Living with malignant mesothelioma

Any type of cancer is not only a physical illness. People with cancer often suffer from depression and anxiety, have low self-esteem and feelings of guilt and the struggle with helplessness and fear. A diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma may feel like a death sentence. It is also very difficult for family members and friends, who feel their own pain and fear about the disease. Often family members who are involved in financial decisions and care are not willing to do. You may have to give up their jobs or time with his family to accompany the sick person to the hospital and visits to the doctor or to provide support and care at home. These are additional stress factors for family members. Although the feelings of stress, anxiety, pain and depression are normal, should not be ignored.

Good guidance, whether a therapist, a social worker, clergy, or a nurse or other health professional with experience in coping with cancer, help patients and their families. Many communities have support groups for cancer. Hospice care is usually available and can be very useful not only in relation to pain, but to help the patient and family to say goodbye. If depression or anxiety are important in connection with the drug may be necessary. Feelings of suicide should be discussed with a doctor immediately.

Patients can also make self-care and read books on how to deal with cancer available in the local library. There are many mesothelioma support groups on the Internet. Since malignant mesothelioma is a disease, some patients can have friends who have a disease related to asbestos that can be discussed with. Having a long-term task of any kind can keep people motivated and interested in life.

End of life financial planning should be done. This can be particularly difficult and painful project to find a financial planner who is experienced in working with patients is important. Dealing with issues of money and disease, while fractures and can cause problems between family members no matter how deeply the attention for each other, so having a good support system is invaluable for all.

Malignant mesothelioma, because it is caused by exposure to asbestos, which differs from other types of cancer. People with mesothelioma have the option to file lawsuits for personal injury. An application can be a difficult process for a sick person, but the money can alleviate some of the settlement costs of medical treatment and care, and the filing of a lawsuit often gives people a sense that they are doing something to care for themselves or their families when we feel powerless.

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Malignant mesothelioma

A malignant tumor of the mesothelium is called malignant mesothelioma, however, malignant mesothelioma is often simply called mesothelioma.

Malignant mesothelioma is divided into 3 main types:
* Epitelioide (50% to 70% are of this type) - this guy has the best prospects for survival
* Sarcomatoid (7% and 20% are of this type)
* Mixed / biphasic (20% to 35% are of this type)

Treatment options are the same for all 3 types.
Approximately 75% of mesothelioma begin in the thoracic cranial cavity. They are known as pleural mesothelioma. Another 10% to 20% starting in the abdomen. These are called peritoneal mesothelioma. Pericardial mesothelioma starts in the cranial cavity around the heart and is very rare. The layer covering the testes in a outpouching currently PERITONEUM in SCROTUM. Mesothelioma that affects the extent of the testicles can occur but are rare.

It is important not to be confused with malignant mesothelioma benign tumors that begin in the mesothelium. The mesothelium of some male and female reproductive organs can develop a type of benign tumor called an adenomatoid tumor. In men, this cancerous tumor often starts in EPIDIDYMIS (a small cluster of pipelines transporting sperm from the testicles). In women, this tumor may begin in the Fallopian tubes (the tubes that carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus or womb). Another non-cancer tumor that may begin in the mesothelium, the female reproductive organs is called benign cystic mesothelioma.

A type of benign tumor is called benign fibrous mesothelioma may lie in the pleura surrounding the lungs. Doctors now know that this tumor actually starts from tissue under the mesothelium, and not from mesothelial cells. For this reason, the new name for this tumor is the sole fibrous tumor of the pleura. The disease is usually not cancer, but the cancer can occur. The same illness from PERITONEUM called solitary fibrous tumor in PERITONEUM. The tumors described here are usually removed by surgery, and there is no need for further treatment. Malignant mesothelioma is discussed later in this document.

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Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Peritoneal mesothelioma develops in the abdomen, in the mesothelial cells that form the peritoneum. The peritoneum is a membranous layer that is made up of two 'sub-layers' called the parietal and visceral layers. The parietal layer covers the abdominal cavity, while the visceral layer surrounds abdominal organs. Together these two layers provide support and protection for abdominal organs and the abdominal cavity as a whole.

How Does Asbestos Cause Peritoneal Mesothelioma?
There are two main theories:
Asbestos fibers are ingested, and these fibers work their way from digestive organs into the peritoneal membrane.
Asbestos fibers are inhaled, and travel to the peritoneal membrane via the lymphatic system.

