It is Strawberry season and I love eating Strawberries a lot. I have just run across some great info on just how good strawberries are as a health food.

Strawberries are one of nature’s healthiest “packages” of power nutrients. There is strong evidence that strawberries are a heart-protective fruit, an anti-cancer fruit, and an anti-inflammatory fruit all rolled into one ripe treat.

A serving of strawberries will provide you with 210 mg of potassium, a mineral that will help regulate the electrolytes in your body, lowering your risk of heart attack and stroke. Strawberries are also high in folate, a key ingredient in the manufacture of red blood cells, and a possible aid in delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Strawberries are Packed with Vitamins and Minerals

Rounding out the roster of beneficial vitamins and minerals of note are B2, B5, B6, vitamin K, copper, and magnesium. Strawberries also contain omega fatty acids. All of this goodness is available to you at a cost of 45 calories for about seven medium strawberries. And not only that, but the fiber in strawberries, about 12% of your RDA per serving, helps your body absorb nutrients, inhibits the production of cholesterol in your liver, and helps stabilize your blood glucose.

Do you want to learn more about all of these strawberry affects and more? Go to the Health Assist Blog.

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: Alzheimer's disease, cancer, health food, heart attack, stroke, Vitamin K

What is the anti aging secret weapon? It’s water. Yes, plain old water – our best friend in the battle to restore or hold on to our youth.

Without water there would be no life. It’s that important. Water is something that NASA looks for on new planets to establish whether there might be life on the planet. Although for humans, oxygen is a more urgent need and we would die very fast without it, there are known forms of life that do not need oxygen or even are poisoned by it. But every living thing needs water.

Water makes up 55% to 75% of the human body, depending on a person’s build and size. It is essential for all of our metabolic processes. It helps transport nutrients and eliminate toxins. These substances are dissolved or held in suspension by our bodily fluids that are mostly water, and carried around the body. It is important for a healthy colon, kidneys, liver, brain and just about everything else. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alzheimer's disease, bloating, food, heart disease, high blood pressure, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, stroke, US National Research Council

Weight is measured in terms of body mass index (BMI). For adults, a healthy weight is a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9. Overweight is a BMI of 25 to 29.9. A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

Health experts say roughly 66 percent of American adults are overweight. The Obesity Society reports, 25.6 percent of Americans are obese. The extra weight is hard on the body and increases the risk for many types of chronic health problems, like heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, certain types of cancer, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, liver and gallbladder disease and respiratory problems.

Obesity in African Americans

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports rates of overweight and obesity are higher among African-Americans than whites. In a health survey conducted between 1999 and 2000, researchers found 69.6 percent of blacks and 62.3 percent of whites were overweight. There is a much higher disparity in rates of obesity, with 39.9 percent of blacks being obese versus 28.7 percent of whites. Among African-American women, four out of five are overweight or obese. Low-income African-American women have the highest risks of being overweight.

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Tags: cancer, center for disease control, diabetes, gallbladder disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, liver disease, nurse, obesity, Obesity Society, osteoarthritis, physician, sleep apnea, Stephanie Ward, stroke, Temple University School of Medicine

I am always concerned about hydration when I exercise but in the summer months when it is hard to stay hydrated even when doing nothing it is even more critical to keep your water and electrolytes up.

Proper hydration plays a critical role in athletic performance. Some consequences of dehydration are as follows: cramping, fatigue, dizziness, rapid elevation of body temperature, confusion, fainting, and the inability to sweat (cooling mechanism of the body).

Despite these symptoms obviously hampering athletic performance, they can progress rapidly into heat exhaustion or heat stroke. In order to avoid these serious side effects and increase the ability to perform at top levels, it is essential that not only athletes, but everyone that is exposed to Louisiana temperatures have a clear understanding of how to maintain proper hydration.

When focusing on hydration, it is important to look at some warning signs that the body gives to signal the lack of proper hydration. Thirst is considered by some experts to be an early signal that your body is in need of re-hydration. But according to Nancy Clark in her “Sports Nutrition Guidebook,” athletes may have already lost over a pound and a half of water weight before their thirst mechanism kicks in. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: dehydration, dizziness, fainting, fatigue, Louisiana, Nancy Clark, Porche, stroke

We have all beleived that aspirin use will lower the risk of heart attack, mostly becuase it thins the blood. The problem I have always foudn though is that too much aspirin will stop the blood from clotting quickly and this in itslef almost led to a quick trip to the hospital for my wife last year.

This new study below though seems to show that it is not so obvious as to wether Aspirin really helps to prevent heart attacks but in itslef it is a good read with lots of findings

Long-term, low-dose aspirin provides no clear net value for primary prevention of cardiovascular events in apparently healthy adults, according to a meta-analysis of patient-level data.

