One out of six American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. More than 27,000 of them will die this year, according to the American Cancer Society. There are similar statistics for breast cancer in women. These are important health topics and do need to be addressed by everyone.
The dude in the back is Gunter Schlierkamp, IFBB Pro, in the movie Beerfest
Many studies over the course of many years have pointed to certain ingredients in beer, coffee, and wine as offering protection against cancer. While that may be true, this is not a reason to start drinking more beer or coffee.
Commenting on a New York City initiative to curb the consumption of unhealthy beverages, New York City Health Commissioner Thomas A. Farley recently said:
“Sugary drinks shouldn’t be a part of our everyday diet.
Drinking beverages loaded with sugars increases the risk of obesity and associated problems, particularly diabetes but also heart disease, stroke, arthritis and cancer.”
The reality according to the health department is that on average, Americans now consume 200 to 300 more calories each day than 30 years ago. Nearly half of these extra calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks.
When health department researchers surveyed adult New Yorkers about their consumption of soda and other sweetened drinks, the findings showed that more than 2 million NY citizens drink at least one sugar-sweetened soda or other sweetened beverage each day, equaling as much as 250 calories a pop.
People often feel bad about stirring one or two tablespoons of sugar into their morning coffee, but they don’t blink an eyelash when chugging down a soda, iced tea, coffee, or sports drink with 16 teaspoons of sugar in one can.
Here are 10 ways you can avoid pouring body fat directly into your skin:
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…)
A study by Canadian researchers has deflated the hopes of lifetime bachelors every where. 4400 subjects; some single, some married, some widowed; participated in the study, so it is seems pretty legit. The researchers determined that the married men are officially healthier than single men. Why?
When asked why, male participants in the study gave credit to their wives. Wives are really good at reminding us about doctor appointments, making sure we take medicine, resting when we are exhausted, getting medical help when we are hurt, and don’t forget that sex is a major anti-stress technique.
Faster Emergency Medical Treatment
On average, married men who are victims of a sudden heart attack, arrive at the hospital 30 minutes quicker than their single counterparts. Not only can that fact explain why men are healthier, it could explain why married men have a longer lifespan than bachelors. A 30 minute delay in treatment for a heart attack, quite often means the difference between life and death.
Interestingly, the wives don’t even have to be present to elicit this caregiving effect. Some study participants noted that even if their wives were not present, they would hear the female voice of reason telling them to seek medical attention immediately.
It is unfortunate to note that there is no difference in the time it takes women to get to the hospital, whether they are married or not. Come on guys! Pick up the slack!
Women Will Find the Answers
Wives also ask lots of questions. You would know this if you ever got ‘lost’ on a road trip with a female. Married women reportedly ask their own doctors for advice on behalf of their husbands. After all, isn’t pretty much every wife also a nurse? You kind of have to be a nurse when you have a pack of young children and one really big really hairy ‘kid’ to take care of on a daily basis.
This post is an excuse to post a picture of a super sexy wedding dress (yes, obviously it is the dress that is sexy), which you can see at the top of the page. But I also want to take a moment to say, “Thanks!” to all the wives out there who remind us that good health is sometimes more than benching and squatting triple bodyweight.
I want to tell you about a pretty cool new website today. If you’ve been hanging around the health and fitness website industry for a while now, you might remember HealthRanker, a health news social voting site, where popular articles are voted to prominence and end up on page 1. Well, HealthRanker was bought and destroyed a year or so ago, my attempts to make a clone called FitWire failed miserable, and now there is a new player on the scene.
Today’s post can be filed away in the there-is-hope-for-humanity category.
A 17 year old high school student named Ike Ditzenberger has down syndrome. He also plays on the varsity football team.
In late September, the Lake Stevens Vikings were crushing the Snohomish Panthers 35-0 with 10 seconds left in the game. That’s when the Panthers ran their top secret play, The Ike Special.
Ike took the hand off from the Panthers quarterback and proceeded to run 51 yards for a touchdown as the clock expired. Vikings players definitely took the end of that play off, but in this case it mattered way more to everyone on that field for little Ike to score 6 points, than to tackle the poor guy to salvage a shutout.
The Vikings ended up winning 35-6 and now have a 4-0 record in 2010, but Ike Ditzenberger and his family have a memory they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
And in Pro Football News…
If Ike’s story doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy, then I’ll leave you with this:
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.
In a disgusting development, the Corn Refiners Association plans to ask the FDA to allow high-fructose corn syrup to be called simple “corn sugar”. Check it out at LiveScience.
They plan to claim that corn sugar is no different from cane sugar, and that fact means corn sugar is not that bad for you.
What?!
Since when has cane sugar been considered “not that bad for you”? It is linked directly to the onset of Type II Diabetes, for crying out loud!
Regarding the claim that corn sugar is the same as cane sugar, an attempt to butcher the concept that cane sugar is “all-natural”, let me show you a quote from someone who knows exactly how high fructose corn syrup is made (in the lab):
Low carbohydrate diets are effective for losing fat. The low-carb approach is more effective than the low-fat or low-calorie approach to dieting, when trying to lose fat.
