Dirty Duz

You pay a little extra for organic foods, but ever wonder which organic foods are really WORTH the extra bucks?

First off, do you know why you're even buying organic? Sounds healthy, right?

Organic foods are grown under strict USDA-regulated standards without pesticides, antibiotics or genetically altered organisms.Some foods are waste of money to buy organic, such as soda (why drink that anyways?).

But, there's a little known list called the "Dirty Dozen";

12 foods that contain more pesticides than others, and are recommended to buy organic:

1. Apples
2. Blueberries
3. Bell Peppers

4. Celery
5. Cheeries
6. Grapes
7. Lettuce
8. Nectarines
9. Peaches
10. Potatoes
11. Strawberries
12. Spinach, kale, collard greens

These foods were found to have 47-67 pesticides per serving by the Environmental Working Group.

Purchase these foods organic and you know you are getting a cleaner product.

Check the label and look for 100% organic or this symbol:

100% organic= made with all organic ingredients

Organic= made with atleast 95% organic ingredients

Made with organic ingredients= made with atleast 70% organic ingredients

Foods with a thick, tough skin or outer layer have less pesticides, such as watermelon, banana, grapefruit, eggplant, onions, avocados, asparagus, pineapples, and corn. These foods you can feel safer about buying non-organic.

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KFC's changing fast food history with its artery-clogging "Double-Down" sandwich...

GahROSS.

The sandwich features bacon and cheeses slobbered between two fried chicken patties. Seriously?

 You be the judge if it's worth it:

540 calories, 32 grams fat (10 saturated), 1380 grams sodium (!?)

Oh, don't worry- they sell it "grilled" as well for only 80 calories less..wippeee.

bottom line: dont do it!

Have Ya Heard?

If you checked out the New York Times today, imbedded deep in the Health Care Legislation is a new law requiring every chain restaurant with more than 20 locations to clearly post calorie/nutrition info on drive-thru signs and menus. These restaurants have about a year to get this done.
New York is already known to do this, and now Obama would like the rest of the country to catch up. How do you feel about actually knowing how many calories your favorite fast food meal is putting a dent in your daily intake? Would you rather just NOT KNOW? Perhaps not knowing is a blessing in some sense, but I think it's fair to say that we should have the option to know to make wiser decisions about our eating habits. I don't think it will make a big difference in the obesity epidemic, as there are several factors contributing to it, but atleast people will be more aware of how much they are eating!

Lets Move!

Whether you voted for Obama or not, who can help but to applaud his leading lady in her efforts to fight childhood obesity. She initiated Lets Move:an organization targeted to combat childhood obesity by providing healthier school meals and educating American parents and children.

Find out for yourself by checking out the website!

"To help meet the goal of increasing the number of schools that meet the Challenge, major school food suppliers have agreed to meet the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations within five years to decrease the amount of sugar, fat and salt in school meals; increase whole grains; and double the amount of produce they serve within 10 years"

"Recently, the Administration unveiled its plans to enhance the nutrition and wellness of tens of millions of school children through the updating of the Child Nutrition Act and announced a proposed increase in the federal budget of $1 billion per year for the next ten years to improve the quality of school meals, increase the number of kids participating, and make sure schools have the resources they need to make changes"

(May seem like a lot, but think of the billions of dollars we will be saving on healthcare! )

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Women, Heart Disease, and Stats

Check out this page on Statistics. They are quite motivating. Think of all the important women in your life.

The numbers tell all!

If you're too busy to read the whole thing, I'll recap some of the info:

More than 1/3 of adult females has Cardiovascular Disease.

Since '84, the # of cardio disease for females has exceeded those for males (i mean, i know we exceed in a lot of things, but this shouldn't be one of them!)

Females represent 52.1% of deaths from CVD.

This year an estimated 515,000 women will have a new and recurrent MI and fatal CHD (please don't let this be you!)

64% percent of women who died suddenly of CHD had no previous symptoms. (FHS, NHLBI) OK, WHAT!?

About 370,000 will have a new and recurrent MI. (ARIC [1987–2004], NHLBI)

Women account for about 6 in 10 stroke deaths.

Pop Quiz Answer: Know your US states

I know you've been anxiously waiting...


What US state has the lowest percentage of obesity?


B. COLORADO! 18.9% are obese
    do you think its from all that skiing and hiking?


What US state has the highest percentage of obesity?


D. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I! 32.5% are obese
    Alabama came in a close second with 31.2%
    southern fried...

Source

More reasons to EXERCISE

You've heard it over & over again that you should exercise, but sometimes you get lost in your daily schedule to make it important.

BEEN THERE.

I am not obsessive about exercising, but I do try to make it important. If I don't have time to go to the gym, I simply do a 20 minute Comcast On-Demand video (under exercise section on demand), or make my own little routine up (jumping jacks, sit ups, lunges, bicep curls, arm raises/shoulder presses/push ups). All you need is a little bit of space and 2 dumbells (i have a set of 8#ers).

Maybe being reminded of the benefits of exercise might motivate you? Exercise:

1. Creates New Brain Cells.

    Ya know, your brain is a muscle too. Exercise increases blood flow to the

    brain & stimulates the growth of new brain cells.

Aerobics is still cool: pull out the ol' 80's gear: aerobic activity(run, jog, walk at fast pace, bicycling, stairmaster, elliptical) increases the supply of a  protein called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factors) which protects
brain neurons and promotes growth of new nerve cells related to MEMORY
and learning. In rats and mice, aerobic exercise improves spatial memory. The
same is true for people- spatial memory is important in finding your way or
knowing what goes where. Having difficulty remembering why you walked into a room, or where your keys are--Are you exercising enough??

