What a Healthy Diet Looks Like with Dr. Oz

What a healthy diet should look like: Inside and outside of the body!

ED and your heart

Erectile Dysfunction is a predictor of mortality and cardiovascular disease. The study was published yesterday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. 1549 cardiovascular patients underwent a double-blind in 13 countries, they reported 16.2% of ED patients died from cardiovascular problems, suffered heart attacks or strokes, or were hospitalized for heart failure. Only 10.3% of men with no or mild ED had similar outcomes.

ED is closely associated with conditions that occur in atherosclerosis and vascular problems, such as plaque buildup, which often precedes heart attacks and strokes.
photo credit: Nevada Tumbleweed

Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a widespread issue among Americans—47 million Americans have it. It’s not actually a disease. It is a combination of health issues that can lead to some of the top health concerns in our country today. Metabolic syndrome is the combination of high blood pressure, poor cholesterol levels, high blood sugar, and abdominal fat. This combination is particularly dangerous because it doubles the risk of blood vessel and heart disease, which lead to stroke and heart attack. It also increases the risk for diabetes by five times. How do you know if you are at risk? According to WebMD, these are the risk factors that lead to metabolic syndrome.
• Large waist size: 40 inches or larger for men, and 35 inches or larger for women.
• Cholesterol—high triglycerides: 150 mg/dL or higher or if you are taking a cholesterol medicine.
• Cholesterol—low good (HDL) cholesterol: less than 40 mg/dL for men, and less than 50 mg/dL for women, or you are taking a cholesterol medication.
• High blood pressure: BP above 130/85 mm Hg or you are taking a blood pressure medication.
• High blood sugar: fasting glucose level is above 100 mg/dL.
You are considered to have metabolic syndrome if you have 3 or more of these risk factors. Fortunately, there are lifestyle changes you can make to decrease your risks. Eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly helps many people reduce their risks.
photo credit: jasleen_kaur

Eat to Lose Weight

Some people skip breakfast in an effort to lose weight, but this practice is more likely to cause a weight gain. Eating breakfast actually reduces your overall calorie intake. Studies have shown that thinner adults, adolescents and children are more likely to eat breakfast than their overweight counterparts. Skipping breakfast makes weight control more difficult because it makes snacking harder to resist and skippers typically eat larger meals during the rest of the day to compensate for their hunger. Some studies have shown that people who eat fewer, larger meals tend to accumulate more body fat. Eating breakfast also improves your performance during the day. Sometimes teens, especially girls, will skip breakfasts to lose weight. It is important for parents to educate their children on the importance of eating breakfast and its role in maintaining good health and preventing obesity. It’s also very important for children to eat breakfast instead of sleeping in. Studies show that kids who skip breakfast are tardy and absent from school more than kids who eat breakfast. If you still don’t have time to make breakfast for your kids, consider enrolling them in a school breakfast program. Remember—eating breakfast is important no matter what your age!
photo credit: lepiaf.geo

Attention Carbo-phobes!

Many people have bought into the Atkins Diet mindset—thinking that carbs are bad for you. Well, good news! You can dig into a bowl of pasta without guilt! New data from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois suggests that a substance called glutamic acid found in grains may be good for your heart. They found that people who consumed more of this amino acid had lower blood pressure. Other foods also contain this particular amino acid, but to a much lesser degree. A cup of macaroni has five times more glutamic acid than broccoli. Pasta also contains more calories, so to get the most nutrition for the calories, eat whole grains. Look for whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and whole grain breads. Whole grains also contain significant amounts of fiber and B vitamins, which are also good for your heart and your digestion. Whole grains keep your energy levels more stable than refined carbs.
photo credit: visualpanic

Apples a Healthy Appetite Suppressants

A question that I seem to get often is "are there any safe appetite suppressants?"  And usually there is an advertisement that they have read or some bizarre herbal remedy that is supposed to cure all their weight issues with by taking a pill.

However, while I do not suggest any of those products or herbal remedies; (in fact I would suggest that you will benefit your body more if you run in the opposite direction) but there is one natural appetite suppressant that occurs naturally in apples.  Apples have a lot of phytochemicals that benefit the body and they just happen to help suppress the appetite a bit.  In college I had an interesting discovery.   I could buy a large Fugi Apple(my favorite) and a orange from the grocery store and if I ate the orange first I could then finish off the apple or at least be close to it. However, if i ate the apple first I would feel full enough that I wouldn't feel hungry enough to want to peel the orange.

