Obesity is a physical state that refers to excessive body fat. Chances are you have experienced the frustrations of dieting at least once in your life, if you have problems with your weight. Close to a hundred million Americans go on a weight loss diet in any given year and up to ninety-five percent of them regain the weight they lose within five years. Worse, a third will gain back more weight than they lost, in danger of "yo-yoing" from one popular diet to another. The conventional approach to weight problems, focusing on fad weight loss diets or weight loss drugs, may leave you with just as much weight and the additional burden of ill health.
Today, an estimated sixty-five percent of all American adults are obese or overweight. Our culture obsesses about staying thin even as we grow fatter, but this isn’t about appearances. Obesity is known to be a precursor to many debilitating health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and gallbladder disease. Obesity contributes to as many as 375,000 deaths every year. In addition, the public health costs for obesity are staggering. According to researchers at Harvard University, obesity is a factor in 19% of all cases of heart disease with annual health costs estimated at 30 billion dollars; it’s also a factor in 57% of diabetes cases, with health costs of $9 billion per year.
Set Realistic Goals:
No doubt you have fallen for one or more of the weight loss diet schemes over the years, promising quick and painless weight loss. Many of these How To Lose Weight diet programs undermine your health, cause physical discomfort, flatulence, and ultimately lead to disappointment when you start regaining weight, shortly after losing it. Fad or quick weight loss diet programs generally overstress one type of food. They contravene the fundamental principle of good nutrition - to remain healthy one must consume a balanced diet, which includes a variety of foods. Safe, healthy, and permanent weight reduction is what’s truly lost among the thousands of popular diet schemes.
Some of the weight loss diet schemes reign supreme briefly, only to fade out. While some wane from popularity due to being unproductive or unsafe, some simply lose the public's curiosity. Examples of such fad diets include the South Beach Diet, Atkins diet, the Grapefruit diet, Cabbage Soup diet, the Rotation diet, Beverly Hills diet, Breatharian, Ornish Plan – the list goes on and on. These fad diets advocate a specific technique (such as eliminating a certain food, or eating only certain combinations of foods) in conjunction with the basic idea that the body makes up the difference in energy by breaking down and utilizing some part of itself, essentially converting matter into energy. This self-cannibalism, or catabolism as it is referred, typically starts with breakdown of stored body fat.
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Monday, January 19, 2009
"Fad" Weight Loss Diet
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Balancing Hope And Reality To Plan A Dignified Death
Dealing with the end of life and the decisions that accompany it bring critical challenges for everyone involved-patients, families, friends and physicians. In fact, "managing" the progression toward death, particularly when a dire diagnosis has been made, can be a highly complex process. Each person involved is often challenged in a different way.
Communication is the first objective, and it should start with the physicians. In their role, physicians are often tasked to bridge the chasm between lifesaving and life-enhancing care; thus, they often struggle to balance hopefulness with truthfulness. Determining "how much information," "within what space of time" and "with what degree of directness for this particular patient" requires a skillful commitment that matures with age and experience.
A physician's guidance must be highly personalized and must consider prognosis, the risks and benefits of various interventions, the patient's symptom burden, the timeline ahead, the age and stage of life of the patient, and the quality of the patient's support system.
At the same time, it's common for the patient and his or her loved ones to narrowly focus on life preservation, especially when a diagnosis is first made. They must also deal with shock, which can give way to a complex analysis that often intersects with guilt, regret and anger. Fear must be managed and channeled. This stage of confusion can last some time, but a sharp decline, results of diagnostic studies, or an internal awareness usually signals a transition and leads patients and loved ones to finally recognize and understand that death is approaching.
Once acceptance arrives, end-of-life decision-making naturally follows. Ongoing denial that death is approaching only compresses the timeline for these decisions, adds anxiety, and undermines the sense of control over one's own destiny.
