Archive for the ‘Healthy Living’ Category
4 Foods That Naturally Lower Your Cholesterol
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Has your doctor recommended you take a statin (cholesterol-lowering) drug?
In the old days, almost all of my heart patients were on statins. These days, even people who don’t have heart problems are taking them.
Most doctors have good intentions. They prescribe statins as a preventative. This sounds great until you look at just a few of the side effects from taking these drugs:
- Muscle pain
- Liver damage
- Nausea
- Lowered mental performance
- Chronic fatigue
- Cardiomyopathy (deterioration of your heart’s function)
But that’s not all. Statins aggressively deplete your heart of life-giving CoQ10. This leads to even more problems, including congestive heart failure.
This is a serious problem.
Consider this…
“I have seen a frightening increase in heart failure secondary to statin usage … Over the past five years, statins have become more potent, are being prescribed in higher doses, and are being used with reckless abandon in the elderly and in patients with ‘normal’ cholesterol levels.” (Dr. Peter H. Langsjoen, a leading authority on treating heart disease with CoQ10)
99% of the time, statins are unnecessary.
For example, did you know a common, everyday fruit can lower cholesterol just as well?
You probably have it in your kitchen right now.
I’m talking about avocados. This tasty fruit is packed with heart-healthy oleic acid.
In one study, researchers got a group of people with high cholesterol. They put them on a diet high in avocados. The result?
After just one week, the subjects significantly lowered their total cholesterol and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Even more impressive – their HDL increased by 11%.
This is just one of many natural and powerful alternatives to statins.
Here are three more.
Fish – A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that regularly eating fish or taking fish oil supplements was just as effective at reducing the risk of death from heart attack as statin drugs. Wild-caught salmon is best. It doesn’t have all the pollutants found in farm-raised fish. It’s also high in omega-3s. Or you can supplement. I recommend anywhere from 700 to 2,000 mg per day.
Ginger – This amazing blood thinner is also effective at lowering total cholesterol. In one study, researchers gave mice with high cholesterol a ginger extract for 10 weeks. At the end of the study, the mice had significantly lowered their cholesterol. I recommend you take 300 mg daily.
A glass of wine – Okay, so it’s not technically a food. But it can improve your cholesterol naturally. A review study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a link between moderate alcohol consumption (1-2 drinks a day) and improved HDL. Turns out it can boost it by 12%. The key here is moderation. Don’t go overboard. If you go this route, I suggest you drink red wine. In addition to the HDL-boosting effect, you’ll get a small dose of the powerful antioxidant resveratrol.
About the Author: Dr. Al Sears is a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor’s Heart Cure. He is a fitness and nutritional expert, and is certified by the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. To learn more about Dr. Sears’ practical health solutions, please click the following link to visit his website: AlSearsMD.com.
[Editor’s Comments: I remember when I USED to have high cholesterol too. It was a few years ago when I was overweight and suffering from many physical ailments...such as high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and high cholesterol.
My family physician at the time...I dumped him after a short time...just wanted to write me prescriptions for drugs to lower my blood pressure and cholesterol. He should have just told me to lose some weight and start eating right, but I guess he was more concerned with prescribing medications.
Lucky for me, I did my own research, consulted with a new physician...one that took a more natural approach...and was able to get all of my numbers back to normal through healthy nutrition and exercise. If I had continued on the path I headed down, I was a heart attack waiting to happen. Well, now you can...
Cross Heart Attack and Stroke Off Your List
of Things to Worry About…
Once you have your first stroke or heart attack, your chances of another are very high. But they don’t have to be!
You can get rid of the most common cause of heart attack with a remedy that costs just pennies. And it’s available at your local grocery store.
Beat these killers and put the worry out of your mind for good.
Dr. Sears, M.D. has treated hundred of stroke victims. But when he gave them this simple preventative cure, they go on to live happy and productive lives – without the fear of having another stroke.
Click here to learn more =>> The Doctor's Heart Cure
Don't wait until it's too late! Click the above link to find out how you can get the same protection.]
Required Legal Disclaimer: Some of the links mentioned within this post or posts they lead to are my affiliate links and I get compensated for recommending those products. However, I NEVER recommend something I don’t believe in and welcome your questions and feedback.
