Unhealthy habits are what are killing us

http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/28/frum.unhealthy.habits

by David Frum, CNN Contributor

I read this and I thought that FINALLY there is someone in the major news who not only understands the problem with health care today, BUT also the fallacy of what the health care reform bill is going to do!

I have written many times in my monthly newsletters about what diet and foods are doing to our health. What the author does for the general unaware public is to quickly point out that our health care today does not give us a longer healthier lifespan.

Here is what David Frum said:

(CNN) — Health care reform is proceeding toward the president’s desk, likely to become law in the New Year.

Supporters promise the bill will cut costs and extend coverage.

But here’s the real test: What will the trillion-dollar expense of this bill actually buy? Will it improve America’s health? My guess: No.

What are the reasons? We do not get enough exercise, we take in more calories than we burn, AND there is no such thing as prevention in Western Medicine eyes.

So exercise. What does that do?

It improves our overall circulation.

1.  By putting extra work on the blood vessels (gently), we require the whole circulatory system to work harder. This then strengthens not just the heart, but it also strengthens the arteries. For those people who have a tendency to develop varicose veins, this will help move the stagnant blood in the veins out of them. This then puts less back pressure on the veins’ valves and helps preserve the integrity of the veins.
2. It improves our overall mood. Increased blood flow to the brain increases oxygen to all parts of our bodies.
3. Helps to not only burn a few extra calories, but there is also a prolonged after effect (up to 24 hours) that has our body still requiring more calories than it would if all we did was sit and not get exercise. This also helps to create a leaner body.
4. By having less excess weight, we decrease our chances of having heart disease, cancer and diabetes, to name a few.

 We take in more calories than we burn/need. How does that happen?

1. We just plain old eat more than we need.
2. We go out and eat. Most restaurants serve high fat meals. The reason for this is that it is the fat that carries the flavor of the foods.
3. When we go out to eat, we want to “get our money’s worth.” Thus most restaurants serve you with a lot of food. If you really take a look at your plate when you eat at a restaurant, you will see a lot of refined carbohydrates, a little salad and a little amount of protein, unless you are paying a high price. For example, before dinner and even before your hors d’œuvre is served, you get bread and butter.Then you look at your plate; there is at least one simple carbohydrate, which, if it is not a potato (where you get to put your own toppings on,) has some sort of fatty sauce added to it.
4. If we go to a fast food restaurant or a quick stop grocery store, or even the regular grocery stores, they are offering you incentives to buy high calorie, low nutrition foods for relatively low prices or to “super size it.”

AND one of my biggest gripes as well is that when the doctor talks about prevention, what does he/she mean? I saw a town hall meeting with President Obama. He mentioned colonoscopies and mammograms as “preventive medicine”! First of all, both of these are screening tests. If they come back negative, no sign of problems, what does the doctor tell a patient to do then? To come back in a year, two years or whatever the schedule recommends be done. Never any counseling about increased fiber in the diet, decreased saturated fats and sugars/refined carbohydrates, or even to get out and walk fifteen to thirty minutes a day!

So the idea of providing health care to all Americans is a great idea although the implementation is only to spend more US taxpayers’ money without any reform of the way medicine is practiced or how much an insurance carrier is going to charge you.

In my personal professional opinion, as many Americans have done, write/call/email your congress people. Let them know that you are against the health care reform bill and explain to them why.

Experts Debate Benefits and Risks of Stimulants

Dr. Nick Friedman’s comment below regarding http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/705057

Experts Debate Benefits and Risks of Stimulants for Healthy People

June 29, 2009 — Two new editorials debate the question of whether healthy people should take stimulants, especially methylphenidate [Ritalin (sic)], to enhance cognitive performance.

John Harris, DPhil, from the school of law at the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, argues that it is unethical to stop healthy adults from taking methylphenidate to enhance cognitive performance and asserts that chemical cognitive enhancers should be freely available to those who choose to use them.

Anjan Chatterjee, MD, from the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, disagrees, maintaining that making methylphenidate freely available to those who want to enhance performance would cause undue medical risk and that these drugs should be reserved for those who suffer from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The risks of methylphenidate include potential for abuse and dependence and risk for sudden death and serious cardiovascular events, he points out.

Their discussion is published online June 18 in BMJ. [British Medical Journal (sic)]

Risk for Sudden Death  Dr. Harris argues that methylphenidate is safe enough to be used widely in children and adults with ADHD, and its significant advantages for healthy adults include improved executive function, study skills, and the ability to focus. In an interview, he noted that access to methylphenidate could be improved by taking it off prescription or allowing it with a pharmacist consultation.

