only need a few sprinkles to gain maximum flavor without compromising its pound-shedding power.
Try it: Grate Parmesan over veggies such as broccoli or asparagus, or pair a 1-ounce portion with an apple.
Found at: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/7852/the-7-best-foods-for-weight-loss/
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The Truth About Diet Soda
We talk a lot about ''watching what we eat,'' but if you never gave a thought to what you ate and instead watched only what you drank, you could probably cut 450 calories a day out of your life. (Yes, nearly a pound of fat loss a week!) That's what a study from the University of North Carolina found. Americans today drink about 192 gallons of liquid a year—or about 2 liters a day. To put it into perspective, this is nearly twice as many calories as we did 30 years ago.
When confronted with the growing tide of calories from sweetened beverages, the first response is, “Why not just drink diet soda?” Well, for a few reasons:
Just because diet soda is low in calories doesn't mean it can't lead to weight gain.
It may have only 5 or fewer calories per serving, but emerging research suggests that consuming sugary-tasting beverages--even if they're artificially sweetened--may lead to a high preference for sweetness overall. That means sweeter (and more caloric) cereal, bread, dessert--everything.
Guzzling these drinks all day long forces out the healthy beverages you need.
Diet soda is 100 percent nutrition-free, and again, it's just as important to actively drink the good stuff as it is to avoid that bad stuff. So one diet soda a day is fine, but if you're downing five or six cans, that means you're limiting your intake of healthful beverages, particularly water and tea.
There remain some concerns over aspartame, the low-calorie chemical used to give diet sodas their flavor.
Aspartame is 180 times sweeter than sugar, and some animal research has linked consumption of high amounts of the sweetener to brain tumors and lymphoma in rodents. The FDA maintains that the sweetener is safe, but reported side effects include dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss, and mood changes. Bottom line: Diet soda does you no good, and it might just be doing you wrong.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/22630/the-truth-about-diet-soda/
When confronted with the growing tide of calories from sweetened beverages, the first response is, “Why not just drink diet soda?” Well, for a few reasons:
Just because diet soda is low in calories doesn't mean it can't lead to weight gain.
It may have only 5 or fewer calories per serving, but emerging research suggests that consuming sugary-tasting beverages--even if they're artificially sweetened--may lead to a high preference for sweetness overall. That means sweeter (and more caloric) cereal, bread, dessert--everything.
Guzzling these drinks all day long forces out the healthy beverages you need.
Diet soda is 100 percent nutrition-free, and again, it's just as important to actively drink the good stuff as it is to avoid that bad stuff. So one diet soda a day is fine, but if you're downing five or six cans, that means you're limiting your intake of healthful beverages, particularly water and tea.
There remain some concerns over aspartame, the low-calorie chemical used to give diet sodas their flavor.
Aspartame is 180 times sweeter than sugar, and some animal research has linked consumption of high amounts of the sweetener to brain tumors and lymphoma in rodents. The FDA maintains that the sweetener is safe, but reported side effects include dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss, and mood changes. Bottom line: Diet soda does you no good, and it might just be doing you wrong.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/22630/the-truth-about-diet-soda/
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Produce: The Dirtiest and the Cleanest
These days, we have more options for organic produce than ever before. Trends show that more consumers are buying organic more frequently because of concerns about health, pesticide exposure, and the environment.
But when you stroll into the produce section, do you ever wonder which organic fruits and vegetables you should be buying? Since organic foods are often more expensive, it's important to know what to look for, so you don't end up paying extra for organic fruits and veggies that are pretty clean, even in their non-organic versions.
One useful source for this information is the Environmental Working Group. Its Web site lists 44 fruits and vegetables ranked by the amount of pesticide residue each contains. Knowing which fruits and vegetables are usually carrying the most pesticides and which are cleanest, you can decide when it would be wisest to buy organic.
The EWG's "dirty dozen" are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes (imported), pears, spinach, and potatoes. The "cleanest 12" are onions, avocados, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mangos, sweet peas (frozen), asparagus, kiwis, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplants.
Think especially about buying organic when you're choosing one of the "dirty dozen." And, once you're home, your best bet is to wash all produce, even the organic ones, in warm water before preparing them. Firm produce can be scrubbed with a vegetable brush; softer, riper produce can be washed with a sink sprayer — or use one of those special washing products designed just for produce.
Peeling fruits and vegetables does reduce pesticide exposure, of course, but peeling also removes some important nutrients found in the peel, such as fiber.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutrition/13728/produce-the-dirtiest-and-the-cleanest/
But when you stroll into the produce section, do you ever wonder which organic fruits and vegetables you should be buying? Since organic foods are often more expensive, it's important to know what to look for, so you don't end up paying extra for organic fruits and veggies that are pretty clean, even in their non-organic versions.
