Vegetables Are Good For You Or Are They?

I just finished watching Dateline NBC who put out another story that’s sure to scare some people away from veggies or at least bagged ones. Apparently in the last few years more than 400 people have gotten sick and 2 have died from eating the pre-cut, bagged vegetables that we find in most grocery stores.

The leafy greens, specifically lettuce has been found to be harboring the bacteria Ecoli. That bacteria is usually found in feces which ups the eww factor. It is puzzling the industry as no one can seem to figure out exactly how the Ecoli is finding it’s way into the bags.

The industry is both being helpful and also staying in denial. They realize that people are getting sick and say they want to do everything to help but are saying it could also be from other things such as the outside of the bag. The bags travel miles and pass through many hands and they say once you open it then the bacteria gets on the food. Riight.

My Journey With Atkins

At the height of the Atkins diet craze I decided to try it. I got some of the books, joined the top websites, got the vitamins and nutrients and sat down to begin reading and planning. Everything went great except I was quickly bored after I realized I was basically eating the same thing meat and veggies over and over.

I was also starving and trying to make Atkins recipe snacks one of my favorites involved eggs, cream cheese and a microwave. These were recipes sent in by other Atkins lovers on one of the websites so I don’t even know if it was alright to eat but like I said, I was starving.

I also for the first time in years drank lots of water all day long except when I was eating in which case I would drink soda made with that awful, awful Splenda. To this day I shudder when I accidently pick up something made with that sugar substitute because all those products have the same funky taste to them from that product. Awful.

I knew something was wrong one week and four days into the diet because I had dropped almost 50lbs and I think that is too much to lose so quickly. I guess I was right because only two more days passed before I woke up one day with blinding stomach cramps. It hurt to breath, talk and even walk.

I IMMEDIATELY quit the diet and spent two days in pain writhing in pain before I was able to move around. By the third day I was only feeling slight pains that I could stand. I don’t know what it was or why that happened but I’m never doing that diet again. Maybe I didn’t do it right because it works for others. Even if Atkins is nearly dead nowadays. But experts had predicted that it would be just like the low-fat craze when it first came out.

Feeding Your Family Health

I enjoy many foods that are bad for us in large quantities such as hamburgers, pizza and fried foods. What we forget is that we don’t need to cut out these foods completely. I for one decided to go on a recipe hunt to find healthy recipes for the foods I love.

A lot of the food can be just a little bit healthier by changing a few things in even a regular recipe. Such as if your making a pizza at home you can try a lower calorie sauce and cheese.

A great website I visit, one of many is Inner Self. There are some great recipes for even drinks and snacks.

Apetini Helps You Find Local Eats (healthy & unhealthy alike!)

Apetini.com helps you find local restaurants, bars, pubs and other fine dining establishments.

Of course, it doesn’t discriminate against healthy vs. fast-food, so that wise decision is left up to the reader of this blog! But it does look like a great site to go exploring and find a restaurant that you haven’t tried yet.

Bone Drug for Breast Cancer?

There’s big news today for all women worried about getting breast cancer. A study has shown that the osteoporosis drug raloxifine is just as effective at preventing breast cancer in post-menopausal women as is tamoxifen, with a reduction in side effects including blood clots, uterine cancer and cataracts.

The study only looked at postmenopausal women, but it is expected similar results could be found in other women taking the drug. Raloxifine is marketed as Evista, which about half a million women already take for osteoporosis.

Some caution that you shouldn’t run to your doctor for a prescription just yet. The number of people studied, fewer than 20,000, makes for a very small sample with a relatively low risk of breast cancer before the study. Still, if you have immediate family members who have had breast cancer, you might want to watch the news and talk to your doctor when this treatment is approved.

Can fast food be healthy?

Yes!

…If you’re in Denmark, that is.

In a recent study, researchers compared meals from McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken in 20 countries around the world, concentrating on levels of trans fatty acids.

The study concluded that “fast food from McDonald’s is healthiest in Denmark and worst in the United States.”

A meal of nuggets and fries contained 10.1 grams of trans fatty acids in the US, but just 0.33 grams in Denmark.

The low Danish levels are the result of low-fat legislation introduced in the year 2004. Under the new law, no more than two per cent of fats in foods sold to customers can be industrially produced transfats (trans fatty acids).

The KFC results were a little different. For a meal of nuggets and potato wedges, Germany came out on top (just 0.4 grams), and Hungary took last place (with a whopping 24.1 grams).

