Fiber is good for us, right? Sure.But do we really know what it is? Why it is nutritious? How much is necessary? And where to find it? In general - the answer is ‘no’.

What

For starters, fiber refers to carbohydrates that cannot be digested. It is present in all edible plants including fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. Fiber is not found in meat, as believed by 62% of 1,000 respondents to a survey conducted by the National Fiber Council (NFC).

Why

Studies have confirmed that a diet high in fiber reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, diverticulitis and constipation.

However, it has no bearing on colon cancer, as we previously believed, according to recent research by the Harvard School of Medicine.

“The relationship between dietary fiber and colorectal cancer has received a great deal of attention, but the findings have been inconsistent and controversial,” said Marji McCollough, senior epidemiologist for the American Cancer Society.

Still, the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and National Institutes of Health all urge us to consume this plant byproduct. One Harvard test did show that men who ate the daily recommended amount had 40 percent less heart attacks than those who skimped on their vegetables. And the fiber found in grains seemed to be particularly beneficial.

How much

Current recommendations are 20-35 grams a day. Yet the average U.S. citizen eats only 14-15 grams a day. So how does one get in all their grams?

“Americans know fiber is important to maintain good health but they aren’t sure where to find it,” said Jim Anderson, M.D., chair of the NFC.

Where

To increase your fiber intake, replace white rice, bread and pasta with whole grain products. Opt for whole fruits over juices. Substitute legumes for meat in chili and soups. And start the morning with a bowl of healthy cereal.

Here are some high fiber options:

Fiber One cereal ½ cup 14 grams fiber
All Bran ½ cup 10 grams fiber
Lentils ½ cup 8 grams fiber
Brussel Sprouts 1 cup 6 grams fiber
Potato 1 large 5 grams fiber
Pear, Apple 1 med. 4 grams fiber

Posted: April 6th, 2008 under Diet, Fiber.
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A major component of green tea could prove the perfect elixir for severe sepsis, an abnormal immune system response to a bacterial infection. In a new laboratory study, Haichao Wang, PhD, of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, and his colleagues have been studying the therapeutic powers of dozens of Chinese herbal compounds in reversing a fatal immune response that kills 225,000 Americans every year. They found that an ingredient in green tea rescued mice from lethal sepsis - and the findings could pave the way to clinical trials in patients.The study was published this week in the Public Library of Science, or PLoS-ONE. Dr. Wang had previously discovered a late mediator of sepsis called HMGB1, a substance expressed in the late stages of lethal sepsis. They wanted to figure out a way to block this substance, which they felt would prevent the lethal sepsis process from moving forward. And it worked.

Scientists worldwide have been stumped by sepsis. Even with the most advanced medical techniques available, half of those who develop sepsis die of the massive assault on the body. Several laboratories at the Feinstein Institute are working on sepsis - both on the basic biological level and in patients.

In the latest study, Dr. Wang’s group gave a substance in green tea called EGCG to mice in the throes of severe sepsis. The dose was equivalent to 10 cups in a human. Survival jumped from 53 percent in those who didn’t receive the green tea substance to 82 percent in those who did. “Clinically, even if we could save five percent of patients, that would be huge,” said Dr. Wang. “In this study, we saved 25 percent more animals with the green tea.” He said that the green tea component, EGCG, is readily available.

Posted: April 5th, 2008 under Diet, Tea.
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There is a new reason for the 76 million baby boomers to grab a glass of milk. Vitamin D, a key nutrient in milk, could have aging benefits linked to reduced inflammation, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

In a genetic study of more than 2,100 female twin pairs ages 19-79, British and American researchers found that higher vitamin D levels were linked to improved genetic measures of lifelong aging and chronic stress. Using a genetic marker called leukocyte telomere length (LTL), they found those with the highest vitamin D levels had longer LTL, indicating lower levels of inflammation and body stress. The telomere difference between those with the highest and lowest vitamin D levels was equivalent to 5 years of aging.

Previous research has found that shortened LTL is linked to risk for heart disease and could be an indication of chronic inflammation - a key determinant in the biology of aging. While there are several lifestyle factors that affect telomere length (obesity, smoking and lack of physical activity), the researchers noted that boosting vitamin D levels is a simple change to affect this important marker.