However, the question we’ve been asking for the last 20 years, or since the birth of Atkins, is – which foods are the healthiest protein sources on a low-carb diet?
Some choices include eggs, chicken, bacon, sausage, beef, salmon, white fish, shellfish, ham, pork, nuts, beans, and tofu. Since tofu is nasty, and can lead to increased risk of cancer and elevated estrogen levels in men, we won’t discuss it. But what about red meat and other meats that are high in saturated fat?
Today I would like to show you some current news articles about healthy topics like Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids, the high antioxidant concentration of Black Rice, and a fun little slideshow about the Mediterranean Diet.
We just can’t take old news for granted, because studies are confirming and rejecting some of what we think we know. Myths are created and dispelled on a daily basis. Check it out.
OK, I might be stretching it a little bit with that post title, but the facts are the facts: coffee does have positive health benefits, the most recent being that coffee may cut down the risk of developing head and neck cancer.
The results were pooled from 9 other studies done throughout the years, and scientists feel confident in saying that the risk of developing head and neck cancer was 12 percent lower in people who drank coffee compared with those who didn’t.
In this case more is better, as people who drank more than 4 cups of coffee a day had a 33% less chance of developing the cancer. Now, I’m not trying to drink 5 cups of coffee a day, but I won’t feel too bad if I have 2 or even 3 cups.
Decaffeinated coffee and tea had no measure effect on decreasing the risk of head and neck cancer.
So I read a study in Consumer Reports today about the content of heavy metals in protein drinks. The metals of concern are deadly when humans are exposed to them, even is small concentrations, over many years: arsenic, mercury, lead, and cadmium.
I wouldn’t exactly call the results of the study tragic, but I definitely think Project Swole readers should be aware and should avoid certain products.
In today’s “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” category, I would like you to read about how bullies target obese kids.
Um… no kidding, Sherlock.
I was bullied as a kid.
From 6th to 9th grade I really didn’t fit in anywhere. I was chubby, had acne, wore glasses, and I wasn’t any good in gym class. They called me names, drew nasty pictures of me, popular girls prank called me, and jocks punched me.
Looking back, I was probably one of the top 10 least popular kids in my class of 120 or so. It wasn’t any fun.
Bullying causes pain, anger, and resentment. So often in today’s society, we see so many acts of bullying the end in violence. Granted, I didn’t knife anyone, shoot anyone, or beat anyone up over it… but some kids do.
We need to educate our children and teach them how to avoid bullies, as well as how to avoid becoming a bully.
More than ever, victims of bullying nowadays tend to either take action against their perpetrators or simply end their own life. Those who don’t take action will go through life hating their junior high or high school peers, dreaming of revenge. You might not believe me if it never happened to do, but trust me: it’s true.
I’m having a bad day. I missed my Crossfit workout this morning for an emergency meeting with the dentist, now I have dental surgery coming up on Wednesday, and I barely have enough money to cover my bills and expenses this month. Since I really have to work right now, I don’t have time to write a good post today, so I’m going to leave you with some health and sports news.
Apparently we should become addicted to eating high-fat meals for breakfast. I don’t know. I just don’t see it. I would choose a bowl of Total Raisin Bran with skim milk or a bowl of oatmeal, over bacon or sausage any day of the week.
And finally, McNabb goes to the Redskins. I don’t much care about that either, but it will be interesting to see if McNabb improves the Skins, or if playing for the Skins forces McNabb into retirement. I suppose the latter is more likely.
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.”
A study of potential schizophrenics has determined that supplementing with fish oil, primarily long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, can reduce the risk of ever developing full-blown schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder. In fact, supplementing with fish oil was found to be equally effective at preventing psychotic episodes as anti-psychotic medications.
The study was conducted with 81 patients at ultra-high risk of developing a psychotic disorder. At the end of the study, less than 5% of patients supplementing with fish oil developed full-blown psychosis, while nearly 28% of patients in the placebo group transitioned to a psychotic state.
This is great news for adolescents, since that age group is highly affected by the weight gain side effects of anti-psychotic medication. Supplementing daily with fish oil sounds like a great idea to me.
Yes you read that right. In certain postal codes in England, severely overweight people are being denied life-saving surgery because it is not cost effective.
The National Health Service (NHS), the name commonly used to refer to the three publicly funded health care systems in England, is telling people that they don’t qualify for surgery even though they are clinically obese.
Some people in more affluent postal codes with lower BMIs qualify for surgery right away, while the lower and middle class are being told to get fatter so that they will develop life-threatening complications, which will then qualify them for surgery. This policy allows some people with BMI of 40 to get the surgery, while others with BMI of 60 are labeled as “too skinny”, simply because of where they live.
Commenting on a New York City initiative to curb the consumption of unhealthy beverages, New York City Health Commissioner Thomas A. Farley recently said:
