Posts filed under information
Rodale Article: The 6 Worst Natural Ingredients
The 6 Worst Natural Ingredients
They may sound healthy and "all-natural," but you don't want any of these ingredients in your grocery cart. BY EMILY MAIN
http://www.rodalenews.com/natural-ingredients
Rodale, once again, simplifies and makes quite clear some very basic and life-saving (over your long term) facts to steer your lifestyle away from sneaky ingredients labeling and dangerous additives lurking in seemingly innocent natural products. Lots of pictures for those of you that lean more from the visual approach, and divvied up into six simple chunks of information, this is a quick study and easy to understand.
More healthy news from Janet's Eye on the Media.... 
Dr Susan Pacheco - Another Voice
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Dr Susan Pacheco, a Pediatrician who has committed herself to working an even longer stretch of "the road" for her children by speaking up about an often forgotten piece of the climate change concern.... that of the health challenges documented, researched and validated as the result of increasing environmental toxicity, and unaddressed by most "debaters" in this crisis. This is a touchy issue because who wants to say they support the profit of oil and other carbon-based products over the health and well being of innocent children? Yet to even write that bit about the debate over this crisis brings up yet another matter that Dr Susan Pacheco's lovely, intelligent and kind video touches quietly without words: that the argument is for argument's sake. Is it not? Else why argue the point, literally the gunpoint, staring one in the face? Things are a'changing here on this precious planet with seven million and counting humans pushing out the other species and spilling over our refuse into the environment in so many ways. What is there to argue with common sense that the fruitflies in the gel medium test tube are crowding one another so much that they have reached the height of their lifespan and population bell curve. Now the down swing of the bell curve begins. The weakest die off first. The question is: because we are sentient beings, could we make moves to alter the course? Could we create a self-sustainable environment? The question is not do we know how to create this however. The question really is: will we?
Please enjoy this link to Dr Susan Pacheco's brief but elegantly spoken and evocatively imaged video.
Will You Dance This Year?
Will you dance with us this year?
One Billion Rising
Last year on February 14, 2013, one billion people danced in 207 countries.... Yes, in 207 different countries, a wave of strength and courage empowered by universal love and the willingness to act to know, to do what is right and before one, to speak, laugh, cry, sing and to dance...a wave rose, swelled and swept across the globe in our hearts, minds, soul. This attached video (the One Billion Rising underlined above this paragraph) premiered at Sundance Film Festival January 19. The video is only nine minutes short chock full of rich action when we all danced around the world as One last year.
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What is One Billion Rising? In the words of our organization, One Billion Rising is women and their friends, family, lovers and children stopping whatever they are doing and rising to dance in the name of ending violence everywhere NOW. Vday or February 14 is our day of joy and Love. This is a rising up for justice in the form of calling out the act of violence going on behind doors and in broad daylight around the world daily. By dancing, we speak the unspoken yet loudly heard cry of pain of one billion abused and raped, unanswered by our seven billion in number family of humans. And we dance because this is our expression of freedom to speak and to live life without oppression by violence. Please follow the link to the One Billion Rising page and find out more about what is being done this year in your communities and around the world... and I sincerely invite you to join us in this beautiful full and inspired dance of freedom!
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From http://www.onebillionrising.org/ please read some of the details about the strike, rise and dance for V-day this year.
ONE IN THREE WOMEN ON THE PLANET WILL BE RAPED OR BEATEN IN HER LIFETIME.
THAT IS ONE BILLION WOMEN.
IN 2013, ONE BILLION WOMEN AND MEN SHOOK THE EARTH THROUGH DANCE TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.
THIS YEAR, ON 14 FEBRUARY 2014 WE ARE CALLING ON WOMEN AND MEN EVERYWHERE TO HARNESS THEIR POWER AND IMAGINATION TO RISE FOR JUSTICE.
IMAGINE, ONE BILLION WOMEN RELEASING THEIR STORIES, DANCING AND SPEAKING OUT AT THE PLACES WHERE THEY NEED JUSTICE, WHERE THEY NEED AN END TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.
JOIN US!
RISE. RELEASE. DANCE!
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Go to the website to learn how to participate in One Billion Rising this year on February 14. Lets end violence against women and girls Now, forever. Lets be the co-creators of a Golden Age where all are free to dance without fear or intimidation.
Wherever you are, it begins now.
Strike
Rise
Dance
What Sleep Loss Looks Like
Welcome Home! from the holidays. Feels like I have been gone too long, but I came up with many stories and articles to share for Lifestyle Modification support while traveling over the winter holidays. So look to see a few posted right away. Today, I am beginning with an article share from Huffpost Healthy Living. Some of you, like myself, may be looking at the new year and contemplating that sleep will have to step aside to get back on track with your goals. Don't Do It! This article briefly illustrates how necessary sleep really is to accomplishing your most cherished goals as well as safely conducting the mundane activities of life. I hope you will look it over....and look for more from Lifestyle Modification Support to come......
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/08/sleep-deprivation_n_4557142.html?ir=Healthy%20Living&utm_campaign=010814&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-healthy-living&utm_content=Title
Your Arthritis Wants Yoga
Your Arthritis Wants Yoga
“Yoga? For arthritis?” My 40-something friend rolls her eyes and shakes her head, “You must be crazy. How can I twist my body like a pretzel when I cannot bend over?”
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What is new about encouraging yoga for arthritis? More research! to back up the benefits of mild to moderate exercise for arthritis, including research specifically using yoga. The research enhances what yoga enthusiasts have been saying for decades: yoga provides many benefits specific to arthritis without alarming physical high jinks and manipulations.
What is important to know about yoga for arthritis? Yoga styles vary; some are well-suited to arthritis, others not so much. Yoga postures are specific to parts and regions of your body; begin with an educated instructor to choose the safest postures for your particular arthritis. Yoga strengthens muscles, thereby supporting joints for a longer joint life, more overall stability in daily activities, and less pain. Yoga provides more than exercise; yoga improves your lungs’ capacity, yoga enables deep relaxation, and yoga increases mental clarity.
How does yoga accomplish all this? Some yoga postures strengthen the large muscle groups that are used for the position, which then benefits the corresponding joint by lessening duress on the joint. Yoga increases range of motion, which gives you more room to work with before reaching your joint’s stress point. The combination of deep conscious breathing combined with focus on the body during the positioning for each posture has been shown to increase endorphins. Endorphins are those “feel good” hormones that up your mood and sense of well-being, decreasing the sensation of pain. As with all exercise, the movement and breathing causes your body’s blood, filled with needed oxygen, endorphins, and nutrients, to move more effectively into your muscles.
What do you need to know to have a positive experience with yoga and to experience improvement in your pain levels? Research shows that each individual discovers their unique range within any exercise as far as stretch and endurance. As with all exercise types, begin slowly and gradually increase how much you are doing as your strength for the practice improves. An experienced and specifically trained instructor will know which postures are safe and how far to go with the position. So choosing a qualified instructor insures you have the best support for learning your range. Some classes are for yoga performed in a chair! So whether you are limited to a chair or if you need to incorporate exercise into a sedentary work situation, you have options to enhance your personal experience with yoga. Choose from Hatha Yoga schools and teachers for yoga best suited to Arthritis. Some Hatha Yogas which work well with Arthritis are Iyengar, Integral, Ansura, and Kripalu. See the Resources list at the end of this asticle for more links to schools of yoga.