One useful source for this information is the Environmental Working Group. Its Web site lists 44 fruits and vegetables ranked by the amount of pesticide residue each contains. Knowing which fruits and vegetables are usually carrying the most pesticides and which are cleanest, you can decide when it would be wisest to buy organic.
The EWG's "dirty dozen" are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes (imported), pears, spinach, and potatoes. The "cleanest 12" are onions, avocados, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mangos, sweet peas (frozen), asparagus, kiwis, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplants.
Think especially about buying organic when you're choosing one of the "dirty dozen." And, once you're home, your best bet is to wash all produce, even the organic ones, in warm water before preparing them. Firm produce can be scrubbed with a vegetable brush; softer, riper produce can be washed with a sink sprayer — or use one of those special washing products designed just for produce.
Peeling fruits and vegetables does reduce pesticide exposure, of course, but peeling also removes some important nutrients found in the peel, such as fiber.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutrition/13728/produce-the-dirtiest-and-the-cleanest/
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Worst trans fat offenders
These popular restaurant dishes pack a huge punch in trans fat and calories.
The Fattiest Foods in America -- Eat This, Not That
By now, almost everybody knows that trans fats are the food additive that should rarely pass your lips. They add useless calories, build bad cholesterol (known as LDL), and lower your good cholesterol (known as HDL). The American Heart Association says you should only consume 2 grams or less of trans fats in our daily diets. (And we say less. Zero is a good number.)
So why on earth is trans fat still in food if it’s so terrible? Because even though trans fats may shorten your life, they actually add to the shelf life of baked goods, and keep the deep-fat fryers stoked batch after batch. Choosing between your personal health and their own financial health, some chain restaurants and food manufacturers go the wrong way.
Our mission: to raise the warning flag. Here’s a list of the worst trans fat transgressors. Put them on your do-not-eat list, and we’ll all feel a lot better.
TRANS FATTIEST BREAKFAST PASTRY
Cinnabon Classic Roll
5 g trans fat
813 calories
32 g fat
Eat these too often and you might have to be rolled out of the store. Not only do they serve a whopping 813 calories, but they’ll also set you back with a few days' worth of trans fats.
Eat This Instead:
Cinnabon Minibon Delight
300 calories
8 g fat (2 g trans fat)
This is the healthiest option on their menu, and it still has one day’s worth of trans fats. Offset your indulgence and help protect your ticker with these 10 foods that are great for your heart.
TRANS FATTIEST BISCUIT
Bob Evans Country Biscuit Breakfast
6 g trans fat
659 calories
45 grams fat
Beware of biscuits. Like deep-fried menu items, they should set off a trans fat alarm in your head. The lowliest lard keeps biscuits soft and tender. Of course, the fact that Bob’s trans fatty biscuit is drowned in gravy and cheese doesn’t help, either.
Eat this Instead:
Bowl of oatmeal and French Toast a la carte (1 slice)
303 calories
5 g fat (0 g trans fat)
The oatmeal will fill you up, so you won’t overindulge after the slice of toast. For 15 other tips for losing weight fast without sacrificing your favorite foods (or ever dieting again), learn these secret restaurant swaps!
TRANS FATTIEST FRENCH FRIES
Jack in the Box's large Natural Cut Fries
10 g trans fat
300 calories
33 g fat
Although most fast food restaurants have transitioned to trans-fat-free fryers, Jack in the Box hasn’t. Their large servings of natural cut fries and curly fries both pack more than 5 days' worth of dangerous fats. In fact, most of the items on their menu are riddled with more than a day’s serving of trans fats.
Eat this instead:
Jack in the Box Egg Roll (1)
130 calories
6 g fat (1 g trans fat)
The fruit cup and one egg roll are the only sides that do not have 2 or more grams of trans fats. If the fruit cup isn’t for you, limit yourself to one egg roll.
TRANS FATTIEST CHICKEN TENDERS
Dairy Queen Wild Buffalo Chicken Strip Basket (4 pieces)
11 g trans fat
870 calories
96 g fat
The Queen serves up another example of deep-fried danger. The nearly 100 grams of fat alone should deter you from ordering this basket of trouble. But the 4 strips also deliver more than 3 days' worth of trans fats. DQ stands for disqualified.
Eat this instead:
Grilled Chicken Sandwich
400 calories
16 g fat (0 g trans fat)
TRANS FATTIEST RESTAURANT ENTREE
Bob Evans Slow Roasted Chicken Pot Pie
13 g trans fat
908 calories
60 g fat
Trans fats happily make their home in crusts — like the one that surrounds this pot pie. Bob Evans is one of the worst trans fat offenders: many of their dishes contain two or three days' worth of trans fat. Down this pot pie and you’ll have consumed nearly a week’s trans fat quota.