Studies continue to link vitamin D to an array of health benefits, securing vitamin D’s “super nutrient” status and providing even more reasons to get adequate amounts of this essential vitamin. Recent research suggests that beyond its well-established role in bone health, vitamin D also may help reduce the risk of certain cancers and autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Milk is a primary source of calcium and vitamin D in the American diet. In fact, government reports indicate that more than 70 percent of the calcium in our nation’s food supply comes from milk and milk products. Additionally, milk is one of the few food sources of vitamin D, which is fast emerging as a “super nutrient.”

The recommended three servings of low fat or fat-free milk provides 900 mg of calcium, 300 IU of vitamin D and 80 mg of magnesium daily.

Posted: April 4th, 2008 under Diet, Healthy Aging, Vitamins.
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Endorphins and other morphine-like substances known as opioids, which are released during exercise, don’t just make you feel good - they may also protect you from heart attacks, according to University of Iowa researchers.It has long been known that the so-called “runner’s high” is caused by natural opioids that are released during exercise. However, a UI study, which is published in the online edition of the American Journal of Physiology’s Heart and Circulatory Physiology, suggests that these opioids may also be responsible for some of exercise’s cardiovascular benefits.

Working with rats, UI researchers showed that blocking the receptors that bind morphine, endorphins and other opioids eliminates the cardiovascular benefits of exercise. Moreover, the UI team showed that exercise was associated with increased expression of several genes involved in opioid pathways that appear to be critical in protecting the heart.

“This is the first evidence linking the natural opioids produced during exercise to the cardio-protective effects of exercise,” said Eric Dickson, M.D., UI associate professor and head of emergency medicine in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the study’s lead investigator. “We have known for a long time that exercise is great for the heart. This study helps us better understand why.”

Studies have shown that regular vigorous exercise reduces the risk of having a heart attack and improves survival rates following heart attack, even in people with cardiovascular disease. In addition, exercise also decreases the risk of atherosclerosis, stroke, osteoporosis and even depression. However, despite these proven health benefits, much less is understood about how exercise produces these benefits.

The UI study investigated the idea that the opioids produced by exercise might have a direct role in cardio-protection. The researchers compared rats that exercised with rats that did not. As expected, exercised rats sustained significantly less heart damage from a heart attack than non-exercised rats. The researchers then showed that blocking opioid receptors completely eliminated these cardio-protective effects in exercising rats, suggesting that opioids are responsible for some of the cardiac benefits of exercise.

The UI team also showed that exercise was associated with transient increases in expression of several opioid system genes in heart muscle, and changes in expression of other genes that are involved in inflammation and cell death. The researchers plan to investigate whether these altered gene expression patterns reveal specific cardio-protective pathways.

A better understanding of how exercise protects the heart may eventually allow scientists to harness these protective effects for patients with decreased mobility.

“Hopefully this study will move us closer to developing therapies that mimic the benefits of exercise,” Dickson said. “It also serves as a reminder of how important it is to get out and exercise every day.”

Posted: April 3rd, 2008 under Fitness, Heart Health.
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When we first launched this site, we knew it had the potential to grow rather large, rather quickly. But we soon realized it had grown really huge really quickly. So we’re going to try a new organizational approach, as the site has reached the dimensions where a simple blog organization seems sort of, well, overgrown.

Instead of adding topical articles as single blog posts arranged around a category, we’re going to try organizing topics into more or less self-contained sections. Our first experiment with this arrangement is an entire section on Elliptical Trainers, which you can access by following this link to Elliptical Workouts.

Use the “Sitemap” to get a full listing of the section’s articles. Clicking the “Home” link inside any of our new “departments” will bring you back here, to the front page of “Healthy Living.”

As we add a few more of these, we’ll add a “Departments” or “Sections” directory in the sidebar.

Posted: January 27th, 2008 under Elliptical Trainers, Site News.
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Living with a bipolar disorder diagnosis isn’t easy.  However, knowing, as they say, is half the battle.  Once a diagnosis is established, a person has two main choices right off.  They are whether to let the disorder  take control of one’s life, or to fight it with every weapon in the modern psychiatric and psychological arsenal.