Source: IBNlive

Healthy Eating at Home

Want to eat healthier meals at home? Put down those chips and check out these tips:

Cooking:

• Cook once, eat twice: Prepare larger meals to provide leftovers for another meal. For instance, today’s grilled chicken (if you make twice as much needed) can be tomorrow’s chicken fajitas.
• Cook like a pro by doing prep work ahead of time. “Make side dishes that can be reheated easily; marinate meat or poultry for the grill the night before; do any chopping the night before as you’re cleaning up the kitchen.

Shopping:

• For convenience’s sake, shop for pre-chopped vegetables and salad fixings, pre-cut fruit, bakery-fresh whole grain breads and prepared sauces and dressings. Also, remember the freezer section.
• Look for healthy, high-flavor ingredients and condiments that deliver great taste. (Think lemon juice, tomato paste, mustard, vinegar, herbs and spices.) And remember to utilize color: “A colorful array of vegetables is not only eye-appealing but also a healthy way to eat!”

Source: Williams Daily News

For A Healthy Living Try Do-It-Yourself Lasik

When I think about living a healthy lifestye, I would think of eating right, and exercising. I would also think that going to the doctor regularly would be high on the list. That includes eye doctor, dentist and anyone else who has the expertise to take care of the human body.

I don’t usually think however that doing things myself is a good idea. Sure we know that self breast exams are a good idea, but what about doing your own surgery? You need to have an artery unblocked or need a new kidney, I don’t think most of us have the thought of do it yourself, floating around in our heads.

However this morning I came across a website that had me and friends wondering if this was a joke or if they were for real. The website sells a Lasik surgery kit that you can do all by yourself.

Great idea don’t you think? That way, you can save thousands by not going to see a licensed eye doctor and instead pay hundreds of thousands being rushed to the emergency room when your eye falls out.

For $99 you will be purchasing the Lasik @ Home kit that includes:

Scal-Pal™ Hand-Operated Combination Femtosecond/Excimer Laser

Mild sedative (diazepam 4mg)

No-Blink™ brand Eye Drops

Detailed Instructions and QuickStart Guide

Protective Post-Op Sleep Mask

Via Lasik@Home

The key to the LASIK@Home system is the Scal-Pal™ Scanning Adjusting Laparascopic Personal Laser. This hand-operated combination femtosecond/excimer laser is made exclusively for LASIK@Home by Walton Group Manufacturing, the same company that makes the the LASIK equipment used by more clinics nationwide.

The Scal-Pal™ is actually two lasers in one! First the Scal-Pal™ femtosecond laser cuts a small flap in the cornea of your eye. Then the excimer laser vaporizes a tiny section of the lens without damaging the surrounding tissue. The whole procedure takes only a few minutes and is virtually painless.*

*This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA.

I love the little footnote. Hey it’s virtually painless but we can’t prove it. So go ahead and slice open your eye, attack it with a laser and take a sedative. Do this all in the comfort of your own home without a medical professional handy. After all 911 is a phone call away. I’m sorry but the thought of an eye doctor doing this is what’s keeping me from getting this done, and there is absolutely no way I’m buying a do it yourself kit.

Ward Off Alzheimer’s With Vitamins and Ibuprofen

A recent study suggests that taking vitamin E and C along with the medicine Ibuprofen might help to lower your risk of Alzheimer’s. They say that the combination actually helps people who have a specific gene, apolipoprotein, APOE-4.

My problem with these “studies” is that today they tell you to drink a bottle of wine, spin around 5 times and chant to cure liver disease and by tomorrow they say nope, actually that will kill you.

For every ailment there are 100 studies, all conflicting with each other. A glass of red wine a day will help you, no a glass of red wine will hurt you. Make up your minds. I on the other hand will make up mine and decide to ignore your “studies”. That alone just might make me live longer.

Save Money By Smoking?

I live in Florida and have noticed the prices of cigarettes. They caught my attention because I’ve had a number of people complain to me that living in New York it was costing them sometimes over $8 for one pack of cigarettes, compared to the $3.50 or less in FL.

I then started paying more attention and noticed that in this state there are some cigarettes, namely, the cheap brands that can be purchase for as low as $2 a pack and of course there are lots of buy one get one free deals. A carton of the cheap brands can anywhere from $12-$25 and $19-$30 for the name brands.

Getting more into my research I then looked at non-smoking products and realized that if someone wanted to quit smoking by using these products but didn’t have a lot of money they would probably just go back to smoking.

The smoking cessation products generally cost around $30-$60 dollars per package. The patches most buy are the 14-day pack but to be effective you need to use it for 8 or 9 weeks. By that time you will have gone through a couple hundred dollars. Not everyone has the strength to go cold turkey and depending on where you live it seems the pricing on non-smoking products like the healthy/diet food products are for the people who can afford it. And to those who can’t, well they get an “oh well”.