Eat this instead:
Bob-B-Q Chicken
545 calories
14 g fat (0 g trans fat)
TRANS FATTIEST MILKSHAKE
Dairy Queen Large Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard
6 g trans fat
1,320 calories
52 grams fat
Treating yourself to ice cream now and then isn’t a problem. But if your frozen treat includes three days worth of trans fat, it’s time pick a new ice-cream parlor. (And make sure you avoid other drinkable disasters that might be on this indispensable 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America list!)
Eat this instead:
Small Artic Rush Slush
240 Calories
0 g fat (0 g trans fat)
Or try these 8 frozen desserts that won't wreck your waistline.
TRANS FATTIEST PANCAKES
Bob Evans Stacked & Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Hotcakes
9 g trans fat
1,543 calories
77 g fat
Don’t be fooled by the bananas and pecans, which can be healthy on their own. But this dish delivers 3 days worth of trans fat, not to mention over half the recommended daily calorie intake.
Eat this instead:
Stuffed French Toast, No Topping
599 calories
20 g fat (0 g trans fats)
We don’t love the calorie count on this one, so you’re best off splitting this dish or taking half home. But it’s the only Bob Evans pancake or French toast meal that doesn’t slip you trans fats.
To discover other things restaurants might be surprising you with, make sure to check out these 16 secrets the restaurant industry doesn’t want you to know! It’ll help you save your waistline when you’re eating out.
And to avoid 22 other popular trans fat transgressors at your favorite fast-food and chain restaurants, check out this must-have list of big-name offenders. Don't leave home without it!
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/17837/the-fattiest-foods-in-america/
The Fattiest Foods in America -- Eat This, Not That
By now, almost everybody knows that trans fats are the food additive that should rarely pass your lips. They add useless calories, build bad cholesterol (known as LDL), and lower your good cholesterol (known as HDL). The American Heart Association says you should only consume 2 grams or less of trans fats in our daily diets. (And we say less. Zero is a good number.)
So why on earth is trans fat still in food if it’s so terrible? Because even though trans fats may shorten your life, they actually add to the shelf life of baked goods, and keep the deep-fat fryers stoked batch after batch. Choosing between your personal health and their own financial health, some chain restaurants and food manufacturers go the wrong way.
Our mission: to raise the warning flag. Here’s a list of the worst trans fat transgressors. Put them on your do-not-eat list, and we’ll all feel a lot better.
TRANS FATTIEST BREAKFAST PASTRY
Cinnabon Classic Roll
5 g trans fat
813 calories
32 g fat
Eat these too often and you might have to be rolled out of the store. Not only do they serve a whopping 813 calories, but they’ll also set you back with a few days' worth of trans fats.
Eat This Instead:
Cinnabon Minibon Delight
300 calories
8 g fat (2 g trans fat)
This is the healthiest option on their menu, and it still has one day’s worth of trans fats. Offset your indulgence and help protect your ticker with these 10 foods that are great for your heart.
TRANS FATTIEST BISCUIT
Bob Evans Country Biscuit Breakfast
6 g trans fat
659 calories
45 grams fat
Beware of biscuits. Like deep-fried menu items, they should set off a trans fat alarm in your head. The lowliest lard keeps biscuits soft and tender. Of course, the fact that Bob’s trans fatty biscuit is drowned in gravy and cheese doesn’t help, either.
Eat this Instead:
Bowl of oatmeal and French Toast a la carte (1 slice)
303 calories
5 g fat (0 g trans fat)
The oatmeal will fill you up, so you won’t overindulge after the slice of toast. For 15 other tips for losing weight fast without sacrificing your favorite foods (or ever dieting again), learn these secret restaurant swaps!
TRANS FATTIEST FRENCH FRIES
Jack in the Box's large Natural Cut Fries
10 g trans fat
300 calories
33 g fat
Although most fast food restaurants have transitioned to trans-fat-free fryers, Jack in the Box hasn’t. Their large servings of natural cut fries and curly fries both pack more than 5 days' worth of dangerous fats. In fact, most of the items on their menu are riddled with more than a day’s serving of trans fats.
Eat this instead:
Jack in the Box Egg Roll (1)
130 calories
6 g fat (1 g trans fat)
The fruit cup and one egg roll are the only sides that do not have 2 or more grams of trans fats. If the fruit cup isn’t for you, limit yourself to one egg roll.
TRANS FATTIEST CHICKEN TENDERS
Dairy Queen Wild Buffalo Chicken Strip Basket (4 pieces)
11 g trans fat
870 calories
96 g fat
The Queen serves up another example of deep-fried danger. The nearly 100 grams of fat alone should deter you from ordering this basket of trouble. But the 4 strips also deliver more than 3 days' worth of trans fats. DQ stands for disqualified.
Eat this instead:
Grilled Chicken Sandwich
400 calories
16 g fat (0 g trans fat)
TRANS FATTIEST RESTAURANT ENTREE
Bob Evans Slow Roasted Chicken Pot Pie
13 g trans fat
908 calories
60 g fat
Trans fats happily make their home in crusts — like the one that surrounds this pot pie. Bob Evans is one of the worst trans fat offenders: many of their dishes contain two or three days' worth of trans fat. Down this pot pie and you’ll have consumed nearly a week’s trans fat quota.
