Yams

Yams are a good source of both potassium and vitamin B6, two nutrients that your body needs every day. Vitamin B6 helps your body break down a substance called homocysteine , which can cause damage to blood vessel walls. High intakes of vitamin B6 have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.Potassium is a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. In the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study, one study group ate servings of fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy food in place of snacks and sweets. This approach offered more potassium, magnesium and calcium. After eight weeks, this group lowered their blood pressure by an average of 5.5 points (systolic) over 3.0 points (diastolic). Yams also contain a storage protein called D ioscorin . Preliminary research suggests that Dioscorin can help your body to achieve increased kidney blood flow thereby reducing blood pressure.In addition, Yams' complex carbohydrates and fiber deliver the goods gradually, slowing the rate at which their sugars are released and absorbed into the bloodstream. Because they're rich in fiber, yams fill you up without filling out your hips and waistline. Yams are also a good source of manganese, a trace mineral that helps with carbohydrate metabolism and is a cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses.

To Your Health!

John Hall NSCA-CPT

Sesame Seeds

Research shows that sesame ingestion has been able to improve blood lipids in humans and the antioxidative ability in animals. Sesame seeds are believed to be one of the first plants to be used for edible oil. Sesame seeds contain lignans, which in turn contains sesamin, a compound with estrogenic type effects that can be to very beneficial for postmenopausal women.Twenty-six healthy subjects attended this study in which half of them consumed 50g of sesame seed powder per day for 5 weeks. After these 5 weeks followed a 3 week washout period and then 50g of rice powder per day for 5 weeks. The other half received the same 2 supplements in reverse order.The researchers discovered, after the sesame treatment, that there was a significant decrease in cholesterol. Total choleserol had decreased by 5%, LDL cholersterol by 10%, the LDL to HDL cholersterol's ratio by 6%, oxidized LDL cholersterol by 23%, and and serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate by 18%. They also noted a significant increase in the ratio of alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol to total cholesterol by 17% and 73%.These results suggest that sesame ingestion benefits postmenopausal women by improving blood lipids, antioxidant status, and possibly sex hormone status. These results were published in the May 2006 issue of The Journal of Nutrition.

To Your Health!

John Hall NSCA-CPT

Quinoa

Quinoa, though not technically a cereal grain like wheat or oats, has been cultivated and eaten as a cereal for thousands of years by South Americans. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is the tiny seed of the Chenopodium Quinoa, a leafy plant that is a distant relative of spinach and beets.Quinoa was called the "mother grain" by the Incas (chisiya mama). Now, as people in the rest of the world learn more about Quinoa, they're discovering that its ancient nickname was well deserved - Quinoa is indeed a nutritional powerhouse.Quinoa's protein content, about 16 percent, is higher than that of any other grain. Wheat also has a high protein content, about 14 percent, but the protein in wheat and most other grains is lacking in the amino acid lysine, which Quinoa has in abundance. In fact, the amino acid composition in Quinoa is almost perfect. The World Health Organization has judged the protein in Quinoa to be as complete as that in milk. In addition, Quinoa contains more iron than most grains, and is a good source of calcium, phosphorus, folate, and many B vitamins.Eating a serving of whole grains, such as Quinoa, at least 6 times each week is an especially good idea for postmenopausal women with high cholesterol, high blood pressure or other signs of cardiovascular disease.A 3-year prospective study of 229 postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease, published in the July 2005 issue of the American Heart Journal, shows that those eating at least 6 servings of whole grains each week experienced:
Slowed progression of atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque that narrows the vessels through which blood flows.
Less progression in stenosis, the narrowing of the diameter of arterial passageways.

To Your Health,

John Hall NSCA-CPT

The Secret of Slim Kids

A study of 5,500 children who agreed to wear a motion sensor device showed that those who exercised more were less likely to be obese and that short bursts of intense activity seemed to be the most helpful.Children who did 15 minutes a day of moderate exercise, equivalent to a brisk walk, were 50 percent less likely than inactive children to be obese; the research was reported in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine in March, 2007.Andy Ness of the University of Bristol and colleagues wrote - “Our data suggest that higher intensity physical activity may be more important than total activity,”Chris Riddoch of Britain’s Bath University, who worked on the study commented - “This study provides some of the first robust evidence on the link between physical activity and obesity in children. We know that diet is important, but what this research tells us is that we mustn’t forget about activity. It’s been really surprising to us how even small amounts of exercise appear to have dramatic results.”The less the children exercised, the more likely they were to be obese, the study found. These associations suggest even a modest increase of 15 minutes moderate and vigorous physical activity might result in an important reduction in the prevalence of overweight and obesity,” the researchers wrote.Small changes made now can make a big difference in the lives of your children – teach them healthy habits that can last a lifetime. A quick game of catch, a short bike ride or shooting a few hoops everyday is all it takes. A little more activity and some healthy Wholefood Farmacy snacks can make all the difference in the world.