The “always” list: Talk to your Arthritis Provider before beginning the first yoga class to receive specific instructions about any restrictions or limitations to share with the instructor. Discuss with the Instructor their experience with Arthritis students as well as your doctor’s recommendations for your specific condition. Choose a beginners class and progress slowly even if you feel good during the class. The saying “no pain, no gain” does NOT apply to you or to yoga. Pain means slow down, pull back some on the stretch, and/or take a break.
Resources:
The Yoga Alliance is a great resource to finding certified yoga instructors. The site provides a directory and also provides links to more information on yoga education. http://www.yogaalliance.org/
The Yoga Journal is available at many stores including your grocery store. Inspiring and educational articles keep you updated on the latest research related to yoga for many conditions including Arthritis. http://www.yogajournal.com/basics
The Arthritis Foundation has a DVD especially for those with Arthritis that shows yoga postures specifically for various types of typical Arthritis conditions. The DVD is named Arthritis Friendly Yoga and can be found at: http://www.afstore.org/Products-By-Type/DVD/ARTHRITIS-FRIENDLY-YOGA-PRESENTED-BY-ARTHRITIS-FOUNDATION
References:
Ehrlich, S. (2012). Complementary and alternative medicine guide: Rheumatoid Arthritis; University of Maryland Medical Center Health Information and Medical Reference Guide. Retrieved from: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/rheumatoid-arthritis
Gothe, N., Pontefex, M., Hillman C., and McAuley E. (2013). The Acute Effects of Yoga on Executive Function. Journal of Physical Activity & Health 10(4):488-95.
Haaz, S. (2009). Yoga for Arthritis; The John Hopkins Arthritis Center website at: http://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/patient-corner/disease-management/yoga-for-arthritis/
Sharma, M. (2013). Yoga as an alternative and complementary approach for Arthritis:
A systematic review; Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine 18 (3).
Communication … Simple, Right?
Janet Still FNP
Lifestyle Modification Support http://stilljanet.com
Communication … Simple, Right?
If communication is as simple as speaking one’s mind, why all the fuss about misunderstandings? Someone else’s problem, some of you may answer; others of you are too busy to answer as you are in the midst of an issue in your life to address and are uncertain where to turn for answers….with no time to talk or, more importantly, listen to another perspective. And I do not want to leave out those of you that are well aware of how complex simply talking with another can be, unless one is paying close attention to the many verbal and nonverbal signals the speaker is giving. This has been a week rife with examples of how much more complex communication has become in our modern world of expanded communication opportunities via computer technology, and because of immensely advanced data, knowledge, and potential directions that the continuously advancing technologies offers us.
Reading this article may offer you a nudge as to how to redirect confrontation in a healthy and mutually beneficial manner. Reading this article may awaken you to recognizing your point of view is possibly exactly the same as the others in your “situation” but how you are choosing to communicate your viewpoint is the cause of your perceived problem. And hopefully, whether you have been told this a proverbial one hundred times or not, this article may enlighten you to the fact that others actually cannot read your mind nor can you accurately read their minds either!
From Congress’s ongoing verbal posturing solving nothing apparently this week (no budget, no government) to the multitudes of battles verbal to physical in our world, communication is a clear issue. Language barriers are an obvious impediment in accurate transference of ideas, desires, hopes, and problems. Even in those speaking the same language, however, barriers related to language abound. Obvious difficulties arise from different desired outcomes in the exchange of ideas. This article is about when we either ostensibly want a shared outcome like good or better health, or when we sincerely know we must create an agreeable compromise, but somehow come out of our conversations feeling further from our goals. Have you ever left your doctor’s appointment feeling more clueless that when you went in? Why does that happen? Sometimes there isn’t even new information; you and the doctor just seemed to be speaking from two entirely different worlds. He or she is in a hurry because the fella in the next room is plainly in a desperate way by the sound of his incessant coughing, you give up and never even ask the questions you intended because you are trying to digest what the expert just shared … before the expert smilingly dashed out the door.
I have been that expert smilingly dashing out the door. Because I hated the situation, I have given much thought to how to prevent the repeat performance. I saw by your facial expression that you felt clueless or I heard your exasperated stifled sigh, but when I asked if you understood what we talked about, you said, yes. This week I once again became aware that age-old adage that communication is a two way street or that “it takes two to tango” needs a more thorough review. My work as a virtual consultant-advocate is about helping others to communicate more successfully with their healthcare team. I act as your “Ghost-writer” case manager sometimes when you come to me with a healthcare issue. Most of the time, my clients complain that their provider does not hear them, understand them, or in some manner disagrees with the patient goals. We go over your medical records, history of symptoms and treatments, what worked and what did not work from your viewpoint, and make a game plan for you to share with your primary provider. Great first step.
In experience, communication faux pas occur even with a great plan. Often the actual source of the communication problem turns out to be the patient did not understand their provider’s wording. Medical jargon, local dialect (lingo), interruptions, a moment of processing one idea causing the patient to simply not be listening when the important detail was spoken, faulty hearing related to illness or sounds in the clinic … all are possible reasons for the omission in understanding. I share this because while as experts and providers, we are responsible for effective communication with our patients, we do not have control of every aspect of every situation. At the same time, your health and wellbeing may be in danger. Yes, I can help you, the provider says, but not if the two of you are not clearly tracking on every detail of the conversation.
If you are making a decision not to follow your provider’s expertise, you must communicate that to the provider right away. Your provider cannot be held accountable if you do not follow his or her medical advice and your health fails. Some folks fear the confrontation. I admit I have witnessed providers becoming overly attached to patient’s decisions. To my own surprise, I, too, have been very anxious for my patients when they disagreed with the treatment options. Often the problem here is two-fold: the patient has waited too long to honestly express their feelings regarding the diagnosis and treatment; and/or the provider has not adequately communicated the whole picture so that the patient can comprehend all the possible risks and benefits. But whatever the reason for the impasse`, please be aware that ultimately your provider has an ethical and legal obligation to direct you to alternative care and/or treatment options. SO PLEASE speak up when you are disturbed or upset by the interaction. Do not leave if you intend to not follow the treatment plan until you set up an alternate plan to address your situation.
Here are some tips for you regarding communication with your healthcare expert, in descending order of urgency, start with the last tip and move back up this list:
~When your provider or the clinic’s staff or someone sufficiently trained in your symptoms says to go to the ER when you are experiencing certain types of symptoms, ….GO TO THE ER. Do not collect $200, do not wait anxiously for very long to receive a call back from the provider’s office. Only call your friend or your mother to take you to the ER if you have called ER and they said it is okay to do so. Otherwise call 911.
