Seasonal affective disorder treatment: Choosing a light box - MayoClinic.com

Seasonal affective disorder treatment: Choosing a light box - MayoClinic.com: "Seasonal affective disorder treatment: Choosing a light box"

Swimming towards Optimal Health

What's New and Beneficial about Sea Vegetables


Sea vegetables may be a better source of bioavailable iron than previously thought. One tablespoon of dried sea vegetable will contain between 1/2 milligram and 35 milligrams of iron, and this iron is also accompanied by a measurable amount vitamin C. Since vitamin C acts to increase the bioavailability of plant iron, this combination in sea vegetables may offer a special benefit.

Hidden Calories

VitaminWater uses the old trick in which the nutrition information on the label is based on a serving size, but the bottle contains multiple servings-leaving you to do the math.
Each bottle contains 2.5 servings of the sugar-sweetened water, so a whole bottle delivers 33 grams of sugar (a can of Coke only has 6 more).
That's a lot of calories when plain water could do the trick. One bottle (2.5 servings) of the Charge flavor: 125 calories, 32.5g sugar.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10005091-23.html?tag=page;next#ixzz11oaUzjjP

Order your own TRX suspension workout system!!!

If you want a new way to workout the entire body, focusing on functional movements, leaner muscles, core strengthening, and faster results, order your own TRX suspension training system.  Contact me and I'll help you through the training and set-up.

Here's the link:

http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&AFFIL=X360489p

D'Adamo Personalized Nutrition: The Undiet

D'Adamo Personalized Nutrition: The Undiet

How in Shape Are You?

3 Minute Step Test Protocol

3 Minute Step Test The step test is used as a level II screening device. The purpose of the step test is to measure the heart rate in the recovery period following three minutes of stepping. The step test is used only as a screening device and not as a measure of cardiorespiratory fitness. If the LEMU Member cannot finish the test because of symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness, etc., then he/she will be required to obtain medical clearance either from a County Physician, or their own Personal Healthcare Provider before further testing. If the LEMU Member cannot finish the test because of fatigue, or scores at the very poor level, according to the Cooper Institute Standards, then he/she will be required to obtain medical clearance either from a County Physician, or their own Personal Healthcare Provider before further testing. Equipment Used: 12" Bench for stepping Clock with sweep second hand or stopwatch for timing test and counting heart rate Metronome to help subject maintain cadence in proper stepping rate Procedure: The step test will be administered as a Level II Screening before sit-ups, push-ups and the 1.5 mile run (See Program Packet) LEMU Member will step up and down at 24 cycles (up-up-down-down) a minute (metronome setting of 96) for 3 minutes Immediately after the 3 minutes of stepping, the Member will sit down. A 60 second heart rate will be taken starting 5 seconds after the completion of stepping. If the Member does not complete the test, they will be given the option to obtain clearance from a County Physician or from their own Primary Healthcare Provider The Members Score is total 60 second pulse rate following 3 minutes of stepping. 3 Minute Step Test Category - Males Excellent <71 Good 71-102 Fair 103-117 Poor 118-147 Very Poor 148+ 3 Minute Step Test Category - Females Excellent <97 Good 97-127 Fair 128-142 Poor 143-171 Very Poor 172+

