| Weight control is one strategy for successful health
In the 1950s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture introduced the first food grouping system for planning a healthy diet. The original Basic 7 food groups turned into the Basic 4 about 30 years ago. A new food guide based on five major food groups was developed in the 1990 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Now we have individualized food guide pyramids available at http://mypyramid.gov.
The daily food guide classifies foods into groups based on their key nutrients, places emphasis on the general type of food item consumed rather than on specific nutrient content of each food item, encourages consumption of low fat, high fiber food choices, and minimizes calories from higher fat food choices.
Importance of weight control
Health risks are reduced when weight is appropriate for age and height.
Canada releases food guide for aboriginals
YELLOWKNIFE (CP) - Spurred by rising rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, the Canadian government has released a version of its food guide aimed at providing healthy eating tips for First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. Federal Health Minister Tony Clement said Wednesday that issues surrounding food and healthy eating for aboriginal people weren't represented in previous issues of the food guide. The most recent revision to the general food guide, released in February, was the first in 14 years. "Obviously, we've had some problems with increasing obesity, childhood obesity and diabetes since that time, and quite frankly, there was quite a demand from aboriginal representatives to do something specific," Clement said.
More Body & Health news The guide incorporates both modern and traditional food choices.
This Could Happen to You
Miami, FL: At 68 and 75 respectively, Janis and Victor Noland should be enjoying their retirement in the sun-kissed Gulf Coast of Southwest Florida, They had done, they thought, everything right. They worked hard, saved their money, then abandoned Ohio for the warm embrace of the sunshine state, building their dream house on the water in the community of Punta Gorda, about 20 miles southwest of Fort Meyers. Victor, a former smoker, is now disabled and suffers from emphazema. But in spite of living on a fixed income, their house was paid for. They had achieved the great American Dream, and looked forward to their twilight years. Today, they are struggling to maintain a $512,000 mortgage and risk losing their home if they can't stop the financial bloodletting. It has nothing to do with Victor's health.
Pre-existing conditions should not disqualify health insurance
Each individual possesses genetic markers and medical technology has advanced to the level that the human genome can be mapped to specifically predict a person's predisposition to disease. An unborn child can be tested by a trained physician to determine susceptibility to certain diseases - such as cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer's - decades before they're diagnosed. This information can lead to early treatment and perhaps even cures, but the fear that it could be used to deny people health insurance and employment opportunities accompanies it. .
Lionsgate Announces Their May DVD Slate
Featuring a talented cast of voices including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., George Carlin, Sigourney Weaver and others, the film explores what happens to the inhabitants of FairyLand when "tried and true" stories are thrown out of whack and the fate of 'happily ever after' hangs in the balance. In keeping with the film's theme of alternate endings, the DVD features customized menus allowing viewers to pick whether to get good or evil menu screens based on their responses to a series of multiple-choice questions. The menus are all also hosted by the film's breakthrough new characters- Mambo & Monk- who provide side-splitting color commentary throughout the menus and the games. Both the DVD and Blu-ray disc cast a spell with a full slate of special features including - most appropriately, an alternate ending, 7 deleted scenes, over 40 minutes of featurettes, audio commentary, interactive games and more!Pricing: DVD $28.98; Blu-ray Disc: $39.99Envy Girls: Workouts for the Spots That Really Count:From the producers of the top-selling Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease and celebrity trainer Michael Carson, this brand new collection of workouts targets the spots that really count: Abs, Legs, Buns and Arms.
Jim Karas Says You Can Skip the Aerobic Workout
It sounds like a couch potato's dream: Personal trainer Jim Karas's new book, The Cardio-Free Diet, promises you can lose weight without lengthy sessions on the treadmill. In fact, he says, intensive cardiovascular exercise may actually be hurting your efforts to drop a few pounds and even damaging your health. Instead, Karas advocates a far less time-consuming strength-training routine of simple lifts and presses with either free weights or rubber tubing. Is he right? Here's a dissection of his thesis, point by point: Cardiovascular exercise as a key to weight loss has been vastly oversold. .
Tomgram: Dahr Jamail, Into the Iraqi Diaspora
Tom Engelhardt Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) released new figures on the disintegrating health situation in Iraq where, according to the group, 100 people a day die, on average, and countless more are wounded. Of the injured who manage to make it to an emergency room, 70% face a chance of dying there. Many don't reach clinics or emergency rooms at all, given the horrendous security conditions in the country. (Most knowledgeable observers believe that all death counts are low-ball numbers, given the increasing problem of gathering accurate figures amid the mayhem.)
www.tomdispatch.com .
Horizon Blues settle class action
Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey and other "Blues" across the country agreed Friday to pay millions to physicians -- and to change how they do business with doctors and patients. In settling a national class-action lawsuit in federal court in Miami, numerous Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans will pay more than $128 million to about 900,000 physicians, including the 8,000 members of the Medical Society of New Jersey. .
|
