Potato chips, french fries and the scale going up

It was and still our biggest weakness of our emotional history and sweetest smelling and tasting memory. I found this latest research which I would highly recommend you to read it because it inlight us how to be careful not to lead our kids into weight gain over the years. I will put the article as it is:

"Eating more potato chips and French fries is likely to lead to a bigger weight gain over the years than the weight change associated with eating more of other foods, new research indicates.

The study, from the New England Journal of Medicine, stands out because it quantifies how much weight a person is likely to gain or lose over four years based on one additional daily serving of a range of specific foods. Eating more potatoes correlated with a gain of 1.28 pounds, with French fries in particular associated with a 3.35-pound gain.

There isn't much comprehensive research into specific diet and lifestyle factors behind the creeping weight gain—about a pound a year—the average adult experiences.

The authors say their study points to a different kind of dietary advice for avoiding extra pounds associated with aging. "This suggests that the path to eating fewer calories is not simply to count calories, but to focus on consuming a more healthy diet in general," the study's lead author, Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor in the department of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in an email.

The Harvard researchers looked at three separate long-term studies covering 120,877 women and men who weren't obese and who were healthy when the studies began. (They were mostly white, educated and in the U.S.) Scientists analyzed periodic lifestyle and diet questionnaires the participants filled out over the years and identified items associated with weight gain or loss.

This type of study can't definitively say that certain foods cause weight changes. But it found one additional daily serving of potato chips was associated with a 1.69-pound gain; sugary drinks, processed meat and red meat were associated with about a one-pound gain. Eating more fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains and yogurt correlated with slight weight loss over four years. Big jumps in physical activity were associated with smaller weight gains, and increased TV-viewing with bigger gains.

Marion Nestle, New York University professor of nutrition and public health, expressed surprise that potato products were linked with more weight gain than desserts like cake, cookies and doughnuts, which contribute the most calories to the American diet, other research shows. She says she suspects people who eat potato chips and fries also tend to eat too much in general, making these foods markers for a diet leading to weight gain.

In a statement, the American Beverage Association said that the industry is committed to anti-obesity efforts, noting several other foods were associated with bigger weight gains than sugar-sweetened drinks. The National Potato Council was unavailable for comment. A Frito-Lay spokesman had no comment.

—Shalini Ramachandran contributed to this article.

One additional daily serving of potato chips was associated with a 1.69-pound gain.

Grape Seed May Ward Off Alzheimer's

I found out this artical and I am quoting as it is:
Grape seed contains natural antioxidants called polyphenols that may help ward off Alzheimer's Disease, according to researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City who write about their findings in a paper about to be published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Previous studies have suggested that the small soluble clusters of A-beta protein, called "oligomers", found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's, are what poison brain cells and cause the memory loss associated with the disease. They also have the same effect in mice bred to develop Alzheimer's.

Previous research has also shown that grape seed polyphenolic extract (GSPE) stops A-beta oligomers being formed in "test tubes", and it also reduces cognitive impairment and the characteristic brain degeneration seen in mice bred to develop Alzheimer's Disease.

For this study, Dr Giulio Maria Pasinetti, The Saunder Family Professor in Neurology, and Professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and colleagues, teamed up with researchers from the University of Minnesota, led by Dr Karen Hsiao Ashe.

For five months, theyy gave GSPE to transgenic mice bred to develop Alzheimer's Disease. After this time, they found the mice's brains had significantly reduced levels of A-beta*56, a specific form of A-beta oligomer previously implicated in the promotion of Alzheimer's disease memory loss. But levels of other A-beta compounds remained unchanged.

Thus they concluded that GSPE was a safe, low-cost intervention that can selectively lower levels of memory-impairing A-beta oligomer in live subjects, and "strongly suggest that GSPE should be further tested as a potential prevention and/or therapy for AD [Alzheimer's Disease]".

Pasinetti told the press that:

"Since naturally occurring polyphenols are also generally commercially available as nutritional supplements and have negligible adverse events even after prolonged periods of treatment, this new finding holds significant promise as a preventive method or treatment, and is being tested in translational studies in Alzheimer's disease patients."

Red wine also contains a lot of grape-derived polyphenols.

However, Pasinetti and colleagues emphasized that before we can use these polyphenols, we first have to identify a biomarker of disease that would identify who might be at high risk for developing Alzheimer's.

"It will be critical to identify subjects who are at high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, so that we can initiate treatments very early and possibly even in asymptomatic patients," explained Pasinetti.

But he also said patients who are already in the first stages of the disease may also benefit from early intervention with such a treatment.

Funds from the National Institutes of Health helped pay for the study and Pasinetti is a named inventor of a pending patent application related to the study of Alzheimer's disease, and would benefit from a share of the proceeds should a license be granted.

