Since mid-Fall TV commercials have been trumpeting the horrors of the “flu season”. “It’s never too soon to begin fighting this year’s bug” they blare. Public health announcements urge us to get our “yearly flu shot”, as if this is something we have got permanently scheduled in our Blackberries. All the leading over-the-counter pain medications offer special seasonal “flu” mixtures, and their ads deluge daytime and prime-time broadcasting.

For the health consumer, namely us, it seems as if this annual “war on the flu” is received wisdom. We’re just defenseless human beings at the mercy of the all-powerful flu virus.

What’s wrong with this picture?

What is never mentioned in the “flu warning” marketing is the versatility and adaptability of our remarkable immune system. We’re the lucky owners of a built-in state-of-the-art biowarfare system, on-the-job 24/7 to combat microscopic foreign invaders of our health and well-being. Once our immune system has detected a foreign protein it mounts an immediate defense, attacking and destroying the alien molecules. And, the memory of that particular invader is permanent, enabling a future immune response to be swift and effective.1

The big issue with influenza is that new strains appear each year. We have never encountered these germs before. But, the whole basis and strength of our immune system is flexibility. It is specially designed to respond quickly to new attackers. And, for the most part, it does this very, very well.

Of course, no one wants their dinner companion to sneeze in their plate of pasta, as Elaine did on an famous episode of “Seinfeld”. Through a typical cascade of unfortunate events, Jerry’s and George’s comedy pilot was almost scuttled because the network executive was Elaine’s date, and he got violently ill by being on the receiving end of her blast of micro-bugs.

In the real world, our immune systems can be weakened due to life habits, circumstances, and stress. Stress is a notorious compromiser of immune defenses.2 And, of course, being human, there’s plenty of stress from dawn to dusk. If worry and anxiety pile on top of not-enough-sleep or sub-optimal nutrition, getting sick is a pretty likely outcome. So, developing and maintaining healthy habits of living and successful strategies for managing stress is really the key.3

If you do the simple things that keep you healthy and well, in the winter months you can pretty much “let the flu go around you”. You can be confident, knowing you’ve done the work to fight off the latest flu threat. Someone else’s germs are their germs, not yours. If your immune system is on the job, you’re far less likely to “catch” something.

And, even if you do succumb, you have got a much better chance of getting well again quickly.

1Sompayrac L: How the Immune System Works, 2nd ed. Blackwell, 2002. 2Wein H:Stress and disease – new perspectives. NIH Word on Health, October 2000. 3The Truth About Your Immune System – What You Need To Know. Harvard Health Publications, 2007.

For more information on chiropractic please contactDr. Jason FowlerDr. Jason Fowler

There’s no question that living a fit and healthy life is a great way to ensure you are living a good life, and your daily diet has a lot to do with how fit and healthy you are. In the Mediterranean regions, the inhabitants have a full understanding of this.

This is because the foods, and the way those foods are prepared, are thought to help a person live a longer, healthier, good life. Indeed, research proves that those living in an area where this diet is considered standard fare have a longer lifespan and less heart disease and other diet related illnesses than those consuming a mostly Western diet.

The Mediterranean diet is not intended specifically for weight loss. However, as the Mediterranean diet focuses on fresh veggies and fruit as well as nuts, legumes, and olive oil while shunning processed and sugary food, many people find that they lose weight naturally once they change their eating habits.

Small portions of dairy, lean meats, and fish are also part of the diet. One of the reasons people have shown to stick with this way of eating is because of the large amount of variety available on a regular basis.

When most people hear the word ‘diet’ they immediately assume that they’ll have to give up all of their favorite foods and nearly starve themselves for a certain period of time in order to lose weight. But, as stated above, the Mediterranean diet is not about weight loss, and it is certainly not a fad diet. It is a way of life for millions of people, and throughout centuries of use it has proven to lead to fewer health ailments and longer lives for those who follow it.

This is not a fad diet that will help you lose weight if you stick to it for a week or two. This is a lifestyle choice that will change the way you eat forever, as well as help you get fit and healthy and live a longer life. This way of eating can help you live a good life and enjoy your favorite hobbies for years to come.

