Archive for March, 2009

Body Mass Index (BMI) – is considered a more accurate tool than body weight alone in order to assess potential overall health and risks associated with being overweight. Lean body mass (muscle) weighs the same as fat, but takes up 2/3rds less space on your body. So you can see why a person with a lower BMI or lower Body Fat % looks slimmer than a person of the same height and weight, but with a larger % of body fat makeup. Remember that BMI alone should only be used as a guideline and is not 100% accurate. Make sure that you are getting your body fat % measured either using an impedance scale at home or get the help of a fitness professional utilizing body fat skin fold tests to get the best accuracy of your overall body fat % and health. Calculate your BMI at our site today with your free fitness profile!

Number of fast-food restaurants in neighborhood associated with stroke risk
Published: Thursday, February 19, 2009 – 16:23 in Health & Medicine

The risk of stroke increases with the number of fast-food restaurants in a neighborhood, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2009. After statistically controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors, researchers found:

Residents of neighborhoods with the highest number of fast-food restaurants had a 13 percent higher relative risk of suffering ischemic strokes than those living in areas with the lowest numbers of restaurants. The relative risk of stroke increased 1 percent for each fast-food restaurant in a neighborhood. However, the researchers said the discovery of increased risk only demonstrates an association, it does not prove that fast-food restaurants raise stroke risk.

“The data show a true association,” said Lewis B. Morgenstern, M.D., lead author of the study and director of the University of Michigan’s stroke program and professor of neurology and epidemiology in Ann Arbor. “What we don’t know is whether fast food actually increased the risk because of its contents, or whether fast-food restaurants are a marker of unhealthy neighborhoods.”

Neighborhoods with large numbers of the restaurants are prime areas for stroke prevention programs, Morgenstern said. “We need to consider targeting communities that have a lot of fast-food restaurants as places where we can improve health.”

The fast food-stroke association emerged from data gathered in the ongoing Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) project, which has identified strokes occurring in Nueces County, Texas, since Jan.1, 2000. This report examined 1,247 ischemic strokes that occurred from the study’s start through June 2003.

Nueces County has 262 fast-food restaurants, defined by the researchers as having at least two of four characteristics: rapid food service, takeout business, limited or no wait staff and payment required before receiving food.

The team used the 64 U.S. Census Bureau tracts in Nueces County — from which they obtained demographic and socioeconomic data — as proxies for neighborhoods.

Researchers determined the number of fast-food establishments in each tract, and then sorted the tracts into four groups based on number of fast-food restaurants. Neighborhoods with the lowest numbers of fast-food restaurants (less than 12) were in the 25th percentile and those with the highest numbers (greater than 33) were in the 75th percentile.

The epidemiological study supports previous research that suggested a link between fast food and cardiovascular disease — to which some fast-food chains have responded by including more nutritious options to their menus.

Morgenstern said the report needs to be confirmed and expanded by similar studies of the correlation between fast-food restaurants and stroke in other cities.

“We need to start unraveling why these particular communities have higher stroke risks,” Morgenstern said. “Is it direct consumption of fast food? Is it the lack of more healthy options? Is there something completely different in these neighborhoods that is associated with poor health?”

Each year about 780,000 people have a new or recurrent stroke. Of all strokes, 87 percent are ischemic, which result from a blocked artery in the brain or an artery feeding blood to the brain.

Source: American Heart Association

An Associated Press survey found that more than 60 percent of Americans don’t want to live to 100 for fear of bad health and insufficient finances. Don’t be foolish; you can live to be 103! Studies have shown that regular exercise and eating right improves ones health and can even slow the effects of aging.

Keep both the mind and body active and health will remain! Start now, age gracefully and feel great!

We hear it all the time… “I’m working out less and my muscle is turning into fat!” One of the biggest myths in weight training… muscle and fat are completely different types of tissue and can’t magically be changed. Muscle shrinks (atrophy) when not stimulated so your muscles may seem softer. Compounding the problem, most people don’t lower their calorie intake to match their now lower energy needs. The result is less muscle mass and extra calories being stored as fat… a shift in your body composition.

Obesity can take years off a life, and in some cases is as dangerous to health as smoking, reports USA Today. Researchers analyzing studies involving almost a million people found that obese adults died an average of three years earlier than people with a healthy body-mass index. Extremely obese adults—100 or more pounds overweight—died up to a decade sooner.

The findings demonstrate that extreme obesity shortened lifespans as much as lifelong smoking, and that even being mildly overweight shortened lives, researchers noted. “Obesity causes heart disease and stroke by pushing up blood pressure, mucking up blood cholesterol and triggering diabetes,” said one of the scientists, whose work is published in The Lancet.

Source: USA Today

Good form is important throughout the entire workout, not just during the exercise. Dropping a weight on your foot is not only embarrassing in a crowded health club, and it will definitely put you out of commission for a while. Use your legs when lifting a weight off the ground or loading up a barbell for a set. Maintain support in your abdominals and lower back. The same goes for picking up a back of groceries, a stuffed suitcase or a toddler.

How do you know when your metabolism is elevated? Simple! You find yourself hungrier than normal. It never ceases to amaze me how many of us still do not understand that failing to properly fuel your body, whether you exercise or not, is the exact opposite of what you should be doing in order to maintain both overall health and weight control.

Most people do not get enough fiber each day, increasing their risk for weight gain, heart disease and cancer. Slowly introduce more fiber to your diet until you consume the recommended 25-30 grams per day. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are all rich in fiber.

The addition of a fiber supplement can be an excellent choice as well. This all but ensures you will get at least your minimum fiber intake and lessens the burden over the course of the day.

Stand or Sit up Straight! No slouching on the cardio equipment please! Stand or sit up straight, hold your head up high and get more out of your cardio workouts! Standing upright and supporting your own bodyweight uses the stabilizing muscles of the torso. The more muscles you use during any exercise… the more fat burning your body can do!

It’s these little things that help you reach your goals even faster!

The body is extremely adaptive. Performing the same routine over and over is not only boring, but your body will get used to the routine and stop responding. Change your exercises, the order in which you do them, the number or sets and reps, and/or change the weights being used to ensure the body is forced to adjust. In one workout you may use weights, another you may use resistance bands, in another, machines. It is not necessary to make every workout different, but you should make adjustments to your routine periodically to continue progressing.

Negatives, when used properly in a training program, can be a good thing! When a muscle shortens during an exercise, it is called the concentric, or positive phase of contraction; when it lengthens, it is called the eccentric or negative phase. Research shows that the muscle can be up to 40% stronger in this negative phase. Capitalize on this fact for a more effective workout. For example, raise the lower arm in a biceps curl on a count of 1-2-3. Then, lower the weight in a slower movement, 1-2-3-4-5.

Eat Breakfast! So many of us are so bad at this one simple task. We fail to realize just how important this first feeding of the day is. And for so many who do recognize it’s importance, it becomes a matter of priority. We don’t plan properly, say we don’t have time, or feel breakfast has to be a drawn out process. All of which can be easily overcome, especially today!

Eating a good solid breakfast to start your day helps supply you with the fuel you need to get started, especially if you are incorporating an early morning fitness program in to your day. For those of you exercising first thing in the morning, save your breakfast for immediately after your workouts.

You need the fuel to get your engine going in the morning. Do not starve your body early; because you may have the tendency to binge-eat later. Your body gets into the craving mode. Feed your body early!!