Egg-splained: Free-range, cage-free and organic

Egg-splained: Free-range, cage-free and organic Got eggs on the brain? In light of the salmonella-based recall of 380 million eggsfrom Iowa's Wright County Egg, we've hatched up a primer on a few common terms. Free-range: The USDA does not specify the quality or size of the outside range nor the duration of time an animal must have access to the outside or the amount of space available to them, and there is no mandate that the chickens are fed organically or are hormone and antibiotic-free. For a chicken - and their eggs - to be labeled "free-range" or "free-roaming" theUSDA regulations state, "Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside." According to the Egg Safety Board, outside the United States, free-range "denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner." While some egg producers are truly free-range, and the chickens remain outdoors for a good deal of the time, there is nothing preventing a factory farm from labeling eggs as free range, merely because the structure in which the chickens live has a door to an outside yard. As author Michael Pollan notes in 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' – his 2006 treatise on the origins of several modern foods – "Since the food and water remain inside the shed, and since the little doors remain shut until the birds are at least five weeks old and well settled into their habits, the chickens apparently see no reason to venture into what must seem for them an unfamiliar and terrifying world." There's a very good chance that a free-range chicken, raised for either eggs or meat, has never seen the light of day. Cage-free: There isn't a legal designation eggs as cage free. Many factory farmskeep their laying hens in so-called "battery cages" - typically rows and rows of wire cages in which chickens are given insufficient room to accommodate their wingspan. In a study by the Humane Society of the United States, Dr. Suzanne Millman, Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, Canada reports that "The recommended space allowance for laying hens in some countries is 60-80 square inches per hen, barely enough for the hen to turn around and not enough for her to perform normal comfort behaviors; however, many hens are allowed less than even that meager amount." In a cage-free facility, battery cages are not used, and typically a hen will have enough room to walk around and extend her wings, but the facilities may still be crowded, and birds may still be "debeaked." This entails the trimming of a portion of a bird's beak in order to combat cannibalism and feather pecking that may occur among birds kept in close quarters. In July, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed A.B. 1437 into effect, making California the cage-free state in the US. The bill requires that starting in 2015 all whole, in-shell eggs sold in California must come from hens that are able to stand up, lie down, turn around, and fully extend their limbs without touching one another or the sides of an enclosure. Organic: For eggs to be labeled "organic," they must come from farms that meet the USDA's National Organic Standards and are routinely inspected to ensure compliance. Hens must be fed organic feed - no animal byproducts or genetically modified or "GMO" crops - produced on land that has been free from the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers for a minimum of three years. The hens themselves must be maintained without hormones and other intrusive drugs and antibiotics may only be used in cases in cases of outbreak or disease. They're also kept in a cage-free environment and allowed access to the outdoors. Consumer's best defense However, none of this ensures that the eggs produced by any given methodology are safe. New York University professor Marion Nestle, who maintains the Food Politics website tells Eatocracy, "It’s less likely for small flocks to carry Salmonella, but it is by no means impossible." Salmonella bacteria, generally contracted from contaminated poultry, meat, eggs, or water, affects the human intestinal tract. It's often transmitted to laying hens when rodents get into the flocks' feed, and their feces transmit bacteria to the birds. A consumer's best defense is to wash all egg shells, store eggs at 40F or below, in the interior of the refrigerator, rather than the door, which is subject to variable temperatures, and cook eggs - yolks and all - to a temperature of 160F. Consumers with questions should visit www.eggsafety.org or call Wright County’s toll-free information number (866-272-5582), which contains a message outlining recall instructions for consumers. Consumers who believe they may have purchased the recalled shell eggs should not eat them but should return them to the store where they were purchased for a full refund. See all egg recall information on Eatocracy and full coverage on CNN Health http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2010/08/20/egg-splained-free-range-cage-free-and-organic/

Cooking Oils' SAFE Temperatures

Heating cooking oils to their smoke point can causes serious indoor air pollution. A kitchen stove hood/vent is a very good idea to help reduce this form of indoor air pollution in the home.

Another really good way to reduce smoke from burning cooking oils is to choose your oils carefully, so you cook with oils that can handle high heat without smoking. For example, refined avocado oil can be heated to just under 500 F before smoking, while unrefined safflower oil will smoke when heated to just under 225 F.

Below is a chart adapted from research published by oil manufacturer Spectrum Naturals, that gives the smoke point of many oils. Try to never heat oils to their smoke point. Even if you do get a stove hood, using the right oil for the right heat is important.