Studies have shown that the Mediterranean diet is healthy due to what it lacks, as opposed to what it contains. Processed foods, sugary foods, and foods that are high in fat are avoided. Alcohol is also avoided, although some red wine is encouraged as it has shown to have health benefits.

Information about the Mediterranean diet, including foods that are acceptable, is available free from numerous websites, or you can check your local library or book store. In addition, there are several cook books designed around the Mediterranean diet and the good life that it leads to.

Changing your current eating habits to ways that are more in tune with the Mediterranean way of life is a great way to live a good life. You’ll feel better, look better, live longer, and quite possibly lose a few extra pounds, all while enjoying delicious meals made from fresh ingredients.

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Why are you over weight? The answer is very simple you eat the wrong foods and probably eat throughout the day or you could not be bothered to make a nutritional meal you would rather get some fast food because of the time factor excuse. The food you chose to eat will either enhance your quality of life or send you to the grave earlier than anticipated. And ultimately the choice is yours. Here are some quick weight loss tips to get you started and put you back onto the road of health and happiness.

If you are eating a diet that has a high fat content you are sure to gain some weight. You need to cut down at least by seventy five percent and only take in 25% of your calories from non saturated fat types. Another weight loss tip is to decrease your sugar intake as sugar actually has been known to make you eat more so try and eat natural sugars which you find in fruit.

Drink water as this flushes your system and also helps maintain the body in that water carries nutrients to the cells as well as acts as a solvent for many vitamins and minerals. Leave coffee and tea alone and if you do have a cup do not add sugar.

Dieticians and researchers have proved that dairy products can cause weight gain as well as inflammation in your system. Do some research and further reading on the subject.

Diet and exercise is the very first thing people think about when they need to lose weight. And this is the main cause of most not following through with a weight loss program as the thought of exercising or eating next to nothing is not tempting at all. You have tried all the fad diets as well as every slimming aid there is to try month after month and lots of dollars later to no avail. Oh and don’t let me forget about “I don’t have time” excuse.

If you drive a car you will know that the car needs a service in order to keep running well and also needs petrol in order to get you places. Well your body is no different if you don’t give it the correct fuel it will stop going and if you don’t eat correctly your body will eventually seize up. People tend to starve themselves when they have excess weight which is so not the thing to do as your brain tell the body store your fat there is a famine. This information has been relayed to you before but one still keeps repeating old patterns.

The time factor is really a very poor excuse in most cases, as one has to eat on a daily basis so why not just eat correctly to begin with. I know it is all too tempting when you see cakes and chocolates, but every now and then treat yourself to something small almost like rewarding yourself. I can assure you once you start to eat nutritional healthy food that sugar craving disappears.

I can spend days writing and telling what to eat and what not to eat but ultimately the decision is yours. Do you really want to lose weight as I can assure you there are no very short term fixes and losing weight is a mind set? If you don’t lose weight after following these quick weight loss tips consult your doctor as you may have a medical condition either thyroid or hormonal which can be rectified with the correct medications. And remember you can replace all the material things in your life but you cannot replace your health.

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The fact of the matter is, detox diet programs are designed to clean out your system therefore if you’re considering this technique, here’s a few facts that you should know. First off, detox diet programs aren’t made to help you lose weight however merely helps cleanse your metabolism. For a couple days, you will have to sacrifice certain foods and take some laxatives to wash out the bowel and your liver.

Throughout that time, you’ll have to eat lots of fruits and vegetables because in the majority of cases, they’re natural and raw, since cooking removes needed minerals and even vitamins. People who can properly complete this program report they feel a lot better and boast increased get up and go. Detox diets are not advised for individuals with specific health ailments especially patients that have been diagnosed with diabetes, eating disorders, heart disease and different recurring conditions. This additionally should also not be done by those who are pregnant or nursing moms. Teenagers should not try this detox diet either because this would steal from them nutrients which are important for their rapid growth and development.

Detox diet plans must only be done a maximum of once or even twice a year because it can turn habit-forming. A few have compared regular detox diets to smoking or drugs where it’s difficult to give up and this can end in health issues such as malnutrition, heart conditions even death.