In people not known to have cardiovascular disease, aspirin reduced composite MI, stroke, and vascular death rates to 0.51% per year compared with 0.57% among controls for a relative 12% reduction, according to Colin Baigent, B.M.B.Ch., of the University of Oxford, England, and colleagues in the Antithrombotic Trialists’ Collaboration. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease, Colin Baigent, coronary heart disease, diabetes, heart attack, heart attacks, heart disease, high blood pressure, Michigan, stroke, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, United Kingdom, University of Oxford

The Archives of Neurology is reporting in researching being published this month that there is some evidence of microbleeding in people that are taking aspirin on a regular basis. As we all know many people are taking a small dosage of aspirin to guard against heart problems and this research is something to be aware of although only you and your doctor can make an informed decision as to whether you should continue with that course of prevention

Aspirin and other platelet aggregation inhibitors may increase the likelihood of asymptomatic cerebral microbleeds among older adults, researchers said.

Past microbleeding — indicated by small deposits of the iron-storing protein hemosiderin on brain scans — was 71% more common with use of platelet aggregation inhibitors than without antithrombotic drugs, Monique Breteler, M.D., Ph.D., of Erasmus M.C. University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues found.

Aspirin users in the population-based study were also more likely to show microbleeding limited to lobular areas of the brain, the researchers reported online in the Archives of Neurology. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: cerebral amyloid angiopathy, dementia, Erasmus M.C. University Medical Center, intracerebral hemorrhage, Michigan, Monique Breteler, MRI, Rotterdam, small-vessel disease, stroke, The Archives of Neurology, The Netherlands

Healthy eating is the first step to making sure that you are getting yourself more fit. There a a lot of great advantages to eating better and these include more energy, better concentration and less stomach and digestive problems. Currently, the typical American diet is low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and high in saturated fat, salt, and sugar. As a result, more Americans than ever are overweight, obese, and at increased risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and certain cancers.

Older people are most likely to improve their eating habits, but nutrition is important for people of all ages, says Walter Willet, M.D., chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health. “We know that when people have health problems or their friends become ill, these are strong motivators of change,” says Willet. “The more serious the health condition, the more serious the change. We’d rather people made changes early and prevent health problems in the first place.”

So what if you’re feeling trapped by a diet full of fast-food burgers and cookies? You can work your way out slowly but surely. Here are tips to move your eating habits in the right direction.
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Tags: and Blood Institute, and Dietary Supplements, baked whole-grain corn tortilla chips, Barbara Schneeman, broil food, cancers, Chairman, chairman of the nutrition department, Cindy Moore, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, corn tortilla chips, diabetes, director, director of nutrition therapy, energy, Eric Hentges, fat-free products, food, Food and Drug Administration's Office of Nutritional Products, food diary, food groups, food package, food product, food products, grain products, Harvard School of Public Health, heart disease, high blood pressure, hypertension, kidney disease, Labeling, lower-salt products, Lung, make smart food choices, Marilyn Tanner, milk products, National Heart, nutrition therapy, pediatric dietitian, physician, potassium chloride, similar products, squash, St. Louis, stroke, Tennis, USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, vegetable oil, Walter Willet, Washington University School of Medicine

A new three-in-one-pill could reduce the risk factors for heart disease and stroke by 50 per cent and revolutionize prevention of these medical conditions, which kill thousands of Canadians every year, according to a study released yesterday.

The study, published in the Lancet, showed that when blood-pressure medications, Aspirin and cholesterol-lowering medication were taken together in one pill, known as the Polycap, they were just as effective as when taken separately.

“People could take a pill a day and, literally, keep the doctor away,” said Salim Yusuf, a cardiologist and the study’s lead author. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: atenolol, Cardiologist, cardiologist and the study's lead author, diabetes, head, heart attacks, heart disease, high blood pressure, India, lead author, McMaster University, obesity, Population Health Research Institute, Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University, Prevent Heart Disease A, ramipril, Salim Yusuf, stroke, strokes, USD

We all want our kids to be fit and healthy, but with the fast lifestyle which most of us lead these days, helping kids stay healthy seems to be a tough job. With childhood obesity reaching alarming levels, it is time we take a look our kids’ life and don’t let them become victims of obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, kidney problems, heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, etc. Even if your kid is not obese but eating junk foods, you should still read this article because if he continues with his present lifestyle, it is only a matter of time before he would be displaying a big fat belly like his peers.

Teaching our kids the advantages of following healthy eating habits can help control childhood obesity to an extent. In this article I will offer you four simple eating tips which have worked wonders for my own kids. I am sure you would find them equally helpful.

