self-help guide - diet tips, recipes

A new study from Mount Sinai School of Medicine has found that a cellular signaling pathway governs the differentiation of cells into fat tissue or smooth muscle, which lines the vascular system.

Engaging this signaling pathway and its capacity to govern cell differentiation has important implications in preventing obesity and cardiovascular disease.

The study is published in the June issue of Developmental Cell. This research, by Philippe M. Soriano, PhD, Professor, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Lorin E. Olson, PhD.

The research team used mice that were genetically engineered to have elevated PDGFRβ signaling. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

You may have heard the countless stories of young athletes dropping dead on basketball courts, football fields and at various other sporting activities. One thing that’s never discussed is why this happens to supposedly healthy, strong, young people in the prime of their lives. Is it that coaches, the media and others do not want to bring the public’s attention to this issue? Or, is it that unsuspecting parents should be more vigilant and have more in-depth health analysis of their youngsters as it is done in Europe?

Back in 1998, my friend’s son now known to the world as Jair Dynast was a serious basketballer and he suddenly developed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and was forced to give up his athletic basketball scholarship. In spite of having numerous physical examinations, no one had seen any heart abnormality present in him. He had complained of experiencing a severe burning in his chest and at first, it was thought that he was developing asthma.

self-help guide - diet tips, recipes

It wasn’t until he returned to his native Toronto from Texas that his consulting physician saw that there was a considerable abnormality in his electrocardiogram and referred him to a cardiologist. Jair now a rapper was one of the lucky ones. He had what we liked to call divine intervention or protection from his guardian angel for those of you that are spiritual. It is still a mystery as to what caused this unforeseen heart disease (condition) to develop in the absence of any family history.

This public service announcement is aimed to bring attention to those of you who are unfamiliar with heart disease or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and to share my knowledge with parents or guardians of young athletes.

An electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) is an electrical recording of the heart so that an investigation of heart disease can be made. Explanations and information about hypertrophy patterns, heart disease and atrioventricular blocks can be found at ecglibrary.

Are you overweight? Are you apple-shaped? Do you have extra fat around your middle? Your belly fat could be why you are overweight. Researchers found abdominal fat tissue can reproduce a hormone that stimulates fat cell production.

An article in Science Daily confirms that abdominal fat tissue can reproduce a hormone that stimulates fat cell production. Dr. Yaiping Yang and his colleagues at Lawson Health Research Institute, an affiliate of the University of Western Ontario made this discovery. It is hoped that this research will change the way we treat the obese and obesity, especially abdominal obesity.

The hormone has been identified as Neuropeptide Y (NPY) and it is reproduced by abdominal fat tissue. This hormone was previously thought to be only produced by the brain so this novel finding should lead to a new therapeutic focus on combating obesity. It was long thought that the reasons why the overweight eat more food was because their brains were producing this hormone in larger amounts.

NPY (Neuropeptide) is the most powerful appetite stimulating hormone. It constantly sends hunger signals to individuals already overweight causing them to eat even more food. While a fat cell cannot replicate itself the researchers found that NPY increases the number of fat cells by stimulating the replication of fat cell precursor cells, these then change into fat cells.

self-help guide - diet tips, recipes

If you are overweight, pay special attention to where the fat is located. While being overweight is unhealthy, if it’s mostly belly fat then its anatomical location is most dangerous. The apple-shaped person is at an increased risk for heart disease, Type II diabetes, hypertension and some types of cancers. Click2loseweight self-help guide – diet tips, weight loss  recipes work at eliminating belly fat.

It’s great to lose weight, gain health benefits, feel energetic all day long and end the day with a sound night’s sleep.

Everyone knows that most diets will work to help you lose some weight in the short term but how many can claim that long term, permanent weight loss is achievable?

#tweetyourdiettips: Being Fat Sucks but not like being diagnosed with heart disease or diabetes

self-help guide - diet tips, recipes

#tweetyourdiet-tips: Weight creeps on slowly day-by-day almost like a thief in the night.

