This report and study is not new news to me and I would bet that you would agree that it make sense that losing sleep and not sleeping is really unhealthy.

Men have an increased risk of premature death if they have chronic insomnia along with a short sleep duration, researchers here said.

In a longitudinal study of more than 1,700 men and women followed for more than 10 years, men with insomnia and short sleep duration were almost five times more likely to die than men who had normal sleep, said Alexandros N. Vgontzas, M.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Sleep Research Center at Penn State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa.

Dr. Vgontzas reported the findings at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

“Until now, most studies had failed to show that insomnia, like sleep apnea, is associated with medical morbidity and mortality,” said Dr. Vgontzas. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Those little Halloween candies looking at you from the bowl, little, bright colored and just jumping up with the sweet chocolate that you know that you love so much are very very evil. You know you want one, you yearn for one or two but as you try you just can not say no….or can you?

Halloween candy is some of the worst stuff that you can eat. It is small so you do not worry too much about the calories (even if you eat 20), it is high in saturated fat, and there is so much around at this time of year that it is hard to avoid. In fact it would be hard to find an office building anywhere in america that does not have a few bowls of Halloween candy lieing around on November 1st.

Here are the calories for some Halloween candies:

Nestle’s Crunch – Fun Size 3 bars=210 calories
Peanut M&M’s – Fun Pack 2 bags=80 calories
M&M’s – Fun Pack 2 bags=180 calories
Snicker’s – Fun Size 2 bars=160 calories
Milky Way – Fun Size 2 bars=150 calories
Kit Kat – Fun Size 2 bars=100 calories
Hershey Chocolate Bar – Fun Size 1 bar=90 calories/ 5grams of fat
Reese’s Cup – 1 cup=80 calories
Butterfinger – Fun Size 1 bar= 100 calories
Twix – Fun Size 1 bar= 80 calories
York Peppermint Pattie – 1 pattie=70 calories
Twizzlers – 1 treat size pkg= 45 calories
Almond Joy – 1 snack size bar = 90 calories
Milk Duds – 1 treat size box = 40 calories
Butterfinger – 1 snack size bar = 100 calories
Milky Way – 1 snack size bar = 90 calories
SweetTarts – 1 treat size pkg. = 50 calories
1 Tootsie Pop – 1 pop = 60 calories
1 Tootsie Roll – 1 small roll = 13 calories

Note: Calorie content is based on 1 serving of Halloween snack or fun size packages, not full size servings found in the candy aisle.

If you are not worried about all of these extra calories over the next week that is fine, but if you would like to avoid Halloween candy and the calories that they offer here is a few tips.

1. Change the way that you think about the little Halloween candy. Most of us will associate these candies with childhood and that carefree feeling, instead think of them as something that will raise your blood sugar and make you jumpy.

2. Eat properly so you can stay away from Halloween candy. If you keep yourself on track for eating then avoiding the Halloween candy is easier because you will not be hungry.

3. Only buy the Halloween candy that you do not like. What may be tough for someone to resist may not be too hard for you to resist.

4. Decide what you are willing to eat ahead of time. Look at the list above, there are some good decisions that you can make that will stop you from making this a weight gain holiday by eating the right Halloween candy. I am a big fan of Tootsie Rolls and those are apparently OK to eat.

5. Just stay away. there is some willpower involved in not eating the things that we are not supposed to eat. Have some willpower and you can stay away from treats, it is only a one week holiday anyway, right?

As just about everyone knows I have a bit of a sweet tooth and am very fortunate that my metabolism allows me to eat some chocolate (my wife says I deserve to be fat).

Anyway we had a bit of a scare this week when there was a recall and fears of salmonella poisoning involving many Hershey products made in Canada. I have grabbed a list that is here but also there is a number on the back that must be between 6417 to 6455 as I have stated below. I am no health official so if you have any real questions on this please call the number below.

A number of popular Hershey chocolate products and candies have been recalled because of fears of salmonella contamination at a Smiths Falls, Ont., plant. Hershey brand chocolate bars, chocolate chips, Oh Henry! bars, Reese Peanut Butter Cups, and Cherry Blossom candies are among the affected products. None of the recalled products were produced for Halloween or Christmas products.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the products.

The recalled chocolate and candy can be identified by date codes found on the back of each package — the affected date codes range from 6417 to 6455. Consumers who have purchased the items in question should contact Hershey at 1-800-468-1714.

The affected products are:
HERSHEY CHIPITS Milk Chocolate Chips 270 gram
HERSHEY’S Creamy Milk Chocolate With Almonds 43 gram
HERSHEY’S Creamy Milk Chocolate 45 gram
HERSHEY CHIPITS Semi-Sweet 350 gram, Chocolate Chips 2 kg
HERSHEY CHIPITS Mini 300 gram, Chocolate Chips 10 kg, 175 gram, 500 gram
HERSHEY CHIPITS Chocolate Chip Bulk 10 kg
HERSHEY CHIPITS Semi-Sweet Mint Chocolate Chips 300 gram
HERSHEY Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 300 gram
HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate 45 gram
HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate with Almonds 43 gram
HERSHEY Assorted 16 count 728 gram
HERSHEY Assorted 50 count 2.5 kg, Nut Roll 5 kg
HERSHEY Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 10 kg
HERSHEY’S Chocolate Shell Topping 177 ml
OH HENRY! OH HENRY! 62.5 gram, 145 gram and 4 x 62.5 gram
OH HENRY! Bites 130 gram
OH HENRY! Peanut Butter 60 gram
REESE Peanut Butter Cups 51 gram, 68 gram, 4 x 51 gram
LOWNEY Cherry Blossom 45 gram
LOWNEY Bridge Mix 52 gram, 340 gram
GLOSETTE Peanuts 45 gram
GLOSETTE Almond 42 gram
GLOSETTE Raisin 50 gram, 145 gram
EAT-MORE Dark Toffee Peanut Chew 56 gram, 4 x 56 gram