2. Prevents Visceral Fat Gain    Remember this post?
    In '05 Slentz and his collegues reported that sedentary overweight men and women who followed an
    exercise program equal to 30 min. walks 6X/week for 8 months stopped gaining visceral fat. If they
    increased their workouts they lost the fat.
    Keep exercising to avoid gaining MORE visceral fat AND to maybe even lose it!

3. Boost Insulin Sensitivity
    Insulin is a hormone that allows blood sugar (from food) to enter the cells to be used as energy or stored.
    If you become 'insensitive' or resistant to insulin, blood sugars can increase, leading to heart
    disease and diabetes. When you exercise, your body becomes more sensitive to insulin, basically meaning
    it uses it better! Both aerobic and stregnth training increase the number of GLUT4 proteins-which move
    glucose into cells. The more GLUT4's you have, the better your cells respond to insulin.

4. Puts a smile on depression
    Those who are active are actually 15-25% less likely to be
  dianosed with depression, and people with depression-constant
  exercise improves symptoms! You can thank your serotonin!

Last but not least. You should exercise....

5. Because sitting can 'KILL' you!?
    Uh-huh. How many people just stood up after reading that sentence?
    According to an epidemiologist at the Pennington Biomed Center in LA, people who sit a lot for most of
    their days have higher mortality rates EVEN if they are physically active during another part of their day.
    EHHHHHH
    In a study of 17, 000 Canadians after 12 years:

•     20% of 'all day' sitters died
•     12% of '1/2 day' sitters died
•      6% of 'almost never' sitters died

   Just standing, versus sitting, activates the muscles, improves blood flow and may change your metabolism.

Are you stuck in a cubicle all day?? Get up every half an hour and   stretch, you can even squeeze in some chair arm lifts, squats, and jumping jacks!! And don't give up on working out after or before work!

Bottom Line: Exercise is good for you in a lot of ways. Just Do It (thanks Nike) and stop procrastinating. You will have better memory & exercise your brain, decrease your chances of heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, and you will also be hot doing it :)


Data/some info from Nutrition Action Newsletter, Dec.2009

Belly Jelly vs Bootylicious

Which is better to have: fat around the belly or fat around the thighs and buttocks?

Studies show that pear-shaped  individuals actually have a decreased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases compared to apple-shaped individuals.

Pear shaped:

Fat stored in the hips and thighs is subcutaneous fat, and acts as an energy storage. Fat in these areas have been shown to store harmful fatty acids (away from the heart).

Apple shaped:

 The most dangerous fat is stored INSIDE the belly (\abdominal, or visceral fat) embedded between & around organs. It can even feel hard to the touch in the protruding belly.
Visceral fat releases hormones and inflammatory markers, all contributing to diseases such as insulin resistance (diabetes), cancer, high blood pressure, and stroke. The position of this fat makes it easy for the chemicals it releases to affect nearby organs (especially the liver, where the fat drains, gaaross!)  

Bottom line: it ain't good.

Excess abdominal fat is an INDEPENDENT risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Scary.

It gets worse. Big belly's even increase the risk of dementia (doubles the risk).

Craziness! I wasn't completely convinced so I searched for an actual study and found one: the subjects in this study who had higher abdominal diameters had a 3X increased risk of dementia.

Dementia, for those who are not familiar with it, is a very sad and sometimes debilitating condition that occurs generally in the older population. Basically, loss of brain function (and therefore life function) and memory occur. Having worked in many different nursing homes with many people with dementia, this one really breaks my heart. 


Differences in men & women:

Fortunately, for us ladies, we are more prone to have pear-shapes thanks to our eStRoGeN friends, and men are more likely to store fat in the bellies. HOWEVER, a woman's body generally shifts during menopause to cause more fat storage in the belly area. Bummmerrrrr..
This model doesn't fit every man and woman either.

What to do about a spare tire?
Crunches aren't the magic answer. They might strengthen the abdominal muscles, but they won't make the fat disappear. Take a guess what will?
Total body weight loss via a healthy diet (rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy/meat/poultry) and of course our dear friend exercise.

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO START taking care of yourself. 


Not sure if your belly is too big??
Follow this rule:
For women its healthier to have a waist LESS than 35"
For men: keep the beer belly LESS than 40"
* you will need a cloth or plastic measuring tape..don't have one? use a string or ribbon, mark where the top of the string meets around your midsection, and then measure the string with a ruler or yard stick.
** measure slightly above the belly button



This article in 'USA today' sparked this convo. To read the actual article in the International Journal of Obesity, you need to pay $$...boooo..

Inspired yet hungry?

Maybe have an apple or a pear to start?

Another reason to NOT drink soda

even diet soda....

A recent study in the International Journal of Food Microbiology explained that 48% of 90 different beverages (diet soda, soda, water) from 30 soda fountains were found to contain:
Coliform:a bacteria found in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals. yum.

11% contained E-Coli (most are harmless in healthy people)
> 17% contained Chryseobacterium meningosepticum

The study points out the amount found is not enough to cause significant illness (maybe just some gastic distress, great for a 1st dates), but suggests immunocompromised (sick) people may be at greater risk for health-related consequences.

AWESOME.
Actually, not. The fact that these little bugs are flourishing in fountains begs me to ask, what else is roaming around in America's favorite fountain drinks?
EEEKKK!

Happy Monday Everyone (maybe get a bottled water with your lunch today???)