Eat this instead:
Bob-B-Q Chicken
545 calories
14 g fat (0 g trans fat)
TRANS FATTIEST MILKSHAKE
Dairy Queen Large Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard
6 g trans fat
1,320 calories
52 grams fat
Treating yourself to ice cream now and then isn’t a problem. But if your frozen treat includes three days worth of trans fat, it’s time pick a new ice-cream parlor. (And make sure you avoid other drinkable disasters that might be on this indispensable 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America list!)
Eat this instead:
Small Artic Rush Slush
240 Calories
0 g fat (0 g trans fat)
Or try these 8 frozen desserts that won't wreck your waistline.
TRANS FATTIEST PANCAKES
Bob Evans Stacked & Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Hotcakes
9 g trans fat
1,543 calories
77 g fat
Don’t be fooled by the bananas and pecans, which can be healthy on their own. But this dish delivers 3 days worth of trans fat, not to mention over half the recommended daily calorie intake.
Eat this instead:
Stuffed French Toast, No Topping
599 calories
20 g fat (0 g trans fats)
We don’t love the calorie count on this one, so you’re best off splitting this dish or taking half home. But it’s the only Bob Evans pancake or French toast meal that doesn’t slip you trans fats.
To discover other things restaurants might be surprising you with, make sure to check out these 16 secrets the restaurant industry doesn’t want you to know! It’ll help you save your waistline when you’re eating out.
And to avoid 22 other popular trans fat transgressors at your favorite fast-food and chain restaurants, check out this must-have list of big-name offenders. Don't leave home without it!
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/17837/the-fattiest-foods-in-america/
Friday, October 17, 2008
Top 10 Eating Tips to Stay Energized All Day
Getting through the day can feel like a marathon. Mile 1: Roll out of bed. Mile 2: Feed yourself and everyone else in your house. Mile 3: Get to work on time. It's like you've run 5K, and it's not even lunch yet! Nutritionist Monique Ryan, MS, RD, the author of Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes, knows the secrets to get through real marathons. I asked her to pass some advice down to us mortals who simply want to stay alert until sundown.
Top 10 Tips to Stay Energized All Day
by Monique Ryan, MS, RD
1. Start the day right. Yes, that means breakfast. Combine a whole grain with fruit, skim dairy, or soy milk, and even add some lean protein to the mix to sustain energy levels throughout the morning. Cooked oatmeal with yogurt and a banana or Lite Mueslix with soy milk and blueberries are good choices.
2. Have a mid-morning snack. Combine a protein and a carbohydrate. It is fine to be hungry mid-morning, so honor your hunger and give your body fuel when it is asking for it. Try yogurt with a peach, low fat string cheese with an apple, or cottage cheese and grapes.
3. Eat lunch on time. Don't push back lunch until you are ravenous. Instead, eat your mid-day fuel right on time to keep your blood glucose levels nice and steady.
4. Boost your mental energy. Nature's nutrition for the brain are omega-3 fatty acids. Add light tuna or salmon to your lunchtime food choices, in addition to walnuts, tofu, and canola oil. Healthy fat keep you feeling full for a longer period of time, so add small amounts to meals and snacks. Some good choices include avocado and almonds.
5. Start the day with moderate caffeine levels and keep caffeine intake modest. While it does increase mental energy, too much caffeine may lead to energy highs and then lows, and it can interferes with quality sleep.
6. Limit processed foods high in sugar. Avoid the office candy jar, treats, and vending machine whenever possible. Processed foods do not provide sustained energy and can result in low-energy moments during the day.
7. Consume foods high in folate. Higher levels of blood folate have been associated with faster and better thought processing. Good sources include lentils, chickpeas, black beans, asparagus, broccoli, avocado, and orange juice. Also important are vitamins B6, found in bananas and spinach, and B12, found in lean proteins and skim dairy products.
8. Have an afternoon snack. If dinner is late or if you have an evening workout scheduled, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat yogurt provide energizing carbohydrate.
9. Consume complex carbohydrates that contain fiber. The fiber allows the carbohydrates to be released more slowly, providing sustained energy. Opt for whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and whole grain cereals.
10. Stay hydrated. About two-thirds of our body is water, and dehydration can contribute to reduced energy levels. About 80% of the fluid we consume comes from the fluids we drink, and the other 20% comes from foods. Always drink when you are thirsty, and have water available during the day to hydrate regularly.
Source: http://food.yahoo.com/blog/yahoofreshpicks/1829/top-10-eating-tips-to-stay-energized-all-day
Top 10 Tips to Stay Energized All Day
by Monique Ryan, MS, RD
1. Start the day right. Yes, that means breakfast. Combine a whole grain with fruit, skim dairy, or soy milk, and even add some lean protein to the mix to sustain energy levels throughout the morning. Cooked oatmeal with yogurt and a banana or Lite Mueslix with soy milk and blueberries are good choices.