To Your Health,

John Hall NSCA-CPT

How To Prevent Diabetes

If it was an infectious disease, passed from one person to another, public health officials would say we're in the midst of an epidemic. This difficult disease is striking an ever-growing number of adults. Even more alarming, it's now beginning to show up in our teenagers and children.
18 Million Americans have it.
20% of those over 65 have it.
1 in 3 people who have it don't know they have it.
90% of those cases are PREVENTABLE.
It costs $132 Billion dollars a year to "treat" it. Glucose (a.k.a blood sugar) is the fuel that provides energy to the 10 Trillion cells that make up a human being. When we eat, carbohydrates are converted into glucose, the glucose then moves through the bloodstream to feed the cells. It’s important to have the right amount of glucose in the blood, so your body has some fairly complex “machinery” to get the job done. Anytime your glucose levels spike up rapidly, your brain tells your pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin is a chemical messenger that rings the “dinner bell” for your cells. When the “dinner bell” rings, your cells come running to get their glucose.Next we have the topic of carbohydrates, and they come in two forms natural (complex) and man-made (simple). The man-made carbs are found in processed foods such as white table sugar, candy, sodas, high fructose corn syrup, and white bread. Eating man-made carbs causes sudden and sustained spikes in your glucose levels. The brain interprets this enormous rush of sugar as trauma and signals the pancreas to produce insulin. This constant over-stimulation of the pancreas, year after year after year, causes your “machinery” to wear out. In some cases, the pancreas gets tired and can’t produce enough insulin. In other cases, the “dinner bell” rings so often that the cells get tired of hearing it, and stop running to get their glucose. Either way, when this happens, the health care industry declares that you have type 2 diabetes. And yes, for only a few hundred bucks a month they can keep you alive. Natural sugars, like the sugars found in fruits and other whole foods, are known as complex carbs. Your body was designed to ingest them. They are much larger molecules and cross the blood brain barrier very slowly. They do not cause those sudden spikes in glucose levels, so your “machinery” can last a lifetime. It really is that simple.According to the Harvard School of Public Health, making a few changes can dramatically lower your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. The same changes can also lower the chances of developing heart disease and some cancers.Control your weight. Excess weight is the single most important cause of type 2 diabetes. Being overweight increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes seven-fold. Being obese makes you 20 to 40 times more likely to develop diabetes than someone with a healthy weight.Losing weight can help if your weight is above the healthy-weight range. Losing 7-10% of your current weight can cut in half your chances of developing type 2 diabetes.Get moving. Inactivity promotes type 2 diabetes. Every two hours you spend watching TV instead of pursuing something more active increases the changes of developing diabetes by 14%. Working your muscles more often and making them work harder improves their ability to use insulin and absorb glucose. This puts less stress on your insulin-making machinery.Long bouts of hot, sweaty exercise aren't necessary to reap this benefit. Findings from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study suggest that walking briskly for a half hour every day reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 30%.This amount of exercise has a variety of other benefits as well. And even greater cardiovascular and other benefits can be attained by more, and more intense, exercise.Tune-up your diet. Two dietary changes can have a big impact on the risk of type 2 diabetes.1. Choose whole grains and whole-grain products over highly processed carbohydrates. In other words, choose whole foods instead of processed foods.2. Choose good fats instead of bad fats. The types of fats in your diet can also affect the development of diabetes. Good fats, such as the polyunsaturated fats found in tuna, salmon, liquid vegetable oils, and many nuts, can help ward off type 2 diabetes. Trans fats do just the opposite. These bad fats are found in many margarines, packaged baked goods, fried foods in most fast-food restaurants, and any product that lists "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" on the label. If you already have diabetes, eating fish can help protect you against a heart attack or dying from heart disease.If you smoke, try to quit. Add type 2 diabetes to the long list of health problems linked with smoking. Smokers are 50% to 90% more likely to develop diabetes than nonsmokers.Alcohol now and then may help. A growing body of evidence links moderate alcohol consumption with reduced risks of heart disease. The same may be true for type 2 diabetes. Moderate amounts of alcohol-a drink a day for men, a drink every other day for women-increases the efficiency of insulin at getting glucose inside cells. And some studies indicate that moderate alcohol consumption decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes. If you already drink alcohol, the key is to keep your consumption in the moderate range. If you don't drink alcohol, there's no need to start-you can get the same benefits by losing weight, exercising more, and changing your eating patterns.The bottom line? They key to preventing type 2 diabetes can be boiled down to five words: Stay lean and stay active.

To Your Health,

John Hall NSCA-CPT