Portrait on the Mantel

The University of Brighton has published a report in the journal Public Health Nutrition which show that girls who eat a diet high in meat reach puberty earlier than those whose diet contain less.

The study found that girls who ate 12 or more servings of meat per week at 7 years of age were 75% more likely to start their periods by age 12 (this study tracked girls eating habits from birth til they were 12 yrs and 8 months) than girls who ate less meat at the same age. Additionally, girls who ate more than 8 servings of meat at 3 years of age where also more like to start their periods earlier, than those who at less meat.

Girls puberty age has been dropping since the beginning of 20th century, with the fastest decline occur in the past 50 years. The risk to girls and women are higher risk of developing breast cancer and having body weight issues.

I don’t think anything else need be said…..

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Here is a list of foods that have been shown to actually speed up your metabolism which can help you reduce weight. Try adding these in your kitchen for snack foods or at the office where you find yourself searching for something to nibble.

Almonds according to the International Journal of Obesity help dieters lose weight by 18% compared to 11% for those who didn’t snack on them. Alpha linolenic acid is the ingredient in Almonds which help it speed up metabolism. And snacking on Almond will help you feel fuller longer.

Sweet potatoes are a high fiber low fat food contains carotenoids which aid in blood sugar stabilization. Sweet potatoes can reduce food cravings.

Oranges and Grapefruits contain flavones to help them burn fat. According to published reports women who ate more flavones had less body over a 14 year study than those who didn’t.

Calcium rich foods, studies show that calcium affects vitamin D production which seems to have an effect on fat metabolism. Research shows that adults who calorie restrict and have a low calcium intake loss far less weight than those who calorie restrict but increase their calcium intake.

Increasing your daily intake of the foods listed above won’t hurt your weight loss strategy but may actually speed up your progress.

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Most overweight Americans are not trying to lose weight. The number of people who are dieting in America is the lowest number in the past 20 years, despite the billion spent on losing weight in this country. The rate of obesity in this country continue to increase, this is truly startling when you consider the amount of money being spent on weight loss products, programs and diets.

The money being spent is not indicative of the commitment of those actively seeking to lose weight. The majority of people only spend money on products and programs but go no further. People spending money and get no results because they’re putting forth zero effort, most simply buy products them forget them on their shelves.

Americans are notorious for doing whatever they choose without concern of the consequences, many even seem to continue with their habits right up to learning they have a serious health problem. And then there are many others who reject the fact that they have a weight problem. They seem to believe they look fine and are healthy.

The major detractor believe they must go through a miserable process to loss weight. Many know people or themselves who have attempted to lose weight over and over again failing each time. They’ve tried diets and/or exercise programs that leave them hungry or sore before they give up.

The good news that most of the reasons why Americans have such a dismal fear of diet and exercise is based on junk information. Diets don’t have to be a negative ordeal, just commit to one thing this week that you are willing to do to correct your eating habits. Next week commit to another thing. Continue this process week after week until you’ve reach your goal. Before long you would have made huge changes to your eating habits 1 week at a time.

The same is true of exercise, take the stairs, park further away these are just a few of the simple things you can do to begin to increase your activity level. How many of you mow your own lawn? The point is start today moving and in a week from now add another simple tweak and success.

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Getting regular exercise and eating a healthier diet are the best routine to combating disease as oppose to medication, this from a published report in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. The study finds that making lifestyle and diet changes are very effective in improving health for people with diabetes and heart conditions.

Medication alone seems to provide very little improvement over the long haul for diabetics. The study proved that changes to diet are necessary to improve overall health, maintaining healthy weight, consuming foods which support good health and staying physically active. Avoiding refined foods like sugar, white rice and pasta. Conversely consuming raw veggies, nuts and organic foods help to improve and/or reverse diabetes.

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By now most people are aware that our food supply isn’t like your grandmothers foods, whether the difference is because its been sprayed with pesticides, genetically modified or partially organic. Here are tips you can use to discover which.

By reading the label you can determine a lot about where your food came from and how it made to your grocery store. The label on produce has a series of numbers, which will let you know whether it is organic or not. FYI products labeled as organic may or not be fully organic. FDA rules allow foods that are not 100% organic to be labeled as just organic, however foods that are labeled as 100% organic are 100% organic and was not genetically modified, nor any of its ingredients.

Labels on produce which begin with the a 4, has more than likely been sprayed with pesticides. Genetically modified produce labels begin with an 8 and has a string of 5 digits. Organic produce labels begin with a 9 and have 5 digits.

There are other reason to read your labels, 100% organic is great so it No-GMO or GMO Free. This tag indicates that this product has not been genetically modified or that it has not genetically modified ingredients.

Many of us read labels and these are a few more tools to help decipher the maze of what’s in the food we buy and where did it come from. As my grandmother use to say “you are what you eat”.

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Researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital reports that men who drank a liter or more of cola had lower sperm counts than men who did not and the effects were not related to caffeine. The research did not make clear whether the lower sperm count was caused by the cola or by the unhealthy lifestyle habits that come from those who drink a liter or more of cola.  Men who drank amounts of cola also eat more fast foods and less fruits and veggies.

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You’ve been had, hoodwinked and bamboozled. As it turns out coffee doesn’t actually give you a boost or make you more alert, this according to a study from Bristol University. Although frequent caffeine drinkers report getting a jolt from their morning or afternoon cup, this study reveals not such effect.

Researchers actually found that people who consumed less than 1 cup of coffee a day, the coffee enhanced performance on test of alertness while the placebo group had not effect. Those who drank up to 6 cups a day reported decreased alertness and increased headaches.

This study supports the theory that the body develops a dependence on caffeine, which require it just for normal levels of alertness. Therefore regular coffee drinkers become less alert when they stop drinking, not more alert when they do drink.

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Research from the University of Newcastle reports eating meals high in fat may worsen the symptoms of asthma.  Although, this particular has not been confirmed by other researchers it does suggests that strategies aimed at reducing dietary fat intake can be a useful tool in managing asthma. Studies have shown that high fat diets can cause immune system to produce an inflammation causing compound that cause coughing, wheezing and breathing trouble characteristic of asthma. But the connection with the disease had not been tested directly.

Rates of asthma in the U.S. has increased by 75% between 1980 to 1994, with over 34 million people suffering from the disease by 2007.

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According to a study from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Georgia  Savannah, if you eat only foods advertised on TV you would consume an entire months worth of sugar in 1 single day.  Just 1 advertised food in itself would provide 3 times the RDA for sugar and 2.5 your RDA of fat.

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This a a recent New York Times piece written by a doctor, most medical schools teach little if any courses on nutrition and most students graduate and become doctors with no sense of how nutrition plays a vital role in maintaining good health. Although, most chronic diseases are related to poor diet medical school training focus largely on drugs, surgical procedures and other interventions.

I remember reading a report from the National Academy of Sciences pertaining to the lack of nutritional education in med school. That report strongly recommended that schools begin offering some nutritional courses to their students. However a recent study published in Academic Medicine, a Journal of the Association of American Medical College, revealed that conditions have either gotten worse or remained unchanged.

This just point out how important it is for patients to be aware of where their doctors loyalties lye. And unless a physician is self motivated they’re probably more likely to write a prescription than provide good sound advice.

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