Cody's Notebook: November 2010

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Cancer cells slurp up fructose, U.S. study finds

Kids,

This is a fascinating study implicating refined fructose sugars as a major culprit in the spread of cancer cells. This is huge because it states that all sugars are NOT created equal.

Read on...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that challenges the common wisdom that all sugars are the same.

Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways, the team at the University of California Los Angeles found.
They said their finding, published in the journal Cancer Research, may help explain other studies that have linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.

"These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation," Dr. Anthony Heaney of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and colleagues wrote.
"They have major significance for cancer patients given dietary refined fructose consumption, and indicate that efforts to reduce refined fructose intake or inhibit fructose-mediated actions may disrupt cancer growth."

Americans take in large amounts of fructose, mainly in high fructose corn syrup, a mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and a range of other foods.
Politicians, regulators, health experts and the industry have debated whether high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients have been helping make Americans fatter and less healthy.
Too much sugar of any kind not only adds pounds, but is also a key culprit in diabetes, heart disease and stroke, according to the American Heart Association.

Several states, including New York and California, have weighed a tax on sweetened soft drinks to defray the cost of treating obesity-related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The American Beverage Association, whose members include Coca-Cola and Kraft Foods have strongly, and successfully, opposed efforts to tax soda. [ID:nN12233126]

The industry has also argued that sugar is sugar.

Heaney said his team found otherwise. They grew pancreatic cancer cells in lab dishes and fed them both glucose and fructose.

Tumor cells thrive on sugar but they used the fructose to proliferate. "Importantly, fructose and glucose metabolism are quite different," Heaney's team wrote.
"I think this paper has a lot of public health implications. Hopefully, at the federal level there will be some effort to step back on the amount of high fructose corn syrup in our diets," Heaney said in a statement.

Now the team hopes to develop a drug that might stop tumor cells from making use of fructose.

U.S. consumption of high fructose corn syrup went up 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, researchers reported in 2004 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Cynthia

Work/Rest Intervals Ratchet Up Workouts ~ New York (Reuter Life!)

If your cardio routine is in the doldrums, try mixing a little tortoise in with that hare. Experts say interval training, alternating bursts of intensity activity with less intense periods, can burn more calories, boost stamina, and stave off that burning pain that stops any workout dead in its tracks. "Interval training burns calories quicker. If you're doing interval training for 20 minutes it can burn as many calories you would in 40 minutes," said Kerri O'Brien of Life Fitness, which designs and manufactures exercise equipment. "It depends on level of intensity, the weight of your body, the intensity of what you're doing," she added. And the principle holds whether you're an elite athlete, a weekend warrior or a couch potato. "We can do different things based on your goals and fitness level," she said. "We can work with low intensities that require walking, then stop and do jumping jacks." O'Brien said interval training increases endurance by clearing lactic acid, the byproduct of exercise. "That burning pain is lactic acid building up," said O'Brien. "Whether you're strength training, or walking, or climbing stairs, it's lactic acid that tells your body to stop.

Interval training is literally training your body to clear that lactic acid more efficiently" There is also the psychological boost. "Interval training reduces training time, and the less time you have to commit to exercising, the more likely you are to stay exercising. It reduces boredom and increases variety and challenge," O'Brien added. Andrea Metcalf, a Chicago-based group fitness instructor, said interval training burns more calories and increases fitness lung volume faster than steady state work. "The best intervals are those with a two-to-one rest/work interval: sprint for one minute and mid- pace recovery for two minutes," said Metcalf, a fitness expert for more than 20 years. Julia Valentour, of the American Council on Exercise, said interval training works because when you alternate bouts of high and low intensity your overall intensity level rises. She said a 2005 study found that cyclists who did four to seven bouts of 30-second all-out cycling doubled their endurance in only two weeks. "You wouldn't want to do it every day," she cautioned. "You could over train. I like to warm up, then increase speed, run fast for a minute, then slow down for a minute, then run fast for a minute," she said.

Fartlek is an unstructured method of interval training. The word means speed play in Swedish. "With Fartlek you say, 'I'm going to jog to that telephone pole.' Interval training can be very structured. Fartlek can be tailored to how a person feels that day," she said. O'Brien said while the Fartlek method is used mostly for long-distance running, it can apply equally to bikers and swimmers. The key to any interval training, she said, is a really good warm-up to prepare your body for what's to come. Integrating interval training into your routine can be as easy as changing the program on your treadmill or elliptical machine. "The interval button is a wonderful one to push," O'Brien said. "Avoid the manual button. I call it the complacency button. Hit it and you're just going to read your magazine." Copyright 2010 Reuters.

Sister Kit strikes again!