Symptoms:
* Abdominal pain or swelling
* Changes in bowel habits (such as diarrhea or constipation)
* Development of lumps under the skin on the abdomen
* Night sweats or fever
* Unexplained weight loss
* Nausea or vomiting
* Fatigue
* Anemia

Diagnosis:
A peritoneal mesothelioma diagnosis cannot be made on the basis of symptoms alone. The diagnostic process begins with a thorough medical history and physical examination, followed by sophisticated diagnostic testing, such as a CT scan, PET scan, or MRI.
Following these imaging tests, a biopsy is usually performed to confirm that the cancer involved is indeed mesothelioma. A biopsy is a minor surgical procedure that involves the removal of fluid or tissue from the peritoneum.
After the biopsy, the fluid and tissue is tested in a laboratory for the presence of mesothelioma cells.

Treatment
Some peritoneal mesothelioma patients can opt for intraperitoneal chemotherapy, in which drugs are injected directly into the peritoneum, immediately following surgery. In some cases, patients may undergo radiation therapy first - to shrink tumors - before undergoing surgery.
Most patients, however, are not good candidates for surgery; either because their cancer has spread too extensively or because their general health is not good enough to cope with the stress of surgery. These patients are usually limited to palliative treatment options. Palliative treatments do not attempt to cure a patient - instead they are designed to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for peritoneal mesothelioma patients.

http://www.asbestos.com/

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Pleural Mesothelioma

Pleural mesothelioma develops in the lining of the lungs. This lining is called the pleura, or pleural membrane, and it is made up of mesothelial cells. This pleural membrane consists of two layers - the parietal layer, and the visceral layer. The parietal layer is an outer layer that lines the entire chest cavity and diaphragm, while the visceral layer is an inner layer that covers the lungs. Together, these two layers provide support and protection for the lungs and the chest cavity.

Asbestos Cause Pleural Mesothelioma

The method by which asbestos causes pleural mesothelioma is much better understood than for other types of mesothelioma. In cases of pleural mesothelioma, asbestos exposure occurs via inhalation of asbestos fibers. Once these fibers have entered the lungs, they work their way to the pleural membrane, and the body experiences great difficulty in expelling these fibers. Over a long period of time - typically two decades or more - asbestos fibers cause changes in these pleural cells, which may cause scarring of the lungs and, eventually, the formation of tumors. When pleural cells become cancerous, they are no longer regulated by the mechanisms that control division of normal healthy cells. They begin to divide continuously, and this causes thickening of pleural membranes. As a result, lung capacity is reduced, and fluid begins to build up between pleural layers.

Symptoms of Pleural Mesothelioma

• Persistent dry or raspy cough
• Coughing up blood (hemoptysis)
• Difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia)
• Shortness of breath that occurs even when at rest (dyspnea)
• Persistent pain in the chest or rib area, or painful breathing
• Development of lumps under the skin on the chest
• Night sweats or fever
• Unexplained weight loss
• Fatigue

Diagnosis

X-rays or CT-Scans are often used to diagnose pleural mesothelioma.
Pleural mesothelioma diagnosis is made partly on the basis of symptoms, but because symptoms are non-specific, additional diagnostic tests are needed to confirm the presence of cancer. Following a medical history review and physical examination, patients must typically undergo imaging tests to confirm the location of cancer, and fluid and tissue tests to confirm the type of cancer involved.

Treatment
In general, pleural mesothelioma patients have three options: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Typically, patients will receive a combination of two or more of these types of treatment.

http://www.asbestos.com/

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Types of Mesothelioma

Pleural Mesothelioma – affects the chest and lungs

Pleural mesothelioma is not always easily detectable. Frequently, in the early stages of the disease, symptoms may be mild. Patients usually report pain in one area of the chest that never seems to go away, weight loss and fever. Occasionally, other symptoms are more severe and include problems with breathing due to fluid build up in the chest. A CT Scan of the chest area has proven to be the best test for identifying how far along the disease has progressed.

Frequently serum markers are used to diagnose of various forms of cancer. Mesothelioma cannot be diagnosed using this method as no serum markers currently exist. If high levels of hyaluronic acid are present it may be possible to distinguish mesothelioma from other types of cancer or to determine the effectiveness of a treatment protocol.

The survival rate for patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma typically is not high. Patients typically do not live beyond seventeen months from the onset of symptoms. Only 8% of those diagnosed with mesothelioma will live three to five years from the onset of symptoms.