If fighting for normalcy is the answer, then a bipolar disorder diagnosis can make one aware of what one is fighting.  Bipolar disorder can touch every aspect of a person’s life, so someone with a bipolar disorder diagnosis will need to be wary on all fronts.

First of all, if there is a bipolar disorder diagnosis then there must have been some sign of the disease.  The more severe this manifestation is, the more likely one is to take notice.  It is important, though, to treat the illness as soon as a bipolar disorder diagnosis is obtained. Early treatment can often help prevent some of the more extreme manic highs and depressive lows of bipolar disorder.  The earlier treatment is successfully begun, the less the devastating effects of the disease on the person with a bipolar disorder diagnosis.

Early treatment is helpful. The challenge is to keep someone interested in taking medications or engaging in talk therapy when there has been no crisis to set him or her on this path.  Such a person needs to be convinced that their bipolar disorder diagnosis is accurate.

For others, the first signs of illness are so overwhelming they consider their bipolar disorder diagnosis to be a relief.  For them, it is just good to know that there is a name for what is happening to them and that there are treatments. For these people, it is extremely important to keep taking medications that are prescribed.  This is a responsibility one has to oneself when he or she gets a bipolar disorder diagnosis.  If the medication seems to be causing problems, it is important to contact the prescribing doctor to discuss the matter.  If no satisfaction can be obtained, finding another doctor is even preferable to simply stopping the medications on one’s own.

Those with a bipolar disorder diagnosis usually are given the recommendation to take some form of counseling, or talk therapy.  Some may balk at the notion that talking to a therapist can effect their disease.  The truth is that these therapies have been shown to have a positive effect on those with  bipolar disorder diagnosis.

There are other actions a person with a bipolar disorder diagnosis can take to help lessen  their illness.  These include the ways a person takes care of him or herself in day to day life.  It may seem obvious that a person should eat and sleep in reasonable amounts and times, or do an adequate but reasonable amount of exercise.  A person with a bipolar disorder diagnosis will probably find that these common acts do not come naturally.  However, with some conscious effort they can begin to see some difference.

A bipolar disorder diagnosis can certainly seem to complicate one’s life.  It can lead one to take medications, submit him or herself to talk therapy, and take the time and energy to regulate his or her own personal habits.  On the other hand, all these concessions to the disease can help a person to live a much calmer and more fulfilling life than that person would had he or she never gotten their bipolar disorder diagnosis.  In other words, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world.

Posted: December 15th, 2007 under Bipolar Disorder, Manic Depression.
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Prozac is a medication often prescribed for bipolar disorder, bulimia, and anxiety disorders. The medication is highly effective because it acts as a serotonin inhibitor, which means that it helps balance serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin levels are responsible for mood stability, depressive states, and control of anxiety, fears, or phobias.

Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, is a mental illness that is caused by a combination of biological, neurological, emotional, and situational factors. The true causes of bipolar disorder are not yet fully understood. However, it is understood that imbalances in the neurotransmitters of the brain, such as serotonin, are partially responsible for the predisposition of bipolar disorder in some patients.

Bulimia is an eating disorder in which the patient eats excessively then purges themselves of the food they have eaten through either vomiting or induced bowel movements. Bulimia is caused by a combination of psychological and emotional factors, and in some cases environmental factors. The emotional factors relating to bulimia are very similar if not identical to factors involved with depression and low self worth issues, which are connected to serotonin levels in the brain.

Anxiety disorders are thought to be caused by erratic fluctuations in brain chemistry. Anxiety is defined as the intense somewhat debilitating feeling that something horrible is going to happen. Everyone feels anxiety at some point, but typically the normal person has a logical reason to feel anxious. With anxiety disorders, the reason for the anxiety may not be known, or it may not be logical if it is known.

Prozac is an effective treatment for bipolar disorder, bulimia, and anxiety because it controls and balances the serotonin levels in the brain. In bipolar patients, it is often prescribed in conjunction with other medications. Prozac is an effective treatment for depression, but may cause manic episodes to worsen. For this reason, Prozac is generally prescribed along with an anti-psychotic drug that helps tone down manic episodes. Therapy sessions or counseling is also generally a part of treatment.