Now granted I would pick out the largest Fugi apple I could find because they were my favorite.  But I would find it would hold me over if I didn't have time to go and get lunch till much later in the day.  Later one of my wellness professors talked about the benefits of doing an "apple fast" to reset the metabolism for a day.  While I don't think I'll be signing up for an apple fast anytime soon I think the old saying has more benefits than we give it credit.  An apple a day keeps the doctor away.  While it may not keep the doctor away you my find that it has a positive impact on the waist line over time.
photo credit: leoncillo sabino

Veggie Day

A recent United Nations report by their top climate scientist, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, concluded that people should eat less meat to combat global warming. It is estimated that meat production accounts for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. To put this in perspective, transportation accounts for about 13% of emissions. Changing what you eat could have an impact on climate change. Dr. Pachauri said, "But if we're honest, less meat is also good for the health, and would also at the same time reduce emissions of greenhouse gases." In response to this report, the Belgian city of Ghent has instituted a weekly meatless day, making it the first city in the world to go vegetarian for environmental reasons. Civil servants and elected officials are going meatless every Thursday in the hope that Ghent can reduce its environmental footprint. Schools are also going to have their own veggie day in September. As a bonus, veggie day tackles obesity as well. The city of Ghent is printing 90,000 “veggie street maps” for locating vegetarian eateries around the city.

photocredit:srqpix

Comparison of P.F. Chang’s Desserts

The Great Wall of ChocolateTM
• Calories per serving: 1,440
• Fat: 61g
• Saturated fat: 20g
• Sodium: 1,120mg
• Carbs: 231g
• Protein: 10g
Banana Spring Rolls
• Calories per serving: 992
• Fat: 45g
• Saturated fat: 23g
• Sodium: 480mg
• Carbs: 145g
• Protein: 15g
New York-Style Cheesecake
• Calories per serving: 870
• Fat: 56g
• Saturated fat: 35g
• Sodium: 620mg
• Carbs: 70g
• Protein: 16g

Flourless Chocolate Dome
• Calories per serving: 440
• Fat: 26g
• Saturated fat: 8g
• Sodium: 290mg
• Carbs: 52g
• Protein: 7g

Mini Desserts
The small size of these desserts makes them a much healthier choice. The lowest calorie choice is the mini apple pie.
• Calories per serving: 127-268
• Fat: 4-17g
• Saturated fat: 1-9g
• Sodium: 30-184mg
• Carbs: 17-44g
• Protein: 1-4g
photo credit: gsloan

Calorie Bomb for Breakfast

Having a big breakfast can help carry you through the day and can even aid in weight loss. Make sure you get the most out of the calories you have for breakfast, or it could backfire on you. A breakfast that includes carbs and lean protein and comes in around 600 calories is the best for losing weight.
A sausage, egg and cheese sandwich with a latte packs 1,140 calories and 54 grams of fat. These are the culprits:
• Medium vanilla latte: 330 calories
• Bagel with cheese baked in: 340 calories, 6 grams fat
• Sausage: 210 calories, 20 grams fat
• Butter: 100 calories, 12 grams fat
Healthy alternatives for a big breakfast:
• 2 Kashi GoLean Strawberry Flax waffles with 2 tbsp. peanut butter on them, 1 banana, 8 ounces of skim milk: 539 calories, 20 grams fat
• Mexican omelet (2 eggs, ¼ cup shredded mozzarella, 4 tbsp. chunky salsa), 1 whole wheat English muffin, 1 orange, small nonfat cappuccino: 527 calories, 17 grams fat
• Parfait (6 oz. nonfat Greek yogurt, ¼ cup Bear Naked Apple Cinnamon granola, ¼ cup raw almonds, 1 cup berries), coffee with skim milk: 535 calories, 24 grams fat

Source: Beware the 1.140-Calorie Breakfast! Glamour Magazine, September 2009
photo credit: orangeacid

Little Berry Has Big Benefits

As the U.S. continues to face an obesity crisis due to a lack of healthy diets, Dr. Sean Kenniff reports on a West African berry which makes healthy foods such as spinach or broccoli taste like candy.


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TV Dinner or family dinner?

Yale University did a series of experiments to test the effects of TV food commercials. They found children between the aged 7 to 11 who watched 30 mins of cartoon with food commercials ate 45 percent more snack food. The increased amount of snacking could lead to a weight gain of 10 pounds a year, may be it's time to turn off the TV and have a good old fashion dinner with the family. What do you think?
photo credit: 416style

4 Tips to Avoid Weekend Weight Gain

Weekends can be a great time to get in some extra exercise, prepare healthy food for the week, and get some much needed relaxation time in.  However depending on what is going on in your life it also can be a time of weight gain.  The neighbors BBQ, the girls movie night(this can often turn into a junk food fest), and the birthday party that you just couldn't get out of; may not be easy on your waist line.  Here are a few tactics to help you stay more conscious during the weekend:

Weigh in either Friday morning or Saturday morning depending on which day your weekend is officially going to start and know that you are going to do the same thing Monday morning.  This will give you some extra accountability.

