I wrote a post last week about the seeming epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency. My wife, sister, and friend all have this and I was kind of wondering why thinking that maybe the lack of time in the sun in the Winter may be the culprit.

As we all have heard in the past the best way to get Vitamin D is to get time in the sun although there are many food sources for Vitamin D like  salmon, sardines, shrimp, milk, cod, and eggs.

I found the following snippet of info from a Canadian doctor in talking about our body synthesizing and getting Vitamin D from being in the sun: Read the rest of this entry »

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Be sure to find out how you can change your life with the Free Fitness program.

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: Carla Hagstom, Carla Hagstrom, food sources, Office of Dietary Supplements, sunburn, Toronto, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiency

In Edmonton at least one place, Alberta Milk, is helping it’s employees to get in better shape by offering fitness programs in the workplace. This is a trend that people are seeing in many places as companies realize that fit and healthy employees are more productive and and have less sick time.

Some employers are embracing the idea that a fit worker is a happy one that may, in the long run, take fewer sick days. After attending a workshop on bringing fitness into the workplace, Joanne Barwise of Alberta Milk in Edmonton talked to her employer and soon the office had various ways for folks to fit activity into their workday.

“The key to success is having management onside,” she said.

Since the spring, the 35 staff at the non-profit organization have had access to two bicycles to ride outside anytime during the work day, and to walking paths near the building.

When that took off, they bought a set of bocce balls. Now every Tuesday and Thursday the staff head to the back of the building and have a game after work.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alberta Milk, Canada, edmonton, fit worker, Joanne Barwise, Kathleen Dugas, project officer in the healthy living unit, Public Health Agency of Canada, staff head, Toronto, USD, www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/pau-uap/fitness/work/trends e.html

With cold and flu season right around the corner I just read an article or two about a product called Cold-fx which is supposed to be a great cold remedy. There is a study taking place seeing if there are any good health benefits with Cold-fx. I myself never have taken cold-fx but know many people that do and the kicker is that they never seem to get sick!

With savvy marketing and the help of some high-profile sports figures, an Alberta company has propelled a natural health product to known-quantity status as something that may boost the immune system’s ability to stave off colds and influenza.

But to date only small studies support CV Technologies’ assertions that Cold-fX can help one stay healthy through Canada’s long cold-and-flu season.
Now the company is putting the claims to the test. It announced yesterday it will conduct a study of 720 healthy senior citizens in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto to see if those who take the product over six months – at either standard or high dose – are less likely to contract respiratory infections than those not receiving the supplement.

“At the end of the day the outcome will be: Did Cold-fX prevent infections in this population or not?” one of the researchers, Dr. Andrew Simor of Toronto’s Sunnybrook and Women’s Health Sciences Centre, said.

“The company has some preliminary data, in elderly nursing home residents and also in some younger adults to suggest that it might actually work in preventing respiratory tract infections. It’s very exciting preliminary data, but that’s all it is. These data need to be confirmed in good, rigorous scientific studies.” said Simor, an infectious disease expert.

One alternative to Cold FX is Immunitril.

Immunitril is made to give the same kinds of benefits as Cold FX and includes many minerals as well as Arabinogalactan, Echinacea Purpuria Leaf, Elderberry and more. Its prime qualities are:

Promotes Healthy Immune System Function
Supports the Function of White Blood Cells
Increases Healthy Digestive Microflora
Anti-oxidant Protection Against Cellular Damage
NEVER GET SICK AGAIN!!!

And it is to be used IMMEDIATELY when first signs of sickness occur to prevent onset of common cold or flu.

Drugs aren’t allowed on the market without that rigorous efficacy testing. But Cold-fX is a natural health product, an extract of North American ginseng. Natural health products can be brought to market without the type of efficacy testing the company is now in the process of doing.

For the study, only seniors living in the community – in other words, not those in nursing homes – will be enrolled. All must have had a flu shot, because influenza vaccinations are recommended for people in this age group, the researchers said. Participants will be monitored closely for respiratory infections.

Tags: Alberta, Andrew Simor, Canada, common cold, CV Technologies, edmonton, high-profile sports figures, infectious disease, influenza, kicker, natural health product, Natural health products, respiratory infections, respiratory tract infections, Toronto, Toronto's Sunnybrook and Women's Health Sciences Centre, vaccinations, Vancouver