Last night as I was flipping around the channels I ran across Larry King on CNN talking to Dr Andrew Weil about health and specifically about the Swine Flu.

For anyone that has not seen or heard Dr Weil, he is a very interesting guy. He is not a big fan of drug companies, is really interested in alternative medicines and therapies and has the research to prove his point. And he really has the hippy look to him.

Anyway Dr Weil mentioned that Astragalus is available in health food stores as a capsule and that he would be taking it starting soon to avoid the Swine Flu (H1N1). Also he was very clear that to avoid any flu that you should do the following:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after using it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you do get the flu (or any contagious illness, for that matter), stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: Andrew Weil, Bird flu, CNN, contagious illness, cough, H1N1, health food stores, Larry King, Swine Flu

An interesting study was released a while back from West Virginia University is getting some play on CNN today. The study followed over 100 people and looked at how regular coping mechanisms worked compared to using meditation and mindfulness to combat stress.

An intensive program that teaches meditation skills may help people reduce the psychological and physical effects of high stress, according to a new study.

Kimberly A. Williams, Ph.D., at West Virginia University in Morgantown, and her colleagues assessed the benefits of the program that taught participants to “discern a relaxed from tense body and come to understand experientially how mental and emotional states influence the body and vice versa.”

They recruited 62 “stressed-out” subjects from the community. Past studies of similar training programs have shown the benefits in patients with confirmed psychiatric diagnoses and/or chronic illness. This is the first study to examine the benefits of such a program within a community setting, in people who reported abnormally high stress but not at a level that constitutes a psychiatric disorder. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alternative Medicine, CNN, Kimberly A. Williams, meditation, Morgantown, Prevention Research Center, psychiatric disorder, the American Journal, West Virginia University

I ran across an article on the CNN Money site this morning about health clinics at Wal Mart. Here in Canada we have a nationalized health care system that does not allow any kind of a third party in the market instead of using doctors offices but now more and more doctors are opeing up storefronts that allow people to go to the clinic and it just works as a doctors office that allows walk in patients.

This has become crucial to delivering health care in Alberta anyway, as the emergency rooms in hospitals have not been able to keep up and many people are forced to wait 10 hours or more just to get treated.

I have not had much opportunity to go to the hospital emergency room as we usually take our kids to one of these clinics or else our family doctor. Anyway her are some of the points that are being made in the CNN article.

Americans, frustrated by endless waits at the doctor’s office, are sidestepping their family physician and taking their rashes, strep throat and pink eye to stores such as Wal-Mart and Walgreens instead.

As this trend gains more traction, experts say it could define the market for primary care. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alberta, Canada, chairwoman, CNN, Columbia, Columbia University's School of Public Health, family physician, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Jonathan Weiner, professor of health policy, professor of health policy and management, retail clinics, Sherry Glied, United States, Wal-Mart

One of the most basic ways to get in shape is using your own bodyweight. Uou have undoubtedly done this already in the past using pushup, situps, chinups and there are lots more.

I ran across an article on CNN about some people trying to popularize working out only using your own bodyweight lathough some of the equipment may be a bit hard to come by.

The Bartendaz of New York want to serve as many young people as possible — and that’s a good thing.
One of the Bartendaz, Metaphysics, performs the flag move during a demonstration at an Atlanta-area school.

These fitness gurus aren’t promoting underage drinking. Named for the creative moves they perform on the pull-up bar, the Bartendaz are empowering youths through calisthenics. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Atlanta, Bartendaz, Bartendaz founder, CNN, founder, Hassan Yasin, Ludacris, New York, rapper, Rashad Evans, YouTube

I always think of the Spring as the end of the flu season and now it seems to be warming up and I know that I will be letting my guard down, just like most other people.

Career Builder has this wordy but informative article about the flu season, when it starts and ends, and how people deal with time off due to the flu.

Between October and March, the following scene plays out in workplaces across the country.

Employee 1: “I think I’m coming down with something.”

Employee 2: “Yeah, something’s been going around. Everyone’s got it.”

Never mind how annoying it is that something’s always going around, thereby robbing you of much-needed sympathy. Every flu season it does seem that at least one employee comes down with something and, by spring, everyone will have suffered from it.

