Health : Think More Protein, Fewer Carbs to Maintain Weight Loss

Combining steady exercise, such as walking, running, and swimming, with weight training may be key to managing diabetes. Both types of exercise appear to work synergistically to lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes—more so than doing either type alone, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. More than 250 sedentary people with type 2 diabetes participated in the nine-month study and were divided into four groups: One walked on a treadmill for 150 minutes a week; another lifted weights three times a week; a third group walked for 110 minutes weekly and lifted weights twice a week, while the fourth group didn't exercise at all. At the end of the study, only the group that did the combination exercise had significantly lowered their blood sugar levels long term, which translated to a 7 percent drop in heart disease risk and a 12 percent lower likelihood of developing vision, nerve and kidney complications. "What's the biggest consumer of blood sugar in the human body? Well, it's muscle," lead author Timothy Church told CNN. "If your body chews up more sugar, you've got less sugar in the blood and your diabetes is better. You're kind of stimulating two different systems in the muscle."

Attention Travelers: Is the Bedbug Threat Real?

Feel like snuggling up to a bedbug or two? Sightings are on the rise nationwide at homes, schools, and—holiday travelers take note—hotels and motels. Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Chicago are among the worst-hit cities, according to Terminix, the pest-control company. And entomologists say the number of bedbugs continues to increase each year worldwide, likely because of the longtime ban on DDT in many countries, resistance to current pesticides, and growth of international travel.

But are the tiny bloodsuckers as big a threat as media coverage suggests? The answer seems to be yes—and no, U.S. News reports. Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, an entomologist with the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program at Cornell University, has yet to spot a bedbug in a hotel room, but on two occasions entomologists she was traveling with encountered infestations. The risk "is very real," she says. "Everyone who travels needs to be aware and vigilant, because self-protection is important."

Early this month a Michigan woman sued the swanky Waldorf-Astoria in New York for financial and emotional distress, claiming a bedbug attack during a May visit. According to her attorney, she suffered more than 100 bites and the bugs followed her to her Midwest home; the family had to move out for six weeks and paid $4,500 in extermination bills and thousands more for other cleaning costs. In a press statement, the hotel asserted that her room had been checked and pronounced bedbug-free. [Read more: Attention Travelers: Is the Bedbug Threat Real?]

How to Have an Allergy-Free Hotel Stay

In a nod to the 40 million Americans with allergies and asthma, a growing number of hotels are unveiling hypoallergenic rooms—eliminating bothersome dust mites, mold, and mildew spores. Last month, Hyatt Hotels launched Respire by Hyatt, an initiative that calls for 2,000 hypoallergenic rooms at 125 of its properties nationwide by year's end. The rooms, already offered at more than 70 of the chain's hotels, cost an extra $20 to $30 a night, U.S. News reports.

"When you travel, you don't know what you're walking into. You don't know the environment, and you can't tweak it to make yourself comfortable like you can at home," says Brian Brault, CEO of Pure Solutions, a New York-based company that's converting rooms at Hyatt and other chains. "Any new living space will create problems for people with allergies."

Indeed, one night in a hotel room can lead to swollen eyes, a clogged nose, and a scratchy throat—symptoms that tend to dampen the traveling experience. Exactly what counts as a hypoallergenic room, however, varies. Some hotels are taking steps to become more allergy-friendly, by adding air purifiers, replacing drapes with blinds, or ripping out carpet in favor of hardwood floor, while others, like Hyatt, are going all out to make rooms allergy-free. [Read more: How to Have an Allergy-Free Hotel Stay.]

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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Health : Think More Protein, Fewer Carbs to Maintain Weight Loss

Health : Think More Protein, Fewer Carbs to Maintain Weight Loss

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