Health : 8 Ways to Stick to Your Diet While Friends Indulge |
| 8 Ways to Stick to Your Diet While Friends Indulge Posted: 17 Feb 2011 03:28 PM PST This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Health Buzz: Americans in Appalachia and the South Are Least Active Posted: 17 Feb 2011 08:36 AM PST CDC: Americans in the South, Appalachia Get the Least Exercise New research by the federal government points to a "lethargy belt" in the South and Appalachia, where Americans are least likely to get out and move. In most counties in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, at least 29 percent of adults engage in no physical activity beyond their jobs, according to a report published Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers collected data from all 3,141 U.S. counties and asked adults to report their physical activity levels. The findings dovetail with previous CDC findings that people who live in Appalachia and the South have the highest rates of diabetes and obesity. Colorado tops the activity list, with more than 70 percent of its counties reporting the highest level of exercise, followed by California, Hawaii, Minnesota, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Besides weight control, physical activity strengthens bones and muscles, improves mental health, and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers, according to the CDC. "Chronic diseases like diabetes are a burden on our healthcare system," Janet Fulton, who works with the agency's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, said in a news release. "We need changes in communities that make it safe and easy to be active. Sidewalks, street lights and access to parks or recreation areas can encourage people to get out and move more." 5 Simple Lifestyle Changes to Help Prevent Cancer Healthy eating and exercise are key weapons in the fight against cancer, but once you have those out of the way, there are other precautions you can take to lower your risk. Here, AOL Health explains five simple lifestyle changes to help prevent cancer: Use nonstick and stain-resistant products with care. Scotchgard and Teflon are brand names for perflurooctanoic acid, which is used to protect clothes, carpets and furniture from stains and water; to cook food without sticking; and to prevent grease from leaking out of microwave food containers. This acid (also called PFOA) is associated with birth and developmental defects, brain and nervous system disorders, immune system problems, and cancer. While nonstick pans with no scratches are likely safe for use, says Sarah Janssen, a staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who advocates for better testing and control of toxic substances, ditch pans with scratches, since the PFOA can seep into food. If you must waterproof your shoes or boots, treat them outdoors and wait for them to dry before bringing them indoors. And consider declining the stain treatment for your new couch: "The biggest source of exposure comes from applying stain- or water-resistant chemicals to furniture," says Janssen. Stainproof couches and chairs are especially problematic, since you essentially press your body into a piece of chemically saturated furniture. [Read more: 5 Simple Lifestyle Changes to Help Prevent Cancer.]
Why an All-'Superfoods' Diet Is a Mistake We've all seen those lists of "superfoods"—certain fruits, nuts, and other foods that, advocates say, have health-boosting effects. But some people take those lists so seriously that they limit their food choices to what's on them, U.S. News reports. "They'll say, 'Every day I have Kashi with blueberries and almonds for breakfast, salmon on leafy greens with broccoli for lunch, and grilled chicken with sweet potato for dinner,'" says Mary Beth Augustine, a registered dietitian and senior integrative nutritionist for Beth Israel Continuum Center for Health and Healing in New York. The more educated they are and the more reading about health they've done, the more likely they are to strictly adhere to what they think is a perfect lineup of foods, she says. While that one-day menu is certainly healthful, getting into a rigid dietary routine isn't ideal, dieticians and nutrition scientists say. Many fruits and vegetables are chock full of nutrients. There are vitamins, minerals, and fiber, of course, but plants also have a host of special compounds they evolved to defend themselves from, for example, the sun's radiation, says Navindra Seeram, an assistant professor at the Bioactive Botanical Research Laboratory at the University of Rhode Island who studies the properties of berries. Those phytochemicals aren't essential for our own life and energy, but "research has shown that they may impart biological effects," says Seeram. (They're mostly studied for their beneficial effects, but some can have detrimental ones that we need to be aware of, such as grapefruit's interaction with some drugs.) [Read more: Why an All-'Superfoods' Diet Is a Mistake.]
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