Learn the Dirty Dozen
by The dailygreen.com

The dirty dozen are the most highly contaminated foods with pesticides and chemicals — even after washing and peeling:

2. apples

4. celery

6. strawberries

8. pears

10. spinach

12. potatoes

Read more... 5 Ways to Save on Organic Food

Functional Strength Training
by Diane Henry, Fitness Director

You’ve been working out at the gym all winter, and you’re stronger than ever. You’re toned, tight and ready for the beach. Then you bend down to pick up the keys you dropped, and you throw your back out. What happened? Could it be you’re not doing enough functional fitness?

What is functional fitness? Functional fitness creates real life movements in real life positions and prepares you for activities of every day living. It’s using as many muscles as possible while mimicking a movement that is close to real life action. For instance, if you are an athlete, you are training to become more functional on the field, but if you are someone just training to become more functional with every day tasks such as emptying the dishwasher, mowing the lawn or picking up a toddler, the function you are trying to improve means something very different. Traditional strength training is not as effective to improve your bodies ability to perform daily tasks.

Functional strength training goes beyond cardiovascular and strength, it’s high intensity and focuses on balance, flexibility, agility and speed. Functional fitness uses exercise tools like wobble boards, stability balls, free weights and fitness bands. Functional fitness forces you to work your core and keep your body balanced while lifting weight and working the entire body.

Exercise machines isolate certain muscle groups, while the rest remain sedentary. When you exercise with standard gym machines, you're locked into a fixed position. A belt or bar or padded seat keeps you stable while you perform a simple motion--one meant to exercise a single muscle, while seated on a bench. That's fine--as far as it goes. But how often in real life do you lift weights while seated? There are limitations with just working out with machines because:

• Machines don’t build balance or coordination.

• Machines stabilize your body for you.

• Machines overdevelop the superficial muscles of your body such as the deltoids (shoulders) and latissimus dorsi (lats).

• Machines do not strengthen tendons and ligaments.

There is a huge benefit, particularly as we age, to incorporate functional exercise into your daily routine.

• Functional fitness builds balance and coordination.

• Functional fitness better develops the critical mind-muscle link, allowing for better development.

• Functional fitness develops tendon and ligament strength.

So you might be fit. But fit for what? Looking great at the beach? Exercise should have a higher purpose than making you look good. It should make you stronger and more limber in performing the tasks of every day life. That’s not to say that looking good isn’t important too, but why not have both? Below is a link that has the top ten functional exercises for full body fitness, enjoy!

Read more... Top Ten Functional Exercises for Full Body Fitness

Autism: Parent Ratings of Treatments
by Michael Catalano, M.D.

April is National Autism Awareness Month. Only 1 drug, Risperdal, is FDA-approved for treating autism, to reduce disruptive behavior. Risperdal (generic name risperidone) is principally prescribed for severe psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disease. It has a significant side effect profile and its package insert lists several toxicity warnings and precautions.

To address the severe lack of approved treatments, many parents and physicians in the Autism Research Institute (ARI) have taken the initiative to find out what else besides Risperdal may help their autistic children. In 2004 the ARI compiled and published reports on what worked best and what had the least negative effects. The table below (from section one, page 10, of Autism: Effective Bio Medical Treatments, by J. Pangborn PhD and S.M. Baker MD) summarizes the findings.

# Better divided by # Worse Treatment (# of reports)

1.2 Prozac (1073)

3.2 Risperdal (528)

4.8 Depakene – seizures (617)

9.3 Nystatin (847)

11.1 Folic Acid (1274)

15.0 Calcium (1175)

16.0 Vitamin C (1503)

17.1 Zinc (1020)

22.0 Vitamin A (462)

30.0 Removing milk products (5369)

What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
by Lolita Hanks, Family Nurse Practitioner

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of the lower intestinal tract. Symptoms of IBS include abdominal pain (cramping and bloating) and abnormal bowel movements.

Americans spend $8 billion each year on medical costs related to IBS, and absenteeism resulting from IBS significantly affects the work force. Studies have shown that IBS affects 3 to 22 percent of persons worldwide. Symptoms are reported by 12 percent of Americans and are the cause of 20 to 50 percent of referrals to gastroenterology clinics. Most people with IBS do not seek medical care. One half of patients develop symptoms before 35 years of age, and 40 percent of patients develop symptoms between 35 and 50 years of age . Majority of patients are women. Those suffering with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome will likely have IBS as well.