2. Have a mid-morning snack. Combine a protein and a carbohydrate. It is fine to be hungry mid-morning, so honor your hunger and give your body fuel when it is asking for it. Try yogurt with a peach, low fat string cheese with an apple, or cottage cheese and grapes.
3. Eat lunch on time. Don't push back lunch until you are ravenous. Instead, eat your mid-day fuel right on time to keep your blood glucose levels nice and steady.
4. Boost your mental energy. Nature's nutrition for the brain are omega-3 fatty acids. Add light tuna or salmon to your lunchtime food choices, in addition to walnuts, tofu, and canola oil. Healthy fat keep you feeling full for a longer period of time, so add small amounts to meals and snacks. Some good choices include avocado and almonds.
5. Start the day with moderate caffeine levels and keep caffeine intake modest. While it does increase mental energy, too much caffeine may lead to energy highs and then lows, and it can interferes with quality sleep.
6. Limit processed foods high in sugar. Avoid the office candy jar, treats, and vending machine whenever possible. Processed foods do not provide sustained energy and can result in low-energy moments during the day.
7. Consume foods high in folate. Higher levels of blood folate have been associated with faster and better thought processing. Good sources include lentils, chickpeas, black beans, asparagus, broccoli, avocado, and orange juice. Also important are vitamins B6, found in bananas and spinach, and B12, found in lean proteins and skim dairy products.
8. Have an afternoon snack. If dinner is late or if you have an evening workout scheduled, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat yogurt provide energizing carbohydrate.
9. Consume complex carbohydrates that contain fiber. The fiber allows the carbohydrates to be released more slowly, providing sustained energy. Opt for whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and whole grain cereals.
10. Stay hydrated. About two-thirds of our body is water, and dehydration can contribute to reduced energy levels. About 80% of the fluid we consume comes from the fluids we drink, and the other 20% comes from foods. Always drink when you are thirsty, and have water available during the day to hydrate regularly.
Source: http://food.yahoo.com/blog/yahoofreshpicks/1829/top-10-eating-tips-to-stay-energized-all-day
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Origin of AIDS
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 1
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 2
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 3
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 4
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 5
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 6
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 2
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 3
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 4
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 5
THE ORIGIN OF AIDS pt 6
Monday, September 8, 2008
What's the Fastest Growing Cancer Diagnosis in U.S.?
A full-page ad in a recent Time magazine, paid for by the Light of Light Foundation, recommends that you ask your doctor to check your neck for thyroid nodules — abnormal growths that form a lump in the thyroid gland. In fact, thyroid nodules have become the most common endocrine diagnosis in the United States, with thyroid cancer now being the fastest growing cancer diagnosis in the country.
Few thyroid nodules produce any symptoms, so people will usually only find them by chance. Far more often, they will be detected by your doctor during a routine physical exam or by an imaging study (ultrasound, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance scan) that is looking at some other condition in the head or neck.
The likelihood of a thyroid nodule being cancerous is greater in those who are less than 20 years old or who are older than 70. The risk of this cancer is also higher in individuals who had undergone radiation of the head and neck, once a common treatment for acne.
How worried should you be if a nodule is found on your thyroid? Not very. About 90 percent to 95 percent of thyroid nodules are not cancerous. Also reassuring: Most common types of thyroid cancer are curable and rarely life-threatening. Nonetheless, nodules require further evaluation to determine whether cancer is present.
If a nodule is easily felt, the physician can usually evaluate it in the office under a local anesthetic by using a thin needle to perform an aspiration biopsy. A small needle is inserted into the nodule several times, each time in a different place, so that the cells withdrawn will be a representative sampling. For nodules that are difficult to feel, the biopsy is done using real-time ultrasound images to guide the needle into the lump. A pathologist then examines these cells under a microscope for cancer.
The biopsy of a thyroid nodule may be interpreted as being either benign, malignant, or indeterminate (suspicious). For benign nodules, only an occasional follow-up exam is required. Malignant nodules, however, are most often treated by removing nearly all of the thyroid gland. Removing the thyroid condemns the patient to a lifetime of taking thyroid hormone pills. The major risks of this surgery are the inadvertent removal of the parathyroid glands, which are closely associated with the thyroid, and damage to the laryngeal nerve.
For nodules considered suspicious, thyroid hormone pills may be administered in an attempt to suppress progression of possible cancer; more often, the suspicious nodules are removed surgically.