Methylphenidate’s health risks should be dealt with in the same way as are those of cigarettes; while adults who use the drug should be warned of its potential for abuse and cardiac risks, sale should not be prohibited. “We should not police healthy adults,” he said. “We can issue them a warning as we do on other dangerous products.”  (sic)

Social Coercion? Dr. Chatterjee, however, warns of the public-health risks that could occur should methylphenidate be freely available. He notes that the risks for serious cardiovascular events with methylphenidate are likely to be higher in older people with undetected cardiac disease —  1 group that might be likely to use the drug if it were sold over the counter.

Dr. Chatterjee also argues that the use of methylphenidate might pose another risk for society that is rarely considered in debates about the subject. He notes that enhancing focus with methylphenidate might mean sacrificing creativity. “Most models of creativity suggest that you have to have some down time in order to have the leaps of imagination that end up being creative insights; it requires not being focused,” he said.

Dr. Nick’s comments: This really caught my attention. Ritalin is a speed drug that is used for ADHD individuals. I am in Dr. Chatterjee’s corner with this. The part that is really scary is when Dr. Harris recommended controlling it the way we do with cigarettes: put a warning label on it. That works really well!

How many people are still smoking, getting emphysema, cancer, heart disease, etc.? This is another person with flawed thinking. Yes, we would ALL like to have increased energy both physically and mentally! But doing this through the use of drugs does not work. Every pharmaceutical drug out there, OTC (over the counter) or prescription, has its side effects, some more than others. But they ALL have them. Further, the more readily available this is, the more the real side effects in “healthy” individuals will start appearing

June 29, 2009 — Two new editorials debate the question of whether healthy people should take stimulants, especially methylphenidate [Ritalin (sic)], to enhance cognitive performance.

John Harris, DPhil, from the school of law at the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, argues that it is unethical to stop healthy adults from taking methylphenidate to enhance cognitive performance and asserts that chemical cognitive enhancers should be freely available to those who choose to use them.

Anjan Chatterjee, MD, from the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, disagrees, maintaining that making methylphenidate freely available to those who want to enhance performance would cause undue medical risk and that these drugs should be reserved for those who suffer from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The risks of methylphenidate include potential for abuse and dependence and risk for sudden death and serious cardiovascular events, he points out. Their discussion is published online June 18 in BMJ. [British Medical Journal (sic)]

Risk for Sudden Death  Dr. Harris argues that methylphenidate is safe enough to be used widely in children and adults with ADHD, and its significant advantages for healthy adults include improved executive function, study skills, and the ability to focus. In an interview, he noted that access to methylphenidate could be improved by taking it off prescription or allowing it with a pharmacist consultation.

Methylphenidate’s health risks should be dealt with in the same way as are those of cigarettes; while adults who use the drug should be warned of its potential for abuse and cardiac risks, sale should not be prohibited. “We should not police healthy adults,” he said. “We can issue them a warning as we do on other dangerous products.”  (sic)

Social Coercion? Dr. Chatterjee, however, warns of the public-health risks that could occur should methylphenidate be freely available. He notes that the risks for serious cardiovascular events with methylphenidate are likely to be higher in older people with undetected cardiac disease —  1 group that might be likely to use the drug if it were sold over the counter.

Dr. Chatterjee also argues that the use of methylphenidate might pose another risk for society that is rarely considered in debates about the subject. He notes that enhancing focus with methylphenidate might mean sacrificing creativity. “Most models of creativity suggest that you have to have some down time in order to have the leaps of imagination that end up being creative insights; it requires not being focused,” he said.

Dr. Nick’s comments: This really caught my attention. Ritalin is a speed drug that is used for ADHD individuals. I am in Dr. Chatterjee’s corner with this. The part that is really scary is when Dr. Harris recommended controlling it the way we do with cigarettes: put a warning label on it. That works really well!

How many people are still smoking, getting emphysema, cancer, heart disease, etc.? This is another person with flawed thinking. Yes, we would ALL like to have increased energy both physically and mentally! But doing this through the use of drugs does not work. Every pharmaceutical drug out there, OTC (over the counter) or prescription, has its side effects, some more than others. But they ALL have them. Further, the more readily available this is, the more the real side effects in “healthy” individuals will start appearing.

Springing into Summer with Heart Healthy Habits

Everyday there is talk in the many forms of media of improving our health. The topics are usually related to the heart. They cannot talk about preventing or decreasing chances of cancer because they haven’t figured out that the same things that one needs to do to have a healthy heart, are the same things that are needed to decrease your chances of getting cancer. 

