Cold weather doesn’t necessarily cause us to get the cold says an article from CNN. This article separates fictitious rumors from accurate facts.
CNN tells us that the cold virus comes from contact. Certain things to look out for are sneezing, coughing, or if someone does those and then touches a doorknob that you in turn touch.
"You really have to actually catch the virus through a droplet from a person who's infected with the virus," said Dr. Sharon Bergquist, internal medicine specialist at the Emory University School of Medicine.
The reason the weather is a hazard is because it travels further. The lack of moisture in the air allows the droplets to stay in the air for a longer period of time compared to when it’s warmer outside.
We tend to spend more time indoors when it’s cold outside causing closer proximity to others who are sick, says the article.
Preventing infection from the cold can be as easy as washing your hands. If you have the cold cough into your elbow and wash your hands more frequently. Sleep is also a major factor in the cold virus says the article; you should get seven hours or more.
Chanelle Jepson
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/02/16/cold.flu.myths/index.html
Friday, February 18, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Short Equadorians May Avoid Cancer Because of Their Height
While being short could be in inconvenience in some aspects it might not be in avoiding cancer and diabetes said a CNN article. There was a 22-year study of 99 Ecuadorians who were of severe short stature. These 99 patients had a genetic mutation that caused their heights to be no higher then 4-feet tall.
The 22-year study was published Wednesday in the Science Transitional Medicine journal. The study showed that only one patient got cancer and after treatment was cancer-free. The article stated that the mechanisms that stunted their growth could be preventing them from getting cancer and diabetes.
The article says that they looked at the detailed death information of 53 severely short people and found that there was no evidence of cancer or diabetes related deaths.
Short people might be less likely to get cancer and diabetes but that doesn’t mean their life expectancy will be longer, the article says. The mutation in these patients differs from dwarfism. This is specific to their mutation and not all severely short people.
The 22-year study was published Wednesday in the Science Transitional Medicine journal. The study showed that only one patient got cancer and after treatment was cancer-free. The article stated that the mechanisms that stunted their growth could be preventing them from getting cancer and diabetes.
The article says that they looked at the detailed death information of 53 severely short people and found that there was no evidence of cancer or diabetes related deaths.
Short people might be less likely to get cancer and diabetes but that doesn’t mean their life expectancy will be longer, the article says. The mutation in these patients differs from dwarfism. This is specific to their mutation and not all severely short people.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Why Diets Don't Work
I have tried every diet there is. I’ve tried Akins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Vegan, vegetarianism, organic, body cleansing, and Nutrisystem. The thing I have found over the years is I always gain the weight that I lose back and sometimes even more.
The classic binge before a diet seems to be where I fail. I eat my weight in food because I imagine myself starving and being miserable during a diet. So it’s possible for me to gain an entire pound the night before a diet. Which if the diet ends up only working for a couple days then I just gained a pound and never lost anything. Do this a couple times and you have a serious problem
As I’ve kept a diet journal I’ve noticed habits that I have. When I’m on my menstrual cycle or about a week before I eat a lot of junk food. When I’m stressed I eat, or bored. I also tend to eat late at night if I’ve stayed up doing homework. Diets don’t put all of these situations in there. They don’t account for cravings, parties, or eating out.
All fad diets take away something. Of course if you take away a food-group then you’ll lose the weight because you are losing the calories associated with that food. Atkins calls for you to get rid of carbs. Your body goes into ketosis, which causes your body to break down muscle as long as fat. You need muscle. One pound of muscle actually burns almost double the calories that a pound of fat would burn. Ketosis is our body’s way of dealing with starvation. Instead of burning glucose it burns fat but then moves on to muscle.
Diets mess with our metabolisms. They cause irregular eating habits that aren’t practical for long term. Every food has something that your body needs and if you cut it out then you aren’t giving your body what it needs. We need every part of the food pyramid and it’s essential that we don’t cut anything out. Moderation is what is key. What we eat is important but also how much and how often we eat is important.