"Grape Seed Polyphenolic Extract Specifically Decreases A[beta]*56 in the Brains of Tg2576 Mice."Peng Liu, Lisa J. Kemper, Jun Wang, Kathleen R. Zahs, Karen H. Ashe, Giulio M. Pasinetti
JAD 2011, Volume 26, Number 4, IN PRESS

Bigger Bites Means Eating Less, So Go For A Bigger Fork

Ok for a long period of time we are used to hear that to eat less and have good figure you have to eat with small fork so that it limits your appetite. It seems recent researches are showing that it was wrong myth. So it is nice to always update ourselves to keep up our high expectations of ourselves. Enjoy the article.
The larger your fork and the bigger your bite when you eat, the less you will probably end up eating when you are in a restaurant, say researchers from the University of Utah in the Journal of Consumer Research. They used two sizes of forks in a popular Italian restaurant to measure how much people ate, and found that the participants who used the larger forks ate less than those with smaller ones.

Authors Arul Mishra, Himanshu Mishra, and Tamara M. Masters wrote:

"In this research we examined the influence of small versus large bite-sizes on overall quantity of food consumed."
They then set out to determine why their findings went against other studies that had focused on portion sizes.
The researchers wrote:"We observe that diners visit the restaurant with a well-defined goal of satiating their hunger and because of this well-defined goal they are willing to invest effort and resources to satiate their hunger goal."
A diner is able to satisfy his/her hunger by selecting, consuming and paying for their food. All these steps require an investment of effort on their part.
Arul Mishra said:
"The fork size provided the diners with a means to observe their goal progress. The physiological feedback of feeling full or the satiation signal comes with a time lag. In its absence diners focus on the visual cue of whether they are making any dent on the food on their plate to assess goal progress."
In order to test this supposition, they altered the quantities of food. They found that when presented with a plate loaded with food, those with large forks ate considerably less than those with small ones.
However, the amount of food consumed was not influenced by fork size when they were given small servings.
When they tried this out with volunteers in a laboratory, their results were the opposite - those with small forks ate less than the ones with the larger forks. The researchers think this is because the people in the lab did not have the same hunger satiating goals as the individuals in the restaurant.
We need to have a better understanding of hunger cues if we want to avoid overeating, they added.
They wrote"People do not have clear internal cues about the appropriate quantity to consume. They allow external cues, such as fork size, to determine the amount they should consume."

The Connection between Thoughts and the Body

The human mind is powerful and has the ability to impact bodily processes. Individuals who experience persistent depression, stress, worry and sadness often suffer from a weakened immune system and a wide range of health problems, including heart disease and high blood pressure. Thoughts are powerful. They affect your heart rate. When you are embarrassed or scared, for example, your face might turn red, your heart might beat faster and your body temperature might increase. These are all indications that your mind and body are interconnected.

Conversely, positive thoughts can create healing effects in your body. A daily practice of meditation, for example, has been known to reduce stress and increase the body's relaxation and general sense of well being. Meditation lowers the heart rate. It also reduces cortisol levels, which are stress hormones that can harm your body. Meditation has also been known to reduce blood pressure and improve breathing patterns.

Using the Power of Thought to Increase Health

One of the simplest ways to use the power of thought to impact your physical health is to become aware of your thoughts. Meditation as a regimented daily practice is a useful approach. Choose a time of day when your surroundings are quiet and free of distractions. Devoting just 10 minutes a day to this practice can make a difference. Sit quietly and focus on your breath. Breathe normally and relax your body as much as possible. When thoughts enter your mind, simply notice them and let them pass. The goal is to clear your mind and access a sense of stillness and presence.

As you go about your day, pay attention to your thoughts. When you experience stress or frustration, ask yourself what thoughts you are having. For example, if your child is taking too long to get ready in the morning, causing you frustration, stop and examine your thoughts. It may be that you are worried you will be late for work and your boss will be upset with you. Try to replace the thought with something more positive. Think about all of the quality work that you have done in the past for the company and how being a few minutes late might not make a difference in the bigger picture.

Positive Thoughts and Your Workout

Positive thoughts are energizing. When you develop the habit of thinking good thoughts, you will often find yourself empowered to do more with your day. This extends to your workout regimen. People who are depressed have a difficult time sticking to a regular exercise routine. When you consciously control your thoughts, replacing negative mental commentary with positive thoughts, you might find that you have extra energy to work out every day.

CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISES

Cardiovascularexercise decrease your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and other life-threatening disease.