~Before you call your provider’s office with disturbing, strange, painful, and/or scary symptoms, first give a few minutes to thinking how to get the unusual nature of your symptoms across in very few words to the receptionist. The receptionist is not a trained medical expert. Hopefully she has received and understood training for certain keywords to recognize an urgent situation. Do not count on that. What is scary about your symptoms? Did you listen or take home an info sheet on what to look for to call the doctor urgently? If you did, let me give you a big cheer right now! Those are the words to express specifically and clearly to the receptionist. If not, think how you would explain this to a friend or neighbor that you would ask for help so that they understood how the seriousness of your question. Here is a hint: if just trying to get to the file cabinet for that info sheet or walking to the neighbor’s door may have you gasping for breath, that is a serious symptom, shortness of breath. Others are: feeling faint or blacking out, extreme pain, dark colours in your urine, feces, or other body fluids (this is blood usually) . . . and anything that prevents normal daily life activity.
~Do not listen to people who have no medical training about life threatening situations. That sounds very oppositional or negative but I am not saying they do not have experiences or wisdom to share. Sure, listen to them, but when it comes to decision-making, surely you want to have all the information about your specific situation to hand in order to make the best decision for you, your continuing health. To this end, request from the clinic staff, or your provider directly, info sheets for emergency situations as well as for support groups, websites with reliable sources and resources. Ask whether a national organization exists for your condition so that you can educate yourself for all possible situations ahead of their happening and to prevent complicated situations from ever arising. If your clinic does not have this information or is not willing to assist you with this type of request, something is wrong. Find out why and look for more answers wherever you can.
~Express understanding when requesting more information; listen to their answers and make note of the information for filing away; make note as well of any promises for future resources and return to retrieve the information because you are in charge of your health ultimately; make it clear to your provider and the clinic staff that you are an active member of the healthcare team on your case. A good healthcare team will be happy to know you are on the ball. When you have questions, write them down as soon as possible to ask. Ask the clinic and provider their preferred method of receiving requests and concerns and always use their preferred method first, making note if they fail to reply by their stated method. Let them know where they let you down, because a strong healthcare team wants to know these issues in order to improve. Get clear with your provider your desired outcome for your healthcare condition and listen to hear your provider agree or disagree. If your provider has a different outcome in mind, ask for reasons and whether a compromise is possible.
~Finally, what should be stated first, but I always state last for emphasis: always begin all your written or spoken questions, requests, discussions with … direct eye contact, a kind expression such as a smile, and an honest statement of something observed about the person that you can commend or compliment. I know you may be feeling horrible. You are sick after all. What about the staff? They face ill people all day in grumpy grouchy unpredictable moods… ALL day. The job is often so stressful that staffing shortages are a common theme, so that harried receptionist may be having to pull overtime after calling desperately to find childcare and/or may have been doing the work of two all day because their coworker called in ill and so forth.
Communication is a two way street, which means that you also must give a little to receive, for the tango to come off sensationally. How hard is a simple kindness to another? A question folks often ask me when they feel they have been ignored. What about turn-about? Start on the right foot, with respect, and then follow verbal respect up with actually giving respect in your actions. Listen to others with sufficient patience to learn if the solution you need is already a given or if communication seems to be failing. This foot-forward approach nearly always saves time and effort. Who would not go out of their way to help someone who has treated them with patient kindness? Maybe you.
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Additional reading, resources, references:
Fong Ha, J. and Longnecker, N. (2010). Doctor-Patient communication: A review; The Ochsner Journal (10) 1; p 38-43.
Haftel, Lypson, and Page (2008). Patient-Doctor communication: The fundamental skill of medical practice. Retrieved from: http://www.med.umich.edu/medstudents/curRes/cca/m4/docs/2009/Patient_Doctor_Comm.pdf
Ludwig, M. (2008). Physician – Patient relationship; Ethics In Medicine: University of Washington School of Medicine. Retrieved from: http://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/physpt.html
National Institute of Health (NIH) (2013). Talking to your doctor: Resources from NIH. Retrieved from: http://www.nih.gov/clearcommunication/talktoyourdoctor.htm
White, C., Moyer, C., Stern, D., and Katz, S. (2004). A content analysis of e-mail communication between patients and their providers: Patients get the message; Journal American Medicine Informatics Association (11); p 260-267.
Thanks to Microsoft royalty-free clipart for the icons, the doctor and the dancers photo.
High Blood Sugar in Diabetes 2: What To Do?
Janet Still FNP
Lifestyle Modification Support http://stilljanet.com
High Blood Sugar in Diabetes 2: What To Do?
You have a diagnosis of Diabetes type 2 and are doing a great job taking your new medications on time and paying attention to your diet to prevent high blood sugar. Today is, perhaps, a different day from your routine though; before you know it, time has run away from you, and you do not feel so well. Could this be your blood sugar running high (hyperglycemia)?
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Classic signs that your blood sugar is running higher than is safe in Diabetes type 2 are emptying your bladder more often than is typical and feeling much thirstier. These two symptoms can fool the distracted mind since they seem to go hand in hand. Just because you are drinking more, you expect to empty your bladder more. Yet when you have Diabetes 2, you now are the captain of your body with full duties to respond to signs from your body that the ship may be experiencing a violation to the integrity of its hull. So, make a mental note: any signs of change in your routine bodily behavior could be a distress signal from your body. Fatigue, blurred vision, headache are also signs for increasing blood sugar levels. Start issuing orders to self and, if necessary, your healthcare team.
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Before I go any further, if you have not been advised, or have not taken the forthcoming instruction to heart yet, your blood sugar running high for long periods of your day is a recipe for disaster. This fact can be a struggle to accept until the individual recognizes that high blood sugar is not merely something to worry about far off in the future, but if your body is unable to keep your blood sugar levels from rising right now, you are potentially heading for a diabetic coma…right now, today!
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For those of you that are seeking a way to turn around this character in your life called Diabetes 2, this brief article is to provide you some resources and information that you can implement quickly, six steps for your immediate hyperglycemic situation. Steps that can be used to prevent hyperglycemia over the long term are mentioned at the end of the article. Taking charge of your Diabetes 2 or even the pre-diabetes condition is as simple as educating yourself and implementing lifestyle changes that you can truly live with…figuratively, and literally. The information in this article is not meant to replace instructions from your Diabetes provider and instructors. This information is meant to help you follow your Diabetes 2 instructions with more ease, and hopefully, with more joy.
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Life is famous for changing the game up, as the saying goes. This goes double for someone with Diabetes 2. Staying with our first example, let’s say you are able to check your blood sugar and learn it is above 200. You recall your Diabetes 2 instructors telling you that above 180 is moving into dangerous levels and that means your body does not have enough insulin. What can you do right now to move into a safer blood sugar level?
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Wait! How the heck did my blood sugar go up? I did everything right this morning. I took my medications on time, ate a healthy breakfast, and even got in some calisthenics before my morning shower.