Then one day when we get a sudden jolt of reality, we expect to lose weight overnight. Exercise slowly as well so as not to stress joints and put undue strain on your heart and other muscles.

Just as being overweight can be unhealthy and can lead to diseases relating to obesity; conversely, too rapid weight loss can be detrimental to your health by way of organ damage or impaired organ function.

Today, I read the account of divabarbarella’s journey to lose weight that was originally published in the San Diego Reader’s edition of September 27, 2007 “Being Fat Sucks”. It was re-published on fatmanwalking.com by Barbarella as a contributing writer.

Even though I have not been as overweight as Barbarbella, I can still relate to her story of “Being Fat Sucks“. One afternoon on the way home, I can remember being asked on the subway if I needed a seat because the woman asking thought I was pregnant. That evening, I looked at my stomach in the mirror and it was as large as if I were 7-months pregnant.

Weight creeps on slowly day-by-day almost like a thief in the night. Then one day when we get a sudden jolt of reality, we expect to lose weight overnight. Just as slowly as it was gained, it now has to be slowly lost over time. What I always encourage others to do is look at food as a weapon – it is the power of food that can work in your favor. Learn how to use food in the way it was intended – to gain your health and slowly lose weight in the process.

Exercise slowly as well so as not to stress joints and put undue strain on your heart and other muscles. You have to start at some point and work your way up level-to-level as you would climb stairs, step-by-step until you reach the top. When I first started to exercise on my old treadmill that was gathering dust in my basement, I could barely manage 5-minutes. I vowed that I would add 1-minute to my walk each day and keep adding until I could do 30-minutes and conclude with a 5-minute run. It felt like it would have been impossible based on the first day’s experience.

It is important to make a decision for yourself and be determined to achieve the result for yourself. If it helps to keep some ridiculous statement that was made to you about your weight in the back of your mind to motivate you, then by all means use it. It’s far better than having to be diagnosed as hypertensive and be given diuretics to lower your sky-high blood pressure.

My high blood pressure reading was the turning point for me. I have a family history that my new diagnosis would exacerbate and I was much too young to travel that road. I wanted to be around for a much longer time because I had unfinished business. This to me was divine intervention giving me an opportunity to accomplish my goals. I had to take this chance and run with it now, no more delays – to lose weight was the most important goal of my immediate future.

self-help guide - diet tips, recipes

Lose weight slowly so that you do not compromise your liver and gallbladder. Just as being overweight can be unhealthy and can lead to diseases relating to obesity; conversely, too rapid weight loss can be detrimental to your health by way of organ damage or impaired organ function. Be smart and realize that you gained weight over several months or years. Therefore, you need to give yourself the same amount of time to reverse your eating habits and improve your lifestyle in order to achieve permanent weight loss.

In today’s climate of “special interests”, we have to be very careful about the studies that are followed. We have to do our own research as to what information is in the best interest of the consumers and what is tainted by those with vested interests in the propaganda that is being circulated for those who stand to derive significant benefit.

Case in point is the most recent studies that are being circulated about coffee and the drinking of coffee for its health benefits. One might argue that everyone has a “special interest” but in the interest of your health, you are reminded of the following risk factors of coffee drinking as they relate to heart disease.

Research has recently shown that half our population has a genetic variation that slows the metabolism of the caffeine in coffee resulting in an increase risk of a heart attack. It has been found that if persons with these genes drink 2-cups of coffee per day, it is enough to increase heart attack risk by as much as 32%. People under 59 years old are at a higher risk. By drinking only one cup of coffee per day it will increase their heart attack risk by 24% and having 2-3 cups increase their risk to 67%.

Blood pressure is significantly raised by drinking caffeinated beverages. If you agree that hypertension can lead to the “silent killer” and is the leading cause of hardening of the arteries, kidney problems, poor eyesight, bulges in blood vessels, strokes and other complications; then eliminate coffee and you are well on the path to reducing your high blood pressure.