Did you ever wonder why no one can seem to shake that ailment? One big reason is the constant stream of under-the-weather employees reporting to work. Yes, punctual, dependable colleagues are making you sick.

Read the rest of this article at CNN

Tags: CNN, guard

I just saw an article on CNN about a woman that lost 160 pounds on the Raw Food Diet. Many people ask me about this because the Raw Food Diet seems like a natural and safe way ot lose weight.

Raw food diets can be a great way to not only lose weight but also led a much healthier, natural lifestyle in general. Most raw food diets are plant-based, with at least 75% of the diet composed of raw food.

Food examples include living and raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, rolled or flaked grains, and seaweeds. Some adherents may also eat cooked grains and legumes, fresh fish and poultry. For the strict raw food diet, however, nothing should be heated over 116 degrees Fahrenheit. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: cancer, chemical reactions, CNN, dairy products, digestive disorders, energy, food, Food additives, food diets, food enzymes, Food examples, food variety, raw food, raw food diet, raw food dieters, raw food diets, raw fruits, strict raw food diet

There is a really inspiring story on CNN today about a fellow in Tehachapi California that rides to work in Bakersfield.

The ride is 42 miles and I thought initially that they meant the round trip. After checking a map it seems that he is riding 84 miles round trip every day. The idea has always been in his head he says and so he decided to ride for the month of May.

I know of people that ride up to maybe 20 miles to work every day but that is a lot. I myself have ridden anywhere from 15 miles to my latest 4 miles to work.

I love these kinds of stories. Anytime that I think that there are some kinds of limits to fitness and health or am feeling a bit lazy I will seek out stories like these to prove to myself that anything is possible

Tags: CNN

Ususally I am not to impressed with CNN articles as they seem to be a bit fluffy or alarmist but there is a great article about the FDAs warning against giving kids 6 or under certain cold medicines

FDA: Stop giving cold, cough meds to toddlers – CNN.com

I know that most parents are very nervous about kids having colds and I have always been one of them as well. The first real sign that my kids have a cough and I reach for the kids cold medicine, I guess maybe not anymore.

Here are some highlights of what the FDA has to say about cold medicines for kids:

“The basic question is, why should a product be so relentlessly marketed when it’s not safe or effective?” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore health commissioner. “It does not make sense, in the absence of information, to say ‘consult a physician,’ because they do not have superhuman powers. They cannot make a product safe or effective.”

And even more alarming is that there are deaths caused by the use of pseudoephedrine in kids cold medicine. Yes if you look on the bottle you will see that the adult versions cold medicine has pseudoephedrine as an active ingredient.

An FDA review of side-effect records filed with the agency between 1969 and September 2006, found 54 reports of deaths in children associated with decongestant medicines made with pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine or ephedrine. It also found 69 reports of deaths associated with antihistamine medicines containing diphenhydramine, brompheniramine or chlorpheniramine.

Tags: Baltimore, CNN, cough, fda, health commissioner, Joshua Sharfstein, physician

I have not been following this one very closely but it seems that Dr Sanjay Gupta and the people at CNN have been doing a mini version of the Biggest Loser. A bit different as they have three couples who are trying to fix different parts of their health.

The New You Resolution includes a lot of tips as well as well as great info on what you can do to improve yourself.

Tags: CNN, Sanjay Gupta, the Biggest Loser

I was looking at the health section of the CNN site and found an article that in a Major Diet Study, Carbohydrates were Found Not Guilty . I think that most people instinctively know that the rel problem is excess calories and lack of exercise but the Atkins diet over the years has eroded that belief a little. Here are the main points of the article:

• Inform interested patients that in this study a diet low in fats and rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is not associated with weight gain over a period of several years, at least among postmenopausal women.
• Explain that this finding comes from a large-scale health intervention trial and runs counter to the idea that carbohydrates are responsible for obesity, as promoted by popular diet books and plans.
• Also explain that altering dietary composition without caloric restriction will not result in weight loss. The only effective way to modify obesity is with adherence to a calorically restricted diet.

Tags: atkins diet, caloric restriction, CNN, obesity