I couldn’t believe this when I saw it. About as useful as EMS and slightly less comical than the Shake Weight. Now you can spend $100 a month for a membership to a Virbrational Training studio, where you undergo EMF (electric and magnetic field) treatments. Yes, the same EMF that has been widely reported for decades to be linked to such unhealthy effects as perturbed sleep patterns, altered heart rhythms, and cancer. Think: powerlines, building wiring, microwaves, appliances, and cell phones.
But, what the heck, why not bring back an out-dated fat-loss philosophy from back in the 70’s and 80’s. Remember those vibrational fat loss machines? I’ve met a handful of women who remember standing around in these things at the gym, waiting for their butt-fat to vibrate away into oblivion. Have you see any of these machines in the last 20 years? No? Think there could be a reason for that?
As is the standard with American culture, where we are always looking for greater returns for lesser effort, this is another Less-Time – Less-Effort weight loss / muscle gain strategy. They advertise “10 Minutes = 1 hour at the gym” using “NASA Technology” and an “FDA Approved Medical Device”. Most of the studies conducted involve short treatments, often 10 minutes, once or twice a day. The site and its supporting “research articles” are full of “might”s, “could”s, and “may”s, which is always reassuring.
The prevalence of stroke victims in the US has increased in recent years. A study analyzed the history of over 8 million hospital patients from 1995 to 2008 has identified a 33% increased risk of suffering from a stroke if you are between the ages of 5 and 44.
Strokes Caused by Blood Clots
Contributing factors were found to be diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), blood lipid disorders, tobacco use, and obesity. People with one or more of those factors have a greater chance of developing an ischemic stroke, which is caused by blood clots. High blood pressure was reported in 50% of the stroke victims, and being male and over the age of 35 puts you at an even greater risk than anyone else. Great!
I don’t have the time or patience to write a new article today or for the past week, so here are a couple links you can read with decent info about recent medical advances that might help keep you healthier. These new gadgets range from stem cells that can rebuild damaged heart tissue, to intestinal liners that restrict the absorption of excess calories, to bacteria that will keep you from ever getting tooth decay. As you read this great news, just imagine the kinds of devices and genetic tools we’ll have in just 10 more years.
Also, I’m sorry I haven’t been answering questions lately or posting any good new content. As always I have many great plans in the works, but life is just taking precedence over maintaining a blog right now. Hoping to get back at it full time really soon.
Foods that claim to be gluten-free are not always gluten-free. Many of those foods actually have enough gluten to cause gastrointestinal distress in those who are intolerant to wheat protein, also known as celiac disease. Gluten is actually defined as the protein contained in wheat, barley, rye, and other similar grains.
How can food manufacturers get away with this? It’s actually not entirely their fault, as there has never been an established US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation to define just how much gluten can be in gluten-free foods.
What is the Standard for Gluten-Free?
As of this writing, manufacturers can decide how much gluten they put in their gluten-free foods. However, the FDA is now planning to push through a standard for gluten-free food, that manufacturers will be required to meet before they can put gluten-free labels on their packaging.
The Feds are proposing that gluten-free food – usually wheat products like cookies, cakes, and breads – should contain no more than 20 parts per million of gluten. At those levels lab tests are unable to detect the presence of gluten, thus meeting the label claim of “gluten-free”. (more…)
Weather experts have predicted that it’s going to get up to 105 degrees today, where I live in southern NH. Those crazy temperatures have prompted me to write this quick note about exercising in the summer heat.
If you are dedicated to fitness, that means you are exercising even when it’s 110 degrees outside in the middle of summer. Unfortunately, that level of dedication can get you into trouble if you don’t make safe decisions. The kind of trouble that can put you in the hospital or worse.
Here are 3 mistakes that people commonly make when they exercise in the dead heat of summer.
Wear proper clothing
Cotton is your summer nemesis. When you exercise, cotton clothing will hold sweaty moisture, which can cause chaffing and rashes. Cotton socks swell with moisture, causing them to lose their shape, which can lead to blisters – the deadly enemy of lower body training. Sweaty clothing also weighs you down, making exercise harder, which causes you to sweat more. It is a dangerous cycle.
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
Hayden Gray wrote:
“HAHA! Diet soda in plastic can decrease testosterone levels? HAHAHA!
Because of what the plastic is made out of? Oh, so if i drink water out of plastic my testosterone levels will drop. Most stupid thing ive ever heard. And if you think you’re right, where is the scientific evidence?”
Response:
Keep in mind that it’s pretty easy to avoid diet soda in plastic containers, simply by drinking is out of a can or glass. Regarding the safety of plastic containers, I have this to say:
Some people do agree with you about plastic containers, but facts are facts – using plastic containers will increase your estrogen levels thanks to Xenoestrogens such as PCB, BPA and Phthalates. The also reportedly decrease testosterone, specifically in young kids and pregnant mothers.