Diets tend to lower the caloric intake by a significant amount. This leads the body to feel as if it’s in “starvation mode.” The body then stores everything you eat as body fat. It’s our body’s way of coping. Our body thinks it has to do this in order to survive what it thinks will be a famine. Honestly most diets are a famine. Then instead of burning fat it pulls from our muscle in order to survive. This causes people to lose weight but not body fat. Muscle is denser than fat so as you lose weight in pounds you will expand in circumference. Your metabolism will decrease as you lose muscle. Not only does starvation make you lose muscle but so does age so you get hit on two sides.
When you go off the diet you will naturally start to consume more calories. This increase in calories would lead to weight gain because your body would have already adapted to the lower caloric intake. Also because of putting your body through starvation your metabolism would be decreased. This decrease would make it hard for your body to metabolize the increased caloric amount. Researchers at UCLA in 2007 found that “Diets Are Not the Answer.” They did a study on effective obesity treatments. One of the conclusions was that dieters regained the weight. A quote from the study say that “Studies show that one third to two thirds of dieters regain more weight than they lost on their diets.” The study also said “It appears that dieters who manage to sustain a weight loss are the rare exception, rather than the rule. Dieters who gain back more weight than they lost may very well be the norm, rather than an unlucky minority.”
While diets seem to mess with our body it also messes with our minds. When you feel depraved of something then you will focus on that food. The more you focus on that food the more likely it is that you will cave and eat it. This set back usually isn’t small. When someone gives into a craving it’s usually severe which causes a serious set back to weight loss. Large binges will cause weight gain.
In the end all a diet does is causes stress, a feeling of losing control, weight gain, a slowed metabolism, decreased muscle, fatigue, and an unhappy person. Diets aren’t the way to go. Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet accompanied with exercise is the only sure way to gain control over a healthy weight. You will get out what you put in. Effort, consistency, and hard work is what will get you results, there are no quick fixes.
The classic binge before a diet seems to be where I fail. I eat my weight in food because I imagine myself starving and being miserable during a diet. So it’s possible for me to gain an entire pound the night before a diet. Which if the diet ends up only working for a couple days then I just gained a pound and never lost anything. Do this a couple times and you have a serious problem
As I’ve kept a diet journal I’ve noticed habits that I have. When I’m on my menstrual cycle or about a week before I eat a lot of junk food. When I’m stressed I eat, or bored. I also tend to eat late at night if I’ve stayed up doing homework. Diets don’t put all of these situations in there. They don’t account for cravings, parties, or eating out.
All fad diets take away something. Of course if you take away a food-group then you’ll lose the weight because you are losing the calories associated with that food. Atkins calls for you to get rid of carbs. Your body goes into ketosis, which causes your body to break down muscle as long as fat. You need muscle. One pound of muscle actually burns almost double the calories that a pound of fat would burn. Ketosis is our body’s way of dealing with starvation. Instead of burning glucose it burns fat but then moves on to muscle.
Diets mess with our metabolisms. They cause irregular eating habits that aren’t practical for long term. Every food has something that your body needs and if you cut it out then you aren’t giving your body what it needs. We need every part of the food pyramid and it’s essential that we don’t cut anything out. Moderation is what is key. What we eat is important but also how much and how often we eat is important.
Diets tend to lower the caloric intake by a significant amount. This leads the body to feel as if it’s in “starvation mode.” The body then stores everything you eat as body fat. It’s our body’s way of coping. Our body thinks it has to do this in order to survive what it thinks will be a famine. Honestly most diets are a famine. Then instead of burning fat it pulls from our muscle in order to survive. This causes people to lose weight but not body fat. Muscle is denser than fat so as you lose weight in pounds you will expand in circumference. Your metabolism will decrease as you lose muscle. Not only does starvation make you lose muscle but so does age so you get hit on two sides.