Got stress? These days, most all of us do. Much of the reason why is due to the fact that we live in a world that demands instant communication, our kids are involved in more organized activities than we were when we were younger, and many of us live in households where both partners work outside the home just to make ends meet.

So how do we combat the stress caused by these factors? There are many things you can do, but I am here to tell you that exercise has as much beneft for your emotional and mental fitness as it does your physical fitness.

Researchers at Duke University studied people suffering from depression for 4 months and found that 60% of the participants who exercised for 30 minutes three times a week overcame their depression without using antidepressant medication. And, you don't need to suffer from a clinical or diagnosed mental illness to get substantial mental health benefits from exercise and fitness. One study I read showed that short workouts of just 8 minutes in length could lower sadness, tension, and anger along with improving resistance to disease in healthy people.

So, if you come home from work tired and stressed out from a long, frustrating day instead of making the choice to skip your workout--that is the exact moment when you MUST do it. Think about it--It's usually this time when we reach for crappy food, take our stress out on others or sit in front of TV and just sink deeper into a bad mood. If in that instance you made the choice to push play with a fitness DVD, went for a jog or just did jumping jacks for 10 minutes you would feel THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE of how you felt had you made the other poor choices. Exercise is ALWAYS the BETTER choice. I have been known do to vinyasas and headstands in my cube at work when I finish a stressful meeting or phone call. It's a little strange, but boy is my mental clarity and focus better when I do and I am SO glad when I choose that instead of dipping my hand into the candy bowl.

So, next time you are feeling down or stressed, make the time to get some blood flowing to that hippocampus at the base of your brain and feel better physically and emotionally. DO IT FOR YOUR BRAIN AND YOUR BODY!!!

Emotional Eating by Susan Lucy

Did you ever have one of those moments where you are trying to find an answer or solution and like magic, something happens that is exactly what you are looking for? I was sitting here tonight trying to think of a topic to write about this week. I knew I wanted to focus on food - we are entering the danger zone with Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas on the horizon. As I sat there thinking, I got a little distress email from a friend who was struggling lately with her eating habits. Bingo - So this week's topic is on one that is very close to my heart - EMOTIONAL EATING.

Emotional eating happens any time you eat, not because you are physically hungry, but because you have feelings of boredom, depression, loneliness, fear, anger or frustration. Eating takes your mind off the feelings. Eating comforts you - well some of the time.

Have you ever had this scenario: You are dealing with some stress - maybe you under a deadline for something, maybe you are fighting with your spouse, your children; you walk by a bowl of candy and mindlessly grab one. You are saying to yourself "don't do it" but it's only one right? How bad is that for you? Sometimes, that one candy is all you needed but sometimes, that breach opens some flood gates. The little demons take over. You grab one or maybe two more and start saying "well you already blew it, you might as well keep eating them" and so you do and more than likely you ultimately feel horribly, physically and emotionally.

I believe there is a fine line between that "comfort" stage and that "I feel like crap" stage. Unfortunately, when we eat emotionally, we sometimes are unable to stop ourselves before we get to the latter stage. That's when food becomes our enemy and then we have more than just one problem - we still have the original feeling (like stress) to deal with but now we also feel bad because we ate too much or too poorly. Suddenly, food isn't so comforting anymore.

As many of you know, I was a very big emotional eater, so much so, I developed Bulimia to "treat" my bad habit. It took me many many years and many successes and failures to figure out strategies that worked for me. Emotional eating is really hard because unlike alcohol or drugs, we NEED food so if that is your "addiction", then you HAVE to find a way to control your eating habits and learn to live with food. Through new habits, a love of my body to treat it well, and a strong will to be better, I have been able to ward off most emotional eating disasters but I know I am still suseptible to them and probably always will be.

Here are some ideas that I use that have helped me tremendously. Keep in mind though, sometimes, despite all the strategies, emotional eating will win and your best strategy there is to be forgiving of yourself and move on because tomorrow is a new day and we all get a do-over. Nobody is perfect!!

