How Heart-Healthy is Alcohol?
Dr. Joseph Mercola

Although past research suggests that drinking a glass or two of
wine a day may have some heart benefits, new findings suggest
that those studies were flawed.

Risks Outweigh the Benefits

There is some evidence that heavier drinking provides heart
protection — alcoholics have relatively ‘clean’ arteries — but
the other health risks of heavy drinking outweigh the benefits.

Early observations in the 1970s and 1980s seemed to indicate a
20 to 25 percent reduction in heart disease risk linked to light
drinking. However, the way those studies were carried out did
not allow researchers to say with certainty that the findings
could not be due to factors other than alcohol consumption.

Diet, Exercise, Quit Smoking

The British Heart Foundation responded to the new evidence by
saying that their advice remained the same: “… the best way to
reduce the risk of heart disease is to quit smoking if you
smoke, increase levels of physical activity and eat a healthy
balanced diet.”

BBC News December 2, 2005

Dr. Mercola’s Comment:Good advice from the British Heart
Foundation, so long as your balanced diet is nutritionally sound.

As I’ve said before about studies touting all the “benefits” of
drinking red wine, I personally do not advocate it. There are
many health experts that feel it is fine in moderation, but I am
still not convinced.

This is largely because I am convinced the alcohol itself is
actually a neurotoxin, which means it can poison your brain.
Additionally, it has the strong potential to seriously disrupt
your delicate hormone balance. Plus, drinking two or more
glasses (of wine or any alcoholic beverage for that matter) may
offset the benefit and increase your risk of certain cancers.

You also need to be aware that consuming large amounts of wine
will increase insulin levels and eventually have a negative
impact on your health that way as well.

If you absolutely insist on drinking red wine, check on the
growing conditions of the grapes used and how the wine is made.
And if you can, take a brisk walk to pick it up, as exercise is
your real ticket to preventing heart disease.

About the author:

This article is reprinted from Mercola.com, the world’s #1 most
visited and trusted natural/alternative health website. For a
limited time only, you can take the FREE “Metabolic Type Test”
to help you learn the right foods for your particular body type
so you can achieve optimal fitness & health. Just go to
http://www.mercola.com/forms/mt_test.htm right now to take this
quick test!

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Following healthy habits are the essential key to teen weight loss. Without such a habit, teenagers may find it difficult to maintain their healthy weight.
The way today’s food consumption is being looked at in this country, healthy eating has surely been put at the wayside. Teenagers of today really have a myriad of delicious food choices to eat. But sad to say, most of them belong to the unhealthy food group. It is now easier for teenagers today to get fat because of the convenience brought about by fast food.

Parents today live in a very busy world where time is spent more on work. Such parents may not have the time to prepare food and sometimes must rely on the nearest pizza or hamburger place to provide the nourishment for their children. But this should not be. Fastfood is considered to be one of the reasons why most teenagers are getting fatter. Fastfood is considered junk food since they are not able to supply all the nourishment that growing kids need. But fast food can really be fattening with the great amounts of fat and carbs that they contain. It is a bad choice if you wish to help your child stay at a healthy weight as he or she grows up.

Your concern to see to it that your teenagers grow up to be healthy and fit individuals is the first step in keeping their weight down. Always bear in mind that teenage obesity is a dangerous and a growing problem in this country. But you can do something about it. You can make effective use of your concern about your teenager’s weight by putting it into action. You can help show your teen the way by following a practical plan for success. There’s no easy way for teen weight loss. The most important thing that you can do is letting your teenager adopt healthy habits that can last a lifetime. Here are some tips:

1. Start with a heart-to-heart talk.
If your see that your teen is getting overweight, chances are, he or she is also concerned about the excess weight. Aside from bringing in lifelong health risks such as high blood pressure and diabetes, the social and emotional consequences of being overweight can have a devastating effect on your teenager. Talk to your teenager about it. Try to offer support and gentle understanding and make him or her verbally aware that you really are concerned. Try also to add in a willingness to help your teen take control of the weight problem that he or she is facing.

2. As much as possible, resist looking for quick fixes.
Make your teen realize that losing and maintaining an ideal weight is a lifetime commitment. Encouraging fad diets may rob your growing teen essential nutrients essential to his or her continuing development. Buying weight-loss pills for your teenager and other quick fixes won’t be able to address the root of the weight problem. The effects of such quick fixes are often short-lived and you teen may likely balloon back. What you should be able to teach is adopting a lifelong healthy habit. Without a permanent change in unhealthy habits, any weight loss program will only remain a temporary fix.

3. Promote and encourage doing more calorie-burning activities.
Just like adults, teens also require about an hour of physical activity everyday. But that doesn’t mean sixty solid minutes of pure gut-wrenching activity. You can plan shorter, repeated bursts of activity throughout the day that not only can help burn calories, but also become an enjoyable, fun and worthwhile affair. Sports and hiking can be probable options.