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First of all, if you do not already know, many particular activities or situations can cause your blood sugar to rise. Supplies to always have on hand are your glucometer for checking your blood sugar level, a travel ketone urine kit, and extra anti-diabetic medications. Stress is a biggie, which includes stress from being sick, overworked, happy or sad, or simply overly anxious. Why? Increased stress causes your body to release hormones related to the cause of the stress, which in turn elevate the level of glucose in your body. Even people who do not have Diabetes 2 can have hyperglycemia from increased or prolonged stress.
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Checking your blood sugar levels when you experience suspicious changes in your body’s routine is a seriously necessary step in addressing hyperglycemia. Returning to our example of a busier and more demanding day than usual being today’s cause of high blood sugar, ditching the worksite to run around the block in your best professional attire may not be appropriate or even possible. More importantly, because your blood sugar may have risen quickly in response to stress, your body may have begun making ketones. Depending on the severity of your stress level today and how high your blood sugar has risen, collecting some urine for your travel ketone test is a smart idea. Exercise is dangerous when your body is producing ketones. If your urine kit tests positive for ketones, call your doctor now for immediate advice. Repeat: call your doctor now for immediate advice. Ketones need to be addressed now.
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No ketones? Awesome news! You have caught the body’s signals in time to take charge without calling the doctor’s office. Your Diabetes 2 provider may have already given you instructions for additional amounts of medication to take when your blood sugar has risen. Follow the game plan and keep track of details, maybe jotting some notes on things like: what caused you to check your blood sugar level initially before the scheduled time, whether you get in some exercise after taking the medicine and before checking your blood sugar level again, and how fast the symptoms that annoyed you (thirst, fatigue, headache) change or improve.
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About getting in some exercise ….. I have written previously on ideas for including moderate exercise that is enjoyable to you on a more routine basis (see LMS article dated September 2013). Unexpected, undesired! bouts of hyperglycemia are why you want to make a habit of moderate exercise. In pre-diabetes, adding routine moderate exercise and reducing foods that increase blood sugar dramatically can prevent your ever having to take medication for persistent high blood sugar levels. With a Diabetes 2 diagnosis, exercising can prevent the ravaging effects of continued high blood sugar on your body. Besides the short term danger of runaway blood sugar levels causing a diabetic coma, long term uncontrolled hyperglycemia is what causes all the frightening complications of Diabetes 2. Becoming the captain of your body, this proverbial ship, is as simple as learning what exactly is causing what to happen in your body, and changing up the orders to yourself regarding when to enjoy various activities.
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Six steps to taking charge of high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) are:
1- Take notice of changes in your body; and know the signs of rising blood sugar levels;
2- Carry a glucometer, always, in order to check your blood sugar levels routinely as well as when your body is signaling you that something is off;
3- Carry a travel urine kit for checking ketones for the unplanned/unexpected blood sugar rise;
4- Learn exercises that are possible to do in unique circumstances, such as sitting at a desk; and do not eat additional foods, unless instructed to do so, until you re-establish a safe level of blood sugar;
5- Always be ready and able to contact your Diabetes 2 provider for instructions when ketones are found, and for when your blood sugar level is not going down, even after taking additional medications per instructions;
6- Follow the game plan created by your Diabetes 2 instructors until your blood sugar level returns to normal.
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Discovering your blood sugar level is rising and learning to recognize the signs of blood sugar rising are key elements in preventing serious consequences from hyperglycemia. When life has altered from the routine, be ready to alter your routine Diabetes instructions to make unscheduled checks on blood sugar levels and ketones by having a glucometer and urine ketone kit available. If your body is not producing ketones yet, exercise to use up as much of the additional blood sugar as possible. Learn or create ways to increase exercise for your unique situations, like desk yoga, tai chi while talking on speakerphone, jogging in place between customers, whatever applies to your personal circumstances. Most imperative, know your Diabetes provider’s instructions for elevated blood sugar levels and act on them without procrastination. Your body relies on you to stay afloat through life’s changes. Be the smart captain of your ship by seeking and creating simple ways to remember your healthcare plan.
Smooth sailing, mates!
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Resources and References:
American Diabetes Association; 2013. Fitness; American Diabetes Association: Food and Fitness. Retrieved from: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/fitness/
American Diabetes Association; 2013. Hyperglycemia (High blood glucose); American Diabetes Association: Prevention. Retrieved from: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/hyperglycemia.html
American Diabetes Association; 2013. Success story: Sarah Boison; American Diabetes Association: Success Stories. Retrieved from: http://diabetesstopshere.org/2013/03/25/success-story-sarah-boison/
Casteneda, C., Layne, J., Munoz-Orians, L., Gordon, P., Walsmith, J., Foldvari, m., Roubenoff, R., Tucker, K., and Nelson, M.; 2002. A randomized controlled trial of resistance exercise training to improve glycemic control in older adults with type 2 diabetes; Diabetes Care 25, 12; 2335-2341.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC; 2011. How much physical activity do adults need?; CDC 24/7: Saving Lives, Protecting People: Physical Activity. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html
Mayo Clinic Staff; 2012. Hyperglycemia in diabetes; Diseases and Conditions on Mayo Clinic webpage. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hyperglycemia/DS01168
Nathan, D., Buse, J., Davidson, M., Heine, R., Holman, r., Sherman, R., and Zinman, B.; (2006). Management of Hyperglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes: A Consensus Algorithm for the Initiation and Adjustment of Therapy - A consensus statement from the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Diabetes Care 29, 8; 1963-1972.
National Institute of Health NIH; 2013. Get active; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Retrieved from: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/get-active/
van Dijk J, Tummers K, Stehouwer C, Hartgens F, van Loon L.; 2012. Exercise therapy in type 2 diabetes: is daily exercise required to optimize glycemic control? Diabetes Care 35, 5; 948-54.
Can Exercise Improve Your Diabetes?
Janet Still FNP
Lifestyle Modification Support http://stilljanet.com
Can Exercise Improve Your Diabetes?
Easy answer …yes! But you knew I would say that. And that answer is just not enough, is it? Or for some of you, maybe it is and you are reading this article simply to get to the facts and suggested resources in hopes of finding something you can easily incorporate now into your everyday life. For both camps of readers, the purpose of this article is to briefly lead you to your unique goal of improving your health and your prognosis report.
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First, for those of you that are reading with a feeling of angst regarding exercise, I understand that this condition of diabetes has likely already created much more upheaval to your lifestyle than you ever imagined you would have to endure. This article is purposefully brief with a goal of providing you some simple directions you can take today to retake control of your body.
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For those of you that have already accepted change is your choice and who are seeking a way to turn around this character in your life called Diabetes, this writing is to provide you some resources and information that you can implement quickly, for your short term goals, and also that can be used to refine your direction over the long term.
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When your healthcare provider mentions that exercise improves glycemic control, she/he is sharing a key to your taking some of your body back. Plenty of research over the years continues to evaluate the specific details of how physical exercise alters blood sugar levels and reduces the body’s requirement for anti-diabetic medications. Reread that, yes, I said that exercise so changes your blood sugar levels that you will have to take LESS of your diabetes medications. Write that on a piece of paper and tape it to your morning mirror as motivation.
