Category: Health And Wellness

Myths about Fitness, Diet, Exercise and health

10/27/2014

This is sort of a ‘wrap up’ post on the health myths. In this post I am sharing several links to other sites and articles that provide additional information about what I have been writing about during the last couple of weeks.

There is a lot of bad or confusing information out there. Having the right information can help us to make better health decisions. The links below can offer good information that is easy to read, understand and apply to your daily routine.

About the Myths

Top 9 Fitness Myth – From WebMD

Myths About Exercise in Older Adults – from WebMD

16 Ridiculous Exercise Myths

About Fats

If you want a quick overview on good vs. bad fats, either of the two articles below might be helpful

Good Fats, Bad Fats: How to Choose – a 10 side overview of the good and bad fats, from health.com

Dietary fats: Know Which Types to Choose – An easy to read article on this topic from Mayo Clinic

If you want a quick reference overview on fats and cholesterol, the article below is a good starting point.

Fats and Cholesterol – An article with five suggestions from the Harvard School of Public Health

Dietary Guidelines

There has been a lot said and written about diets and what is good and bad for you. The link below offers the most recent recommendations from the government. This was issued in 2010 and a new and updated version with new recommendation is due out next year. While most of the information is current, I will be interested to see if the new guidelines take into account the recent studies that indicate a lower level of carbs and higher levels of good fats in our diets.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans – From the US Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services

Regarding Diets

In an earlier post, I mentioned that the 17 Day Diet and the Mediterranean Diet are both healthy diets. If you are interested in learning more about either of these, you can start with the sites below.

17 Day Diet – To get the book (But I’d review all of the free stuff before buying the book!)

A Review of the 17 Day Diet – an objective review of the diet by WebMD.

The 17 Day Diet Blog – This blog offers some free advice on the diet and also some products for purchase. I have purchased a recipe booklet from this site that has some great recipes. But if you google 17 Day Diet you can also find a bunch of free recipes and chat groups.

Mediterranean Diet for Beginners – This is just one of many diet books that follow the diet. Go to Amazon and browse around if you are interested. Also, there are a bunch of free recipes online if you google the diet.

A Review of the Mediterranean Diet – An objective review of the diet by Mayo Clinic.

A few Other Resources

The Grain Brain. This book by Dr. David Perlmutter challenges many of our long held assumptions about diet and how it can impact our health. You may not agree with all of his conclusions, but there is so much good information in this book that I am recommending it to everyone who is interested in getting control of their diet. You can also check out Dr. Perlmutter’s blog.

Dr. Joseph Mercola is another popular health writer. He has a blog with a lot of interesting and timely articles that is worth exploring. One of his best resources is his Food Facts page which lists the health benefits of many popular natural foods.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my Myths Series. Beginning Friday I will begin adding some healthy recipes and information about preparing for a healthy winter season.

To Your Health!
Gail Grieger

Don’t forget to check out my Specials page and definitely check it out this Wednesday morning!

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Myth #2: A Low Fat Diet is Good for You.

10/13/2014

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FACT: According to David Perlmutter, MD, Author of Grain Brain, “Our bodies thrive when given “good fats”. Eliminating good fat actually can have a negative impact on both your brain and heart health.

That sounds odd, right? For as long as any of us can remember we have been told that fats are bad for us and should be reduced or avoided at all costs. But there are a host of recent studies that indicate that we have been traveling the wrong road when it comes to avoiding fats. In fact, fats are good for us and are a necessary part of a healthy diet. I’m not advocating that you binge on red meat and butter, but the truth is that our bodies need good fat in order to function properly.

Two studies that I think you might find interesting:

A 2012 Mayo Clinic study found that those people whose diets were highest in healthy fats were 42% less likely to have cognitive impairments that are the precursor to Alzheimer’s Disease. In fact, the study showed that those who had the highest consumption of healthy fat sources like chicken, fish and meat actually had reduced their risk level by 21 percent!

