For the Love of Chocolate

At this festive time of year chocolate is often the gift of choice.

Did you know that according to medical research eating chocolate 3 times per month helps people to live longer? This is in contrast to people who over eat chocolate or don't eat chocolate at all.

Chocolate is good for you if eaten in moderation. Enjoy.

Got a Headache?

Your headache and inflammatory pain can be reduced by eating 20 tart cherries.

Keep Our Ground Water Safe

With the chance of building a pipeline going from Alberta through BC to the west coast, our ground water safety is threatened. No one can guarantee that there will be no oil spill. When an oil spill happens everything above ground and under ground is poisoned!

About 30% of Canadians rely on ground water for their domestic needs.

Tips For Healthy Living

Here are some basic tips for healthy living.  With our busy lifestyles we all can lose focus on what really matters the most. Our good health is something that can suffer yet is of utmost importance.

• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Try to keep your mind free of worries during this time. If you like you can meditate on pleasant things.
• Do moderate exercise at least 3 times a week. Walking, running stairs, jogging, cycling and swimming are just a few examples. People who do moderate exercise lower their risk of cardiovascular disease compared to inactive people.
• Check your posture. Don't slouch. good posture allows your internal organs to function better and helps prevent neck and back pain.
• Eat out less often. Learn to prepare and eat a variety of different healthy foods. Take a cooking class to help you learn how to cook.
• For snacking keep a see-through container of cut-up vegetables in the refrigerator.
• Don't snack a night. If you need to eat something choose fresh vegetables or fruits.
• Strategies to help reduce stress include: aerobic exercise, plenty of sleep, deep breathing and meditating.
• Choose nuts as a snack. Use nuts to replace meat or poultry in your menu, not in addition to these items.
• Try eating half the food on your plate while eating out and bring the other half home for later consumption.
• When you work out, don't drink caffeinated beverages, as they can dehydrate you. Be aware that some Energy drinks are loaded with caffeine. 

These tips for healthy living are in random order but are geared toward guiding us in taking better care of ourselves. I'll be adding more of these tips for healthy living in future posts.

Health Benefits of Seafood

Seafood is known for it's healthy oils which are an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acids. Seafood is typically low in fat and high in nutrients.

A well-balanced diet that includes a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to great heart health and children's growth and development.

Policing Food Labels

The latest Federal Budget brought down by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, gives companies license to deceive consumers with their food labels.

In the past companies were held to a standard by which if they were caught lying to consumers on their food labels, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had the mandate to step in and protect Canadians.

The mandate to monitor and enforce health and nutrition labels has been taken from the CFIA because of a $56.1 million budget cut.

What this means for consumers is that they need to wary of the accuracy of food labels. It is especially important for diabetics who need to watch their sugar intake. For those with high blood pressure who need to reduce their sodium intake will be affected as well. If the claims on the label sound to good to be true then they probably are!

The CFIA had the mandate to monitor food labels because companies were blatantly deceiving consumers. What makes us think that these companies will be honest now?

The lack of government policing food labels seems to be a step in the wrong direction.

Walking is good for you

Did you know that by walking just an extra 20 minutes a day you can burn off 7 pounds of fat in one year. Now this is "extra" walking over and above what you are already doing.

Walking is low impact to your body which most of us can handle. Besides the weight loss you'll be able to de-stress and enjoy some fresh air.

Go ahead, take a walk!

Benefits of the Banana

The following information on the benefits of the banana was taken from bananasweb.com.

Reducing Depression
Bananas contain tryptophan, an aminoacid that can be converted to serotonin, leading
to improved mood

Anemia
Bananas are relatively high in iron, which helps the body’s hemoglobin function

Constipation and Diarrhea
Due to their content in fiber, they help restore a normal bowel function. In
addition, diarrhea usually depletes your body of important electrolytes (of which the
most important is potassium, contained in high amounts in bananas). They also contain
pectin, a soluble fiber (hydrocolloid) that can help normalize movement through the
digestive tract.