In bulimia patients, Prozac is often the only prescription given. However, it is combined with treatment of symptoms via counseling and therapy. The idea behind this counseling is to identify why the patient has developed a sense of self-worth, and to allow the patient to learn that what they perceive is not necessarily reality. This is very helpful in bulimia patients who binge and purge as a result of how they perceive their bodies.

Anxiety patients are often prescribed Prozac with great success. Counseling may also be a part of treatment. In therapy sessions, patients may learn techniques to control their anxiety through rationalization of situations that may not at first appear rational. For example, if a patient feels anxiety over a cigarette burning in an ashtray, they can learn techniques to allow their mind to rationalize the situation and understand that there is no real danger of fire, and therefore no reason for the anxiety. These techniques are very successful in conjunction with Prozac for treating anxiety.

Overall, Prozac is an effective treatment for many mood disorders. Along with Lithium, it is often considered a miracle drug, helping patients gain stability and normal lives while living with an unstable, unrealistic view of themselves or their surroundings.

Posted: December 13th, 2007 under Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Drugs and Medications, Eating Disorders.
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Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, is a serious mental illness that has eluded doctors for decades.  For many years, bipolar disorder patients were diagnosed as psychotic or Schitsophrinia.  However, about twenty years ago, manic depression became a more common diagnosis.  Psychiatric specialists still, however, did not really understand the illness.

Over time, more psychiatric evidence has come to light that proves that bipolar disorder, as it is now called, is actually caused by chemical imbalances in the brain.  Other factors, both medical and situational, can be involved as well.  In the last few years, psychiatric specialists and researchers have determined that bipolar disorder actually has varying degrees of severity, as well as types of symptoms.

Studies of bipolar patients conducted by psychiatric professionals and researchers has long suggested that bipolar disorder runs in families, or, in other words, is hereditary.  Through careful study and research of the functions of the brain, it has now been determined how this illness is indeed hereditary and biological in nature. 

According to research posted in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2000, patients with bipolar disorder actually have thirty percent more brain cells of a certain class that have to do with sending signals within the brain.  These additional brain cells cause patients’ brains to actually behave differently, making them predisposed to have periods of mania or depression.

According to researchers, this type of brain cell regulates moods, how someone responds to stress, and cognitive functions.  When the extra brain cells are present, a congestion of cells regulated one type of mood or cognitive function is overloaded, and therefore causes a bout of mania or depression.  It is not yet known by psychiatric researchers, however, why patients with bipolar disorder have these additional brain cells.  To discover this, more genetic research will be required.

In addition to brain cells and brain chemistry, it has also been speculated by psychiatric researchers that various genes in the genetic makeup of bipolar patients can also contribute to the cause of and hereditary nature of bipolar disorder.  Studies have been ongoing experimenting with removal of the gene in mice.  The evidence suggests that circadian genes, which regulate mood, hormones, blood pressure, and heart activity may be linked to bipolar disorder.  Specifically, the absence or abnormality of the gene actually seems to bring about mania episodes.

All in all, more research needs to be done.  Medical and psychiatric researchers and doctors have a lot more to learn about the brain and how it functions.  While current treatments seem to work for bipolar disorder, they also have severe side effects.  Often, medications prescribed for bipolar disorder have to be monitored, dosages modified, or medications switched entirely for patients to maintain balance.  The more we learn about the brain and it’s functions, the more we can learn about the physical, biological causes of bipolar disorder.  The more we learn about the causes of bipolar disorder, the more likely it will become that effective treatments can be found that offer little side effects and more permanent treatment options for bipolar patients.

Posted: December 12th, 2007 under Bipolar Disorder.
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Borderline personality disorder and bipolar are often mistaken as being the same thing.  They are also often misdiagnosed, one for the other.  This is because the symptoms for both illnesses are startlingly similar.

Borderline personality disorder is actually less common and less known than bipolar.  Borderline personality disorder accounts for only about twenty percent of hospitalizations for mental illness each year, while bipolar accounts for about fifty percent of hospitalizations.  Borderline personality disorder is most common in young women, whereas bipolar is equally common in both men and women, as well as all age groups. 