If you believe starting a detox diet doesn’t have side effects, reconsider as there’s a few namely acne, headaches, weariness, appetite and even irritability. You may also get those if you choose to take detox supplements as many of the elements used are in fact laxatives, and that entails going to the bathroom more frequently and as we all know, that can get messy. When that occurs, you should drink lots of liquid to prevent dehydration, mineral instabilities or any additionally issues that go with the digestive system.

Because a detox diet would only last several days, you may feel that you’ve lost weight, although the truth is, you’ll just lose some water and a bit of muscular tissue that will be recovered as soon as you end the program and start consuming normal food. Currently, there haven’t been any research projects which verify the effectiveness of the detox diet. In fact, there is no evidence to prove these toxins are eliminated particularly if the liver and your kidneys are working right because you should be able to excrete urine and stools consistently.

Clearly, there are a few favorable as well as negative statements when it comes to detox diets. Since you understand what those are, you can decide on your own whether it’s something you want to try or not. Don’t forget to consult your doctor should you decide to go through with it because like it was mentioned before, there are certain people that should not attempt this based upon their condition.

Keep in mind that besides utilizing that technique, your body features a natural way of taking care of this problem so you can let nature tale it’s course or to push it from your body. There’s additionally other diet programs aside from the detox diet that can do some good even if there are no promises that something that is good for one particular person, will work for anyone else.

When you consider how you are you are going to reduce bruising easily, you are already aware that you need to significantly reduce eating foods that are high in fat and sugar or are highly processed, but do you have any idea what you really should be eating? If your easy bruising is caused by age and the resultant breakdown of your skin and your capillary walls, this is a condition that can be overcome by improving your habits, and one of the foremost habits that you can affect is correct eating behavior.

If you are going to modify your diet to help reduce easy bruising, you need to consider which foods that will nourish your body while not increasing your blood pressure levels. Many people must deal with high blood pressure, and others are completely unaware that they even have a blood pressure problem. You must evaluate the foods that you are eating, with an emphasis on lowering your sodium intake.

When you want to reduce bruising through diet, take a moment and think about whether you can cook more at home. One reason why so many people get blindsided about how high their blood pressure is due to the fact that they eat out and are unaware of how the food is prepared. You might be surprised by how much salt and fat goes into restaurant food.

To make the diet changes that you need, start looking into your protein intake. The nice thing is that when you want to improve your body’s ability to reduce bruising easily, you are going to need to think about how you are going to get more lean protein into your diet, rather than eliminating it. Look into very lean cuts of beef, and eating more poultry and pork, as well.

You can increase your protein intake in your diet by adding eggs, but this does raise the question of how much cholesterol this adds. You should note that the particular type of cholesterol that gets ingested into your body from eggs can actually help prevent you from some forms of bodily injuries, when taken in moderation.

One of the best ways to help reduce bruising easily is to look into getting more vegetables into your diet. Eating more vegetables will give your body the nutrients that it needs to heal itself more quickly, and it will also help bring down your sodium intake. Just be careful not to cook them in ways that include too much fat or salt; eating vegetables raw is a great way to stay healthy.

When you are deciding which vegetables that you are planning to cook, keep in mind that you should avoid veggies that are essentially colorless. For instance white potatoes are alright occasionally, but understand that they are basically just a starch with only limited nutritional value. Conversely, sweet potatoes are an excellent source of beta carotene and fiber.

When you think about changing your diet, cutting fatty meats and including more vegetables will likely help you to achieve the results that you want to see to prevent bruising. Also consider the benefits of adding a daily supplement program like Bruises Be Banned which has been proved to help you overcome your easy bruising and help you reduce bruising easily or prevent bruising altogether.

Can you drink alcohol and still stay lean?

This topic seems to be a common struggle I hear from a lot of people… They want to get lean, but they don’t want to give up drinking alcohol.

Now, I’m not talking about alcoholic type of drinking (that is obviously a problem)… we’re just talking moderate social drinking here.

First, although some people may willingly choose to give up alcohol entirely, I still think most of us can drink in moderation, and still stay perfectly healthy and lean. But there are a few tricks that can help you to not pack on the pounds… and I’ll mention those in a little bit.

As for myself, it comes down to choosing what I’m going to be strict about to maintain my fitness lifestyle and what I’m not going to be strict about.