With acceptance, the ultimate objectives become quality of life and comfort for the remainder of days, weeks or months. Physicians, hospice, family and other caregivers can focus on assessing the patient's physical symptoms, psychological and spiritual needs, and defining end-of-life goals. How important might it be for a patient to attend a granddaughter's wedding or see one last Christmas, and are these realistic goals to pursue?
In order to plan a death with dignity, we need to acknowledge death as a part of life-an experience to be embraced rather than ignored when the time comes. Will you be ready?
Mike Magee, M.D., is a Senior Fellow in the Humanities to the World Medical Association, director of the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, and host of the weekly Web cast "Health Politics with Dr. Mike Magee."
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Wednesday, January 7, 2009
5 Diabetes Travel Tips
Planning ahead when you travel reduces stress. This is particularly important for a diabetic. These 5 diabetes travel tips are simple to implement and crucial to your diabetic management. They are particularly important if you are traveling abroad.
1) Have a pre-travel check-up. Make sure your A1C blood sugar levels; your blood pressure and your cholesterol levels are OK. Get the appropriate shots for any country you plan to visit.
2) Wear a diabetes medical ID. Ideally it should be in the language spoken in the country you're visiting. Not everyone speaks your language and you don't want medical problems through misunderstandings.
3) Keep your medication and glucose snacks in your hand-luggage. Check-in baggage does, unfortunately, go astray. Don't risk your diabetes medication by packing it in your main luggage.
4) Keep your medication in its original box, complete with pharmacy labels. It will prevent misunderstandings about why you are carrying drugs and, if you are on insulin, syringes.
5) Be aware of time zone changes, especially when altering your watch. Remember when you travel east your day becomes shorter; if you travel west your day becomes longer. You may need to alter the timings of your medication.
Traveling need not be traumatic. A sensible attitude and a bit of pre-travel planning can make things go far more smoothly.
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Friday, January 2, 2009
A Dreadful Superstition Grips America
A terrible superstition holds people around the world in its grip. Ministers of religion, lawyers, architects, men renowned as brilliant scientists, physicians (particularly, physicians), University professors, middle class people, working class people, people of all nationalities, are its victims.
I was one for 43 years. I really and truly thought that what my doctor said was gospel and never questioned him.
What is this superstition? It is that health may be obtained and maintained and diseases “cured” by drugs, medicines and remedies. They have not taken the pains to investigate, in an unprejudiced manner, this absurd and dreadful belief.
So what we have is physician, nurses and drug stores (by the way we do not have “drug stores” any more. They call themselves “Pharmacies” I just checked the phone book.) Other medical specialists all engaging in these false hopes.
Frightful suffering and bereavement are the common lot of mankind, except for the few who have released themselves from this superstition.
I consider myself lined up with Natural Hygienists and Naturopathic doctors and we feel it is simply amazing that the simple facts of which we have can be ignored so generally. And that people offer themselves as sacrifices to this great superstition.
When a theory of health is presented of the ways and means to “Cure” something or they are going to “find a cure, so give us more money” these stories are heralded as a great triumph of “science”
Yet the first principles of science are violated right in the beginning and in the entirety of such a theory.
If an articles is written which lays down in simple words the rules of health, means by which diseases can be obviated and recovery from diseases can take place, very few orthodox journals of high circulation will print it.
An example is in 1980 when after suffering for 43 years with arthritis and in weeks I was free of the debilitating disease; I took my book to the Regional meeting of the Arthritis Foundation. I was so thrilled to think that with this book they could fulfill their promise that if we send them more money they will find a cure.
What a disaster. My husband dropped me off at the hotel entrance and went to park the car. When he got to the entrance he found two uniformed guards walking me out. Bodily.
We were stunned. They told me they did not want that sort of book at their meeting.
Since then I have over 310,000 copies around the world and get calls and emails daily thanking me for changing their lives.
So it is mainly to people, like myself, who believe as natural hygienists believe, to spread the word. In 1980 there were about 6500 hundred doctors who were telling their patients that what I am saying here is true. Two of them are named in my book “I Cured My Arthritis You Can Too”. Today in 2006 there are thousands more.
To us it is amazingly simple.
Eat the truly good food, breathe good air, drink pure water, exercise, maintain optimistic and pleasant thoughts, and therefore enjoy fantastic health. Give our cells the proper nutrition and our immune systems will become as God gave us in the first place. Our immune system will then rebuild our body and we will enjoy the freedom of no illnesses.
There are now millions who are beginning to rebel against what we might almost call the atrocities suffered as a consequence of this superstition.
Many who are ill and are being subjected to the remedies and poisons that are administered to them. Drugs in large containers have the skull and crossbones on them but when we get the little bottles as “prescriptions it is not there.
My mother was told in the 30’s to use an aluminum type product as a cheap deodorant. She did and I believe it was a contributing factor in the way she changed in later years. Aluminum is causing Alzheimer’s.
While drugs may get immediate temporary relief, you will feel and know that the disease is becoming more and more serious.
I do not have final figures but look around. In the early years of 1900 it was almost unknown to have heart troubles. They did not spend time on it in medical schools. All the major diseases of today, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, the list goes on and none were minor. In 1960 one in 20 had arthritis. Now it is 1 in 3
Same with cancer. Now children are commonly getting it. Heart troubles are killing us faster than ever. I will try to find these figures.
The Untied States is way down in the world as a healthy nation. Have you ever known of so many people with so many health issues? Baby boomers are filling our hospitals with more sickness.
I take my son to the VA hospital due to his Vietnam days and see people his age in terrible condition. Amputees from diabetes, overweight everywhere.
I have felt since 1980 that I have a duty to tell people the other side. I have done lectures and TV and radio. I now do this newsletter. I get people asking me to unsubscribe them due to my teachings.
My phone rings daily with people calling, crying, telling me of the 5, 6, 8 different drugs they are taking. Although they call them prescriptions. I ask each and every one of them to get the hand out from their “Pharmacy” of every drug they are taking and read them to the last page.
Then have a good talk with their doctors.
What do I preach in just one paragraph?
Give your body what it needs in minerals, vitamins and enzymes and exercise, drink pure water, let no negative thoughts or people into their lives and feed our cells to let our immune system take over the job that God meant it to do.
Which is to be in a state of health.
If our immune system is not getting the proper nutrition we are in trouble.
Will this happen overnight? No, You cannot stop taking the drugs you are on without the consent and help of your doctor. Too many side effects can occur.
You did not get in the condition you are in overnight. You will not get into a state of health over night. But start now and by summer or sooner you will not know yourself.
Start promoting healthy cellular replication, get strong muscles, have clear breathing, increased energy levels and have body fitness.
Get supplements that are advanced Nutraceutical supplements. Make an impact on your health today. Feel the results and get VIBRANT HEALTH.
Take heed of what the Bible teaches of food. Mainly moderation in all things.
Stop this insane habit of all cooked foods and foods pre-made. We have gotten into the habit of fast is better. Fast is not better. It costs more in dollars when you buy it and cost thousands in medical bills later on.
Print this in your sub consigns mind. “I am the one responsible for what I eat and drink and do. I am the one who can make changes so I may live, play and have a happy, illness free life”.
If you help yourself to this attitude you will be doing your doctor a big favor. He is overworked and struggling to help.
Stop looking for a magic bullet. There is NONE.
I getup every morning thankful for my health. And my state of mind and for the love of my family. I look forward to each day with joy.
I look at problems as they come up as just a problem that needs a solution.
I work on the solution. If I cannot fix it or change it I have a mental box that I put these things in and I lock it.
I allow nothing negative into my space. If a negative thought pops in I chase it our.
Can you do this? Of course. Let me know how this changes your life.
I am here to help You, help Yourself enjoy a Healthier and Happier Life Style.
Best of Health,
Margie "The Arthritis Lady"
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