While some nodules can be felt easily, I have learned that many doctors are not adept at finding thyroid nodules that are located low down in the gland or buried deep in the thyroid tissue. Also, keep in mind that the utility of any fine-needle aspiration depends on the experience of the doctor who carries out the procedure and of the pathologist who examines the cells.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthnews/14182/whats-the-fastest-growing-cancer-diagnosis-in-us/
Few thyroid nodules produce any symptoms, so people will usually only find them by chance. Far more often, they will be detected by your doctor during a routine physical exam or by an imaging study (ultrasound, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance scan) that is looking at some other condition in the head or neck.
The likelihood of a thyroid nodule being cancerous is greater in those who are less than 20 years old or who are older than 70. The risk of this cancer is also higher in individuals who had undergone radiation of the head and neck, once a common treatment for acne.
How worried should you be if a nodule is found on your thyroid? Not very. About 90 percent to 95 percent of thyroid nodules are not cancerous. Also reassuring: Most common types of thyroid cancer are curable and rarely life-threatening. Nonetheless, nodules require further evaluation to determine whether cancer is present.
If a nodule is easily felt, the physician can usually evaluate it in the office under a local anesthetic by using a thin needle to perform an aspiration biopsy. A small needle is inserted into the nodule several times, each time in a different place, so that the cells withdrawn will be a representative sampling. For nodules that are difficult to feel, the biopsy is done using real-time ultrasound images to guide the needle into the lump. A pathologist then examines these cells under a microscope for cancer.
The biopsy of a thyroid nodule may be interpreted as being either benign, malignant, or indeterminate (suspicious). For benign nodules, only an occasional follow-up exam is required. Malignant nodules, however, are most often treated by removing nearly all of the thyroid gland. Removing the thyroid condemns the patient to a lifetime of taking thyroid hormone pills. The major risks of this surgery are the inadvertent removal of the parathyroid glands, which are closely associated with the thyroid, and damage to the laryngeal nerve.
For nodules considered suspicious, thyroid hormone pills may be administered in an attempt to suppress progression of possible cancer; more often, the suspicious nodules are removed surgically.
While some nodules can be felt easily, I have learned that many doctors are not adept at finding thyroid nodules that are located low down in the gland or buried deep in the thyroid tissue. Also, keep in mind that the utility of any fine-needle aspiration depends on the experience of the doctor who carries out the procedure and of the pathologist who examines the cells.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthnews/14182/whats-the-fastest-growing-cancer-diagnosis-in-us/
Friday, August 29, 2008
Veggies May Protect Women from Diabetes
Diabetes is still on the rise. New numbers confirm that from 2005 to 2007 the total prevalence of diabetes in the U.S. increased by 13.5 percent.
This means that now 8 percent of the total population has diabetes (23.6 million children and adults). In 2007, 1.6 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 and older.
Amidst the bad news of these surging numbers, there's good news about prevention from researchers at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. They found that green leafy vegetables may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in women.
For every additional serving of green leafy vegetables a woman eats per day, there was a 9 percent reduction in risk. (Men, feel free to go ahead and up your intake of veggies and fruits, too, even if this study wasn't about you.)
This isn't the first study to show a relationship between a reduction in type 2 diabetes and the eating of more vegetables. Reasons for this reduction in risk may be that vegetables are low in calories and fat and high in antioxidants, fiber, and a variety of vitamins and minerals — all things definitely not associated with an increased risk of diabetes.
The take-home message here should be simply to include vegetables every day in your meals, and then some. Think about planning your meals around what vegetable you are having (in season, I hope) and then adding other foods. When you sit down to eat, vegetables should be covering half your plate.
Whether those vegetables are fresh, frozen, or canned, they are an important part of your diet and may reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutrition/13951/veggies-may-protect-women-from-diabetes/
This means that now 8 percent of the total population has diabetes (23.6 million children and adults). In 2007, 1.6 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 and older.
Amidst the bad news of these surging numbers, there's good news about prevention from researchers at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. They found that green leafy vegetables may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in women.
For every additional serving of green leafy vegetables a woman eats per day, there was a 9 percent reduction in risk. (Men, feel free to go ahead and up your intake of veggies and fruits, too, even if this study wasn't about you.)
This isn't the first study to show a relationship between a reduction in type 2 diabetes and the eating of more vegetables. Reasons for this reduction in risk may be that vegetables are low in calories and fat and high in antioxidants, fiber, and a variety of vitamins and minerals — all things definitely not associated with an increased risk of diabetes.
The take-home message here should be simply to include vegetables every day in your meals, and then some. Think about planning your meals around what vegetable you are having (in season, I hope) and then adding other foods. When you sit down to eat, vegetables should be covering half your plate.
Whether those vegetables are fresh, frozen, or canned, they are an important part of your diet and may reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutrition/13951/veggies-may-protect-women-from-diabetes/
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
When Are You Most Likely to Have a Heart Attack?