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Three days a week, 30 minutes of moderate exercise, this is the repeated consensus of the minimum to reduce blood sugar. If you do not know, the way exercise works is that your muscles use the blood sugar! too, so that means less work on your pancreas and less work for your medication. Sounds good; let’s keep going with the good news….. what does “moderate exercise” mean exactly? My favorite way to define moderate exercise is: activity that allows one to engage comfortably in conversation while doing the activity. Easily one can see many activities one could incorporate into daily life that allow talking. Walking briskly with a friend or with your dog or how about from the far end of the parking lot are simple changes to include this moderate exercise. Playing with the kids or the neighbors’ kids an easy game of catch ball for 15 – 30 minutes and voila` you have just improved your body’s ability to manage its blood sugar level. Using stairs instead of the elevator; add up your time spent with household or office chores like vacuuming, dusting, and tidying at the end of the day; there are many normal activities that you can do with a focus to increasing your time spent moving.
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I already do all that, you say. Or some of you say that thinking about it makes you tired. This is your body, your health, your independence, so I am assuming you read this with hopes for something unique to your situation. Taking a class is often a great way to have someone do all the calculating and training for you. Classes and trainers are a great idea to wake up your mind regarding what moderate exercise feels like; how to protect your body from injury so that you can keep exercising and taking back your life; and to just get you moving in a new direction. Choose the activity and teacher with an eye to gradual progression from your level of fitness to a moderate routine. Interview the teachers. Any trainer worth their salt cares about the people in their class and is also a great resource for more appropriate classes for your individual circumstances.
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There are some standard resources for everyone regarding exercise and many other health topics, so keep them in mind as a back-up when making decisions about your health plan. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) always has brief and current statements available online with links to more detailed resources. The National Institute of Health also keeps abreast of research on health topics and routinely posts simple information. An example of the type of information you can find online is this very short info sheet on how much activity is sufficient for adult health: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html which outlines specific types of activity to meet the minimum requirements of adult health. The CDC also has a phone line dedicated to providing information at: 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636).
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Yoga gets you moving and gently waking up those unused muscles, which can protect you from injury. Tai Chi is actually considered to be resistance exercise, so adds the benefit of keeping your bones healthy too. Dance classes with a focus on fun, movement, and progressive strength building are a happy way to keep your muscles using up blood sugar while having a good time meeting new folks. If a swimming pool is available to you, aqua aerobics is easy on the sense of working hard because water lessens the gravity while absorbing heat. And always walking is the simplest, most flexible, and very affordable exercise for changing your lifestyle into something you can still call your own.
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Call up your local hospital or your provider’s clinic to ask for recommended exercise groups, trainers, and/or classes. Schools and colleges offer adult education classes all year nowadays and usually include at least a few exercise classes at a reasonable cost to get you connected to your community’s resources. As mentioned before, classes offer the added benefit of meeting others with like goals as well as networking connections in general. Some gyms offer less expensive memberships for attending workout classes only. And just get out and walk….take notice of how you feel before and after the walk. Chances are very good that you will be glad you now have a good reason to get back into using your body…because it plain ‘ole feels good.
Resources and References:
American Diabetes Association; 2013. Fitness; American Diabetes Association: Food and Fitness. Retrieved from: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/fitness/
American Diabetes Association; 2013. Success story: Sarah Boison; American Diabetes Association: Success Stories. Retrieved from: http://diabetesstopshere.org/2013/03/25/success-story-sarah-boison/
Casteneda, C., Layne, J., Munoz-Orians, L., Gordon, P., Walsmith, J., Foldvari, m., Roubenoff, R., Tucker, K., and Nelson, M. 2002. A randomized controlled trial of resistance exercise training to improve glycemic control in older adults with type 2 diabetes; Diabetes Care 25, 12; 2335-2341.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC; 2011. How much physical activity do adults need?; CDC 24/7: Saving Lives, Protecting People: Physical Activity. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html
National Institute of Health NIH, 2013. Get active; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Retrieved from: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/get-active/
van Dijk J, Tummers K, Stehouwer C, Hartgens F, van Loon L.; 2012. Exercise therapy in type 2 diabetes: is daily exercise required to optimize glycemic control? Diabetes Care 35, 5; 948-54.
Brain Food; Continuing the dialogue on how to make a healthy brain
- Janet's Eye on the Media
"Your brain thrives on fat and cholesterol" and the products that are fat-free are depriving you of needed nutrients. Lifestyle Modification Support (LMS) has been talking about this the past year.... I hope you will consider the information seriously. Look up the references and many many articles addressing this issue.
Here is another book on the topic and the source of that quote above: Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers by David Perlmutter and Kristin Loberg. Found on amazon.com at :
http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Sugar--Your-Killers/dp/031623480X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375704621&sr=8-1&keywords=GRAIN+BRAIN
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Some times reading the daily news feeds on health, the scene resembles a battlefield. There sure seems to be a lot of contenders for the battlefield! Scrutinizing the players more closely with an eye to motives, one could get the impression that the real prize is money .... not providing the most efficient path to whole health. Meanwhile, folks are also making a living providing you with information...well some are. Might I make a suggestion? always read the books and articles remembering what the authors stand to win by promoting their viewpoint. This is no critique on the book above or any information in the news today in particular. I mean this caution honestly.
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Patient-centered healthcare planning begins with You educating yourself and making a commitment to directing your care, and life therefore. Another way to say this is: taking the helm of your healthcare direction means being accountable to your awareness and decisions. . . . which includes changing your mind when you learn new data and sift it through your discerning brain. So I am describing an ongoing process or a "way of life"... an active occupation of being responsible.
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To maintain a discerning mind requires a well nurtured brain. A healthy brain mind is the key to enjoying life, the "feeling" of being alive, many tout. Makes sense to me, and even further, my own experience is that when those around me are healthily vital, alert and discerning, and capable of interacting spontaneously in given situations and circumstances, I benefit, the people I care about gain much in expanded awareness, and the ever expanding world grows and evolves in front if us by our own volition. I am stating, (I am certain your discerning mind has caught by now), my motivation for sharing this information, nearly all the information in the Lifestyle Modification Support (LMS) blog. And I am also explaining to you why it is so important that you care about your brain's health.
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A curious observation of healthy vital folks is that they seem to love, thrive on, life, and its challenges. While those that are "tired" and describing they just want to stop thinking or working at the end of the day (some the beginning or middle of their day sadly) appear to censor aspects of life, especially anything challenging. Why, this one wonders. Some of you are answering, well that is normal, isn't it? We work all day; we get tired; and we go home to eat, drink, and sleep. IS this normal? Whose normal? When did this become normal? What else was going on historically when this picture became normal? A few points to contemplate. I am not here to do all of your homework; I am here to stimulate your attention.