Borderline personality disorder and bipolar patients both experience mood swings that may involve violent outbursts, depression, or anxiety.  However, while bipolar patients typically cycle through these moods over a period of weeks or months, borderline personality disorder patients may have bursts of these moods lasting only a few hours or a day.

Borderline personality disorder patients also undergo periods of having no idea who they are in terms of personality, likes, dislikes, and preferences.  They may change long term goals frequently, and have trouble sticking to any one activity.  Acting with impulsiveness, going on major unaffordable shopping sprees, excessive eating, or engaging in risky sexual relationships can also be experienced.  These are also symptoms of mania in bipolar patients.

Borderline personality disorder patients may also undergo periods of worthlessness, feeling mistreated or misunderstood, and emptiness.  These symptoms coincide with symptoms of depression in bipolar patients.

Another symptom of borderline personality disorder involves how they deal with relationships.  Relationships are often viewed in extremes.  Either the patient is totally in love or hates with a passion.  A patient may be completely in love one minute, then hate someone totally due to a small conflict or situation.  Fears of abandonment often lead to suicide threats, rejection, and depression in the patient.  These relationship issues can also be found in bipolar patients.

Treatments of borderline personality disorder and bipolar are also similar.  A combination of therapy and medication is typically preferred by the psychiatrist.  Cognitive behavioral therapy, while successfully implemented with bipolar patients, was originally developed for use with borderline personality disorder.  Various medications can also be prescribed for either mental illness with successful results.

Read more »

Posted: December 11th, 2007 under Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder.
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Bipolar affective disorder, also known as manic depression disorder, is a mental illness that causes the patient to experience mood swings or mood cycling, involving depressive episodes, mania episodes, and/or mixed episodes.  There are many treatment options for bipolar affective disorder.  The most successful treatments are a combination of medications and counseling or therapy.

Within the last five years there have been several substantial breakthroughs in research toward finding the true biological cause of bipolar affective disorder.  This research has lead to the development of several new bipolar affective disorder medications.  A few of the more popular latest medications for bipolar affective disorder are described below.

Abilify, or Aripiprazole, is an atypical anti-psychotic.  It was approved for treatment of manic and mixed bipolar disorder episodes in 2004, and further approved as a maintenance medication for bipolar disorder in 2005.  While most anti-psychotic medications work by shutting down dopamine receptors in the brain, Abilify works by making the dopamine receptors behave more normally.  This stabilization makes this latest medication the ideal treatment for bipolar affective disorder.

Celexa is an antidepressant that has been around for several years.  However, it has been used with increasingly more frequency in the last few years for the treatment of bipolar affective disorder.  This is due to the fact that Celexa has proven to be more selective than other anti-depressants.  This essentially means that with Celexa, fewer bipolar patients need a mood stabilizer to prevent the antidepressant from sending them zooming into a manic episode.  It has been extremely successful as a maintenance medication for bipolar affective disorder.

Geodon is an anti-psychotic that works as a mood stabilizer in bipolar affective disorder patients.  The most exciting thing about this latest mood stabilizer medication is that it is not associated with weight gain.  It works in much the same way as Zyprexa, which has been proven to be a very successful medication for the treatment of bipolar affective disorder.  However, unlike Zyprexa, side effects are fewer, milder, and do not include weight gain!

Wellbutrin, also sold as Zyban, was originally developed as a medication to help people stop smoking, in which it has been quite successful.  In recent years, however, it has been discovered, quite by accident, that it is even more successful as an antidepressant when used as a medication for bipolar affective disorder.  Chemically, it is unrelated to any other antidepressant, and it is unknown why it works so well with bipolar patients.  One advantage to Wellbutrin is that it is a weight stable medication, meaning that patients will typically not see weight gain or weight loss.

As technology and research progresses, more effective medications for bipolar affective disorder are bound to be developed.  Successful treatment of bipolar affective disorder is the goal of many researchers, psychologists, and psychiatrists.  Discuss treatment options with your doctor often, and keep track of the latest developments in medications for bipolar affective disorder, so that you can appreciate the benefits of successful treatment for your bipolar affective disorder.

Posted: December 10th, 2007 under Bipolar Disorder, Drugs and Medications.
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