For example, I’m pretty strict about never eating anything deep fried or made with trans fats, never eating white bread, and never drinking sodas or sweetened soft drinks of any kind… but I’ll admit that one thing I’ve chosen to not be strict about is drinking alcohol.

I’m in my 30′s now and I certainly don’t drink as frequently as I did back in my crazy college days, but I’ll certainly enjoy some cold ones when hanging out with friends, going to a bbq or dinner party, or during a night out at the bars and nightclubs.

It’s all about balance in your life, and not every aspect has to be perfect in order for you to still get the body and health that you want. You’ll drive yourself crazy if you’re trying to be perfect.

Of course, if you have no problem abstaining from alcohol, then that will certainly be the best thing for your health and your body.

However, for the rest of us, that actually do like to partake in some social drinking, here are a few tips that have helped me to stay single-digit bodyfat lean, while still drinking occasionally.

1. Obviously alcohol gives you extra empty calories on the days that you choose to drink. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, compared to 4 calories per gram for carbs and protein, and 9 calories per gram for fats.

On nights that I know are going to involve some drinking, it helps to make sure that dinner is based only around protein and vegetables. You’re going to take in a lot of empty calories with the alcohol, so eating a good portion of appetite-satisfying protein along with nutrient-rich vegetables can help to control your appetite and give your body the nutrients it needs.

Plus, most importantly, there’s just no room for loads of carbohydrate-rich foods if you’re also going to be consuming alcohol. Carbs + alcohol is a perfect recipe for growing a beer belly!

2. If you want to save your body from adding layers of ugly fat, by all means stay away from syrupy, fruity drinks that are loaded with sugar… this is a double whammy for your gut as you’re not only getting all of the empty alcohol calories, but also loads of empty sugar calories. Big fruity drinks such as a margarita can sometimes have as much as 500-600 calories per serving!

Instead, your best bet is to stick with a clear alcohol mixed with club soda and a squeeze of lime or lemon. Vodka with club soda and extra lemon/lime squeeze is my drink of choice at the bars/nightclubs.

Stay away from tonic water mixers! Some people don’t realize this, but tonic water is loaded with almost as much sugar as regular soda pop… on the other hand, club soda has no calories at all. It’s clearly the lowest calorie way to drink.

3. If you’re going to drink beer, you’re better off choosing just 1 or 2 dark beers rather than 5 or 6 light beers. Sure, dark beers have more calories than light beers, but dark beers also have more B vitamins and antioxidants than light beers, so you actually get more nutrition from the dark beer. As long as you keep it to just 1 or 2 dark beers, you may still stay within 150-400 calories.

4. Try to get in a high intensity full body workout before your night out of drinking. At least you’ve revved up your metabolism and have your body processing calories a little faster.

Also, trying to get in some sort of exercise the morning after your night out can also help to get your body back to a good state of health. This may not be your best workouts in terms of energy, but it can help to just get your body moving and break a sweat.

5. Avoid the late-night munchies after a night of drinking! This is where most people do the biggest damage to their waistlines.

Instead, make sure to have some lean protein and vegetables quickly available at home (perhaps some pre-cooked chicken breasts, grass-fed steaks, or even tuna fish and some veggie sticks) so that you can satisfy your late night post-party appetite with lean protein instead of carbohydrates.

The worst thing for your body is loading up on pizza, ice cream, and other carb-rich junk after a night out of drinking.

6. If you drink multiple drinks socially, try to keep drinking alcohol to only 1-2 days/week maximum if you want to stay lean. On the other hand, if you never drink more than 1-2 drinks per day, I think having 1-2 drinks daily with a meal can still be part of a healthy lifestyle. As long as those calories are accounted for and you still stay within your daily caloric maintenance.

7. Wine is one of the healthier drink choices… if you must have a drink, you might as well choose wine so you at least get a good dose of antioxidants as well. Red wine is known for it’s antioxidant content, however even white wines contain antioxidants as well.

And finally, like I mentioned before, drinking alcohol just adds one more thing to your list that you have to work against in getting the body you want.

Abstaining may always be the best choice, BUT we also need to be realistic and know that social drinking is not something that most people are willing to give up entirely.