Keep a food diary. Identifying any stress, negative thoughts or emotions you're having at the time will help you determine why you are eating. Sometimes just knowing you have to record what you ate will prevent you eating it. Be honest here!! You must record everything, not just the good stuff you ate. Food diaries are so critical to successful eating, I can't say enough about them.
Identify patterns of emotional eating. Many people find that overeating tends to occur at specific times and in specific places. For me, it's 4 pm almost daily. The kids get home from school; we are scrambling to get homework done, eat a mini dinner and then we are off to whatever event is on the daily calendar. (This is my Shakeology time - more on that later)
Plan alternatives and change routines. Do something that removes you from the situation that results in overeating. Sometimes all you need to do create a diversion. I will sometimes take 5 long breaths and then drink water or hot tea, go in my room, call a friend, go outside.
Remove tempting foods. Don't buy the foods you crave when stressed! Having them in your house or desk is a disaster waiting to happen. Have healthy alternatives that also satisfy that need (maybe some dark chocolate melted over strawberries - still feels like cheating but with a lot less calories than Oreos). I believe in allowing yourself a couple of "planned healthy cheats" a week will help you ward off overeating. Depriving yourself completely can send you into a tailspin. This is why I love Shakeology. I drink mine at 4pm - chocolate, sometimes with berries, sometimes with banana and some nut butter, always blended like a shake. It is healthy and satisfies all my cravings for something sugary and sweet. It has been a life saver!
Know when to give in. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you may still give in to cravings. This is where the planning comes into play. For instance, if you really want some chips and you just have to have them - buy the single serving bags and allow yourself that. Don't bring the Supersize Tostitos over to the couch while you watch tv - big mistake - HUGE!!
Enjoy your meals. Turn off the tv, sit down, use a plate and utensils. Eat slowly ( It takes 15 minutes for the brain to realize you are full). Don't drink a lot of liquid during dinner. Taste your food and let you body be satisfied.

Shocking rise in arthritis rates

Obesity won't just make you fat, sick and dead -- it'll also leave you crippled, weak and battling constant pain.

We've reached stunning new levels of national feebleness: New numbers show 52 million Americans -- that's nearly a quarter of all adults -- now struggle with arthritis. Twenty-one million of them say the condition is so severe that it limits what they can do.

But apparently, it didn't limit the ability to have another double cheeseburger, fries and cola -- supersize, please -- since these arthritis-stricken Americans just so happen to be overwhelmingly obese.

In fact, they make up the overwhelming majority of the arthritis patients -- suffering from the condition at nearly double the rate of normal-weight people.

According to the CDC, 18.9 percent of normal-weight women and 13.8 percent of normal-weight men suffer from arthritis... but it hits 33.8 percent of obese women and 25.2 percent of obese men.

And more than 60 percent of all obese people will suffer knee osteoarthritis at some point in their lives.

But what would you expect? Human knees were perfectly engineered to support humans... not 300-pound flesh mountains.

One study by Johns Hopkins University Hospital found that 10 extra pounds increases the force on each knee by between 30 and 60 pounds with every step.

Just imagine what being 30 or 40 pounds overweight will do!

The researchers behind the new study say arthritis is now our leading cause of disability, and costs us $128 billion a year -- and it's not going to get any better in the foreseeable future.

It's getting worse... much, much worse. The researchers estimate that by 2030, 67 million Americans will be suffering from arthritis.

I have no idea how they arrived at that number or how accurate it'll turn out to be -- but it wouldn't be surprising. Heck, if anything it sounds a little on the low side.

Of course, arthritis isn't limited to obese people. Live long enough, and you're bound to experience it yourself.

Another reason to do Power90 & P90X

Exercise Combo Best for Type 2 Diabetes

HealthDay Serena Gordon November 24, 2010

Alternating aerobic exercise and resistance training significantly lowered blood sugar, study finds

Variety in your workout routine may be key to optimal diabetes management, new research suggests.The study found that when people with type 2 diabetes did aerobic exercise some days and resistance training on others, they had lower blood sugar levels after nine months than people who did either type of exercise alone."From a health perspective, the combination exercise program really outshined the others," said the study's lead author, Dr. Timothy Church, director of preventive medicine research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University System in Baton Rouge."We really thought that the walking group and the combination group would be similar, but the combination group was the only group that had significant improvement. They reduced their HbA1C levels, while also reducing the amount of diabetes medications," said Church.The HbA1C test examines long-term (two to three months) blood sugar concentration. Unlike a fasting blood glucose test, the HbA1C indicates how well you've controlled your blood sugar over the past eight to 12 weeks.The findings from Church's study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, are published in the Nov. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.Exercise is commonly recommended for people with diabetes, but according to Church, the type of exercise that might be best for people with diabetes hasn't been well-studied.