Eyesight Protection
Research published in the Archives of Ophthalmology has proven that adults
consuming at least 3 servings of fruit per day have a reduced risk (by 36%) of developing
age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older
adults, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

Healthy Bones
Bananas are an exceptionally rich source of fructooligosaccharide, a compound
that nourishes probiotic (friendly) bacteria in the colon. These beneficial bacteria
produce enzymes that increase our digestive ability and protect us from unhealthy
bacteria infections. Thanks to fructooligosaccharides, probiotic bacteria can increase
both in number and functionality, increasing our body’s ability to absorb calcium.
In addition, green bananas contain indigestible short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are
very nutrient to the cells that make up the mucosa of the stomach. These cells, when
healthy, absorb calcium much more efficiently

Healthy Kidney
About 190,000 cases of kidney cancer are diagnosed each year.
Research published in the International Journal of Cancer has shown that daily
consumption of whole fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, is highly protective to
kidney health. The results show that, over a long timeframe (13.4 years), women eating
more than 2.5 servings of fruits and vegetable per day cut their risk of kidney cancer by
40%. Among the fruits, bananas were especially protective. Women eating bananas four to
six times a week halved their risk of developing the disease compared to those who did
not eat this fruit. The conclusion of the study is that frequent consumption of fruits
and vegetables, especially bananas, cabbage and root vegetables, may reduce risk of
kidney cancer. This is because bananas and many root vegetables contain especially high
amounts of antioxidant phenolic compounds, while cabbage is rich in sulfur, necessary for
effective detoxification of potential carcinogens.

Blood Pressure
Bananas are extremely high in potassium (about 4673mg), yet very low in sodium (1mg),
thus having a perfect ratio for preventing high blood pressure. So much so, the US Food
and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for
the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Heartburn
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn,
try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Morning Sickness
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood-sugar levels up and avoid
morning sickness.

Smoking
Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. They contain vitamins B6 and
B12 they contain, as well as potassium and magnesium: these substances help the body
recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Ulcers
This is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicle
cases. It also helps reduce acidity and reduces irritation. Bananas stimulate the cells
on the internal stomach lining to produce a thicker mucus (which protects against acid).
Additionally, bananas contain protease inhibitors that help eliminate bacteria in
the stomach that have been pinpointed as a primary cause of ulcers.
Nerves
Bananas are high in B vitamins that have been shows to improve nerve function.

Mosquito Bites
Many people report that rubbing the inside of a banana peel on a mosquito bite is
very effective in reducing itching and swelling.

Stress Relief
Bananas are high in potassium, which helps normalize the hearthbeat and regulate the
body’s water balance. During periods of high stress, our body’s potassium levels tend to
be rapidly depleted: eating bananas is a healthy way to rebalance them without using
drugs.

Stroke Risk
According to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part
of a regular diet can reduce the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%

Happiness is eating a Banana

With our gloomy grey rainy weather here in Vancouver, we can start to feel a little depressed. Can you relate?

Instead of looking for a "tablet" to bring you out of a depressed ugly weather induced funk, think Banana.

Bananas contain a natural chemical which can make a person happy. This same chemical is found in the drug PROZAC. Prozac is often prescribed to treat depression.

So when you're feeling down, have a banana.

Health Equipment RECALLED

Please read the following. It's scary.

«Top News

Consumer Reports taps ire over bad medical devices
Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:16pm GMT

By Debra Sherman

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Consumer Reports, the 76-year-old publication best known for its reviews of automobiles and refrigerators, is trying to galvanize the American public into protesting the way medical devices are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The past couple of years have seen a steady drumbeat of concerns by some lawmakers that health regulators are doing too little to protect consumers from hastily approved devices that can cause injury or even death.

It's a nightmare scenario," Consumer Reports President Jim Guest wrote in an email blast to 1 million Americans earlier this year. “The implant that fixed your knee or your heart may actually be a ticking time bomb that could disable or kill you.

This isn't science fiction. Millions of medical devices including artificial hips, contact lens solution, heart stents, and pacemakers are being recalled -- 700 different products a year. And the vast majority of recalled products were never safety tested in humans, because the manufacturers claimed they were 'similar' to products already on the market," he wrote.

For decades, certain devices have been cleared by the FDA without the manufacturers ever having to test them in human beings in clinical trials, which take time and money.

The fast-track approval process is known in the industry as Pre-market Notification, or 510(k), named for the numbered section of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Intended for low- and moderate-risk medical devices, such as blood pressure cuffs and hypodermic needles, too many high-risk devices, such as hip implants and heart valves, were cleared through the 510(k) process and later found to cause life-threatening incidents, according to Guest.

Consumer Reports, an independent nonprofit, publishes a monthly magazine, as well as newsletters focusing on health, money, travel, home and garden, weddings and other topics.

It has a total of 8 million subscribers to all of its publications and 800,000 for its On Health monthly newsletter, which was established in 1989. On Health maintains its own medical experts, but sometimes taps outside physicians.

Consumer Reports' advocacy arm, Consumers Union, would not disclose how much money it is spending on efforts to change the medical device approval process, but says its campaign is a top priority. The campaign was launched late last year at its annual Patient Safety Summit.

The Institute of Medicine, a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization that provides medical advice to policy makers and the public, characterized the 510(k) approval process as “fatally flawed" and said it should be scrapped.