Plan on eating a light meal(lots of fruits and veggies) before you go over to an event.  This way you will not be hungry and be tempted to eat a lot of those high calorie junk foods.

Offer to bring something specific; this can be a new healthy recipe, a salad or fruit tray.  This will give you a healthy option and may start the next trend with your friends.

Plan events or activities that will involve movement or getting some extra exercise.  A few ideas would be getting a group of people together for a afternoon hike or meeting at the community pool for a swim.  If the heat has been really bad you may want to plan going to a rink to roller skate/blade.
photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

Product Review: Kashi - Autumn Wheat

Lets face it, you can't eat oatmeal everyday! So I was on a quest to find a cereal, just to switch things up and add some flavors. Per Dani Nichole's recommendation, I gave the Kashi - Autumn Wheat a try, I was a little hesitant at first, I have previsouly tried Kashi - Go lean crunch before and HATED it!

I have to say, Autumn Wheat changed my perception on Kashi, it's got the right kind of crunchiness, the wheat don't break away like Kellogg's all bran does, and it's got a hint of sweetness in it. I was impressed. According to the food label, it's got 6g of fiber, 7g of sugar, 1g of fat and a total caleries at 190. Not bad at all. According to the ingredient, it's whole grain wheat, with a dash of cane juice. Afterall, it is a process food, but not bad if you got sick of oatmeal. It's a thumbs up for me!

Skip This: Au Bon Pain Caprese Sandwich

Fresh mozzarella, tomato, romaine, and basil pesto may sound harmless, but this sandwich have more fat than BK's Whopper Jr. or a McDonald's Quarter Pounder. It's got 680 calories, 32 g fat (15 g saturated fat) and a whopping 1,200 mg sodium.

What is a VO2 Max test?

This is one test that I have performed numerous times. The participant hop on a treadmill, stationary bike or ergometer  giving their maximum effort while wearing a mask that captures every breath. The machine analyzing the amount of oxygen consume, to determine the participant's heart health and how well their body process oxygen. If your score is under 18 ml/kg/min, talk to your doctor  and trainer bout increasing the intensity of your workouts. The cost of a VO2 Max test is around  $110 to $160. You can do the test at a physical therapy, rehab, or cardiopulmonary centers. unfortunately insurance providers will not cover it.

YzFit Audio PodCast ep5 - Worst Beverages of 2009

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Find out some of the worst beverages of 2009.

photo credit: ginnerobot

Video Health Tip - Ep3 - 2% Milk

Avoid Weight Gain While Traveling

Traveling is a big part of our culture.  And it is not just a luxury but often times a necessity to decrease stress and rejuvenate from a hectic work schedule.  Personally I am returning from a wonderful weekend in Chattanooga with lots of friends.  But like every traveler I face the same obstacle how to enjoy my trip and not gain weight.  So I thought I would share some tips that I use to avoid gaining the travelers bulge.
photo credit: Gúnna

1. Avoid "junk food"!  chips and soda may travel well but it's calories will travel with you a lot longer.  Good alternatives bring snacks such as carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumbers, and radishes.

2. When choosing a restaurant think about where you know you can get some nutrition not just a low calories meal; think fresh fruit and vegetables.

3. If you are eating with friends or family make the conversation and the company the center of attention not the meal.  I am not saying that you should not be paying attention to what you are eating(you should be careful when putting food on your plate, focus on good foods and a portion control if only high calorie foods are available ).  What I am saying is that if the conversations and the people are the focus you will eat slower, feel full sooner and not over eat.

4. If fast food is a must look up nutrition information before hand, know what you are taking in.

5. Plan activities that keep you moving.  This trip we played Frisbee, went walking, and some even canoed!

6. Make sure that you are getting real exercise! Schedule it in, even if it is only 10-15 minutes here and there, getting some solid (pushing yourself) strength training as well as aerobic activity will help burn some extra calories and keep you on track to get right back on your normal routine when you return home.

Skip this: Blimpie Special Vegetarian Sub 12'

Isn't vegetarian supposed to be healthy? Not really, the sub comes with 3 different kinds of cheese, pickles and olives. Total of 1186 calories, 60 g fat and a whopping 3532 mg sodium. Here'a a tip, skip the added salt, oil, skip the cheese and go easy on the pickles and olives, your blood vessel with thank you.

Skip this: Arby's Sausage Gravy Biscuit

This is one breakfast you can skip, with 1040 calories, 60 g of fat and 4699 mg sodium! That's almost 3-4 times exceeded the recommendation. Remember excessive sodium cause fluid retention, constriction of the blood vessel which lead to high blood pressure. Your breakfast is the most important meal of the day, don't blow it.