In 2007 the journal Neurology published a study that showed that regularly consuming healthy fish contributes to both heart and brain health. In fact, those who ate fish daily reduced their risk of developing the cognitive impairments that often are precursors for Alzheimer’s by 44% while those who never ate fish actually increased their risk by 37 percent! This positive effect is attributed to the high levels of Omega-3 fats found in fish.

Unfortunately, many of us fail to consume enough Omega-3s and instead consume too many Omega-6 fats. Although we need both Omega-3 and Omega-6, it has become clear that most of us are consuming way too much of the Omega-6 fats. Many scientists believe that a major reason for the high incidence of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, premature aging, and some types of cancer is due to the significant imbalance between our intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.

These Omega-6 fats are most commonly found in the vegetable oils that we use in preparing and cooking meals. The healthier Omega-3 fats are found in flaxseed oil, walnut oil, and marine plankton and fatty fish.

Our ancestors evolved while eating a diet with a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 of about 1:1. A huge change in our dietary habits over the last few centuries has changed this ratio to about to 20:1 and this out of balance situation is what leads to many of our modern day health problems.

Which leads me to my main tip for today: Check your pantry for the oils that you are using and get rid of those that contain lots of Omega-6 and stock up instead on those with higher Omega-3s. Most oils have both Omega-6 and Omega-3. So the trick is to use those with the best (lowest) Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratios. Below is a partial list of the most common oils and the amount of Omega-6 and Omega-3 content in each. (Source: Grain Brain)

Oil                                        Omega-6 Content            Omega-3 Content

Canola 20% 9%
Corn 54% 0%
Cottonseed                                       50% 0%
Fish 0% 100%
Flaxseed 14% 57%
Peanut 32% 0%
Safflower 75% 0%
Sesame 42% 0%
Soybean 51% 7%
Sunflower                                          65% 0%
Walnut 52% 10%

A popular oil not included on this list is coconut oil. It is not an Omega-3, but is considered one of the better oils. I use it for cooking instead of the other oils. Not included on the above list is the ever-popular olive oil, which has a 13:1 Omegas ratio. While this oil has a worse ratio than flaxseed oil, it is often used in cooking because it has a higher smoke point (420 degrees) than flaxseed oil which has a much lower smoke point (225 degrees). Lastly, the also popular grape seed oil is not on the above list, you probably want to avoid it due to its high ratio of 676:1.

There is so much more info out there on the Omega-6/Omega-3 balance. If you are interested check out this article about Omega-3s or what the health author Cris Kresser has to say about Omega-6s making us sick.

When talking about fats the issue of cholesterol often comes up. Check out my post on Friday where I provide some interesting information about cholesterol that will shock you!

To your health!
Gail Grieger

Don't forget to check out the October Specials!

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Myth #1: Popular Diets are Healthy

10/9/2014

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“Lose 30 pounds in 30 days!” You’ve seen this type of diet promise before. We all have. But the truth is that most diets that we read about fall more in the category of being a “fad diet” rather than a healthy diet. These fad diets might work well for a week or even a month. But eventually they fail us.

Fad diets are not the best way to lose weight and keep it off. The promise of quick weight loss is what draws us in. Often you are narrowly limited to a small group of foods and you have to follow the program rigidly. You may lose a few quick pounds, but staying with the program and keeping that weight off is difficult. Another problem with these types of diets is that they may cause more harm than good. Nutrients critical for a healthy body are often missing from these diets. In fact, following a diet of less than 800 calories per day for an extended period of time has been known to lead to serious heart problems.

So, what’s the answer? It’s really about healthy lifestyle habits. Healthy habits can help you to permanently lose weight. Here are three habits that will lead to a healthier, smaller you!

Make healthy food decisions. In general, your plate should be at least half full of vegetables and fruits. Including a smaller portion of a lean protein such as fish, chicken or turkey is also a good decision. Pay attention to the amount and type of carbs you are eating, favoring natural carbs rather than processed ones. (Look for a future post on healthy carbs in your diet.)

Pay attention to portions. You don’t have to starve yourself to lose weight. But you do need to make sure you don’t overeat. Limiting your portions is the first step to controlling eating habits. Some people starting diets will go so far as using a smaller plate and even using a scale to measure food portions. I don’t think you need to go to that extreme, but deciding on portions in advance is usually a good decision. Decide on your food portions and put only that much on your plate and avoid taking another helping.