Below 212 F
–Cooking Methods
Boil, steam, scald, stew, simmer, steep, parboil, salad dressings
–Oils You Should Use
Unrefined canola oil (smoke point is below 225 F)
Unrefined flaxseed oil (smoke point is below 225 F)
Unrefined safflower oil (smoke point 225 F)
Unrefined sunflower oil (smoke point is below 225 F)

Below 320 F–Cooking Methods
Low-heat baking, light sauté, pressure cooking
–Oils You Should Use
Unrefined corn oil (smoke point is below 32 F)
Unrefined peanut oil (smoke point is below 320 F)
Semirefined safflower oil (smoke point is below 320 F)
Unrefined soy oil (smoke point is below 320 F)
Unrefined high-Oleic sunflower oil (smoke point is below 320 F)
Unrefined walnut oil (smoke point is below 320 F)

Below 375 F
–Cooking Methods Baking sauté, stir-fry, wok cooking
–Oils You Should Use
Semirefined canola oil (smoke point is below 350 F)
Refined canola oil (smoke point is below 400 F)
Refined corn oil (smoke point is below 450 F)
Unrefined olive oil (smoke point is below 320)
Refined peanut oil (smoke point is below 450 F)
Refined safflower oil (smoke point is below blow 450 F)
Unrefined sesame oil (smoke point is below 350 F)
Semirefined sesame oil (smoke point is below 450 F)
Semirefined soy oil (smoke point is below 350 F)
Refined soy oil (smoke point is below blow 450 F)
Semirefined sunflower oil (smoke point is below 450 F)
Refined high-oleic sunflower oil (smoke point is below 450 F)
Semirefined walnut oil (smoke point is below 400 F)

Below 500 F
–Cooking Methods
Sear, brown, deep-fry.
–Oils You Should Use
Refined avocado oil has a smoke point of below 520 F, the highest temperature of all the plant oils.

choosing the right cardio equipment

Choosing the right cardio equipment Taking together the research on caloric expenditure and the amount of skill needed to acquire a cardiovascular and caloric benefit, the treadmill would have to be considered the best piece of cardio equipment, followed by the cross-country skiing machine (e.g., NordicTrack), rowing machine, stair stepper and stationary cycle. So, next time one of your clients asks which piece of cardio equipment is best, tell him or her to choose equipment that uses a lot of muscle mass, is weight-bearing and has a low skill level so he or she can get more out of the activity.


Your clients expend approximately 5 calories for every 1 liter of oxygen consumed (which varies slightly depending on how much fat and carbohydrates are used). Using more muscle mass during exercise also increases energy expenditure after exercise, as the post-exercise metabolic rate (as measured by the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) has been found to be significantly greater and take longer to return to resting values following lower-body exercise (stationary cycling) than following upper-body exercise (arm cranking) performed at the same relative intensity.

Weight-bearing activities are associated with a significantly greater caloric expenditure than non-weight-bearing activities,5 even when the two types of exercise are performed at the same level of intensity.1 Among weight-bearing activities, running uses more calories than most everything else, being equaled only by cross-country skiing and sports that require a lot of running, like soccer, squash, handball and racquetball

Comparing the rates of energy expenditure at RPE values of 11 (fairly light), 13 (somewhat hard) and 15 (hard) on the Borg scale of 6 to 20 between six indoor exercise machines — Airdyne, cross-country skiing simulator, stationary cycle, rowing machine, stair stepper and treadmill — Zeni, et al.,11 found that the treadmill induced a significantly higher rate of energy expenditure at each RPE compared to all of the other exercise equipment. Among the other equipment, the cross-country skiing simulator, rowing machine and stair stepper induced significantly higher rates of energy expenditure than the Airdyne and stationary cycle. The highest HR occurred on the treadmill and the stair stepper, and blood lactate concentration (another marker of exercise intensity) was highest on the stair stepper and rowing machine. The authors concluded that the treadmill is the optimal indoor exercise machine for enhancing energy expenditure when perceived exertion is used to establish exercise intensity.