September 25, 2010, was Family Health and Fitness Day. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get this posted beforehand, but thought this information would be useful for everyone anyhow. Better late than never, right?!


If you are interested in improving your health or the health of your family, then you'll appreciate these handouts to help you start down the path to wellness within your home.

Health Tips for Families
Lifestyle Improvement: 4 Weeks of Small Changes
Tips for Raising Healthy Eaters
Managing Your Child’s Diet
Exercise: Setting Up a Home Gym



Healthy wishes!
Alissa

September 21, 2010, is World Alzheimer’s Day!
For more information about how diet affects the mind, check out the following links.
 
Neurological Health: Food for Your Brain
Brain Health: How to Reduce Your Risk of Developing Dementia
Professional Dialogue: Does the Mediterranean Diet Prevent Alzheimer’s?

Recently, the media has been referencing a study in which researchers have determined that calcium supplementation has now been associated with increased incidences of myocardial infarct. To those who understand the relationship between calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K, the researcher's conclusion makes sound physiological sense.

Unfortunately, what the media has neglected to mention is that this potential problem can easily be averted by always supplementing calcium with vitamin D and vitamin K. Vitamin D is necessary in order to help transport calcium into the blood stream. But once there, calcium can then find its way into soft tissues including blood vessels, thereby leading to calcification or hardening of the arteries which can then lead to cardiovascular disease.

Vitamin K plays a major role in calcium metabolism as it is responsible for activating a key protein that actively transports calcium away from soft tissues and into the bone where calcium can help strengthen bone and diminish the chances of developing osteoporosis.

This is the primary reason why I recommend Isotonix vitamins. Isotonix Vitamin D contains the important addition of vitamin K.

Source: Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis

Learning how to achieve sustainable weight loss is my ultimate goal when working with my clients. I could put my clients on a more severe diet plan that would lead to faster, more transient weight loss. And sometimes, in extreme situations, I do just that. Physique contest coming up? Gotta make weight for a fight? Wedding day in a month? In these situations I might shoot for the most weight loss in the shortest time possible.

However, when I want my clients to achieve a lasting change (which is most of the time), a change they can maintain for life, I recommend a different approach. This is what I call the behavioral approach, which focuses on helping my client to modify their current behaviors, one step at a time. This approach, compared to the "outcomes approach" (focusing on numbers on the scale), leads to real-world, maintainable weight loss. The kind everyone really wants, whether they realize it or not.

You see, I’ve found that the best results happen when:

• Clients focus on behaviors
• Your nutritionist focuses on outcomes

This means I want my clients thinking only about things they can control, like how many veggies they’re eating per day, how much exercise they’re getting per week, etc. In other words, their habits.

It’s your nutritionist that should be thinking about things like the expected weight loss factor and your measurements.

So, clients, don’t stress out over weekly weight loss numbers. You can’t control the numbers. All you can control is your behavior. So focus only on the next workout you’re going to do and the next habit you’re going to adopt or follow. And leave the outcomes (the numbers part) for your nutritionist and trainers.

Consuming berries, especially blueberries and strawberries has been shown by researchers to help regulate mechanisms that help eliminate toxins and certain proteins from accumulating in the brain, thus decreasing the risk of developing age related cognitive disorders.

Source: Eating Berries May Activate the Brain's Natural Housekeeper for Healthy Aging

These seven underrated foods do more than fill space in the salad bowl

If broccoli and spinach are the leaders of the vegetable world, then corn and celery are knipping at their heals. For some reason, we've been dismissing these pale staples as nutritionally barren, focusing our attention on brighter and more colorful veggies. The fact of the matter is, ALL vegetables have nutritional value containing potent chemicals helping it to survive. When we consume these vegetables, we get them as well, which means benefits to us such as phytochemicals that may fight cancer and heart disease. So truly, it's wise to eat a large variety of vegetables every day!

Iceburg Lettuce - A source of vitamin K (one serving provides up to 20 percent of your daily needs), which helps your body build new bone. In a study of women ages 38 to 74, researchers found that those who ate lettuce once or twice a day had a 45 percent lower risk of hip fracture than peers who ate lettuce one or fewer times per week.

Mushroom (White Button) - A good source of B vitamins that help convert food into energy. Mushrooms are also rich in the antioxidant selenium, and contain potent anti-tumor compounds called triterpenoids. Now we know why they have long been used for their medicinal properties!

Radish - Part of the cruciferous vegetables, which  means it contains cancer-protective properties. It's also an excellent source of vitamin C and heart-healthy potassium and folate, plus the trace mineral molybdenum, which assists energy production in the cells.

Cucumber - A good source of caffeic acid, which helps soothe skin irritation, and silica, an essential building block of connective tissue like muscle, tendons and ligaments, and bone. The flesh contains vitamin C, and the skin is rich in potassium and magnesium.

Onion - One of the richest sources of flavonoids in the human diet. Flavonoids are plant compounds that fight bacteria, viruses and inflammation, and help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Celery - A good source of energy-converting B vitamins such as riboflavin, B6 and pantothenic acid, as well as bone-building calcium and magnesium. It's also a good source of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins A and C, folate and potassium, and blood and bone-preserving vitamin K.

Corn - Rich in fiber as well as B vitamins thiamin and folate. Maybe more important, each kernel is brimming with ferulic acid, a known cancer-fighting phytochemical. Research shows the longer you cook it, the more potent it becomes.