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If you are too tired to desire the healthy and engaging challenges of life, what can you do to wake up your brain? Should you want more out of your life, how can you make active movements towards creating the aliveness you enjoy? LMS has been sharing references all along this ongoing discussion and its many permutations and we are so happy to continue doing so. But bottom line today is: please consider that you really are what you eat. With some foods/chemicals, time on the particular element or food must be lived to realize the changes ... both healthy and fatiguing.
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To realize a healthy and vital brain, eat the foods that feed your brain; avoid the "foods" that starve the brain or otherwise disable its continued vitality. Pretty simple. Oh, except for knowing what that means literally in what to buy and eat from your market or favorite food server/restaurant. So let's keep up on what is happening in the world of nutritional research today.... (I always ask for and enjoy feedback). I mean real and valid research rather than pseudo-science that has become popular among the biggest "food" (and drug) sellers today. To date, research from around the world continues to reveal that many modern foodlike substances sold in packages as food in your local grocery store do not contain valuable and needed nutrients for your body. The sellers of these foodlike substances even openly state that providing health is not their business, rather making money is their primary incentive (The extraordinary science of addictive junk food, Moss; 2013). What, then, is healthy food? the other part of the question and the only part that matters to me....getting real food for my brain. Another article on why fat-free might as well be called eating cardboard, addictive cardboard truly, cardboard all the same... is Dr AnneMarie Colbin's blog "Fat-free Food: A Bad Idea at: http://www.foodandhealing.com/articles/article-fatfreebad.htm
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Lifestyle Modification Support will continue to add articles on good food for your brain from many sources. Meanwhile, scroll down the front page of LMS to reread the articles shared already on how fat is required for brain cells to function. For a really adorable article, easy to read and understand, on how our brains evolved via fat, read The Human Brain from the Franklin Institute at: http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/fats.html . Or read Brain Food: Good Fats Better for Memory on LiveScience at: http://www.livescience.com/20429-good-fats-good-brain.html . For those of you preferring a more scholarly diatribe but brief, check out Dr Gary Wenk's article in Your Brain On Food titled Dietary Fats That Improve Brain Function at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-food/201205/dietary-fats-improve-brain-function .
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I sincerely hope this helps you get started, if you only just catching up to this conversation.
Always, stay awake and alive! and feel free to contact me personally or via this blog to share your thoughts, concepts, questions, or concerns. 
I Am,
Janet Still FNP
Eat Whole Fat, Real Fat, for Health
Eat Whole Fat, Real Fat, for Health
This post has taken far too long to be written! because my mind had the idea that one post could contain this topic. Then I recognized that this piece of the nutrition puzzle today continues from the previous posts about junk food addiction. And this topic regarding "good fat vs bad fat" is more than one post. So here we go - - -!
You say, wait, I have to eat a low fat diet because I have a weight problem. I say, you have a weight problem because you are malnourished...and eating low fat foods is contributing to your body's hunger for Real Fat so needed by all of our bodies, including rather importantly the brain part of our bodies. Please be reassured: this is NOT your fault that you keep eating foods that are not providing the real nutrients! Remember the previous post about junk food addiction? As you can see, all these posts for a few months fall into this topic.
Have you heard of the documentary, Hungry For Change? I mention the video, which can be streamed on Netflix and viewed on YouTube, because I understand that having imagery while hearing information gets the information into some folks' brains. [Planning to start making videos to go with the main posts in Lifestyle Modification Support for those of you that get more out of eye contact.] Hungry For Change breaks down in simple terms how the food we are eating is not really food in the real sense...but "food-like products." Hrmmm what does that mean?
I am going to anticipate your questions about this topic, beginning with a brief discussion today on whole fat versus low fat or non-fat. Please contact me all the ways that you do to ask your burning questions. The fat question is what instigated this post. In the past, I have spoken of how much sugar is clandestinely added to nearly every processed food you buy and eat. [Processed = anything prepared by someone you never met somewhere else. Examples? everything from cake and biscuit mixes, cereals, canned or packaged soups, frozen meals/snacks, salad dressings, pizza sauces, condiments, bread, flavored milks and vitamin drinks .... ]
Fat-free generally means LOTS of sugar products added. Why one is constantly hungry on low fat diets is that one is NOT giving the healthy fat that one needs while eating much more sugar than one might choose consciously. And, as I have mentioned before, sweet is added via a number of processed forms of "sugar"...high fructose corn syrup being the head of the pack. So imagine your brain, on the one hand requiring whole fat, not getting it; but also utilizing sugar rapidly too, unhealthy over-processed forms of sugar, because it is HUNGRY!! for nutrition. And what happens next....is your brain is hard-wired to want sugar and starts craving more and more and more..... Sugar gives a beta-endorphin high. The more of this "high" the body gets, the more habituated the body becomes to it and thus needs ...more!
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more to come....... additions will continue at the bottom of the article as they are added.
Focuses to include: what are whole healthy fats? and what are unhealthy (dangerous) fats? How fat protects us from toxins....
BBC News - Scrubbing Up: Do hospitals legitimise junk food?
BBC News - Scrubbing Up: Do hospitals legitimise junk food? Following up the last blog I whipped out (admittedly!) on Brain Foods, this article from the BBC finishes another "nail on the head" of my personal list of pet peeves. There are plenty of stories one can find online that concur with what the BBC is opening for discussion. In fact, some of us have been talking about this issue for thirty years! Thank you, Cardiologist Asseem Malhotra, for writing about the problem in a fresh way. Nutrition is not all that hard to calculate.... pointedly, nutrition is still as simple as A, B, C, because we humans have not had an opportunity to mutate all that much since we began to be able to calculate the nutrients in our foods. So what is going on? Why are we being given limited choices for high quality healthy nutrition everywhere we turn? but especially, why are we being given limited choices from the places one would expect to have the best choices offered? As promised, I am working on a quick and concise discussion of why whole fats are much healthier than low fat foods. From this BBC article, you may begin to guess why. In a nutshell, right now, I will sign off saying, the less we bother the food before it gets to our kitchen, the healthier it is for our bodies. Until our next interaction, live well...Love and laugh. ~janet
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Update on this brief story line.....
I have not been able to get out of this story because I went on to discover a lot more written on the topic plus then NYT published a very thorough article on The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" six days ago. I cannot stop studying it and "Running off" in cyber land to follow up the details.....!