For that reason, this list of tips to help manage social drinking in a healthier way can really help you to stay leaner and healthier and still balance a little bit of social drinking into your life.

From Mike Geary of truthaboutabs.com

Just another tip today to help you eat healthier and avoid common food choice mistakes…

Most salad dressings that you buy at the grocery store or get at most restaurants are pure junk…

Although some salad dressings are high in sugar or high fructose corn syrup, probably the main problem with most salad dressings is that they are made with highly refined and processed oils… usually refined soybean oil (or other mostly polyunsaturated refined oils). These oils are inflammatory to the body and also too high in omega-6 fatty acids.

Even the dressings that claim to be “healthy” at the store are usually made with highly refined canola oil… but there’s not much healthy about that either (despite the marketing of canola oil as healthy).

The solution to this is NOT to avoid any oils at all in salad dressings… remember that healthy fats are actually important for helping you to absorb a lot of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from the vegetables in your salad. And I’m simply not a fan at all of most “fat-free” products as they usually have extra sugars and other junk.

The only way around this is to make your own home-made salad dressings instead of buying the junk at the grocery store, and add your own healthy oils.

Although most “fat-free” products are typically full of junk, I like to try to find an organic fat-free balsamic salad dressing or red wine vinegar dressing, and then I add half of the container to a new bottle and fill the remainder with a mixture of extra-virgin olive oil, Udo’s Choice EFA Oil (can be found at health food stores… if not, just use only olive oil), and organic balsamic or red wine vinegar (and a few extra herbs and spices if you wish).

This way, you’re in control and making a salad dressing using healthy oils instead of the processed refined soybean oils that almost all commercial salad dressings use.

Enjoy!

By Mike Geary: truthaboutabs.com

Last week, I gave you the “1% rule”, which showed that all it really takes is 1% of your available time dedicated to intense exercise to get as lean and strong as you want. It just shows how insane it is to hear someone complain that they “don’t have time to workout”.

This week, I’m going to give you the “morning rule” for getting in top shape permanently…

What the “morning rule” involves is making sure that you start every day by doing something very healthy for yourself… and by starting each day with a positive action that makes you feel good about doing this healthy action, it makes it harder to fall off the wagon later in the day.

This healthy action in the morning could be doing a good workout first thing in the morning or it could be cooking up an extremely healthy breakfast that gets you feeling great… or better yet, BOTH!

I’ve found that getting people to engrain a healthy ritual first thing in the morning makes it easier for them to follow healthy habits the rest of the day.

After all, you feel so good from your morning workout and your healthy breakfast that you can’t possibly even conceive of eating any of those donuts that your co-worker brought in… and you’ll certainly find it easier to just drive right past the fast food joint and instead make yourself a healthy lunch because you want to keep the momentum going in the right direction from the great start to the day that you had.

This is yet another one of those small pieces to the big puzzle… but when you put all of these together, you eventually have the habits and rituals of a fitness lifestyle that works for you on a permanent level… So start tomorrow with a great workout, a super-healthy breakfast, or both, and make this a healthy daily morning ritual.

Before I go, just wanted to mention that my friends at Prograde are having an 11%-off sale on their Cravers low-cal organic snack bars until the end of Friday. These little buggers are delicious organic snack bars best used for those times of the day that you just need a quick but healthy snack instead of giving in to the vending machine junk food or fast food.

One of the problems I see with “diet talk” is that nobody seems to agree what “low carb” really means… One person may think of “low carb” as an Atkins style diet with as much fatty sausages, hotdogs, and nitrate processed meats as you want and virtually no carbohydrate based foods at all.

Another person may view “low carb” as 40% of daily calories coming from carbs instead of the traditionally recommended 55% to 60%.

If you think about it, in a 40/30/30 type of diet, the majority of the calories are coming from carbs, so that obviously can’t be called “low carb”…yet some people do call it that.

Because of these drastic differences in how different people view the term “low carb”, sometimes my clients are confused as to what I recommend.

First of all, I don’t recommend “low carb” or “high carb” per se… I don’t think it’s vitally important to have any sort of exact ratio.  I think everyone needs to explore for themselves how they feel at different ratios of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.

After all, the most important aspect to your success is your total caloric intake vs your caloric expenditure over a given time period.