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7 Ways to Boost Your Energy Levels
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009By Dr. Jonny Bowden
“Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”
- Vince Lombardi
Fatigue is one of the biggest problems of modern life, but we’re trying to fix that problem in all the wrong ways.
Trying to “get” or “find” energy is like trying to grab a fistful of water. If you want water (energy) to sit in your hand, you have to first create the conditions under which it’s possible- in the case of water, keeping your fingers tightly together and your hand cupped while open will do the trick- but trying to grab the water will not. It’s the same thing with energy.
Energy isn’t something you get or grab, but rather the by-product of certain conditions that allow it to show up in your life. If your health and attitude and body and mind are all aligned in the right way, there’s nothing else for you to do but to feel energized. It’s the natural “side-effect” of a healthy life– it just comes with the territory.
Let’s say you were a swimmer wearing a weight belt and you wanted to increase your time in the 50 yard freestyle. You could spend a lot of effort researching the latest titanium high-tech bathing suit- which might add a second or two to your time- but wouldn’t it be a lot more effective to simply drop the weight belt?
Most of us are carrying around weight belts and looking to increase our energy with coffee and stimulants when in fact if we just dropped the weight belt we’d automatically go faster.
Some of the items on our weight belt are: too little sleep, disorganization, toxic relationships, high-carb diets, undetected food sensitivities, and all sort of other facts of modern life that I discuss in detail in my book, “The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy“. In this article I’m going to suggest seven ways to help drop the weight belt from your energy tank. Do them and you may be surprised at what a boost in energy they give you.
- Support your liver. You can help your liver do its job more effectively- and boost your energy in the bargain- by taking a daily dose of an herb called milk thistle . I consider the liver the most misunderstood and underappreciated organ in the human body, because when it’s not working right, the first thing to suffer is your energy. Giving the liver all the nutrients it needs to perform its daily tasks is one of the most important things you can do to boost your energy.
- Get ten minutes of sun every day. “The sun gives you strength, lifts your spirits and is a source of energy”, says my friend Al Sears, MD, author of Your Best Health Under the Sun. Like a growing body of health experts, Sears thinks we’ve become so sun phobic that we’re missing out on the myriad mood-boosting and energy-enhancing benefits that the sunshine vitamin has to offer.
- Disconnect for a Day. One of the great energy drainers of the twenty-first century is information overload. We’re deluged with stuff coming at us from emails, RSS feeds, blogs, social networking sites, TV, magazines, radio, fax machines, Blackberries- you get the picture. Knowledge may be power but information overload is just… well, noise. Try a media-free day and feel your own energy accumulate- rather than letting it dissipate as you attend to millions of distractions, most of which- when you think about it- wont’ make much difference in the long run anyway. (If you find the idea of disconnecting for a day a frightening thought, you are exactly the person who needs to do it the most!)
- Try the “No-Frills, No-Excuses, Anytime-Anywhere” Workout. We all know that exercise helps with energy- at least I hope we do- but when it comes to working out, time remains a big obstacle for many people. Here’s my own “no excuses” lo-tech workout that you can do just about anywhere in as little as 15 or 20 minutes for an amazing boost in energy: 1) Run a mile, 2) do some squats, 3) do some push-ups, 4) do some crunches. Stretch and go about your business refreshed and energized. And if you can’t go out and run the mile, do some jumping jacks in your office, or run the stairs.
- Revive your “qi”. Acupuncture is based on the precepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine: that the body and mind are inextricably linked; that vital energy- or qi - regulates a person’s spiritual, mental and physical health; and that each of us is a delicate balance of opposing and inseparable forces- yin and yang- and when that balance is disrupted, vital energy becomes blocked or weakened. When our “qi” (energy) is at optimal levels and flowing smoothly, we’re ready to take on the world- spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically we’re strong healthy and energized. One terrific way to balance that energy is through acupuncture.