Heart disease, including heart attack, is the world's No. 1 killer. A person's risk of heart attack depends mostly on a familiar repertoire of factors: exercise, smoking, diet, weight, genes. But our bodies' circadian rhythms also play a role, leaving us more prone to injury during certain hours than others. If you're guessing that the danger zone comes at the end of a stressful workday, guess again. Here to explain is Roberto Manfredini, professor of internal medicine at the University of Ferrara in Italy.
Q: What time of day am I most likely to have a heart attack?
A: The most dangerous times for heart attack and for all kinds of cardiovascular emergency — including sudden cardiac death, rupture or aneurysm of the aorta, pulmonary embolism and stroke — are the morning and during the last phase of sleep. A group from Harvard estimated this risk and evaluated that on average, the extra risk of having a myocardial infarction, or heart attack, between 6 a.m. and noon is about 40%. But if you calculate only the first three hours after waking, this relative risk is threefold.
The cardiovascular system follows a daily pattern that is oscillatory in nature: most cardiovascular functions exhibit circadian changes (circadian is from the Latin circa and diem, meaning "about one day"). Now, a heart attack depends on the imbalance between increased myocardial oxygen demand (i.e., a greater need for oxygen in your heart) and decreased myocardial oxygen supply — or both. And unfortunately, some functions in the first hours of the day require more myocardial oxygen support: waking and commencing physical activities, the peak of the adrenal hormone cortisol [which boosts blood-pressure and blood-sugar levels] and a further increase in blood pressure and heart rate due to catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline), which show a peak when you wake up. All those factors lead to an increase of oxygen consumption but at the same time contribute to the constriction of vessels. So you have reduced vessel size and reduced blood flow to the coronary vessels.
You have to remember that blood coagulation is important in the genesis of what we call thrombi, the blood clots that can block the blood vessels and cut off supply to the heart. When we wake up, platelets, the particles in the blood that make thrombi, are particularly adhesive to the vessels. Usually we have an endogenous system — it's called fibrinolysis — to dissolve the thrombi. But in the morning, the activity of our fibrinolytic system is reduced. So we have a greater tendency to make thrombi that can occlude the coronary vessels. This contributes to further reduction of coronary blood flow. Thus, at the same time that you need more blood flow, you have less.
All these changes, however, probably are not so harmful in healthy people. But for a person with a plaque in the coronary vessel, if these changes occur at the same time and peak at the same time, the final result is a higher risk of heart attack during that specific window of morning hours.
Why is the risk also higher during the last part of sleep? Usually, during the night, the cardiovascular system is "sleeping," which is characterized by low blood pressure and heart rate. But the last stage of sleep — REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep [when we believe most dreaming occurs] — is a risk period for cardiovascular emergencies because when you dream, you have a dramatic increase of activity of the autonomic nervous system — even more than when you are awake. Probably each of us can remember waking up in the morning sometimes feeling very tired. That's because during that stage of dreams, we were running or facing some danger. Your heart was running, so it was consuming oxygen. And for similar reasons to those when you're awake, that activity is risky if you don't have a good vessel system.
It's probably difficult for people to minimize the effects of their own biological rhythms. For example, you cannot avoid your morning risk by simply waking up later. Some researchers have tried an experimental model, in which people were instructed to stay in bed for four hours after they woke up before rising. But the same pattern simply occurred four hours after waking, because the risk is linked to our activities. We can't be afraid of the catecholamines and the peak in blood pressure in the morning. It's part of our physiology. And for healthy people, it's not a problem.
It's important for doctors, however, to remember this risk when we give therapy. Usually people take hypertensive drugs in the morning, when they wake up. But this is already the higher-risk period — so is the last hour of activity of the pill they have taken the day before [and not all pills give 24-hour coverage]. We have to be sure that the pill we're prescribing is still active when patients need it most. It's not as easy as simply asking patients to take pills before bed instead of first thing in the morning, because during sleep we have a low heart rate and blood pressure. If you lower your blood pressure too much during the night, you risk reducing blood supply to the brain, and that can be harmful too.
Source: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1825044,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-healthsci
Q: What time of day am I most likely to have a heart attack?
A: The most dangerous times for heart attack and for all kinds of cardiovascular emergency — including sudden cardiac death, rupture or aneurysm of the aorta, pulmonary embolism and stroke — are the morning and during the last phase of sleep. A group from Harvard estimated this risk and evaluated that on average, the extra risk of having a myocardial infarction, or heart attack, between 6 a.m. and noon is about 40%. But if you calculate only the first three hours after waking, this relative risk is threefold.
The cardiovascular system follows a daily pattern that is oscillatory in nature: most cardiovascular functions exhibit circadian changes (circadian is from the Latin circa and diem, meaning "about one day"). Now, a heart attack depends on the imbalance between increased myocardial oxygen demand (i.e., a greater need for oxygen in your heart) and decreased myocardial oxygen supply — or both. And unfortunately, some functions in the first hours of the day require more myocardial oxygen support: waking and commencing physical activities, the peak of the adrenal hormone cortisol [which boosts blood-pressure and blood-sugar levels] and a further increase in blood pressure and heart rate due to catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline), which show a peak when you wake up. All those factors lead to an increase of oxygen consumption but at the same time contribute to the constriction of vessels. So you have reduced vessel size and reduced blood flow to the coronary vessels.