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There is no doubt about, the Perricone 3 Day Diet is one of the hottest eating plans to come along in quite some time. To stand out from the crowd, a diet needs to be different than other diets, and it also needs to offer a benefit that others aren’t offering. The Perricone Diet’s biggest advantage is that it helps people to look younger.

The diet gets its name from the famous dermatologist, Dr. Nicholas Perricone. His specialty is making people look as healthy and young as possible. He received a noticeable increase, as did his 3 day diet, when he appeared on Oprah. While Oprah may now be off the air, people are still realizing the benefits of Perricone’s diet.

How the Perricone 3 Day diet achieves this is by reducing inflammation. Most people only think of inflammation when they experience an injury, but the truth is that inflammation has an impact on many different parts of the body, and we are often completely unaware of the inflammation. If you twist an ankle, then what you will experience is acute inflammation. It hurts, but it is usually temporary. The bigger health risks stem from chronic inflammation. One of the results of chronic inflammation is visible aging.

What Dr. Perricone realized was that our diet plays a large role in the level of inflammation in the body. Therefore, if you eat a diet that limits or reduces inflammation, then it stands to reason that you would start to see positive effects; such as younger looking skin. One thing that surprised people on the diet was that they not only looked better, but they also lost weight; even though that was not the primary purpose of the Perricone 3 Day Diet.

To see the best results, it is vital that you stick to the program exactly. That means no skipping items, no substitutions and no additions.

When you first wake up you drink 8 to 12 oz. spring water.

For breakfast, you will have:
1 egg, plus 3 egg whites ; or 4 to 6 ounces broiled salmon
4 oz. cantaloupe
1/2 c. cooked oatmeal
1/4 c. fresh or frozen berries
8 to 12 oz. spring water.

For lunch you will enjoy:
4 to 6 oz. of grilled salmon; or a can of tuna (in spring water)
2 c. romaine lettuce topped with 1 T. extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice
4 oz. cantaloupe
1/4 c. fresh or frozen berries
8 to 12 oz. spring water.

Afternoon snack:

2 oz. sliced chicken breast (low sodium)
4 raw hazelnuts (unsalted)
1 medium green apple
8 to 12 oz. spring water.

For dinner you get:

4 to 6 oz. grilled salmon
2 c. romaine lettuce topped with 1 T. extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice
1 c. steamed spinach, asparagus or broccoli drizzled with a bit of olive oil
4 oz. cantaloupe
1/4 c. fresh or frozen berries
8 to 12 oz. spring water.

After dinner snack:
2 oz. turkey or chicken breast (low-sodium)
1/2 green apple or pear
3 to 4 olives or almonds
8 to 12 oz. spring water.

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There are plenty of weight loss medications available today, but you shouldn’t take any until you have had a chance to discuss your best options with your personal physician. However, there is nothing stopping you from doing your own research on those options before you have the talk with your doctor. In fact, it’s a really good idea to be as informed as possible, as this with give you a solid base of knowledge to help you understand whatever your doctor has to say.

One of the main things to consider is whether or not you really need weight loss medication in the first place. After all, millions of people lose weight every year without taking any kind medicine whatsoever. Remember, all prescription medicines have the risk of side effects. You can actually think of the positive benefits as a sort of side effect. In other words, losing weight could be labeled as a side effect. But what we’re talking about is the potential of harmful side effects.

It’s probably a safe bet that, because you’re looking into weight loss medications, you have already tried to lose weight several times before; with little or no long-lasting success. The latest and greatest diets come and go, and get rid of a few pounds here and there, but then you go back to your old weight (or end up weighing even more than when you started). Exercise plans may have helped at first, too, but then you give up on them and go back to your regular activities. And none of this includes starvation diets or extreme exercise regimens.

The big problem with all of this that it’s just so easy to stay overweight. But the health risks associated with weighing too much make it worth trying as many times as it takes to see lasting results. The question is if weight loss medications are right for you.

Remember, there are risks when taking any medication. This is also true of medications for losing weight. In fact, there have been past cases of popular medications that led to serious side effects, and even death in a few cases. You need to balance the risk with the potential reward. For example, if you only want to lose five pounds or so, then the risk probably isn’t worth it. On the other hand, if you want to lose fifty pounds or more, and you have health problems related to obesity, then the risk of adverse side effects may not matter as much.

The main thing is to talk to your own physician about the choices you have. They will know your health history, and also have a better idea of what the real risks are for you. A doctor will also know which weight loss medications have been around for a long tome and have a proven track record of helping people lose weight. Assuming your doctor approves of giving you a prescription, you should see results in a short time.

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