Decaffeinated and regular coffee are linked to high levels of cholesterol. In just 3-months, decaf coffee can raise LDL so-called “bad” cholesterol by 8-10% so it is highly recommended that if you want to lower your cholesterol levels, one of the changes to your diet should be to eliminate coffee drinking.

An amino acid, commonly associated with heart disease, homocysteine is elevated in the bloodstream by drinking both regular and decaffeinated coffee. What’s alarming is the speed at which this elevation occurs – within hours after drinking coffee so, this is a powerful evidence to demonstrate the importance of eliminating coffee from your diet.

self-help guide - diet tips, recipes

It has been discovered that inflammation of your artery walls is more significant a risk factor than even high LDL cholesterol levels for heart attacks. Studies have shown that people who drink as little as 3/4 cup of coffee each day have high rates of inflammation and this can be a leading cause of other chronic diseases as well.

Hardening of the arteries can also lead to heart disease and high blood pressure by causing stiffness of the artery walls. Therefore, limit coffee in your diet and could reduce your risk of arteriosclerosis.

The number one cause of most diseases – cortisol, the stress hormone, can impact on your heart and lead to heart attacks. Cortisol can increase your heart rate and blood pressure so caffeine drinking can place you in a constant state of stress or affect your normal heart rate and heart rhythm. The stress hormone can also weaken your immune system leaving you vulnerable to even more chronic diseases.

If you evaluate these seven risk factors, you must agree that the risk outweigh any benefits of coffee drinking. It’s better to substitute coffee with herbs such as roasted dandelion as it has a flavor that is very similar to regular coffee.

Many are fully aware that fish oil and a regular intake of omega-3 fatty acids can benefit the heart and ward off cardiovascular disease and similar ailments.

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However, this week research has shown that on a molecular level, these natural fatty acids can help mental imbalances as well such as bi-polar disorder.

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids: They are necessary for human health but the body can’t make them; you have to get them through food. Another very good reason to eat more fish – do you need anymore evidence?

#tweetyourdiettips: Play online games to reduce stress

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#tweetyourdiet-tips: If you spend a lot of time on your computer constant steering at the screen can result in eye fatigue, tensed shoulders and muscle aches.  Find ways to reduce and relieve stress: play FREE games online like paintball, bug on a wire at exclusively.

Remember that stress and the way you handle and/or cope can lead to many life-threatening diseases so coping mechanism are very important.

How to Deal with Stroke & Heart Disease

As a consumer that always tries to look at more than one side of the coin, this latest study on salt and hypertension is flawed in more than one way.

Firstly, the criteria was to measure the sodium level in the urine just over one 24-hr period at the start of the study.  How could this one gauge be an accurate way of telling each participant’s everyday salt intake over the full 8-years of the study?

Secondly, what was the ethnicity of the study group as it is known that blacks and overweight people tend to react more negatively to a high sodium diet.  Also, if the participants were eating a good ratio of sodium to potassium then the impact would be minimized.

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Low Salt Increases Stroke And Heart Attack Risk?

Thirdly, who funded this latest study because it is very interesting that as soon as attention has been brought to the amount of sodium in our fast-food laden diets and linking them to known cases of hypertension, stroke and heart attacks; there is now evidence to contradict – are we attempting to feed the drug culture for statins and diuretics?

If you are in a high-risk group, you should monitor your blood pressure often and do so after eating a high-sodium diet to know your own tolerance.  An Ounce of Prevention is better than a pound of cure.

According to a new study, low salt intake does not prevent hypertension and raises heart attack and stroke risk. However, some of its limitations have exacerbated the salt debate to new heights. Even CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) officials commented on this new European study, saying it had some flaws.

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It is highly unusual for the CDC to comment on studies. According to Dr. Peter Briss, a CDC medical director, the small included young participants. He added that there were not enough cardiovascular events to draw conclusions from but it should be investigated further to find out if the low salt version of some foods isn’t spiked or loaded with MSG in its place.