1. Don’t let them have soda: Soda is probably the number one enemy of your kid, in that it would make him gain weight by leaps and bounds. The only way to control your kid’s soda intake is to find alternative ways to quench his thirst. Water of course is the best medicine, but children are not always willing to drink plain water. So what would you do? Well, you could add low-fat or low-calorie flavors into water to make it tasty. Just be sure to check the calorie and fat contents of the flavors you use.

Further, you can also add a tablespoonful of sugar in water to make it sweet. Children often drink soda mainly because of its sweet taste, but once they find a good alternative in ’sugary-water’, it would be easy to prod them to dump soda for good. Remember that a can of soda contains an equivalent of several tablespoonfuls of sugar; if you could substitute that with just one or two tablespoonfuls of sugar, don’t you think it is a better and healthier option?

2. Be an example: Preaching the rules of healthy eating to your kids is of no use if you don’t follow them yourself. Remember that kids would pick up a bad habit from you quicker than a good one. If you wish to keep your kids healthy, you would also need to lead a healthy lifestyle.

3. Educate your kids adequately: There are several ways to do this. Say, when you shop for grocery, teach your kids how to pick up healthy foods and snacks for themselves, how to identify the high-calorie and sugary foods, etc.

4. Discard junk foods out of your home: It is also important that you clean your kitchen cupboards as well as refrigerator of all the junk foods and stock them with healthier alternatives instead, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. If you keep only healthy foods at home at all times, your kids are less likely to stray than otherwise.

When you have your meals, you should not only eat healthy foods yourself, but also show them how much you enjoy eating those foods. If you have a habit of munching on a packet of chips or popcorn while watching your favorite movie, you should substitute it with apples or carrots; if you really need to eat popcorn, cook them at home using low-calorie oil or margarine instead of butter.

Tags: diabetes, heart attacks, home using low-calorie oil, hypertension, obesity, stroke

Even a few years ago the position of ‘epidemic’ was hold either by cancer or drugs. Not any more. Thanks to the fast and unheeded lifestyle lived by most American teenagers, teenage obesity has almost become one of America’s leading epidemics, and this is not an exaggeration.

Believe it or not, it didn’t become an epidemic in one day or year. During the last five decades Americans have become somewhat lazier and started preferring easy and comfortable lifestyle to hard work. American adults were probably the first to fall prey to obesity, followed by children and teenagers. Today American teenagers ape the unhealthy lifestyle habits of their parents, and teenage obesity is the natural outcome of it.

If you are a red-blooded American citizen you would probably voice a loud “NO” against obesity. After all, if a large percentage of a country’s population suffers from the pangs of killer obesity, what would be the future of such a country. It is no secret that people can keep their native country healthy only when they are fit and healthy themselves, and the secret to living a long and healthy life lies in losing the extra pounds.

Apart from the fact that obesity is itself a disease, it also brings forth several other killer diseases into the human body such as diabetes, hypertension, fatigue, irritability, high blood pressure, heart-related problems, stroke, etc., and even though instances of obesity-related deaths are rare, they DO occur nonetheless.

As for remedy, there is really nothing unique and new to be said here. Since it all started with following an easy and fast lifestyle, people need to revert the process by copying the healthy habits followed by their forefathers. In good old times, teenagers used to play outdoor sports such as volleyball, tennis, basketball, etc. Some of them even used to indulge in hula hooping, rope jumping, skiing, scuba diving, etc. Today’s teens prefer to sit at home and watch television or play video games. Is it then any wonder if they become overweight in due course of time?

Coming over to foods – chips, popcorn balls, candies and chocolates are as much favored by a teen as a pre-teen. In fact even adults take a fancy to these delicious foods. When teens see their parents enjoying a packet of popcorn while watching a Hollywood movie, they get even more encouraged to follow the same routine. Add to that the fact that today’s teens attend dozens of parties just like their parents and you cannot expect a party without beer or soda.

Junk foods have entrapped us so much that we have almost made them an integral part of our staple diet by eating them all the time, be it at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Once again the outcome of following such unhealthy eating habits couldn’t be anything else except obesity.

It is difficult to modify a teenager’s eating habits unless you take recourse to coercion in some form or other, which in turn would do more harm than good. The best way to tackle the situation is by monitoring your kid’s lifestyle habits right from the start.

From a very young age, they should be taught the benefits of playing tennis over watching videos games or PSPs. They should also be taught that chips and cookies are not their friends and that they should eat organic fruits and vegetables as often as possible. These simple measures would go a long way in keeping them fit and healthy throughout their whole life.

Don’t forget that you should also follow the same healthy lifestyle you expect your children to follow.

Tags: America, basketball, cancer, diabetes, fatigue, high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity, outdoor sports, scuba diving, skiing, stroke, Tennis, volleyball