To get a better idea of whether aerobic exercise (such as walking or running) or resistance training (such as weight lifting) was of more benefit, the researchers recruited 262 sedentary people with type 2 diabetes for a nine-month study. The average age of the participants was about 56. Sixty-three percent of the study volunteers were women and 47.3 percent were nonwhite.The researchers assigned 73 volunteers to resistance training, 72 to aerobic exercise, and 76 people to a combination of aerobic and resistance training. The remaining 41 people served as the control group and didn't exercise.The people in the resistance-training group exercised three days per week, and each session consisted of two sets of four upper-body exercises, three sets of three leg exercises, and two sets of abdominal crunches and back extensions. Most of these exercises were done with weight machines.The aerobic group did about 150 minutes a week of moderately paced walking on a treadmill.The combination group had two resistance-training sessions a week that consisted of one set each of the exercises listed above. They also walked slightly less than the aerobic-only group, because the researchers wanted to make sure that the time each participant exercised each week was roughly the same, no matter which group they were in. The researchers supervised all of the exercise sessions. To help ensure safety, all of the participants also saw a certified diabetes educator once a month to check for blisters and other potential problems.HbA1C levels are expressed as a percentage, and at the start of the study, the average level was 7.7 percent. The level indicates the amount of a substance in the blood called glycated hemoglobin, which builds up when excess sugar in the blood attaches to the hemoglobin in red blood cells. (Levels under 6 percent are generally considered normal in people without diabetes.)At the end of the study, the combination group had lowered their HbA1C levels by 0.34 percent compared to the control group, while the aerobic group went down 0.24 percent and the resistance-only group went down 0.16 percent. However, the only change that was considered statistically significant, according to the study, was the combination group's change.

Participants in all exercise groups reduced their waist size compared to the control group, and the group doing resistance training-only lost some fat mass as well. But people in the combination group also lowered the amount of diabetes medication they needed on average, and they lost the most fat mass -- about 4 pounds' worth -- compared with the control group, according to Church. They were also the only group to lose weight."For individuals with diabetes, the optimal program involves aerobic and resistance training," said Church."The biggest consumer of blood sugar is skeletal muscle, and anything you do to improve the health of your muscles will help control your use of blood sugar," he noted.Although the study didn't include people with type 1 diabetes, Church said he suspects that they would benefit from the combination of exercises as well. And, he added, it's likely that non-diabetics would get additional benefits from a combination of exercises, too."Someone who wants to maximize the impact on glucose control and maximize the use of their time should do both aerobic and resistance exercise," said Dr. Ronald Sigal, a professor of medicine at the University of Calgary and the author of an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal. "Even a relatively small amount of resistance exercise -- one set twice a week for about 20 minutes -- makes a difference.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Kindness goes longway

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a
nerd."

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I
shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible
sadness in his eyes.

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw
a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives." He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face.

It was one of those smiles t! hat showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him
why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I
asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the
more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for
graduation.

I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak...................................... Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped
you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend...................................... He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home.

He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same
grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For
better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.

You now have two choices, you can:
1) Pass this on to your friends or
2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

As you can see, I took choice number 1. "Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly."

Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

Regards

Rohypnol

A woman at a nightclub (Mumbai) on Saturday night was taken by 5 men, who
according to hospital and police reports, gang raped her before dumping her at a Busstand in Mumbai. Unable to remember the events of the evening, tests later confirmed the repeat rapes along with traces of rohypnol in her blood.

Rohypnol, date rape drug is an essentially a small sterilization pill. The
drug is now being used by rapists at parties to rape AND sterilize their
victims. All they have to do is drop it into the girl's drink. The girl
can't remember a thing the next morning, of all that had taken place the
night before.

Rohypnol, which dissolves in drinks just as easily, is such that the victim doesn't conceive from the rape and the rapist needn't worry about having a paternity test identifying him months later. The Drug's affects ARE NOT TEMPORARY - they are PERMANENT.

Any female that takes it WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO CONCEIVE. The weasels can get this drug from anyone who is in the vet school or any university.

It's that easy, and Rohypnol is about to break out big on campuses
everywhere. Believe it or not, there are even sites on the Internet telling people how to use it.

Please forward this to everyone you know, especially girls. Girls, be careful when you're out and don't leave your drink unattended. (added - Buy your own drinks, ensure bottles or cans received are unopened
or sealed; don't even taste someone else's drink)

There has already been a report in Singapore of girls drink been Spiked by Rohypnol. Please make the effort to forward this to everyone you know.

For guys - Pls inform all your female friends and relatives, remember you
also have sisters.Your life is God's gift to you. What you do for
others is your gift to God

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Skip the post : Nothing to read - Self Ramble

How do I forgive myself?

How did I let this happen to me? I promised myself that no matter what happens, I will live life with integrity. I will respect myself more than anything in this world. Why do I keep making same mistakes all my life?

However, is this time for penance or shall I forgive myself as I have forgiven others?

Can I forgive myself?

I am going to love myself enough to get through this. I will not be deterred from most stringent self need. Time to achieve what I set out for – the perfect role model. You can't find better role models because you think so high of yourself. Now its time to prove to yourself that you have what it takes. Fight the indulgence and materialistic objects and reach quintessence.