Wellness Posts by OTM mindbody

Fresh News from the Cancer Research Conference

support@wellness.com — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:41:44 Z

Wellness.com - Fresh News from the Cancer Research Conference by OTM mindbody

The news is fresh fruits and veggies.

Not that you didn't know it already, but the beneficial evidence for fresh raw fruits and vegetables is mounting rapidly and causing the cancer research community to refocus on life style as a cancer preventative and treatment.

On Friday, December 7, 2007 the American Association for Cancer Research conference on cancer prevention was held in Philadelphia. Several studies were released that add to the growing case that our diet and life style is the strongest weapon we have against cancer.

Researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York found that those who ate just a minimal amount of raw veggies had a 40 percent lower risk of bladder cancer. But the team did not find the same effect for cooked vegetables.

"Cooking can reduce 60 to 90 percent of ITCs, (isothiocyanates)," Dr. Li Tang, who led the study, said in a statement. ITCs are known to lower cancer so keep the raw percentage of your veggie intake high to get the best nutrient value.

At the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers found that both smoker and nonsmokers can reduce their risk for lung cancer by adding salads to their diet and exercise to their life. Think about that for a second. Salads can help even for smokers. Leafy greens have more mojo than cigarettes!

"Although this is a very preliminary analysis, it give us some important clues about how everyone - smokers and non-smokers alike - might be able to reduce their risk of developing lung cancer," Michele Forman, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas, said in a prepared statement.

"If you are worried about lung cancer risk, this study shows that you may benefit from eating a healthy diet and being physically active," she said.

The more that researches study cancer, the more they find that we - our bodies - have an incredible power to keep us healthy if we make healthy choices. Take a tip from the U of T and add a salad to your meals at least once a day. You'll be amazed at the change.

More lethal than AIDS/HIV and malaria combined?

support@wellness.com — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:36:39 Z

Wellness.com - More lethal than AIDS/HIV and malaria combined? by OTM mindbody

We got quite a Happy World Diabetes Day shock today! The International Diabetes Federation says the disease will cause 3.8 million deaths worldwide this year, nearly equal to HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. In the USA, the CDC says, it is the sixth leading cause of death.

The World Health Organization warned that diabetes is a "global epidemic" affecting over two hundred forty-six million people worldwide. "The prevalence of diabetes is going up because obesity is going up," says Judith Fradkin, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

Adult onset diabetes, type 2 diabetes, accounts for 90% of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity and inactivity. Adult onset diabetes used to just affect adults, hence the name, but now because of the obesity epidemic there is an emerging diabetes epidemic among children. Because of seriousness of this problem, this year's "World Diabetes Day" focus is on children and adolescence.

One of the organizers of "World Diabetes Day," Doctor Francine Kaufman, traveled around the world for a film called "Diabetes: A Global Epidemic" scheduled to be aired on The Discovery Health Channel. Doctor Kaufman says the message of "World Diabetes Day" is that the disease is manageable and, in the case of type two diabetes, preventable!

And what did Dr. Kaufman and the World Health Organization offer as a way to prevent type 2 diabetes? Changes to diet and lifestyle (which includes exercise, stress and weight management).

What does all this mean? 90% of all diabetes is type 2. Type 2 diabetes is preventable with diet and lifestyle changes. Therefore, 90% of all diabetes is preventable. So let's do the math. 90% of the 246 million people that have diabetes, 222 million do not have to be sick.

You can start to chip away at that staggering and needless number, one person at a time. The National Institute of Health web site says that for healthy diabetic eating: limit sweets, eat lots of whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetables, eat less fat and limit alcohol.

Non-diabetics can learn from that too. And don't buy into that myth about fruits and vegetables having too much sugar. Plant foods are easily digested so they go into your system quickly, but they have a low glycemic load (except potato). Glycemic load is a good reflection of the impact a food has on blood sugar because it considers both the rate of increase and the amount of sugar per food volume. Fruit and vegetables have lots of fiber as part of their carbohydrate composition.

We think plant carbs are even better than whole grain carbs for overall health. We'd also encourage cutting back on any processed foods - they all have sugar - and shift your portion size at meals from the meats and breads to more fruits and vegetables. Raw vegetables are best, so think about having salads as part of meals or an appetizer for most meals.

Bottom line. Don't choose to be part of the epidemic.

Step aside tobacco; food may be the number one killer

support@wellness.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:49:07 Z

Wellness.com - Step aside tobacco; food may be the number one killer by OTM mindbody

My friend Matt Grace was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord degeneration and was basically told that he would never walk again. After he healed himself, Matt wrote a great book called "A Way Out."

In his book, written in 2000, Matt says, "Food companies are responsible for millions of deaths per year and tens of millions of obese citizens; I really do not understand the difference between Phillip Morris and any of these companies that sell such deadly products. Do you?"