When you go off the diet you will naturally start to consume more calories. This increase in calories would lead to weight gain because your body would have already adapted to the lower caloric intake. Also because of putting your body through starvation your metabolism would be decreased. This decrease would make it hard for your body to metabolize the increased caloric amount. Researchers at UCLA in 2007 found that “Diets Are Not the Answer.” They did a study on effective obesity treatments. One of the conclusions was that dieters regained the weight. A quote from the study say that “Studies show that one third to two thirds of dieters regain more weight than they lost on their diets.” The study also said “It appears that dieters who manage to sustain a weight loss are the rare exception, rather than the rule. Dieters who gain back more weight than they lost may very well be the norm, rather than an unlucky minority.”
While diets seem to mess with our body it also messes with our minds. When you feel depraved of something then you will focus on that food. The more you focus on that food the more likely it is that you will cave and eat it. This set back usually isn’t small. When someone gives into a craving it’s usually severe which causes a serious set back to weight loss. Large binges will cause weight gain.
In the end all a diet does is causes stress, a feeling of losing control, weight gain, a slowed metabolism, decreased muscle, fatigue, and an unhappy person. Diets aren’t the way to go. Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet accompanied with exercise is the only sure way to gain control over a healthy weight. You will get out what you put in. Effort, consistency, and hard work is what will get you results, there are no quick fixes.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Working More Might Be Causing Your Children Weigh More!
Children could weigh more if their mothers work more, an article says. There were many results from the study that this article quotes. Working mothers could be in a rush making them have to rely on quick options such as fast food or restaurants.
The CNN article states that lower income homes have poorer food choices. This news was upsetting to moms who are forced to work. CNN interviewed Susan Wenner Jackson, who blogs about working mothers. She is upset about the studies results.
She said "I get sick of all these studies coming out that seem to say being a working mom equals harming your children," she said. "I've seen a bunch of them -- the kids don't get as much attention, they aren't good readers."
"I don't know how valuable these results are. They're not giving me anything."
There are many reasons why children’s obesity rate is on the climb. Mothers who work usually have to and that studies need to find a way to help those mothers balance career and family life.
Chanelle Jepson
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/02/04/children.bmi.moms/index.html?hpt=Sbin
The CNN article states that lower income homes have poorer food choices. This news was upsetting to moms who are forced to work. CNN interviewed Susan Wenner Jackson, who blogs about working mothers. She is upset about the studies results.
She said "I get sick of all these studies coming out that seem to say being a working mom equals harming your children," she said. "I've seen a bunch of them -- the kids don't get as much attention, they aren't good readers."
"I don't know how valuable these results are. They're not giving me anything."
There are many reasons why children’s obesity rate is on the climb. Mothers who work usually have to and that studies need to find a way to help those mothers balance career and family life.
Chanelle Jepson
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/02/04/children.bmi.moms/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Thursday, February 3, 2011
USDA Has New Guidelines
USDA came out with new guidelines on Monday lowering the recommended salt intake amount but not all are created equal, an article by CNN Health says. This new guideline is targeted at African-American, people over the age of 51, and people who have diabetes, kidney problems, and those with a history of hypertension. Their salt intake is slightly over half of a teaspoon where as for everyone else it has remained at about a teaspoon of salt.
Cutting back on salt may be difficult for most since salt content is high in processed foods and pre-packaged foods the article states. The article suggests cooking at home in order to cut back on the salt is something doable for most if not all Americans.
"The new guidelines recognize that obesity is the No. 1 public health nutrition problem in America and actually gives good advice about what to do about it: eat less and eat better," said Marion Nestle, a professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University said to CNN.
The amount of alcohol was changed to one drink a day for women and two a day for men.
The article said that we need to reduce our intake of calories from solid fats and added sugars and also cut back on refined grains.
CNN stated in their article “That for the first time, the guidelines make it clear that eating less is a priority.”
Chanelle Jepson
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/31/dietary.guildelines/index.html
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