May 1, 2012

Never Give Up

" Don't ever give up, even if you don't get to where you want You'll still be somewhere better than where you were before."                                                 --- Copyright © 2000 Audra Erny

April 10, 2012

Exercise for Cancer Patients


By David Haas

Exercise has been long believed to be a great health benefit aside from just improving cardiovascular strength and controlling weight. It has also been shown to improve a person's overall mood and help fight a wide range of other diseases including depression, allergies and IBS. Of course exercise does not actually cure diseases, but research has determined that the way the body reacts to exercise can help combat illness.

Recently, some studies have shown a link between adults getting regular exercise (i.e., thirty to sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each day) can significantly reduce one's chances of developing certain types of cancer including colon and breast cancer. Exercise can also be quite beneficial for people who have already developed cancer or pre-cancerous tumors.  Health care professionals believe there are certain reasons for this phenomenon. For example, exercise releases a large amount of positive endorphins in the body that can help increase one's positive mood and reduce any pain that was being felt. Additionally, being physically fit gives the body more strength to fight off disease.

It is important to understand that though the national guidelines recommend a fairly ambitious plan of exercising close to an hour every day, even a small amount of light exercise can make a difference in a person's life and help fight off disease. This is especially important for people who already feel very sick or have trouble breathing or moving, like when receiving mesothelioma treatment.  Simply walking around for a few minutes everyday can help a person build physical strength and also improve a person's mood and outlook on life. Modern medicine is finally beginning to embrace the idea that a person's mental state has a great impact on their physical state. Since exercise releases certain endorphins that create a natural "high", the brain will help to body react more positively to traditional treatments like chemotherapy and radiation. Exercise has also been shown to help reduce the negative side effects that are often associated with these treatments.

For any person with higher risk factors for cancer or an existing cancerous tumor, they should talk to their doctors about how they should work exercise into their normal routine. Of course, during cancer treatment is not the ideal time to begin a rigorous exercise routine or intense training program. This is why it is important to work closely with a doctor to understand one's physical limits and create a routine that meets their needs without introducing additional harm to their body. For a person that does not currently have cancer, this information can serve as another reminder of the overall benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and continuing to participate in some type of physical activity on a daily basis.
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For more great articles by David Haas, visit his blog at:
http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/david/

April 3, 2012

Chocolate Lover's Waistlines

The ever-quotable Katharine Hepburn once said of her slender form: “What you see before you is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.”

New evidence suggests she may have been right. People who eat chocolate may be thinner than those who don’t.

Wait — keep reading. Don’t grab the nearest Hershey’s bar or throw back handfuls of M&Ms just yet.

Read more at:

http://www.news-press.com/article/20120403/HEALTH/304030012/New-research-suggests-chocolate-loves-you-back

January 15, 2012

'Best Diet' helps health, not just weight

If you’re looking to lower your blood pressure or seeking a new healthy eating plan, you might want to try the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet that was ranked the best diet of 2012, by U.S. News & World Report.

This is the second year in a row that U.S. News named the DASH diet as the “best diet overall.” A panel of 22 medical experts on diet, obesity, nutrition, diabetes and heart disease developed the rankings list.

“It’s not just the latest fad diet in terms of weight loss,” said Marla Heller, the author of the best-selling “The DASH Diet Action Plan” and a certified nutritionist in Northbrook. “It’s the only diet plan that’s been proven to improve health.”

The DASH diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, poultry, low-fat dairy products, nuts and legumes – foods that are low in saturated fat and cholesterol.


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January 9, 2012

Fat Chance Fad Diets Will Work


CELEBRITIES go from fat to thin in the blink of an eye, so why can't we?
Australians are spending billions of dollars a year while being bombarded with photographs of the rich and famous saying how easy it is to shed the kilos if you just use the "magic formula" of the next big thing in dieting.
But Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) says people are doing themselves a disservice by buying into diet fads which do not provide a sustainable platform for long-term weight loss.
The DAA has named the worst three diet offenders - the Blood Type Diet, the Acid and Alkaline Diet and the Lemon Detox diet.
Coast dietitian, Maya McColm said dieting fads were not designed for the long term.
"Diets often compromise on nutritional quality," she said.
"No-one diet suits everyone - there are many factors which influence weight loss - from healthy eating and exercise to emotional support and motivation."
Ms McColm said it was about a healthy and holistic lifestyle change, not yo-yo dieting.
"Each individual must change their mindset - no-one can do it for them," she said.
"It is about exercising, eating well and integrating this into everyday life."
She said in this day and age people were time poor and opted for take-aways over quality food.
"It is not just about eating foods with a low Glycemic Index (GI) but also low Human Intervention (HI)," she said.
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