This type of exercise is called "aerobic" which means with oxygen. Involves steady, continuous motion of the large muscles which places a large and continuous energy demand on the heart, Should be intensive enough to raise and sustain your heartbeat to a target heart range of (60 - 80%) for at least 20-30min. minimum 3 times a week.
Check with health care professional if you are.
- Smoker
- Suffer from a chronic medical condition
- Have a personal or family history of heart disease.

The Benefit of Cardiovascular Exercises
It can burn a lot of calories
One of the benefits of cardiovascular exercise is that it is a good way to burn calories. Still, to lose weight with cardiovascular exercise - you need to do it for longer periods of time and more frequently to lose weight. It is best to try and both decrease your caloric intake and start a cardiovascular exercise program at the same time.
Can raise you metabolic rateSome studies have shown that with regular cardiovascular exercise your resting metabolic level will increase. This is one way in which it can help you to lose weight.
Decreases Risk of cardiovascular diseaseSome research suggests that even just walking 20 minutes, three times a week and can lower your risk of heart diseases

Types of Cardiovascular Exercise
There many types of cardiovascular exercise. Cardiovascular exercise is something that involves using the larger muscles like your legs. So as you can imagine there are many different way to do this. They can be divided up into a number of different categories. Indoors and outdoors exercise and with or without special exercise equipment.
Outside Cardiovascular Exercise
This includes running, walking, jogging, bicycling, jump-roping, swimming and some types of skiing
Indoor Cardiovascular Exercise The indoor types of cardiovascular exercise include using treadmills, stationary bicycles, stairclimbers, rowing machines, elliptical trainers and ladder climbers.

You may have noticed from the list above that for the most part the types of cardiovascular exercises you can do outside tend to be the ones that do not need any kind of special equipment. That is true for the most part. However, even when running or walking you should make sure that you wear the right kind of shoes - or you may injure your feet. Also, when bicyling you should wear a helmet. And of course, you need a jump rope to be able to go jump-roping!

For the most part though the indoor equipment is kind of expensive stuff. You may want to try some yard sales to see if you can find some of that equipment cheaper there first.

But, overall there are still many different types of cardiovascular exercise. What is best for one person may not be for another, depending upon your needs.

SHIN SPLITS

What are shin splints?
The term shin splints is a name often given to any pain at the front of the lower leg. However, true shin splints symptoms occur at the front inside of the shin bone and can arise from a number of causes.
- Pain over the inside lower half of the shin.
- Pain at the start of exercise which often eases as the session continues
- Pain often returns after activity and may be at its worse the next morning.
- Sometimes some swelling.
- Lumps and bumps may be felt when feeling the inside of the shin bone.
- Pain when the toes or foot are bent downwards.
- A redness over the inside of the shin (not always present).

Causes

Shin splints can be caused by a number of factors which are mainly:

          Overpronation of the feet           Oversupination of the feet

Inadequate footwear
Increasing training too quickly
Running on hard surfaces
Decreased flexibility at the ankle joint

Shin Splints Treatment

Treatment for shin splints is as simple as reducing pain and inflammation, identifying training and biomechanical problems which may have helped cause the injury initially, restoring muscles to their original condition and gradually returning to training.

What can the athlete do about shin splints?

Rest to allow the injury to heal.
Apply
Stretch the muscles of the lower leg. In particular the tibialis posterior which is associated with shin splints.
Wear
Maintain fitness with other non weight bearing exercises such as swimming, cycling or running in water.
Apply heat and use a heat retainer or shin and calf support after the initial acute stage and particularly before training. This can provide support and compression to the lower leg helping to reduce the strain on the muscles. It will also retain the natural heat which causes blood vessels to dilate and increases the flow of blood to the tissues to aid healing.ice or cold therapy in the early stages, particularly when it is very painful. Cold therapy reduces pain and inflammation. shock absorbing insoles in shoes. This helps reduce the shock on the lower leg. Prevention of shin splints
Increase training gradually.
Do not run too often on hard surfaces. You can do more training if you run off-road.
Avoid running a lot on your toes. Not easy if you are a sprinter but varying the training surface can help. Ensure you have the correct footwear and that it is not too old. A pair of running shoes will have lost most of their cushioning after 400 miles. If you run few miles but your shoes are over 6 months old then they still may need replacing.
Check you do not over pronate. See a podiatrist or Sports injury therapist / Physiotherapist that can assess this.
Continue to stretch properly - especially the muscles at the back of the lower leg.
Get a regular sports massage. This will help keep the muscles of the lower leg supple and in good condition.
Apply ice to the shin after training. This may help keep inflammation down before it gets bad.
Wear a shock absorbing insole. Strengthening the muscles of the lower leg can begin after the initial painful, inflamed phase has passed. Strengthening should be a gradual process and exercises should always be pain free.
Toe raises are a good starting point when looking to strengthen the shin muscles. Start with only a few repetitions and gradually increase the numbers.- The patient should be sat with both feet flat on the floor.
- Keeping the heel on the ground, the patient should lift the rest of the foot up as high as possible.
- Hold for a couple of seconds before slowly returning the foot back to the floor
- Repeat 10-20 times and increase to performing 2-3 sets.
To strengthen all of the lower leg muscles, perform calf raises. These can initially be performed both legs together before being progressed to single leg only.
Calf raise

