The Science of Sustained Energy

Carbohydrates, fats, and protein are known as the energy-yielding nutrients. These are the dietary components your body can actually break down to create molecules of energy known as ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate). While many diet plans emphasize focusing on one macronutrient over the others, a healthy diet represents balanced intake from all three groups. Lets take a quick look at each macronutrient and how it impacts energy levels.

Carbs: Carbohydrates are often seen as your body's preferred source of energy because they can most easily be broken down to create ATP. In fact, for several of your body's tissues, including your brain, carbohydrates are actually the main source of fuel.

Simple carbohydrates, such as white bread, cookies, and anything made with refined flour, provide the body with a rapid rush of energy as they are quickly metabolized for fuel. Unfortunately, this energy rush is often followed by a fall in blood sugar, felt by the individual as an energy crash (and of course, hunger). On the other hand, a diet high in complex carbohydrates - whole grains, fruits, and vegetables - can offer unlimited health benefits. These carbohydrate sources contain dietary fiber, which provides a slower release of energy and contributes to feelings of fullness and satiety.

Fats: Just like carbohydrates, fat has received some negative publicity when it comes to a healthy diet. However, fat is actually the most energy-sustaining nutrient since it provides 9 kilocalories (kcals) per gram (protein and carbohydrates only provide 4 each). Fat is also digested more slowly and when consumed correctly, can help provide a steady, slow release of energy and contribute to feelings of fullness.

Much like carbohydrates, when incorporating fat into your diet it is important to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy fat sources. While saturated and hydrogenated fats can negatively affect health, omega-3 fatty acids, which can be found in nuts, seeds, and cold-water fish, can contribute to neurological and cardiovascular health.

Protein: Unlike fats and carbohydrates, protein is often touted as the healthiest of the macronutrients. It is true that protein, in addition to providing a source for energy production, is also required for the makeup of skeletal muscle and enzymes. Consuming meals high in protein can support lean body mass as well as contribute to satiety and blood sugar control. Food sources high in protein include meats and poultry, legumes, nuts, and quinoa.

While no one food choice is the best for supporting energy levels, a balanced combination of macronutrients which provide a high dose of micronutrients, including B vitamins and other supportive nutrients, will give your body the nourishment it needs. That's the science of sustained energy. Talk to your doctor to learn more.

The Top Stress Busters

There are several different types of stress, and learning how to control them can make all the difference. You have physical stress (lack of exercise, illness, sleep habits, etc.), mental stress (how you deal emotionally with life) and chemical stress (nutritional and environmental). Here are a few straightforward ways to help you reduce all three stress factors.

Proper Breathing: Proper breathing has a dramatic impact on muscle relaxation, tension reduction, normalizing heart rate, and increasing mental clarity. What you want to strive for is learning to breathe mostly with your diaphragm instead of your lungs. The diaphragm is the most efficient muscle for breathing. It is a large, dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs. Learning how to breathe with your diaphragm takes some practice, but in time it will become second nature.

Practice the following technique on a daily basis for 5-10 minutes. Lie on your back, putting a pillow or similar support under your knees to relax your lower back. Place one hand on your abdomen and the other on your chest. Slowly inhale through your nose and make sure the only hand that moves is the one on your abdomen. Try to keep the hand on your chest as still as possible. Exhale through pursed lips and repeat.

Organization: Are you feeling overwhelmed with so much to do and so little time? Unclutter your life and get organized to take back control. Where do you start? You've got to have a plan. Create a list of the five most important tasks you need to complete for the day. Put the one you want to do the least at the top of the list to help prevent procrastination. It is human nature to delay things that make you feel uncomfortable. By accomplishing the difficult task first you set the tone for positive action and motivation the rest of the day.

Healthy Snacking: Eat healthy and eat often to control blood sugar levels. When you go long periods between meals, a hormone known as insulin spikes. This hormone controls how fast sugar enters your bloodstream after eating. Big surges in insulin occur when you wait too long between meals, which may increase stress on your body chemistry. You can get cravings and mood swings. Eating only three meals a day is insufficient for keeping this delicate balance of hormones in check. It is recommended that in addition to eating three regular meals a day, you mix in 2-3 healthy snacks. You will notice a renewed sense of energy and vitality as you provide your body and mind with the nutrition it needs.

