Wellness WORD Health And Fitness Tips

Regular moderate exercise such as walking may prevent the common cold a study reports in the American Journal Of Medicine. The exercise/colds study took 115 overweight seattle women, average age 61, and split them into two groups, the exercise group, and the control stretching program group. Overall the non-exercise group came down with twice the number of colds as the continuous exercise (walking) group.

Researchers are not clear as to exactly why regular exercise helps prevent colds, but some feel physical activity aids immune function.

In my opinion, more reasearch needs to be done in the field. I would like to see the sample group grow to thousands. Until then, lace your walking shows and go take your daily walk. You health depends upon it!

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A recent study was just published interviewing 300 chefs from across the United States regarding their awareness of calories, and portion size when serving meals. The fact is only 1 in 6 chefs felt calorie content is a very important consideration when serving their meals. One half of the chefs said it didn’t matter at all. Therefore, when you go out to eat please know that chefs really concentrate on taste, looks, and customer expectations. Most chef could care less about your waistline.

It goes back to the “personal choice” theory. Restaurants and chefs feel it is your responsibility to monitor what and how much you are eating, not theirs. They feel you can determine how much, and are welcome to a “doggie bag” if you wish to take it home.

Once again economics take over! Restaurants are focused on giving you a good experience, good value in spite of what it does to your health. Good value, good experience equals good profits. Remember, they are in business to make money. I’m not saying I agree with this, but it is what it is.

It is our own individual responsibility to be aware of what is really going on in restaurants. Generally you are not getting low fat, low calorie meals unless you go to a health food restaurant. Instead, you are getting large portions, and lots of calories that make the food taste great.

Now the first thing you can do is make yourself aware of what is going on when dining out. Secondly, there are things you can do to re-calibrate your concept of a portion. Portion sizes have skyrocketed in American restaurants. This contributes to, as I have mentioned before, the huge increase in obesity. My healthy eating tip for you is to ask for a doggy bag right away when servers deliver your food. Don’t eat it until you have cut their portion in half and boxed or bagged up one half of the meal. This will generally leave you with a normal portion. I also recommend eating slowly, and consider what you drink as part of your caloric intake. Good luck!

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DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) has been shown in a recent study to not be an effective anti-aging treatment. Mayo clinic researchers concluded that DHEA has no beneficial effect on body composition, physical performance, insulin sensitivity, or quality of life.

The supplement manufacturer has tried to provide “spotty research” in promoting DHEA as some wonder anti-aging pill. The previous research studies used very small in samples, and were very short in duration.

The much more effective Mayo Clinic study which was a a two-year placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind trial sampled 87 older men with lower levels of the sulfated form of DHEA and bioavailable testosterone, and also included 57 older women with low levels of sulfated DHEA. The result of this 2 year DHEA study showed no conclusive evidence that taking DHEA will, in fact, turn back the clock. There was also no change seen in body composition as a result of consistent injections of DHEA.

The study also looked at the results of low dosage testosterone also as an anti-aging treatment. The results showed no benefit and could possibly pose a risk to cancer, and prostate disease.

More research needs to be done on higher dosages of DHEA, and testosterone, but the medical risks could far outway their benefits.

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Exercise program intensity came up last night when I was watching the news. The news anchors mentioned the results of a current scientific study that didn’t surprise me very much. The conclusions of the study state in order for exercise program participants to see good health benefits they must increase the intensity of their exercise.

I preach this each and every day to my fitness training clients.  Of course, if you have a medical situation that prohibits you from boosting the intensity, then this advice is not valid. However, if you are asymptomatic, you need to push it. When I say “push it” I am referring to increasing the intensity of exercise in a progressive manner. Try and boost the intensity up after each and every workout.

I still see too many people “not pushing it” and expecting outstanding results. Just because you walk down the street at a shopping pace doesn’t mean you are gaining a ton of health benefits. However, moving is better than not.

Incorporate my big tip for the day, backed by science, and begin increasing your exercise program intensity! The physical benefits will follow.

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I’ve just completed the October 12, 2006 edition of Wellness Word Multimedia Newsletter.

Inside this edition you will discover-

* Tips for improving your health producting sleep.

* Gym Workout Secret Tips (Feature Article)

* 7 Energy Boosting Tips (Audio Podcast)

You can view the newsletter by clicking the following link fitness newsletter .

Enjoy the Wellness Word Fitness Newsletter!

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Here is a great FREE bodybuilding workout resource created by Exercise Physiologist Jim O’Connor. From his many years of personal training in Los Angeles, he has compiled his 5 Greatest Bodybuilding mistakes report in order to help bodybuilders reach their absolute greatest bodybuilding workout potential in the least amount of time.

O’Connor states,  “Bodybuilding results are being destroyed as a result of making these way too common weightlifting mistakes.” Read the report so you can avoid these bodybuilding mistakes! There is no charge for the report.

To get a hold of this excellent report simply visit bodybuilding workout mistakes.

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Most people feel if they start exercising they will quickly lose weight. That isn’t always the case!Don’t get me wrong, physical activity most definitely will aid in losing body fat. However, just working out, and not watching the diet will slow weight loss efforts to a crawl.

A recent study conducted at the Glasgow University concluded that exercise alone doesn’t necessarily help children battle childhood obesity. They studied more than 500 pre-school students from 36 day care centers in which some students were put in groups who exercised regularily throughout the week. To their great surprise, the exercise group had very little change in childhood obesity rates.

The moral of the whole story is start your children off young with not only sound exercise values, but also good nutritional background. It is the combination of exercise, and proper eating which helps children set those all important health values in stone. Healthier younger children have a tendency to make healthier adults.

Parents, it all starts with you! You must be a good roll model for your children. Preach proper physical activity, and healthy eating from the start of life.  As parents, we create a child’s original blueprint regarding exercise and nutrition.

Parents, too, need to take advice from this article. It is not just working out alone that controls weight, but a wholistic approach. Don’t ignore more than half of the puzzle.

For current information regarding fitness, health, and diet visit our Wellness Word Multimedia fitness newsletter.

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