A recent study demonstrated that IBS runs in families . This is not really a surprise given that family groups would have the same genetic tendencies, and typically be eating the same foods and have similar health issues based on those food choices. For instance, food allergies/intolerances also run in families. Gluten and dairy tend to be the main allergen/intolerance culprits. Half of IBS patients purport to have food intolerance, yet this was somehow not substantiated by clinical testing in a 1999 study .

Many other abdominal disorders must be ruled out before a diagnosis of IBS can be made. If IBS is suspected by a clinician the first therapeutic suggestion is to increase fiber. This innocent sounding suggestion can sometimes bring a food allergy to a head. If the increase in fiber is from wheat/gluten containing foods and the person’s symptoms worsen that helps to confirm a diagnosis of gluten intolerance. To add to the challenge of diagnosing IBS, gluten intolerance can also be an indicator of Celiac disease. However, celiac disease is a very different condition as it is an autoimmune intestinal disorder. Celiac disease is a high intensity response by the immune system destroying the lining of the small intestines while gluten intolerance can also cause damage, but the intensity is lower and damage occurs over a longer duration. The symptoms are similar to IBS in that these patients will experience abdominal pain and abnormal bowel movements.

The bottom line is this. If you are chronically experiencing abdominal pain and/or having abnormal bowel movements – seek medical attention. You can get relief. If you want to experiment at home, stop eating foods with gluten and dairy products. If you notice that you feel better, share that information with your healthcare provider. It’s a big clue in helping find a solution to your discomfort.

Read more... IBS Patients' Families More Prone to Symptoms Too

World Health Day
by Ardis Hoffman

World Health Day occurs on April 7th each year to commemorate the anniversary date of the adoption of the constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO), which was founded by the United Nations in 1948. Each year, they choose a theme for the day, and this year the theme is on the challenge of public health and urbanization, summarized by a catchy slogan “1000 Cities, 1000 Lives”.

I spent some time looking at the WHO website, reading about all the fantastic accomplishments since 1948, as well as statistics on the leading causes of death around the world, and I said “Really?” The theme for this year is “1000 Cities, 1000 Lives”? Is that the strongest theme we can get out of the WHO? Granted, most of us live in or near a major city, but the world health issues we are facing reach far beyond city limits.

Did you know that the 3 leading causes of death worldwide (over 75%) continue to be Heart/Cardiovascular disease, Infectious and Parasitic disease, and Cancer?

In 2005, the WHO projected that there are 1.6 billion overweight and 400 million obese adults worldwide and that by 2015 these numbers will increase to 2.3 billion overweight and 700 million obese adults and WHO estimates there are 5 million overweight children worldwide. (Taken from “Obesity Becoming Worldwide Health Threat” article. To Read Full Article

In a 2007 Science Daily (Aug 14, 2007) article “Pollution Causes 40 Percent of Deaths Worldwide, Study Finds”, a Cornell researcher and a team of graduate students came to the conclusion that 40 percent of deaths worldwide are caused by water, air and soil pollution. This environmental degradation, coupled with increase in world population, and factors contributing to the malnourishment and disease susceptibility of 3.7 billion people.

More recently, TACA (Talk About Curing Autism) reports that One in every 91 children in the US has autism. While the definitive cause of this horrible condition is controversial, we know that the incidence is increasing, and we know that worldwide pollution is at a record high and the quality of our food sources are now being questioned. We also know that “developed” countries have a higher incidence rate. Shockingly, the funding for research into this disease is dismal compared to other childhood disorders. Read more about Latest Autism Statistics

Just last week, this article appeared in my inbox, “Engineered Poison Lurking in Your Everyday Food?” (posted by Dr Mercola, Read Full Article The article talks about Genetically Modified Foods (GMO’s) and suggests that there are “toxins in every bite”. Honestly, working in Alternative Healthcare and having just watched Robert Kenner’s movie “Food, Inc”, this article really didn’t surprise me – which is very sad to admit. By the way, if you aren’t familiar with “Food Inc” – I highly recommend it Food Inc link

So what’s my point? I go back to the 3 leading causes of death and compare that to these articles that I found on the internet (rather quickly, I might add) and the connection is pretty clear to me. The real question is, what are WE as world inhabitants going to do about all this? Me, I am making more conscious lifestyle, food and water choices for myself and my family, choices that will have a positive impact on the world. AND I wrote this article so that you can do your own research, and make your own choices for your future and the health of the world, too. We are in this together.

Read more... The World Health Organization