You have to remember that blood coagulation is important in the genesis of what we call thrombi, the blood clots that can block the blood vessels and cut off supply to the heart. When we wake up, platelets, the particles in the blood that make thrombi, are particularly adhesive to the vessels. Usually we have an endogenous system — it's called fibrinolysis — to dissolve the thrombi. But in the morning, the activity of our fibrinolytic system is reduced. So we have a greater tendency to make thrombi that can occlude the coronary vessels. This contributes to further reduction of coronary blood flow. Thus, at the same time that you need more blood flow, you have less.
All these changes, however, probably are not so harmful in healthy people. But for a person with a plaque in the coronary vessel, if these changes occur at the same time and peak at the same time, the final result is a higher risk of heart attack during that specific window of morning hours.
Why is the risk also higher during the last part of sleep? Usually, during the night, the cardiovascular system is "sleeping," which is characterized by low blood pressure and heart rate. But the last stage of sleep — REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep [when we believe most dreaming occurs] — is a risk period for cardiovascular emergencies because when you dream, you have a dramatic increase of activity of the autonomic nervous system — even more than when you are awake. Probably each of us can remember waking up in the morning sometimes feeling very tired. That's because during that stage of dreams, we were running or facing some danger. Your heart was running, so it was consuming oxygen. And for similar reasons to those when you're awake, that activity is risky if you don't have a good vessel system.
It's probably difficult for people to minimize the effects of their own biological rhythms. For example, you cannot avoid your morning risk by simply waking up later. Some researchers have tried an experimental model, in which people were instructed to stay in bed for four hours after they woke up before rising. But the same pattern simply occurred four hours after waking, because the risk is linked to our activities. We can't be afraid of the catecholamines and the peak in blood pressure in the morning. It's part of our physiology. And for healthy people, it's not a problem.
It's important for doctors, however, to remember this risk when we give therapy. Usually people take hypertensive drugs in the morning, when they wake up. But this is already the higher-risk period — so is the last hour of activity of the pill they have taken the day before [and not all pills give 24-hour coverage]. We have to be sure that the pill we're prescribing is still active when patients need it most. It's not as easy as simply asking patients to take pills before bed instead of first thing in the morning, because during sleep we have a low heart rate and blood pressure. If you lower your blood pressure too much during the night, you risk reducing blood supply to the brain, and that can be harmful too.
Source: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1825044,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-healthsci
Thursday, June 26, 2008
20 cancer-fighting foods to eat all summer
A healthy, balanced diet is key, experts say, but these foods may have an extra punch.
Leafy greens: Deep green leafy vegetables are packed with lutein, vitamin A and folate, nutrients that may help prevent colon and ovarian cancer.
* Spinach
* Kale
* Collard greens
* Arugula
* Dandelion greens
Curry: Yellow curry contains cur-cumin, a pungent spice that may help prevent melanoma and other types of cancer cells from proliferating.
Cruciferous veggies: These contain phytochemicals that may cut the risk of stomach, breast and skin cancers.
* Broccoli
* Broccoli sprouts
* Cabbage
* Bok choy
* Cauliflower
* Watercress
* Swiss chard
Berries: These fruits contain antioxidants such as polyphenols, which counteract and repair cell damage.
* Blueberries
* Blackberries
* Raspberries
* Strawberries
* Cranberries
* Red grapes
Tomatoes: Studies suggest that having a tomato-rich diet may help lower the risk of developing both lung and stomach cancer.
Source: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/20-cancer-fighting-foods-to-eat-all-summer-187234/
Leafy greens: Deep green leafy vegetables are packed with lutein, vitamin A and folate, nutrients that may help prevent colon and ovarian cancer.
* Spinach
* Kale
* Collard greens
* Arugula
* Dandelion greens
Curry: Yellow curry contains cur-cumin, a pungent spice that may help prevent melanoma and other types of cancer cells from proliferating.
Cruciferous veggies: These contain phytochemicals that may cut the risk of stomach, breast and skin cancers.
* Broccoli
* Broccoli sprouts
* Cabbage
* Bok choy
* Cauliflower
* Watercress
* Swiss chard
Berries: These fruits contain antioxidants such as polyphenols, which counteract and repair cell damage.
* Blueberries
* Blackberries
* Raspberries
* Strawberries
* Cranberries
* Red grapes
Tomatoes: Studies suggest that having a tomato-rich diet may help lower the risk of developing both lung and stomach cancer.
Source: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/20-cancer-fighting-foods-to-eat-all-summer-187234/
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