Exercising: Get in shape and get out of stress; now there's a win-win proposition. Find an exercise you truly enjoy doing, not one you dread. Once you make it a part of your daily routine, it will become an integral part of your healthy lifestyle. Strive to get 20 minutes a day of some type of exercise. Walking is a great way to start. Get outside and enjoy the open air while at the same time clearing your mind. It can be an escape from all the chaos in your life. There is nothing like the calming effect of being around Mother Nature. Excess weight is also a stress on your body; regular exercise will help eliminate the pounds, improving your looks, your health and your state of mind.

Finding "Me Time": Take some solo time every morning before you start the day. Use this time to reflect on yesterday and plan out today's events. Set your alarm 15 minutes early and wake up to silence. Do not turn on the television or open the newspaper. You may find that problems which have plagued you suddenly become more manageable and put into perspective. When was the last time you sat in a room without white noise all around? Try it and see what happens. I have a feeling you will find it to be one of the most enjoyable moments of your day.

Try these stress busters for just one month and you can change your life. Even if you can't do all of them, start with a few and see how much less stress you have in your life. Talk to your doctor for other great ways to manage stress.

Building the Perfect Abs

It's important to understand that the rationale for abdominal training goes far beyond "looks." The increased strength and recruitment of the abdominal muscles will carry over into better posture and more body control, both in daily life and in sporting movements. Working the muscles you can't see -- the ones deep inside your core areas -- can be a difficult process, but target those areas and your whole body benefits. Not only will you look better, but you'll also have more strength and suffer fewer injuries.

Here's a great beginner routine for anyone who doesn't focus on their abs regularly or who hasn't exercised this area (or any area) of the body in awhile. Perform this routine at the end of your regular workout or as a stand-alone workout, 3-4 days a week. Start with six repetitions per exercise and build up to 15 reps each (except the plank - you can perform one set and increase your holding time, up to one minute). Complete the routine as a circuit, doing one set of each movement in succession and without resting. If that feels easy, try to perform the circuit a second time after a 90-second rest.

1. Single-Leg Abdominal Press: Lying on your back on a floor mat or a padded bench, touch your right palm to the right knee. Raise your right leg off the floor so your knee and hip are bent at 90-degree angles. Rest the right hand on top of your right knee. Push your hand forward while using your abdominal muscles to pull your knee toward your hand. Hold for three deep breaths and return to the start position.
Repeat this exercise using your left hand and left knee. Keep your arm straight and avoid bending more than 90 degrees at your hip.
2. Opposite Hand on Opposite Knee: Push your right hand against your left knee while pulling your knee toward your hand. You'll be pushing and pulling across the center of your body. Repeat this exercise using your other hand and leg. Hold for three deep breaths and return to the start position.
3. Hand on Outside of Knee: Raise your left leg off the floor so your knee and hip are bent at 90-degree angles. Place your left hand along the outside of your left knee. Use your hand to push your leg inward. At the same time, create resistance by pushing your knee away from the center. Keep the back flat. Repeat using your other hand and leg.
4. Opposite Hands on Opposite Knees: Place each hand on the opposite knee, toward the inside of each knee. Your arms will cross over each other. Push your hands against your knees and create resistance by pulling your knees in toward your hands. Hold and repeat.
5. Hands on Outside of Knees (right hand/right knee): Use your hands to push your legs in toward the center of your body. At the same time, create resistance by pushing your knees out. Hold and repeat.
6. Plank: Lie on your stomach. Raise yourself up so you're resting on your forearms and your knees. Keep your head and back in line and imagine your back as a tabletop. Align your shoulders directly above your elbows. Squeeze your core muscles. Create resistance by pressing your elbows and your knees toward one another. Neither should move from their positions on the floor. Hold for three deep breaths, then return to the start position and repeat.

Talk to your doctor before beginning any exercise program if you have an existing health condition that limits movement, or if you haven't really exercised before (or if it's been a long time). You want to make sure you're doing these exercises correctly, so ask your doctor to explain the precise movement if you're not absolutely sure. Then get started on your perfect abs one repetition at a time!

Chocolate: The Next Miracle Food?

Chocolate is rapidly becoming the next miracle food. If minimally processed, it contains the highest flavanol content of any food. Several research papers report striking effects from eating these "special" chocolates regularly, including that eating chocolate lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels, and lowers blood sugar. One of the most intriguing suggests chocolate even prevents sunburn.

The Kuna are a group of indigenous people living along the coast of Panama who for the most part live as their ancestors did, hunting and fishing. However, some have moved to Panama City. The Kuna stand out in the medical literature because they have no age-related increase in blood pressure; 60-year-olds have the same blood pressure as 20-year-olds - that is, as long as they stay out of Panama City.