Add exercise to your daily routine. Going to the gym or joining a boot camp are great. But that’s not for everyone. Studies have repeatedly shown that simple daily exercises such as walking can have a dramatic impact on both your health and weight. Thirty minutes of moderate exercise each day can produce significant health improvements. And the thirty minutes don’t even have to be all together. You can break it down into smaller intervals.

Research has shown that safe weight loss involves combining a healthy diet with appropriate physical activity. This approach is a little slower than the fad diets (about ½ to 2 pounds per week) but results in sustained weight loss.

You’re probably asking “but is there a safe diet that I can follow?” My personal answer is yes! I have known several people who have had successes with a recently popular diet that is not a fad. I have tried the diet and it does produce weight loss. It is healthy and easy to follow. But before I tell you the name of the diet I want to make sure you that you understand that I am just sharing information. I am not promoting this diet and I have no monetary interest in recommending it. I am just pointing to it as an example of a diet that is a lifestyle choice that promotes health and wellness. It was created by a medical doctor. He has written a book about it and has a bunch of people blogging about it and sharing recipes and ideas on line. His philosophy is that he wants people to be healthy and he encourages people to share the information.

The diet has a title that makes it sound like it might be a fad diet! Don’t let that fool you. It is based on the idea that until you attain your healthy goal weight, you should periodically modify your healthy food choices in order to shift your metabolism. The name of the diet is The 17 Day Diet by Dr. Mike Moreno. I am also including a link to one of the blogs that offers some free information and also some for sale. The My 17 dd blog is not associated with the author or the book but it does offer a few free things, including a free Quick Start Guide. Or just google 17 Day Diet and see what people are saying. Again, I am including this information as a starting point if you are looking for a healthy dieting option, but there are others that are also healthy and based on real nutritional science.

Check back on Monday for my next posting: Myth #2: You have to Avoid All Carbs

Don't forget to check out the October Special.

To your health!
Gail Grieger

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October – Your Recovery and Purification Month!

10/7/2014

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Summer is over. Swimsuit season is behind us and the cooler weather is upon us. For some of us the kids or grandkids are back to school. Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner and the winter holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years are speeding towards us! If you’re anything like me, you are thinking about all that you wish you had gotten done in those dog days of summer. At the top of my list is always what I wish I had done more of to get or stay in shape.

In a lot of ways this was a good summer for me. For the last few years I have been on a mission to live a more healthy lifestyle, and this summer I made a few more tweaks to my lifestyle that have me feeling more energized and healthy. I learned about a diet that is healthy, easy to follow and is not a “Fad Diet” that messes up your metabolism or your normal lifestyle. While doing research on diet and weight loss for a client, I also learned about several diet and weight loss myths that cause us to make the wrong diet decisions. (I found that I was guilty of following two of them myself!)

My plan over the next few weeks is to use this blog page to share the Six Diet and Weight Loss Myths with you. I will also share a few recipes for healthy meal drinks, cleansing drinks, healthy snacks, and a few easy meal recipes. I will also tell you a little about a heathy diet that is easier to follow than any other diet I have seen.

If you are interested in these topics, look for new postings on Mondays and Fridays for the rest of October.

To your health!
Gail Grieger

Click here to check out the October Special.

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Welcome to my Blog!

Thanks for checking out my blog. I have had a life-long interest in all things related to health and wellness, which is part of the reason I became a massage therapist. I am constantly on a mission to increase my knowledge and I like to share what I learn with others. My hope is that these posts will be interesting and provide you with information and tips that can improve your health. If I can ever answer a question or if you think you might benefit from therapeutic massage, please give me a call or send me a note.

Gail Grieger, CMT, CFH

Myths about Fitness, Diet, Exercise and health

Myth #2: A Low Fat Diet is Good for You.

Myth #1: Popular Diets are Healthy

October – Your Recovery and Purification Month!

Welcome to my Blog!

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