Daily power walks reduce heart attack risk

FEEL THE BURN

Danish scientists who studied the health of 4,000 people for a decade, have proved what fitness professionals have known for years.
The intensity of exercise matters far more than the duration.


Those who went on a fast walk daily reduced their chances of having a heart attack or stroke by 50% compared to those who didn’t. Jogging daily cut the odds by 40 per cent.
But those who said they walked for an hour at a leisurely pace had just the same risk as those who were largely inactive. It was also discovered that, light physical activity and even more than one hour of walking daily did not confer protection against metabolic syndrome.”

The research compared the likelihood of developing what is termed metabolic syndrome - a cluster of conditions including high cholesterol, obesity and high blood pressure - among 3,968 people aged 21 to 98.
People with metabolic syndrome have a much higher risk of heart disease and stroke in middle and old age.


Maureen Talbot, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This study reminds us that it is only physical activities that leave us feeling warm or breathing more heavily that are good for our health.

“Jogging or walking briskly makes the heart beat faster - exercising the heart muscle - and we should all try to do activities each day which get the blood pumping.

“So if you want to make the walk to work or to the shops part of keeping your heart healthy then try turning it from a leisurely stroll into a power walk to get the benefits.”

Mathematics Diet

GUARANTEED RESULTS 

simple formula

A.) calories eaten  = A

B.) exercise (calories used) = B

C.) A must equal B to maintain body weight

D.) if B exceeds A you wil lose weight

E.) if A exceeds B you will gain weight

Simple ideas for a healthier future

1. Wake up and kick-start your metabolism with a pint of water
2. Maintain your bodies energy levels with a balanced Breakfast, Lunch, Afternoon and Evening meal
• have small healthy snacks to stave off hunger between meals
• plan your meals and snacks in advance to avoid temptation and binges
• portion control - you should not feel bloated after eating
• consume your last meal about 4 hours before bed
3. Keep your body hydrated throughout the day, don't allow yourself to become thirsty
4. Avoid overly processed foods
5. Keep active every day and work up a sweat at least 3 times a week

Set a weight loss goal that is measureable
Set a fitness goal that is measurable
Give yourself check points to measure your progress and make adjustments if necessary
Focus on a lifestyle change not a short term fix. Fad diets don't work because they are only a temporary measure and don't adjust your ideas towards food and exercise.

Be realistic - setbacks will happen, don't quit start again tomorrow.

Remember if you only lost 0.5lbs a week you would still have lost 26lbs by the end of the year - That is over 11kgs! - Most of us don't have that much excess weight to lose. Imagine how good you could be looking and feeling next summer if you lost just 3 or 4 kilos of excess fat.

Start working towards your healthier body today not tomorrow

Your Olympic Legacy

What will be your personal best?





The Olympics are over and it was great to watch some of the sports that you already enjoy and to experience some that you haven't really thought much about.

The time of just sitting back and enjoying the action is over, now its your turn. Put on those old trainers and go for a jog or drag that bicycle out of the shed and go for a ride. Better still why not try something completely different.
There is four years to the next Olympics how much could you have improved by that time. Maybe you will be taking a personal Gold for yourself.

Everyday is another fresh start, forget about yesterdays failures and re-dedicate yourself to a fit and healthy future.
Next year that flat and well defined mid-section could be yours.

Diet vs. Lifestyle change

Diet vs. Lifestyle change

How to reduce your calorie intake - sensibly



You can lose weight without following an extremely low-calorie diet.
What is essential is that you lose weight on the kind of diet you will continue to follow after you  have reached your goal.

1. Cut out or reduce the serving sizes of all foods listed in Group 1 and limit your daily intake of alcohol to no more than one glass of beer/ wine or a single measure of spirits. Try to replace Group 1 foods with small portions of foods from Group 2 and 3.

2. If you still fail to or are experiencing difficulty in losing weight, avoid all foods in Group 1, cut out alcohol, reduce your intake of foods in Group 2 and increase your intake of foods in Group 3.

Group 1
Meat
Meat with visible fat, bacon, duck, goose, sausage, salami, pate and luncheon meats.
Dairy Foods
Butter, full cream milk, mayonnaise, most cheeses and ice cream.
Others
Fried foods, potato crisps, gravies or sauces, oil-containing salad dressings, sweetened cereals, cakes, biscuits, pastries, sweets, chocolate, jams, jellies, tinned fruit in syrup and beverages with added sugar.

Group 2
Meat
Lean beef, lamb and pork.
Fish
Oily fish i.e. Mackerel, Herring, Sardines, Salmon or Tuna tinned in oil.
Vegetables
Peas and beans
Dairy Foods
Eggs, semi-skimmed milk.
Others
Nuts, dried fruit, bread, crispbreads, unsweetened cereals, pasta, rice, polyunsaturated soft margarine and vegetable oils.

Group 3
Meat
All poultry (except duck and goose) with skin removed and liver.
Fish
Non oily fish i.e. cod, haddock, tuna tinned in brine/ water, salmon and shellfish.
Vegetables
All vegetables except beans and peas.
Dairy foods
Skimmed milk, plain low-fat yoghurt and low-fat cheese.
Fruit
Fresh fruit and unsweetened fruit juice.
Others
Bran

*Diet and Nutrition

Campaign to tackle UK obesity

A campaign by organisations representing doctors has begun to tackle the rising levels of obesity in the UK.
The campaign will begin by reviewing the case for fat taxes, promoting exercise and restricting some food advertising.

Almost 1 in 4 adults in the UK are obese and predictions indicate that half of children will be obese or overweight by 2020.
This could result in a more severe health issue than those created by HIV and swine flu.

The Royal medical Colleges and faculties represent  200,000 doctors and have described the united campaign as unprecedented.
The doctors groups plan to spend the next three months looking at different solutions and devising a plan to combat the rising obesity problem.

It is not believed that exercise alone will be enough to curb the rise in obesity, as it can take an hour on the treadmill to combat the calories of a single Mars bar.

It is most likely that a similar campaign as that used to deter smoking will be used to push the idea of healthy eating. This could involve a change in the way that people are exposed to advertising and marketing of unhealthy/ junk food and snacks. A tax on certain foods could also be introduced as this has proved to have some success with reducing smoking.

'Never did me any harm...'

Let Them Eat Dirt: How Clean Environments May Set Kids Up for Immune Problems.

With modern plumbing and hygiene, the number of nasty microbes we are exposed to has plummeted, while the rate of auto-immune diseases and allergies has shot up. Are those related?
Proponents of the hygiene hypothesis think so: our immune system is supposed to develop by encountering microbes, so being too clean throws it out of whack as the immune system overreacts to minor insults.

A new study found that mice raised germ-free had especially high numbers of invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT) in their colons and lungs—the mouse versions of inflammatory bowel disease and asthma, respectively. Most evidence supporting the hygiene hypothesis has just been in observed correlations, so this research that identifies a plausible molecular mechanism is good evidence for how over-cleanliness might cause immune dysfunction.

Interestingly, microbial exposure only affected immune system development during a critical period in childhood. Microbial exposure had no effect on the iNKT cells of adult germ-free mice, but it did restore iNKT levels to normal in the offspring of pregnant germ-free mice exposed just before birth.

Kidney cancer on the rise

The number of people diagnosed with kidney cancer each year is at a record high - partly fuelled by obesity, figures show.
Kidney cancer cases hit more than 9,000 in 2009, treble the figure of just under 3,000 in 1975. It is now the eighth most common cancer in Britain, climbing from 14th place in 1975.

After smoking, obesity is the most preventable risk factor for developing the disease, increasing the risk by 70%.
Cancer Research UK, estimates that about a quarter of kidney cancer cases in men and 22% in women are linked to being overweight.

Overweight people produce higher levels of some hormones which can help fuel cancer. In 2009, almost a quarter of adults in England were obese. A further 44% of men and 33% of women were overweight.

While some of the increase in cases could be down to better detection of kidney tumours, evidence suggests there has also been a rise in the number of advanced kidney cancer cases - suggesting other factors are also in play.