In 2006, Harvard researchers explained the Kuna's apparent "immunity" to hypertension. Island-dwelling Kuna drink large quantities of flavanol-rich cocoa on a daily basis (5 cups or more) and incorporate it into numerous recipes. On the other hand, Kuna who live in the city consume far less cocoa, and what they do consume is commercially produced and thus has little flavanol content.

Chocolate also decreases blood markers of vascular inflammation and improves cholesterol levels. A 2008 paper published in the Southern Medical Journal reported that after one week of eating a daily dose of chocolate providing 700 mg of flavanols, subjects' low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (the "bad cholesterol") fell by 6 percent and their high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the "good cholesterol") rose by 9 percent.

But wait, there's more. London researchers gave chocolates to 30 healthy volunteers, half of whom ate a high-flavanol chocolate while the others ate a low-flavanol chocolate. A minimal erythema dose (MED), a measurement of how much sun exposure it takes to trigger a sunburn reaction, was calculated at the start of the experiment and again three months later. Volunteers who ate the regular chocolate had no change in sun sensitivity. But in those who ate the high-flavanol chocolate, the length of time it took for their skin to start to "burn" more than doubled. In other words, they could tolerate twice the sun exposure without burning as before they started eating the chocolate.

Two major companies claim to have figured out how to preserve the flavanols in chocolate. One is the Belgium chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut, who has developed a special refining process marketed under the brand name Acticoa. This brand of chocolate has been used in most of these recent research papers. Callebaut does not currently sell its chocolate in North America, though a rumor hints that it will introduce it to the U.S. market this summer.

The other company marketing high-flavanol chocolate is part of the Mars candy company and sells their product under the brand name CirkuHealth. This product line replaces Mars' older specialty brand called CocoaVia, which was manufactured and sold for about 10 years, but discontinued in 2009.

3 Steps to Losing Weight

When it comes to weight loss, too many people try too many quick fixes, only to find themselves right back where they started, searching for a permanent solution. That's because effective long-term weight loss has less to do with a specific "system" or piece of equipment and much more to do with adhering to some time-tested principles. Here are three to get you on your way:

1. Mindset. When it comes to getting in shape, too many people dive into a strict exercise and diet program without the proper mindset. That's why weight comes off, then comes back on, and why garages nationwide are littered with unused workout equipment. To lose weight permanently, you need to cultivate a don't-fail attitude and remember that health is a lifelong pursuit, not just a quick fix.

2. Movement. The more you move, the more calories you burn - that's a fact. The more calories you burn, the more weight you can potentially lose. Keep in mind that movement is really just that; you don't have to run for an hour on the treadmill or swim 500 laps to burn calories (although that will definitely work). Movement can be as simple as a daily walk, gardening, or playing with your kids.

3. Muscle. Not enough people appreciate the science behind lean muscle and weight loss. The more lean muscle you have, the more it works for you. The premise is simple: Muscle tissue uses more calories than fat tissue because it has a higher metabolic rate. That means if you build lean muscle, it will elevate your metabolism and burn calories - even when you're not working out. How great is that?

Cancer Defense: Think Nutrition

Cancer Defense: Think Nutrition

Everyone knows about the dreaded C word, and far too many have direct experience with it in one way or another. A diagnosis of cancer alone can send shock waves through an entire family, office or even a community.

And with cancer risk factors (carcinogenic foods, environmental hazards, sedentary lifestyles) on the rise, there's no better time to learn about a simple, painless step you can take to reduce your risk of developing cancer - or do your best to fight it if you've already been diagnosed. Yes, it's the power of nutrition - nature's best cancer defense.

According to Drs. Richard Beliveau and Denis Gringas, authors of Foods That Fight Cancer: Preventing Cancer Through Diet, research suggests that specific food-borne bioactive molecules can do the following in terms of cancer prevention:

Decrease free-radical damage to DNA, which is known to produce cancerous mutations;
Strengthen immune system function, as various immune cells are known to destroy cancer cells (e.g., macrophages and killer-T cells);
Inhibit angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels) of developing tumors;
Block key signal transduction pathways required for cancer cell replication;
Stimulate pathways that induce programmed cell death (known as apoptosis) of existing and emerging cancer cells;
Enhance detoxification, helping to neutralize and eliminate carcinogens in the body;
Promote cellular differentiation, which decreases the risk of healthy cells from becoming cancer cells;
Block the formation of dangerous nitrosamines (chemical compounds, some of which can cause cancer) in the body.
Here are some key anti-cancer foods for daily use as suggested by these two leading cancer researchers:

Brussels sprouts - ½ cup
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage - ½ cup
Garlic - 2 cloves
Onions, shallots - ½ cup
Spinach, watercress - ½ cup
Soy (edamame, dry roasted beans) - ½ cup
Freshly ground flaxseeds - 1 tablespoon
Tomato paste - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric - 1 teaspoon
Black pepper - ½ teaspoon
Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries - ½ cup
Dried cranberries - ½ cup
Grapes - ½ cup
Dark chocolate (70 percent cacao) - 40 g
Citrus juice - ½ cup
Green tea - three 250 ml servings
Red wine - 1 glass (5 ounces)
Talk to your doctor about the many benefits of proper nutrition. If you're not already eating these foods consistently, there's no better time than now.

Do You Know How to Breathe?

Well of course you do – after all, adults take anywhere from 17,000 to 30,000 breaths a day, on average, most of the time without even realizing they're doing it.

That said, you'll probably be surprised to discover that most people actually don't breathe correctly, at least not on a consistent basis. "Correctly" means breathing that maximizes oxygen exchange in the lower lobes of the lungs. More oxygen equals more nourishment for cells.

A structure called the diaphragm separates the heart, lungs and ribs (the thoracic cavity) from the abdominal cavity. As we inhale, the diaphragm contracts, enlarging the thoracic cavity and helping the lungs fill with oxygen. As the diaphragm relaxes, we exhale, forcing carbon dioxide out of the lungs. This is why correct breathing technique is referred to as "diaphragmatic breathing."

In more simple terms, ideal breathing is known as "abdominal" or "belly" breathing; it should engage the belly button, rather than the upper chest. Visually, if you're breathing properly, your lower belly will rise more than your chest.

So, how are you breathing? Find a quiet place and take a few slow, deep breaths, concentrating on letting your abdomen expand fully with incoming air. Place one hand just below your belly button; it should rise and fall about 1 inch with each breath. If you're breathing incorrectly, practice doing it the right way; proper breathing can aid in relaxation, reduce blood pressure and heart rate, and of course, help deliver the most oxygen to body tissues. Talk to your doctor for more information.

Alternative medicine goes mainstream

Alternative medicine has been around for centuries. In its early years, alternative medicine was limited to snake oil peddlers and gullible people. Even after alternative medicine demonstrated its ability to heal and affect ailments it was unable to break into the mainstream medical community. Over time however, alternative medicine has made great strides in being accepted in the medical community.

The FDA has been instrumental in validating the claims made by the alternative medicine industry. An example of this is the increase creation of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) by Congress as part of the National Institutes of Health. The budget in 1992 was $2 million and then increased to $114 million in 2003. Clearly, alternative medicine has arrived.

Consumers are following the FDA’s suit by choosing alternative medicine treatments. In fact, consumers are spending almost equal amounts of money on alternative medicine as they do for conventional treatments. In 2007, Americans made approximately 600 million visits to alternative health care providers. Almost half of those visits were to chiropractors and massage therapists.

Shift of responsibility from doctor to patient
Alternative medicine is typically sought out by the patient. The patient takes on the responsibility of researching the alternative treatment methods prior to discussing them with their doctor. Studies have shown that even in the instances where the physician was skeptical about the treatment, such as with cancer patients, the patient will decide to try it anyway.

Choosing Safe and Effective Alternative Therapies
It is recommended that you do your homework before choosing an alternative therapy treatment. You want to be sure that the treatment is effective and accepted by the medical community. With the advent of the internet, you can access case studies from the FDA and the American medical Association, which will provide an unbiased opinion.

Chiropractic treatment
For more than 50 years, the AMA was unwilling to endorse chiropractic medicine. Today, the AMA policy explicitly states that it is ethical for doctors to refer patients to chiropractors and for physicians to develop professional associations with doctors of chiropractic medicine. Because of the mainstream acceptance, the chiropractic field has grown substantially. Today, chiropractors are the third largest group of health care providers, after physicians and dentists.

Insurance Coverage for Alternative Medicine
Chiropractic treatment is, in general, a covered service on most health plans. Just as with other medical providers, chiropractors contract with networks of managed care and accept the fee schedule and treatment guidelines. The patient then pays a co-payment at each visit, or until the annual deductible is met.