- De-Clutter and Deep-Six the Energy Drain. Here’s a rule I’ve found to be a universal truth: Your energy has a perfect inverse relationship to the accumulation of stuff you don’t need. The more unwanted, unused, unneeded stuff you have cluttering up your life, the less energy you have. Believe it or not the condition of your desk (and desktop) and office and living space actually reflect a lot of what’s going on in your head. If you take time to organize and de-clutter, you’ll actually be freeing up a lot of psychic space and that can really turbo charge your energy.
- Take the right supplements. While supplements don’t really “give” you energy, they can correct metabolic issues that are draining it. They can also speed along certain pathways that are nutrient dependent and that get sluggish (and energy-draining) when those nutrients are in short supply. One terrific energizing nutrient is Coenzyme Q10 .
About the Author: Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S. is a board-certified nutrition specialist, author and nationally known expert on weight loss and nutrition. His work has been endorsed by many well-known specialists of integrative medicine and nutrition including Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Barry Sears (who calls him “one of the best”) and Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman, (who calls him “the personal health coach I would want in my corner no matter what”). For more advice on staying fit and healthy, check out his site at JonnyBowden.com.
[Editor’s Comments: Thanks to Dr. Jonny for these simple energy boosting strategies!
Personally, I’m still working on the de-cluttering, I have trouble disconnecting for a few hours let alone an entire day and I’ve never tried acupuncture. However, I absolutely notice an increase in my energy levels when I exercise regularly, get a little sun each day and supplement my diet.
How about you? What do you feel is the most effective method to boost your energy “naturally,” meaning without the use of caffeine or other stimulants? And please don’t tell me about the 3 Red Bull Energy Drinks or the pot of coffee you slam throughout the day!
To find out more about the essential supplements Dr. Jonny recommends, you can sign up for his free audio course, "7 Supplements You Need Now" on his website JonnyBowden.com.]
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Eat Less, Train Less, Live Longer
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009By Jon Benson
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”
- Old Proverb
Did you see that article on MSNBC about living longer?
“While the quest for the proverbial Fountain of Youth is endless and typically fruitless, one method known to extend the human lifespan by up to five years has quietly become accepted among leading researchers. The formula is simple: Eat less. It could add years to your life, several experts now say. And done in moderation, it could at least help you live a more healthy life.”
Really? Eat less. Live longer?
Who’d thunk?
But seriously, why is this the case? And more importantly, why do so many other health and fitness pros give the opposite advice, often asking you to eat 5-8 times a day? Is there some common ground?
Yes there is. But first let’s look at why eating less can mean living longer.
That article went on to say:
“Calorie restriction , as it is called, is as close to a real Fountain of Youth as any known technique comes. Even scientists who are cautious about anti-aging hype say it works, both by cutting risks for some diseases and by allowing all body cells, somehow, to hang in there longer.”
This is just part of the story. As usual, the mainstream media doesn’t always bother to give you the entire picture.
Eating less is a bit over-simplistic. Caloric restriction is based on “quantitative” reduction, not simply eating like a bird or starving yourself. That will never work. You won’t stick to it and your body certainly won’t bother to burn off its spare bodyfat when it thinks you’re in a stone age famine.
The key is to avoid overtraining in the gym like the plague. Too much training and you’ll be forced to eat more food — usually not a good thing.
About the Author: Jon Benson is an internationally recognized transformation lifecoach, as well as an authority on fat-burning nutrition and superior physical fitness. He is the creator and co-author of Fit Over 40 (the #2 selling fitness e-book in the world), and the author of Simply Eat (his publisher’s fastest selling book ever) and 7 Minute Muscle which details his trademarked Power Density Training System.
[Editor’s Comments: Personally, I just don’t have time for long workouts any more. When I was younger, I used to love spending a couple of hours in the gym lifting weights and doing interval training on the treadmill. But now, I only want workouts that take 30 minutes or less.
Jon Benson's system, "7 Minute Muscle," is perfect for someone who doesn’t want to not spend their lives in the kitchen or in the gym. This is REQUIRED READING if you really want to see how great you can look in the least amount of time possible.
Check it out here =>> 7 Minute Muscle
Sure, you work hard. There's no pills or gadgets involved. But it's worth every minute... all 7 of them!]
Popularity: 2% [?]
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