In August, 2007, a new presidential report on cancer takes on the food industry along with the tobacco industry and says that the federal government "must cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods that lead to disease and increased health care costs."

"Ineffective policies, in conjunction with limited regulation of sales and marketing in the food and beverage industry, have spawned a culture that struggles to make healthy choices - a culture in dire need of change," said the report, available on the Internet at http://pcp.cancer.gov

The report includes regulation of food advertising and changing agricultural support policies, it states:

"We heavily subsidize the growth of foods (e.g., corn, soy) that in their processed forms (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils, grain-fed cattle) are known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases, including cancer."

Yet fresh fruits and vegetables are not subsidized in the same way.

Our children are also suffering with obesity, cancer, adult onset diabetes and heart disease.

The report states that the federal government should "require the elimination of unhealthy foods from school breakfast and lunch programs" and recommends reinstating physical education classes.

The report also encourages doctors to spend more time counseling patients on how to stay healthy by eating right, exercising and avoiding tobacco.

Several reports have shown that a third of all cancers are caused by obesity and inactivity.

The American Cancer Society predicts more than 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and that 559,650 will die. Most of these cases could be prevented.

Hey Matt, seven years later and they are finally giving us the same message you did.

Is fat contagious? Study shows that it's likely . . . look out!

support@wellness.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:47:46 Z

Wellness.com - Is fat contagious? Study shows that it's likely . . . look out! by OTM mindbody

If your friends are fat - watch out, states a recent news article. A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that one of the strongest associations in the spread of obesity is your relationship with obese friends. It's not some new virus that's recently been discovered, the articles go on to say, but the behavioral influence. It seems obesity is socially contagious.

The study was conducted using information gathered from a base of over 12,000 people who had participated in a multi-generational heart study collected from 1971 to 2003. The study showed that if a subject had a friend that became obese, they had a 57% higher chance of becoming obese themselves. That went up to 171% higher chance if both friends identified the other as strong friends. Friendship was apparently the strongest correlation and it didn't matter how far away the friends were. Geographic distance did not have a strong influence on the results. Sibling influence was also ranked highly with an increased 40% chance of becoming obese if another sibling was obese.

The study is located here: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/4/370
One of many articles was in US News and World Report at this link: http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/070725/25fat.htm

The study highlights the network effect on health issues and makes a strong point that our health is influenced by many factors, not the least of which are the role models around us. That powerful influence works both ways it seems, as the study's authors also stated that that same network effect showed up between friends who were losing weight. Health conscious friends improve their health and their friends' health as well.

For those of you who are leading the way to better health in your circle of friends, your friends may soon join you. Said the author of the study, "People are connected, and so their health is connected."

A message from the CDC - eat your fruits and veggies

support@wellness.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:46:41 Z

Wellness.com - A message from the CDC - eat your fruits and veggies by OTM mindbody

You know your mom was right. Now the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is weighing in as well.

The CDC is behind a national health promotion and disease prevention program called Healthy People 2010. The primary goal of Healthy People 2010 is to help individuals of all ages increase life expectancy and improve their health and the quality of their lives.

A report in spring 2007 from the CDC on Americans not eating enough fruits and veggies concludes that there is a "need for continued interventions that encourage greater fruit and vegetable consumption among U.S. adults."

The report states: "A diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased risk for chronic diseases." It continues about weight management. "In addition, because fruits and vegetables have low energy density (i.e., few calories relative to volume), eating them as part of a reduced-calorie diet can be beneficial for weight management."

Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine comments on the CDC report. He said, "The new CDC report indicates something we've long known, that fruits and vegetable intake is well below recommended levels," This is regrettable, Katz said. "These two food categories have the greatest potential of all for promoting health and fighting disease."

We think fresh, raw, organic fruits and vegetables should be the foundation for everyone's diet. These are truly enhancing foods, and they also are the best foods for breaking the appetite trap. You spring the appetite trap by eating foods that fill you but are low in good nutrients causing your appetite to continue because your body is still looking for nutrition. The appetite trap leads to over eating and being overweight.
Now it appears the CDC is going to make our healthier lifestyles a bit easier as well. It was also interesting to note that about the same time Federal Reserve Chairman Bernacke mentioned in a speech that if we don't make major changes in the way we manage preventable diseases, we will overwhelm the healthcare care system. It really doesn't matter why we are promoting diet change for more fresh fruits and vegetables; it is a good thing for the CDC and for us.

The article states that to meet the 2010 national objectives, a more sustained and effective public health response is needed, including continued surveillance, identification of barriers to eating more fruits and vegetables, and environmental changes (e.g., increasing the proportion of fruits and vegetables in vending machines and promoting healthful food advertising and the availability of healthful foods).

Fruit filled vending machines here we come....