And look, here’s evidence that pregnant women shouldn’t use plastic containers because it can damage their child’s reproductive organs.
https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2002/110pA703-A707schonfelder/schonfelder-full.html
Eating 5 or more meals a day is great for weight gain, but not so good for weight loss, and is not optimal for good health.
We already know that increased meal frequency does not increase the metabolism or decrease appetite. In fact eating more than 3 meals each day can often lead to increased calorie consumption over time, because people eventually get bored and tend to begin to ignore their meal portions, which results in overeating.
Conversely, we know that fasting tends to decrease your appetite once you get past that first 6 hour fasting window. We also know that intermittent fasting lowers insulin resistance and blood pressure, and promote lightening-fast weight loss. Knowing those facts, here are a couple more great reasons to switch to an Intermittent Fasting lifestyle, for good health and efficient fat loss.
First, The Study Results
To keep you interested, we’ll talk about the research results first, then we’ll look at the studies.
New studies on periodic fasting by the American College of Cardiology have determined:
periodic intermittent fasting seems to reduce the risk of falling victim to type 2 diabetes by 50%
intermittent fasting also decreases your risk of developing heart disease
HDL cholesterol increases during an intermittent fast
triglycerides decrease during an intermittent fast
human growth hormone (HGH) levels increase during a fast, leading to weight loss and muscle gain
HGH increases by a factor of 20 in men and a factor of 13 in women, on average
It feels terrible and amazing at the same time. There isn’t much else in the world that’s as necessary and as good for you. It pumps you up, builds positive energy (not to mention muscles), and keeps you alert. Working out is nearly perfect. Nearly.
There are risks associated with exercising that can ruin the experience of staying in shape and looking your best. Let’s take a look at 5 of them.
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
Kalee wrote:
I have shin splints right now so I can’t run or bike or anything but lift weights while sitting and do core exercises… unless you can think of anything that I could do for cardio that wouldn’t require me to use my legs. What exercises [should I use] until my shin splints heal? Thanks!
Response:
If you haven’t managed to avoid shin splints, then it is obvious that you haven’t read and understood my article about How to Avoid Shins Splints, but first, if you haven’t already, you should take a couple minutes to understand What Are Shin Splints. Once you’ve become well versed on shin splints, you can now read about how heal or treat shin splints. Let’s get this problem under control so you can get back to training.
Isn’t it obvious that we wouldn’t have to know how to recover from shin splints if we could avoid them in the first place? In order to understand how to avoid shin splints, we must first understand What Are Shin Splints. Then we can better understand how to proactively avoid them. We need to learn more about who gets shin splints, how to properly warm up and stretch the lower leg, and finally we need a method of strengthening those muscles. Assuming we can’t avoid shin splints, we will need to understand How to Treat Shin Splints.
Now, let’s examine the best ways to avoid shin splints by first understanding who is in danger of developing them.
Who Gets Shin Splints?
Athletes, weekend warriors, and even military recruits often experience shin splints, especially at the beginning of the season. Sometimes treatment can be as simple as changing to softer running surface or adding extra arch support to shoes to redistribute the stress. Active rest is often recommended by doctors as a primary treatment. This means that a runner should take up non-impact exercises such as swimming or biking, which gives the injured areas time to heal, but also maintains the cardiovascular benefits of exercise.
It is also believed that people with misalignment often develop problems such as shin splints. Misalignment to the knee, pelvis, ankle, neck, and spine, can result in abnormal posture and abnormal ROM at different joints, which causes excessive wear and tear on bones, joints, and muscles.
“Shin splints” is a term used to describe the pain felt between the knee and the ankle after athletic activity, and are considered a cumulative stress disorder rather than an acute injury. This painful condition occurs when muscles and tendons in the lower legs pull on the tibia bone along the shin.
There are several reasons why athletes develop shin splints, but ultimately we can say they develop when the constant stress placed on the joints, bones, and muscles of the lower leg overwhelms the body’s natural ability to recover from trauma.
The most common cause is inflammation of the periostium, the sheath that surrounds the tibia. Traction forces on the periostium from the muscles of the lower leg cause shin pain and inflammation.
72 million adults are considered obese (defined by the BMI being over 30)
84.8 million adults have no leisure-time physical activity
total obesity-related health care costs are estimated at $147 billion
Those are some frustrating numbers.
Given those ridiculous health care costs, and all the other money that you have to shell out food, clothing, fad weight loss gimmicks, etc… just how much does it cost annually for the average person to be obese?
A recent study conducted by George Washington University researchers found that the annual cost of being overweight is $8,365 for men and $6,518 for women with an obesity-related shortened life span factored in.
Here is my review of a local dentist from Concord, NH. Dr. Mostafa El Sherif is one of the few dentists in the area to specialize in cosmetic dentistry. He does lots of work on teeth whitening, bridges, implants, caps, veneers, etc… Too bad he’s rude, uncompassionate, and greedy.