But where carbohydrate intake becomes important is in how it can affect your hormones and blood sugar in your body and stimulate cravings. You could tell someone to eat 2500 calories/day of a higher fat and higher protein content combined with reduced carbs and they may actually finish the day at 2500 calories because their appetite is satisfied.

However, tell that same person to eat 2500 calories per day in a high carb fashion, and they may end up eating 3000 or more calories per day because the higher carbohydrate diet stimulated their cravings and they ended up overeating.

I know personally, if you throw a big steak in front of me and a big pile of vegetables, my appetite will be satisfied when I’m done that meal and for hours afterward.  However, you throw a big plate of pasta in front of me, and I’m gonna devour the entire plate, and then head back for seconds and maybe even thirds.

This is what happens for a lot of people… once you start eating large portions of carbs like pasta or rice or cereals, it becomes hard to stop and then you’re craving more carbs an hour later too!

So what I’ve found to work best for me, and a large % of my clients in the past is to eat in a “controlled carbs” manner… this doesn’t mean atkins style… it means very reduced grains, zero refined sugars (to the best of ability of avoiding), and instead, getting almost all of your carbs from vegetables, fruits, and maybe beans on occasion.

This ends up being very similar to the hunter-gatherer type of diet of meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, fruits, and veggies, which I believe is the healthiest way to eat.

Sometimes it just takes thinking a little differently about the way you eat and what’s considered “normal” in order to get rid of some of the useless grains and sugars in your diet.

For example, why do we need to eat a burger on a bun? Most people don’t even think of doing it any other way because that’s what’s “normal”.

One of my favorite lunch meals lately has been cooking up a grass-fed bison burger with no bun, and then I top it with grass-fed cheese, sliced avocados, diced onions, and salsa.  I have a big side of sliced fresh veggies like carrots and red peppers (with hummus sometimes), and then maybe have a little bit of fruit or berries on the side too.

What you end up with is a meal that’s pretty well balanced between protein, healthy fats, and healthy carbs instead of overloaded with the refined grains from the typical hamburger bun.

Think about breakfast too…

do you really “need” the toast with your eggs, or can you do much better with loads of veggies with your eggs instead?  That’s what I like to do for breakfast… eggs with cheese and loads of veggies, avocado (yeah, avo’s are one of my favorite foods), and some green or white tea (or lately I’ve been really digging this mango yerba mate tea…mmm) with a little raw honey.  So I get my carbs from the veggies and the little bit of raw honey instead of from the typical toast and orange juice that loads you up with extra carbs.

…Just some ideas in case it helps you to think differently about where you get your carbs from.

Article contributed by Mike Geary from http://www.truthaboutabs.com

Another excellent recipe secret from Mike Geary below:

**My high-protein, fat-burning snack:

Ok, here’s one of the simplest high protein snacks that I’ve used a lot over the years.  I like this as a small meal either late at night (due to the high protein, low carb content or even sometimes for a midmeal during the afternoon between lunch and dinner.

Vanilla-Cinnamon Nut Cottage Cheese…

Even people I know that say they don’t like cottage cheese have told me that they loved this!  Here’s what I mix together:

* mix together 2 to 1 ratio of cottage cheese to vanilla yogurt (that makes this higher in protein than in carbs)

* vanilla extract to taste

* cinnamon to taste (don’t be shy with cinnamon…it’s one of the most powerful antioxidants you can get…even more than most berries)

* handful of raw nuts (pecans, almonds, or walnuts are my favorites…but just about all nuts are packed with nutrition and healthy fats to keep your cravings at bay)

* just a touch of stevia to sweeten (stevia is a non-caloric natural sweetener that I believe is much safer than artificial sweeteners). I’ve ordered stevia (and yerba mate too, btw) at this site in the past:

http://www.Naturally-Stevia.com

This is such an easy and quick recipe, but it’s REALLY good… at least I think so, and a lot of people that I’ve had try it really liked it too.  Simple, easy, and packed with craving-ending nutrition!

Like I said, it’s also great for a late-night snack because of the healthy fats, relatively low carbs, and the casein protein content (which helps your body prevent catabolizing muscle tissue overnight because of the long-lasting casein protein).