Pericardial Mesothelioma – affects the heart

Pericardial mesothelioma is the least common form of mesothelioma. Pericardial mesothelioma, as the name suggests, involves the heart. This rare type of mesothelioma invades the pericardium, the sac that surrounds the heart. As the cancer progresses, the heart is not able to deliver oxygen as efficiently to the body causing further decline in health at an increasingly rapid rate. The symptoms most commonly associated with pericardial mesothelioma mimic those of a heart attack: nausea, pain in the chest and shortness of breath.

Peritoneal Mesothelioma – affects the abdomen

Peritoneal mesothelioma originates in the abdomen and will frequently spread to other organs in area including the liver, spleen or bowel. Severe abdominal pain is the most common complaint that patients present to their doctor. There may also be a discomfort level with fluid build up in the abdomen as well. Other symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include difficult bowel movements, nausea and vomiting, fever and swollen feet.

The survival rate is even worse for those diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma will patients typically surviving only ten months from time that they first started experiencing the symptoms noted above.

Malignant Mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is an uncommon form of cancer and of all asbestos related diseases, the most serious. The symptoms associated with the disease make it difficult for doctors to diagnose. Often, by the time that a proper diagnosis is made, the disease has progressed to a point where patients do not respond well to treatment therapy. Malignant mesothelioma is caused almost exclusively by the inhalation of airborne asbestos particles. Another unique factor associated with the disease is that there can be a long latency period between the time an individual is exposed to asbestos and the actual manifestation of the disease in the form of malignant mesothelioma.

Benign Mesothelioma – affects the peritoneum

Cystic mesothelioma primarily affects women of younger age and affects the peritoneum. This type of mesothelioma is not frequently diagnosed and is also not a malignant form of the disease. It is, however, extremely difficult to identify and requires specialized microscopes and immunologic techniques to aid in diagnosis.

Mesothelioma in Uncommon Sites

A form of cardiac cancer that is rarely seen involves the pericardium. Tumors associated with this type of mesothelioma are not easily detectable and patients presented with this diagnosis tend to have a very low survival rate. There have also been reports of mesothelioma involving ovaries in women and the scrotum in men. Treatment for all of these rare forms of mesothelioma will vary depending on what stage a patient has progressed to but in most all cases the projected outcome is not favorable.

http://www.mesothelioma.com/

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Mesothelioma Diagnosis

A review of the patient's medical history is an important part in assessing the risk of mesothelioma. Mesothelioma's symptoms are not unique to it and the disease's relative rarity, so cases of mesothelioma misdiagnosed are not uncommon.

As a first step in diagnosing the disease, the doctor may order an x-ray of the chest or abdomen or a CT (or CAT) scan or MRI may be performed. Although mesothelioma typically cannot be seen on an x-ray, the tumor often causes a pleural effusion, or fluid collection between the lung and chest wall. This abnormal finding is associated with shortness of breath and warrants clinical follow up. Lung function tests may also be completed.

The doctor may look inside the chest cavity with a special instrument called a thoracoscope. A cut will be made through the chest wall and the thoracoscope will be put into the chest between two ribs. This test, called thoracoscopy, is usually done in the hospital. Before the test, the patient will be given a local anesthetic (a drug that causes a loss of feeling for a short period of time). Some pressure may be felt, but usually there is no pain.

The doctor may also look inside the abdomen (peritoneoscopy) with a special tool called a peritoneoscope. The peritoneoscope is put into an opening made in the abdomen. This test is also usually done in the hospital. Before the test is done, a local anesthetic will be given.
If tissue that is not normal is found, the doctor will need to cut out a small piece and have it reviewed under a microscope to see if there are any cancer cells. This is called a biopsy. Biopsies are usually done during the thoracoscopy or peritoneoscopy.

Diagnosing mesothelioma is very difficult, and cases of mesothelioma misdiagnosed are unfortunately not uncommon. It is important to share your case history of work experience (especially in shipyards and at construction sites) and asbestos exposure potential with your physicians if you feel mesothelioma is a risk. Asbestos fibres can also be carried into the home on clothing, inadvertently exposing the deadly fibres, and the risk of mesothelioma, to family members.

A mesothelioma diagnosis is serious, but treatments are available. The chance of recovery (prognosis) depends on the size of the cancer, where the cancer is, how far the cancer has spread, how the cancer cells look under the microscope, how the cancer responds to treatment, and the patient's age. As with most types of cancer, early diagnosis is an excellent first step in fighting the disease.

http://www.mesotheliomacenter.org/

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Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos. In this disease, malignant cells develop in the mesothelium, a protective lining that covers most of the body's internal organs. Its most common site is the pleura (outer lining of the lungs and internal chest wall), but it may also occur in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), the heart, the pericardium (a sac that surrounds the heart) or tunica vaginalis.