Crazy making lines from the astounding article "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4 :
“One article said something like, ‘If you take Lunchables apart, the most healthy item in it is the napkin.' " ===================== "... the food industry already knew some things about making people happy — and it started with sugar. Many of the Prego sauces — whether cheesy, chunky or light — have one feature in common: The largest ingredient, after tomatoes, is sugar. A mere half-cup of Prego Traditional, for instance, has the equivalent of more than two teaspoons of sugar, as much as two-plus Oreo cookies." ===================== “(Stephen)Sanger (of General Mills) was trying to say, ‘Look, we’re not going to screw around with the company jewels here and change the formulations because a bunch of guys in white coats are worried about obesity.” ===================== "These (new Lunchables) would be promoted as more healthful versions, with “fresh fruit,” but their list of ingredients — containing upward of 70 items, with sucrose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and fruit concentrate all in the same tray..." ===================== "The company’s Yoplait brand had transformed traditional unsweetened breakfast yogurt into a veritable dessert. It now had twice as much sugar per serving as General Mills’ marshmallow cereal Lucky Charms." ===================== ....and more.... O.o
Feed Your Brain
More bad news about high fructose corn syrup.... or good news
...depending on where one is standing. Research is piling up on how high fructose corn syrup interferes with the message in our brain that tells us we are satiated. Thus, the consumer of the beverage or food that has been sweetened with high fructose corn syrup continues to feel hungry despite repeated helpings of the artificially sweetened food. One thing leads to another.... we are drinking that soda or eating that cookie to fill an empty space in the tummy. When we still feel hungry, we continue to eat. Did I mention how many calories are in high fructose corn syrup? Or shall I go into the instruction on how our bodies utilize refined sugars versus complex glucose in vegetables, for example? Save that discussion for another day. Today, I am bringing up a few helpful hints about feeding your brain.
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Feed your brain....
foods that provide the building blocks for maintaining nerve cells. Oh that is right! the brain is our central nerve station. Naturally, nerve cells have needs. Sure, sugar..glucose is the brain's fuel. But, like all food, sugar is a molecule that comes in many shapes and sizes. In the universe, there are surely uses for every shape of any molecule, but just as your car requires certain versions of oil to adequately remain clean and perform its job, your body requires certain versions of the various nutrients.
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I remember that old 1950s idea about "better life through chemicals"
because I am a late baby boomer and we were blitzed with all kinds of images: in school book stories, Life and other magazine images, the radio talk shows, and movies, with how our imminent future was going to look because science would save the day! Lots of jokes abound about asking what happened to those old "futuristic" images. Still very much a proponent of science, my viewpoint is that we have taken a left turn on science when we try to recreate what nature has already done a brilliant job of providing. Instead of scattering the earthly treasures provided, by changing them, perhaps we might apply science to truly understanding why the naturally occurring versions of molecules are so perfect for our bodies and the balance of this world as we know it.
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Foods that taste great AND feed your brain, so well, that you might find yourself actually satiated and forgetting 'bout craving that moon pie or dreamsicle:
This is the easy part, because naturally occurring brain foods are very satiating! As I said, glucose is the brain's favorite chemical...and the most long-lasting source is the immediate intake of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Yes, it is preferable to lightly graze through the day rather than a few huge meals a day. Recently, studies have been touting the great benefits of berries for the brain. Not a fan of berries? avocados are a very nutrient dense food and the brain loves that healthy fat too. (Look for articles on healthy fat in the archives and in upcoming posts). Maybe you desire something unique to express your individualism.... pomegranates make many expert lists as an excellent source of protection against free radical damage to your brain cells. Drinking pomegranate juice skips the digging into seeds part of eating the fruit raw and condenses the amount of good food to your brain. Read the label and make sure the manufacturers did not muck up a good thing by sweetening it with high fructose corn syrup. Whole grains are an excellent source of brain food too... in a well chosen grain, one improves circulation to the brain (and heart) as well as carbohydrates and even some omega-3s...talk about multi-tasking. Speaking of omega-3s ... think: nuts, seeds, and cold water fish. Keep current on mercury levels of the fish of course. Right now the recommendation is Wild Salmon from Alaska, tilefish, shellfish, and light tuna. There is more I can share about food choices, MUCH more! but for the sake of keeping this brief enough to provide food for thought while avoiding boredom, I am ending this post with these quickie hints.
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Good news...
that I mentioned at the beginning is that if you are giving your brain the foods it truly craves .... a few yummy ideas provided here ... then you are being a good provider to your brain. Who is going to make sure your brain works smoothly better than you? So, do not worry about high fructose corn syrup; just avoid consuming it in sodas and desserts and all the secret hidden places, like ketchups and sauces and crackers ... Read the labels, because high fructose corn syrup, in one form or another, is nearly always near the top in the list of ingredients. More to the point, if you are giving your brain the food that human brains evolved eating to the gifted state we can now experience, then you will soon stop craving the altered foods that use high fructose corn syrup to tease your brain.
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One last thought....
experts report many unfortunate things about these altered/processed chemicals in the ingredients. High fructose corn syrup, for example, has now been linked to obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, liver dysfunction, higher triglyceride levels in men, and disruptions to memory and learning. Why take the risk with the gem of a brain you carry in your head? In the end, when what we eat satisfies us, WE EAT LESS. Eating less because you are eating right should help with the grocery tab, sure, but it also helps with the part of your brain tabulating your quality of life. Feel good, it really is easy.
One Billion Rising San Diego - YouTube
Hometowne! version One Billion Rising San Diego - YouTube.
How To: Debbie Allen Teaches Break the Chain Dance - YouTube
Ready? Here are the dance steps to Break the Chain.... we be happening, Ladies!
How To: Debbie Allen Teaches Break the Chain Dance - YouTube.
National Sleep Day: 8 New Findings About Sleep And Your Health
National Sleep Day: 8 New Findings About Sleep And Your Health. Happy Sleeping Day!
Be well, be happy.
One Billion Rising Short Film - YouTube
Keep this discussion going....
http://www.onebillionrising.org
via One Billion Rising Short Film - YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl2AO-7Vlzk&feature=colike
This film may be hard to watch in the beginning, but it has a joyful finale` ...won't you please join us in making this finale` A REALITY...NOW?
...reading The New Midwifery (Page & McCandlish 2006) and how the "technocratic" system furthers the oppression of women, a subtle violence against women by silencing their voice, their right to have a say in their life. In so many aspects of life, we have choice but are unsupported to take it.
There is a One Billion Rising event happening near you February 14.... or you can start up your own. Please join us in dancing our truth that violence against women is not okay.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT. Ask me or go to the webpage: http://www.onebillionrising.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl2AO-7Vlzk&feature=colike
Organic vs Biotech
Pay careful attention to the details on the current controversy regarding claims made by a former "Big Tobacco" pseudo-science propagandist who is employed at Stanford? The good thing about this controversy is people are talking.... and what the corporate "persons" have not considered is: now real science can be brought into a public discussion....because the commercial interests [read: greed] stepped up and threw mud where there is a battle...the battle for truth regarding how biotech in agriculture has little to do with what is best for all of us and more to do with commercial profit. Want attention? okay, let's start talking science. And while we are at it, let's talk logic; and let's talk freedom of choice; and let us broach the difficult expectation of truthful advertising. More to come...
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[Today September 14, 2012] Ben Paynter of http://www.benpaynter.net/ who blogs/writes in many venues shared a particularly enlightening bit about the health of his intestines...or as he stated it, his "POOP BUGS". You can find the short piece as number 14 of Living by Numbers: The Wired Guide to Health in Wired's October 2012 issue (p 126). The article is apparently unavailable on wired.com, so I contemplated copying it in its entirety here because, honestly, in such a brief, and comical, description of his stool analysis, he provides a great deal of tips about why gastro-intestinal health is so crucial to overall health. [I strongly encourage you to get this issue and read his quipped essay.]