Why to Avoid Dr. Mostafa El-Sherif
Dr. Mostafa El-Sherif is a scumbag. All he cares about is the almighty dollar. Let me tell you about a situation wherein Sally, we will call her Sally, had a loose veneer on her front tooth. It started to become so loose that after a while that it would fall out randomly while talking or walking and it caused her great stress while eating.
On the first visit, all Sally wanted was for Dr. El-Sherif to cement the tooth back onto its post while she saved up to pay for a full implant. Dr. El-Sherif refused, saying instead that it would be cheaper, easier, and better for everyone if she could just come back with the money to replace BOTH of her front teeth. Since the second tooth was also a veneer, he wanted to take both teeth out (extractions) and replace them with implants for well-over $10,000. He wouldn’t do a thing for her without that money up front.
Now, Sally has no dental insurance and she sure as hell doesn’t have $10k sitting in the bank. El-Sherif would not help her at all. Instead he left everything alone and refused to do any work until she could come up with the payment in full. All she wanted was to have the veneer cemented back onto the post so that it wouldn’t constantly bug her until she could save up for the implant.
You think you have it bad? Maybe you do, but I’m sure 99.9% of your stories are not as unfortunate as what has happened to an 8 year old girl from Londonderry, NH named Bella Tucker.
Who is Bella Tucker?
Bella is an 8 year old third grader who was a budding gymnastics star, loved to ride her bike and listen to music, liked going to school and hanging out with her friends, and is now going to be confined to a wheelchair without her own arms and legs for the rest of her life.
A cute little girl with long blond hair, Bella attended South School Elementary in Londonderry, New Hampshire and was a talented member of the Phantom Gymnastics team. Maybe she will do those things again one day, but for now she is confined to a hospital bed at the Children’s Hospital in Boston. She and her family need all the help they can get.
Easter Sunday 2010 was going to be a fun-filled day with egg hunts, jelly beans, and Easter dinner with family. As the day progressed Bella began to feel under the weather; she eventually developed a fever and had the chills.
She went to bed early with what appeared to be flu symptoms, but woke up early in the morning with a fever of 103, complaining that her hands and feet were cold. Bella’s step-dad rushed her to the local emergency room, where doctors said she needed to be transferred by helicopter to Boston Children’s Hospital.
No one could have guessed what would happen next; Bella and her family would never be the same.
Surviving Streptococcus Pneumoniae Sepsis
With a temperature that peaked at a whopping 105.8 degrees, doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital initially figured she might have meningitis. They were wrong. Two days later Bella was diagnosed with streptococcus pneumoniae sepsis, a rare form of pneumonia that had stopped the flow of oxygen to her arms and legs.
With a 10% survival rate for streptococcus pneumoniae sepsis, the future did not look good.
Doctors placed Bella into a drug-induced coma, no one could be sure if she would ever regain consciousness. After 5 days she emerged from her coma, but her body had already sustained severe tissue damage.
I found this article today that talks about a lack of ‘blue light’, which we get from early morning exposure to sunlight. When teenagers are not properly exposed to ‘blue light’ for one week, their bodies release melatonin 30 minutes later in the day, which causes them to stay up later and fall asleep in class the next day. The release of melatonin is often also responsible for lack of sleep due to insomnia.
Here’s another reason never to drink soda or anything else containing high-fructose corn syrup ever again.
A recent study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, links sugary soft drink consumption to an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.
Noel T. Mueller, MPH, the author of the study and a research associate at the Cancer Control Program at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. notes:
“People who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% increased risk — or nearly twice the risk — of pancreatic cancer compared to individuals consuming no soft drinks.”
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
Jim R wrote:
“I am 61 and in generally good shape, bicycled for years (at least 1000 miles per year).
The past two years I’ve converted to weight training (three days a week) plus spinning (three days a week). I’ve always been thin 6’2 – 195lbs.
Joined a gym 2 months ago (with a personal trainer)and really haven’t seen the results I’ve been looking for. I’ve reduced my body fat but haven’t seen any gains in muscle mass. I feel better but would also like to look better.
Also I just had another issue arise – a minor case of gout. I have been using a Whey protein drink 40 grams a day and need to know if Whey based supplements contain large amounts Purine (the largest contributer to gout).
I’m looking for info for us ‘old guys’ that haven’t given up.”
In an issue that is close to my own heart, there may be a new, better medication for controlling chronic blood clots. The drug, called Dabigatran Etexilate, is just as effective at controlling clots as Warfarin/Coumadin, but is far easier to manage.
Regarding Dabigatran, Dr. Sam Schulman of McMaster University and the Henderson Research Center in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada said this:
“For patients and health-care providers, Dabigatran is a far more convenient drug than Warfarin because it has no known interactions with foods and minimal interactions with other drugs and therefore does not require routine blood-coagulation testing.”