With that said, I will talk briefly about the following: Exercise, Food, Rest & Relaxation, and of course Mental/Psychological attitudes.

Exercise – it is a well known fact that movement is beneficial. Exercise comes in many forms. You can do it by yourself, with someone else, and/or in groups. The most important part of it is that you enjoy the exercise you do. It doesn’t matter what it is.

If you get 20 minutes every day of some sort of exercise that makes your heart work a little harder, breath a little harder, you are now not only exercising your heart, but you are increasing the amount of oxygen coming into your system, as well as doing some toxin elimination. 

With the wet spring moving into warm dry summer weather, this is a great time to go out to a park, walk along the beach; just do something fun where you are outside. Another benefit is the exposure to sunshine. Assuming you don’t allow yourself to get more than a very mild sunburn, you are getting increased Vitamin D production. 

Food – I am always amazed at how people eat and questions that are posed. Worst of all is when you look at what the American Heart Association, American Diabetic Association and the American Medical Association think good eating is. 

In their minds, if you can control the numbers by drugs than you can pretty well eat what you want. That’s ALL wrong! If you eat poorly and try to manage the numbers with drugs, it doesn’t work. You are still putting a strain on your system to work overtime to try and find a balance.

Let us think about what it is that we enjoy eating: Fruits, vegetables, of course our grains, mostly breads. Sometimes rice is more dominant than wheat. Also, most of us eat, to some degree or another, meat. I have been reading this book called The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II. It concludes that dairy, whatever form it comes in—cheese, kefir, milk, etc.—is the worst food you could consume. 

There is always a rationale as to why it is ok. But this was a very extensive study done by a researcher through Cornell University. 

Rest & Relaxation – Sleep is very important. Our bodies and minds require restful sleep. That is part of the way our bodies recharge themselves.

What relaxation does is allow our minds and bodies to unwind. In today’s society we are all pushing ourselves to do more things at a faster pace and more things all at once.

This is not always done when we exercise. Relaxation is another necessary way of allowing our body to replenish itself and do some of the maintenance that is required for both mind and body. 

Mental/Psychological attitude –Being positive about things allows the tension that we carry to be minimized. In fact a lot of times it is simply a matter of choice.

For example, is the gas tank half full or half empty? There is another part of just loving yourself. Ok – this is not my cup of tea. It is Cathy’s. So I am going to let Cathy Breshears talk about this in her blog: “Body Moving.”

hearing

IN THE NEWS

Can you hear me now?    By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

For an increasing number of young kids 10-20 years old, the answer is no, they really can’t hear. It’s because of ear buds from devices such as iPods tucked tightly into the ear canal blasting at high volume, or too loud base volume booming out of the car stereo.

Susie Burdick, CEO of the Hearing Speech and Deafness Center in Seattle, says if there’s one thing she wishes she could do, it’s alert kids to the permanent damage they’re doing to their hearing.

 

White bread may bring greater disease risk

This is only NEW material for those individuals who cannot accept anything that doesn’t have “Scientifc Double Blind Studies” done on them. Fortunately this is becoming more and more mainstream This information that is!! Dr. Nick 

The study found that high blood glucose led to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and was also linked to gall stones and some types of cancer, providing further evidence that could trigger greater demand low GI and multi grain foods.

The researchers concluded: “Low-GI and/or low glycemic load (GL) diets are independently associated with a reduced risk of certain chronic diseases. In diabetes and heart disease, the protection is comparable with that seen for whole grain and high fibre intakes. The findings support the hypothesis that higher postprandial glycemia is a universal mechanism for disease progression.“

Source : The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Authors: Alan W Barclay, Peter Petocz, Joanna McMillan-Price, Victoria M Flood, Tania Prvan, Paul Mitchell, and Jennie C Brand-Miller.
The researchers are affiliated to the University of Sydney, Australia.

 

www.nutraingredients.com/news

protein

Well here is something that is not new. I did read this in A newspaper. “The Asian Reporter”. Of course it couldn’t be in an american based media source. Headline reads: “Insect eating promoted for everyone from famine victims to astronauts.” Yes astronauts!

The just of the story is that insects have protein that we can use. It is basically culturally oriented as to who eats them.  The opening paragraph reads as such: Chiang Mai, Thailand – Crickets, caterpillars and grubs are high in protein and minerals and could be an important food source during droughts and other emergencies, according to scientists.” Here is America it is not acceptable to eat insects. Unless of course you are in the military and doing survival training!!

 Thought you all would enjoy a little different piece of information.

 Dr. Nick

New Beginnings

To come..