But the BIG reason I bring the article up here is the last sentence. In four short columns, Ben quickly shared the telling results of his Metametrix test....his "Adiposity Index," his "Predominant Bacteria Analysis," his "Yeast/Fungi" count, and last but so definitely NOT least, his "Drug Resistance" panel. What? drug resistance? in a stool sample? you remark avidly curious as to how drug resistance could be revealed in a stool sample. Never fear, I will not bore you with the details of how the DNA of the bacteria shows this....at least, not now.... suffice it to say, that the DNA in Ben's gut bacteria were the source of all this fascinating information! By now, as highly intelligent as you have demonstrated yourself to be by your choice of reading materials, you have no doubt sleuthed the connection between Ben's discovered drug resistance and the title of this blog "Organic vs Biotech"... I will let Ben's words say it so simply, "I can't turn my superbugs back into Clark Kent bugs, but I can eat organics to avoid future exposure to antibiotics." !!!! and thus, prevent further antibiotic resistant bacteria from getting a toe-hold in his body, thereby preventing the antibiotic's effectiveness in future should he need it. Remarkably, Ben thought it significant to mention that he likely acquired his particular superbugs via eating a food that had been exposed to said antibiotic, since apparently Ben has never taken the antibiotics for which he has discovered that he has a thriving resistance.
Yes, one more reason to eat organic.... a reason which can be measured....should anyone be interested in actually doing so rather than taking candy from the drug pushers, so to speak; meaning accepting without question a poorly structured "Study" by researchers of questionable motivations.
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Additional articles commenting on the organic vs biotech question:
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/five-ways-stanford-study-underestimates-organic-food
http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2012/09/04/michael-pollan-organic-study/?
http://geneticroulettemovie.com/
http://www.naturalnews.com/037108_Stanford_Ingram_Olkin_Big_Tobacco.html
More will be added to this blog.......
5 Daily Encountered Heart Attack Triggers
Friends, this article from Rodale is too important not to share directly. News stories have been putting out this information more frequently in the last few years, but this article succinctly and plainly lists the daily offenders, simple details for recognition, and briefly suggests alternatives. So I am sharing the article forthwith!
You can find the original article at: http://www.rodale.com/heart-attack-causes?cm_mmc=TheDailyFixNL-_-1033878-_-09062012-_-5_unexpected_heart_attack_triggers_title
heart attack causes
5 Unexpected Heart Attack Triggers
Everyday things could be troubling your ticker.
By Leah Zerbe
Defuse heart attack triggers that lurk in your home.
A bacon cheeseburger fetish topped with a couch potato mentality is a surefire recipe for a heart attack. But those obvious bad choices aren't the only things taking a toll on your ticker. Scientists discovering surprising new heart attack causes—including ones you may unknowingly be exposing yourself to every day. Learn about the new heart attack triggers and eliminate them from your daily routine!
Nonstick Chemicals Nonstick and stain-repelling chemicals are convenient, but in terms of health, they might not be worth it. Previously linked to infertility, high cholesterol, and ADHD, a September 2012 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine also shows a connection between perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) chemicals and heart disease. Regardless of age, body mass, or the presence of diabetes or other diseases, researchers found that people with the highest PFOA levels in their blood were twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease compared with people with the lowest levels.
Avoid it: If you use nonstick pots, pans, and bakeware, replace them with uncoated stainless steel, made-in-America cast iron, or glass the minute you start seeing chips in the finish. More PFOA avoidance tactics? Stay away from fabrics, furniture, and carpeting advertised as "stain repellent," and eat fast food less—many fast-food containers contain PFOA-containing grease barriers.
Antibacterial Soap Triclosan, an antibacterial soap and toothpaste chemical, is a well-known bad actor when it comes to health, thanks to its ties to thyroid disease and its role in creating hard-to-kill, antibiotic-resistant germs. You can now add increased heart disease risk to the dangers of antibacterial soap, thanks to new research suggesting it can damage heart and muscle tissue.
Avoid it: You get virtually no benefit for the risk you take when buying and using antibacterial products, since researchers have proven that washing with regular soap and water works just as well. To avoid triclosan, steer clear of anything advertised as "antibacterial," "antimicrobial," "germ-killing," "odor-free," or "odor-killing." When it comes to personal care products, check the label to make sure triclosan isn't on the ingredients list.
Canned Food Sodium isn't canned foods' only setback. The notoriously toxic canned food chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, is a potent hormone disruptor tied to breast cancer, anger problems in female children, obesity, and infertility. And now, it's implicated in heart disease. A 2011 study published in the journal PLoS ONE found even small doses of BPA—ones we're commonly exposed to—could lead to dangerous heart arrhythmia, erratic beating that could cause sudden cardiac death. The BPA-heart disease link gained more traction just months later when researchers discovered that healthy people with higher BPA levels are more likely to develop heart disease down the line.
Avoid it: Limit canned food and instead opt for fresh or frozen. (Eden Foods is one brand that went BPA free and disclosed its plant-based BPA replacement; some companies have eliminated the BPA but are using a toxic alternative.) Also decline trivial cash receipts. Thermal receipts—the most popular kind in use today—are coated in BPA that's readily absorbed into your skin. Some No. 7 plastics also contain BPA, so choose glass or stainless steel food and drink containers, and never heat plastic in the microwave or dishwasher—higher temps accelerate leaching.
Traffic Jams Traffic can kill, and not just via wrecks. Scientists have uncovered a connection between air pollution, traffic jams, and heart attack risk. German researchers interviewed heart attack survivors to try and pinpoint certain heart attack triggers. They found that people stuck in traffic—whether as a driver, passenger, bike rider, or passenger on public transportation—experienced a 3.2 times higher risk of having a heart attack compared to people who weren't trapped in a traffic jam. (Add it to the list of reasons to pitch to your boss to let you work from home.)
Avoid it: Check air-quality reports before hitting the road, keep your windows closed on the highway, and lobby your boss to allow more telecommuting to reduce your exposure to tailpipe pollution.
Certain Seafood Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are supposed to protect your heart, not harm it. Syracuse University researchers churned up evidence suggesting you should be picky about what type of fish you eat, though. They found fish contaminated with high levels of mercury actually interfered with the body's response to stress, increasing the odds of heart disease. The mercury interferes with the body's natural cortisol hormone levels in a heart-unhealthy way.
Avoid it: In addition to tuna, fish with the highest levels of mercury are usually the big predatory species, such as swordfish, king mackerel, and any kind of shark. But watch out for recreational species, as well. The U.S. Geological Survey has found dangerously high mercury levels in some freshwater species, including trout and bass. For more tips on finding safer fish, read The Surprising Heart Attack Trigger in the Seafood Aisle and 12 Fish You Should Never Eat.
5 surprising everyday things that are toxic | MNN - Mother Nature Network
5 surprising everyday things that are toxic | MNN - Mother Nature Network. Education and information on just what is in the products we use innocently, trustingly.