- Stand with the feet should width apart and knees straight. Make sure you have something to hold on to.
- Lift the heels off the floor as high as possible and slowly return to the floor.Progress on to one foot only
- This can be progressed even further by standing on a step with the heel off the back and lower the heel down past the level of the step.
Walking the length of a room either on the toes or on the heels will help to strengthen the calf and shin muscles respectively. Make sure you do this slowly and under complete control.
Resisted dorsiflexion Dorsiflexion is the ankle movement where the toes are pointed towards the ceiling. To progress in strengthening the shin muscles resistance should be used in the form of either pressure from a partner, or even easier, a resistance band.
The patient should be sat on the floor with both legs straight.
Loop the middle of the band around the upper foot (just below the toes), pass both ends of the band behind the other foot and up the outside of the other leg and hold the ends there.
Push down on the band with the other foot to make it taught.
Move against the resistance of the band to point the toes towards the ceiling. Return to the starting position under complete control. Walking the length of a room either on the toes or on the heels will help to strengthen the calf and shin muscles respectively. Make sure you do this slowly and under complete control.Gastrocnemius and Soleus) are tight.

The muscles at the front of the shin (especially Tibialis Anterior) also require stretching. Heel walking / Toe walkingResisted dorsiflexion

- The patient should be sat on the floor with both legs straight.
- Loop the middle of the band around the upper foot (just below the toes), pass both ends of the band behind the other foot and up the outside of the other leg and hold the ends there.
- Push down on the band with the other foot to make it taught.
- Move against the resistance of the band to point the toes towards the ceiling. Return to the starting position under complete control. Stretching
In most cases of shin splints, the calf muscles (Gastrocnemius stretches)

The Gastronemius muscle is the largest and most superficial of the calf muscles. It crosses the knee joint to attach to the Femur (thigh bone) and so to stretch the Gastrocnemius muscle, the knee must be straight. There are various ways of stretching this muscle, here are the two most common:

- The patient stands facing a wall with a wide stance and the leg to be stretched behind.

- They keep the heel down and the knee straight as they lean forwards, using the wall for balance and something to push against.
- A gentle stretch should be felt in the back of the lower leg. Hold this position for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times.
- The patient stands on a step making sure there is something to hold on to (a wall or banister etc).
- The toes should be positioned on the step, with the heel over the egde.
- The heel is slowly lowered, keeping the knee straight, until a stretch can be felt (image 2). Hold the position for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times.
This stretch can be performed both feet together to start with but is more effective performed one leg at a time.

Soleus stretch
The soleus muscle is located underneath the larger Gastrocnemius and it doesn't cross the knee joint. Therefore to stretch this muscle the knee must be bent to relax the overlying Gastrocnemius. - The patient should stand facing a wall with the foot of the calf to be stretched at the back.
- The knee of the back leg should be bent towards the wall, keeping the heel on the floor.
- A stretch should be felt in the lower part of the back of the calf. hold this position for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times.Seated shin stretch
Stretching the muscles on the front of the lower leg can be difficult to achieve. The following are the two easiest ways of doing so.

- Kneel down and sit on your heels.
- Gently push down on the heels to stretch the front of the leg.
- Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times.
- This stretch can be increased by stretching one leg at a time and gently pulling the knee up

Standing shin stretch
- Hold this position for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times.

- Stand with your toes of one foot on the floor on the outside of your other foot.
- Bend the weight bearing leg to push your other ankle towards the ground.

- Dorsiflexion is the ankle movement where the toes are pointed towards the ceiling.

To progress in strengthening the shin muscles resistance should be used in the form of either pressure from a partner, or even easier, a resistance band. Toe raises are a good starting point when looking to strengthen the shin muscles. Start with only a few repetitions and gradually increase the numbers.

Rest to allow the injury to heal. Apply
Stretch the muscles of the lower leg. In particular the tibialis posterior which is associated with shin splints.
Wear Maintain fitness with other non weight bearing exercises such as swimming, cycling or running in water.
Apply heat and use a heat retainer or shin and calf support after the initial acute stage and particularly before training. This can provide support and compression to the lower leg helping to reduce the strain on the muscles. It will also retain the natural heat which causes blood vessels to dilate and increases the flow of blood to the tissues to aid healing.

StrengtheningToe raises  The most common cause is Symptoms of shin splints: