Category: Nutrition (Page 39 of 45)

Vitamin D just gets better.

November 22, 2007 / Mike Furci

Vitamin D3, which is technically a prehormone, has a whole host of benefits. This invaluable substance has a role in preventing or treating the following:

Cancer: It is now accepted that Vitamin D3 reduces the risk of seventeen types of cancer.

Multiple Sclerosis: It has been well demonstrated that the risk of MS increases rapidly the further away people live from the equator. The American Academy of Neurology has identified a lack of vitamin D as a predictable indicator in incidence of the deadly disease.
Diabetes
Heart Disease
Hyperparathyroidism
Hypertension
Mental illness
Osteoarthritis
Osteopourosis
Muscle weakness
Periodontal disease
Ulcerative colitis
Inflammatory bowel disease

The study authors established a strong link between vitamin D3 levels and telomere (protects the ends of chromosomes) length. They found that after taking into account the age of the subjects, women with higher vitamin D3 levels were more likely to have longer telomeres.
This meant that the telomeres in the subjects with high vitamin D3 levels were five years younger than the telomeres in the subjects with low vitamin D3 levels.
The researchers believe that the results demonstrate for the first time that people who have higher levels of vitamin D3 may age more slowly than people with lower levels of vitamin D3. (Vitamin Research Breaking News Nov. 20, 2007)

As with most nutrients in our food supply vitamin D has also almost completely vanished due to over-processing and bad farming. Supplements are your best bet, but make sure you’re using D3 (cholecalciferol).

Anti-Aging, Cancer, Heart disease, Men's Health and Wellness, Nutrition, Supplements, Vitamin D, Vitamins/Minerals

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Oats vs. Oats

November 2, 2007 / Anthony Stalter

While walking through the local grocery store, you reach the cereal aisle and notice the various types of oatmeal. There’s your standard rolled oats (i.e. the ones that come in a big Quaker box), steel cut oats and instant oats. So what are?the differences?

First and foremost, both the rolled and steel cut oats are in the whole grain family, which are necessary for a balanced diet. Oatmeal is extremely better for you than refined bread or pasta, and any kind of sugary cereal. So don’t pass the Quaker man for the Sugar Smacks Frog your next trip to the grocery store.

However, in effort to add more oatmeal to your diet, stay away from instant oatmeal that usually comes in individual packets. Instant oats are usually pre-cooked, loaded with sugar and less nutritious than rolled or steel cut oats.

Instead, make sure you’re buying standard rolled or steel cut oats. In short,?steel cut oats typically are more natural and go through less processing than rolled oats, so their nutritional value is usually higher. They often take longer to cook, however, so keep that in mind if you’re on a time crunch. They have a much nuttier flavor too, so they usually don’t taste as bland as rolled oats do when you cook them. Rolled oats, on the other hand, take less time to cook, but are more processed than steel cut oats and sodium is often added for flavor. As previously noted, however, both types have a ton of nutritious value to them, especially if they can take the place of refined cereal, bread or pasta.???

Diets, Foods products, Nutrition

More Reasons to Stay Away from Statins.

October 19, 2007 / Mike Furci

Pharmaceutical companies continue to push cholesterol lowering drugs.? And doctors, who are brain washed, continue to prescribe them with a vengeance.? This, despite the fact, the evidence has never supported their use and continues to show how detrimental to ones health they are.

The following is taken from Wise Traditions, 2007; 8(3).

Most serious is the accumulating evidence that cholesterol lowering is bad for our brains.? One new study indicates that a decline in total cholesterol levels precedes diagnosis of dementia by at least 15 years (Archives of Neurology 2007; 64:103-107).? Evidence that low levels of LDL-cholesterol are associated with Parkinson’s disease have become so strong that a team at the University of North Carolina is planning to explore the link with clinical trials involving thousands of subjects (Reuters, January 15, 2007).? Cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream is unavailable to the brain-both LDL and HDL are too large to pass the blood brain barrier, so cholesterol needed by the brain must be manufactured in the brain.? Statins, however, do pass the barrier and enter the brain where they can interfere with cholesterol production and set the scene for cognitive decline.

Cholesterol, Heart disease, Medical Issues for Men, Men's Health and Wellness

Getting to the bottom of high protein intake

October 17, 2007 / Anthony Stalter

In the October issue of Men’s Health, the mag debunks five nutrition myths concerning (among other things) protein intake, potatoes and salt. Among the five, the most interesting was Myth #1: “High protein intake is harmful to your kidneys.”

The mag reads:

The origin: back in 1983, researchers first discovered that eating more protein increases your “glomerular filtration rate,” or GFR. Think of GFR as the amount of blood your kidneys are filtering per minute. From this finding many scientists made the leap that a higher FGR places your kidneys under greater stress.

What science really shows: Nearly 2 decades ago, Dutch researchers found that while a protein-rich meal did boost GFR, it didn’t have an adverse effect on overall kidney function. In fact, there’s zero published research showing that downing hefty amounts of protein – specifically, up to 1.27 grams per pound of body weight a day – damages healthy kidneys.

The bottom line: As a rule of thumb, shoot to eat your target body weight in grams of protein daily. For example, if you’re a chubby 200 pounds and want to be a lean 180, then have 180 grams of protein a day. Likewise if you’re a skinny 150 pounds but want o be a muscular 180.

Anyone who has gotten sound nutrition advice has heard the, “One to 1.5 gram(s) of protein to pound is optimal” speech. I think the bottom line section in the Men’s Health article hits the nail on the head. If you’re a hard gainer looking to be 180, then shoot for 180 grams of protein a day. If you want to drop a few pounds and be a lean 180, then shoot for the same grams-per-day average.

Diets, Magazine Hype, Nutrition, Protein, Xternal Fitness, Xternal Furci

Protein Pancakes

September 10, 2007 / Anthony Stalter

A friend of mine in college gave me this recipe for protein pancakes and it?s fantastic:

-?1 Scoop of Protein Powder
– 1 Cup of Oatmeal
– 1 Banana
– 2 Tbsp. of All-Natural Peanut Butter
– 1 Egg
– ? Cup of Fat Free Milk
– Splenda
– Cinnamon

All you have to do is throw the powder, oatmeal, peanut butter, egg and milk into a blender and mix it on slow. That becomes the ?batter?. After that, heat up a small frying pan, spray it so the batter doesn?t stick and then throw the batter in the pan and cook. The batter should cook to the point where you can flip it over and do the other side. Watch yourself though, because it cooks quickly and you?ll burn one of the sides if you?re not careful.

Once it?s done cooking, slice up a banana and put it on top of the pancake. Mix a little bit of the Splenda and cinnamon together and sprinkle that on top for a little taste. You can also put on some sugar free syrup, but don?t go nuts with it because while it?s not supposed to have any sugar, it?s likely still loaded with preservatives.??

Food preparation, Foods products, Protein