Diet, Exercise Better Than Vitamins in Promoting Health

Harvard men's health watch is telling everyone how dangerous vitamin supplements are. Unfortunately they are not kidding!

Please know that although we have our references to try to refute these statements, your patient's families will be hearing this stuff.

While it was once hoped that supplements of folic acid could help reduce colon cancer, new research has shown that taking more than the minimum daily requirement would be harmful. Simon says other studies underscore the downside to dietary supplements, which are unregulated in the Read more...

Ayurtox for Body Detoxification

10 Diseases Linked To Soda

Statistics shows that Americans drink more soda than ever before. They account for more than 25 percent of all drinks consumed in the United States. More than 15 billion gallons were sold in 2000 -- about one 12-ounce can per day for every man, woman and child. Read more

Bill Clinton, Health Groups to Tackle Childhood Obesity

(HealthDay News) -- In what they called a "landmark agreement," former President Bill Clinton and the American Heart Association announced Thursday the launch of a national initiative on childhood obesity, aimed at getting up to 6 million American kids covered for routine visits to both primary care physicians and dietitians.

"I think we want the children of America to know, No. 1, that we want them to be healthy, we want them to grow up healthy, and we want them to start now," Clinton told reporters at his foundation's headquarters in New York City.

The new collaboration, which Clinton called "a really big deal," links medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dietetic Association with insurance companies such as Aetna, WellPoint, Blue Cross of North Carolina and of Massachusetts and private companies like PepsiCo, Owens Corning and Paychex. This, Clinton said, is "the first time our three stakeholders have come together to tackle childhood obesity in a comprehensive way."
The current initiative aims to address the obesity-related healthcare needs of almost 1 million children in the program's first year, by reimbursing doctors and registered dietitians for providing health care and in-depth nutritional counseling to kids on an ongoing basis. In addition, participating companies will offer their employees access to the initiative's benefits. The new alliance will also offer parents educational and nutritional information on tackling childhood obesity.

The planned coverage is set to ratchet up to approximately 6.2 million children (25 percent of all overweight American children) by the end of three years.

Observing that millions of American families simply don't know where to turn for help on their child's weight issues -- or just can't afford the help when they find it -- Clinton said he hoped that the new initiative would address what for many parents is "somewhere between a problem and a nightmare."

The new effort, called the "Alliance Healthcare Initiative," is the latest venture of The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, created in 2005 by the AHA and the William J. Clinton Foundation. In 2006, the Alliance helped shepherd an agreement among soft drink manufacturers that established sweetener, calorie and fat guidelines, and limited the sale of sodas in elementary, middle, and high schools attended by 35 million American students.

For his part, AHA president Dr. Tim Gardner described the new initiative as "a very historic moment" and one that is needed as the nation's medical system becomes increasingly burdened by obesity-related costs amid growing economic hardship.

He noted that the direct health care costs for the treatment of children who are already overweight or obese currently tops $14 billion annually, and, overall, obesity costs the nation an estimated $117 billion annually in both healthcare costs and lost productivity.

"We're here today because there is an obesity epidemic in this country," Gardner said. "One in three teens in this country are overweight or obese."

And, he added, "there's a risk that this generation will be the first in our history to have a shorter lifespan than their parents."

More information
For additional information on childhood nutrition, visit the American Heart Association.

Curb Hunger Pangs with This Oil

Here's a snack that ought to stop you from, well, snacking . . . Read more

Purple Tomato Extended Lives of Cancer-Prone Mice

(HealthDay News) -- Tomatoes genetically modified to be rich in antioxidants called anthocyanins appeared to extend the life spans of cancer-prone mice, a European study finds.

The modified tomatoes were created by adding two genes (Delila and Rosea1) from the snapdragon flower. The anthocyanins, which belong to the flavonoid class of antioxidants, gave the tomatoes a peculiar purple color.

"The two genes we have isolated are responsible for flower pigmentation and, when introduced in other plants, turned out to be the perfect combination to produce anthocyanins, the same phytochemical found in blueberries," study author Eugenio Butelli, of the FLORA project, said in a news release.

Chemical tests revealed that the "purple tomato has a very high antioxidant activity, almost tripled in comparison to the natural fruit," making it very useful to study the effect of anthocyanins, Butelli said.

The researchers fed a powder obtained from the purple tomatoes to mice that lacked the p53 gene, which helps protect against cancer. These mice had an average life span of 182 days compared to 142 days for p53-deficient mice fed a standard diet.

The findings were published in the Oct. 26 issue of Nature Biotechnology.

The study authors emphasized this is a preliminary study, and much more research needs to be done before there's any possibility of human trials.

More information
The American Dietetic Association has more about antioxidants.

Health Tip: Choose Meats Wisely

(HealthDay News) -- Love to eat meat? As with any food group, there are good choices and bad.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers these suggestions on which meats to choose, and how:

• Select for low-fat meats and chicken, and avoid eating high-fat ground beef or chicken with the skin.


• Don't forget to count the fat and calories in cooking additives. For example, if you cook chicken in shortening, add the extra calories to your count.


• Include fish in your diet, especially those high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, trout and herring.


• Avoid organ meats such as liver, which are high in cholesterol.


• Also avoid processed meats such as hot dogs, ham, sausage and lunch meats, which can be very high in sodium and other additives.

The Dangers of a High Soy Diet

In this excerpt from the Inner Circle Interview, Dr. Kaayla Daniel talks about how soy is really a dangerous food.

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Is My Son’s Blue Tongue a Danger to His Health?

By Theresa Tamkins

We had a houseful of guests this weekend, and somewhere between multiple shopping trips with various relatives, we managed to come home with a box of Fruit Roll-Ups.
Heavy on the corn syrup and light on nutrition, kid-magnet products like this are usually banned at my house. Any food that turns your tongue bright blue seems just plain wrong—to me, but not to Jackson, who is 8 and thinks it’s a blast.
But do I have reason to worry, beyond the garish tongue and mostly empty calories? Last week the Center for Science in the Public Interest asked the Food and Drug Administration to ban eight artificial dyes, including three on the side of the box we bought at the grocery story (red 40, yellow 5, blue 1). You probably know CSPI: For more than 30 years they’ve been high-profile agitators against junk foods, bad nutrition labeling, additives, and more. Read More

Health Tip: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

(HealthDay News) -- No one knows precisely why people get cancer, and there's no surefire cure.

But if you maintain a healthy lifestyle, you can help reduce your risk. Here are some suggestions, courtesy of AARP:

• Eat a healthy diet, including plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Limit intake of red meat, saturated fats, smoked and salt-cured foods, and foods preserved with nitrates.


• Get regular exercise of 30 minutes or more at least five days a week.


• Maintain a healthy body weight.


• If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation.


• Wear sunscreen and avoid prolonged exposure to direct sun during the midday hours.


• Get screened for cancers for which you may be most susceptible.