The mesothelium that covers the internal organs is called the visceral mesothelium, while the layer that covers the body wall is called parietal mesothelium.

Mesothelium tissue also surrounds the male internal reproductive organs and covers the internal reproductive organs in women.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of this mesothelium, in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide uncontrollably and without order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the thoracic cavity (pleura) or the abdominal cavity (peritoneum).

Approximately 2,000 to 3,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed each year in the United States, comprising around 3 percent of all cancer diagnoses. This cancer occurs more frequently in men than in women, about four times more frequent. All forms of mesothelioma, except for benign mesothelioma, are invariably fatal. The prognosis for mesothelioma is almost always poor and most studies report a median survival of less than one year, but the prognosis really depends on how early it is diagnosed and aggressively it is treated.

Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos dust and fiber in other ways. Washing the clothes of a family member who worked with asbestos can also put a person at risk for developing mesothelioma.

Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking. Compensation via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an important issue in mesothelioma (see asbestos and the law).

The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general symptoms such as weight loss.

The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. A thoracoscopy (inserting a tube with a camera into the chest) can be used to take biopsies. It allows the introduction of substances such as talc to obliterate the pleural space (called pleurodesis), which prevents more fluid from accumulating and pressing on the lung.

Despite treatment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or sometimes surgery, the disease carries a poor prognosis. Research about screening tests for the early detection of mesothelioma is ongoing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesothelioma

http://www.asbestos.com/

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Pregnancy Smoking Facts

Smoking More than half a pack a day may cause infertility or irregular menstrual cycles in women.

Menopause often occurs earlier in women who smoke than in women who do not.

Pregnant women pass any chemicals they take in (from food, tobacco, alcohol and so on) to their unborn children through the placenta.

Women who smoke during pregnancy can slow down the baby's growth by reducing the amount of oxygen and increasing the amount of carbon monoxide that the baby receives during a critical time when its brain and nervous system are developing.

Babies born of mothers who smoke frequently during pregnancy are on the average 7 ounces lighter than other babies.

Smoking while pregnant increases the chances of spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) stillbirths and premature labor.

Women who smoke have higher risks of giving birth to babies with birth defects or abnormalities.

In 2002, 11.4 percent of mothers smoked during pregnancy.

Mothers who smoke can pass nicotine to their children through breast milk.

Infants born to mothers who smoke are more likely to develop colds, bronchitis, and other respiratory diseases such as asthma. The odds of developing asthma are twice as high among children whose mothers smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day.

http://www.smoking-facts.net/

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Teen Smoking Facts

Each day 3,000 children smoke their first cigarette.

At least 3 million adolescents are smokers.

Tobacco use primarily begins in early adolescence, typically by age 16.

Almost all first use occurs before high school graduation.

20 percent of American teens smoke.

Roughly 6 million teens in the US today smoke despite the knowledge that it is addictive and leads to disease.

Of every 100,000 15 year old smokers, tobacco will prematurely kill at least 20,000 before the age of 70.

Of the 3,000 teens who started smoking today, nearly 1,000 will eventually die as a result from smoking.

Adolescent girls who smoke and take oral birth control pills greatly increase their chances of having blood clots and strokes.According to the Surgeon's General, Teenagers who smoke were:

Three times more likely to use alcohol.

Eight times are likely to smoke marijuana.

And 22 times more likely to use Cocaine.

Although only 5 percent of high school smokers said that they would definitely be smoking five years later, close to 75 percent were still smoking 7 to 9 years later.

A person who starts smoking at age 13 will have a more difficult time quitting, has more health-related problems and probably will die earlier than a person who begins to smoke at age 21.

Kids who smoke experience changes in the lungs and reduced lung growth, and they risk not achieving normal lung function as an adult.

Kids who smoke have significant health problems, including cough and phlegm production, decreased physical fitness and unfavorable lipid profile.

If your child's best friends smoke, then your youngster is 13 times more likely to smoke than if his or her friends did not smoke.

More than 90 percent of adult smokers started when they were teens.

Adolescents who have two parents who smoke are more than twice as likely as youth without smoking parents to become smokers.

A 2001 Survey found that 69.4 percent of teenage smokers reported never being asked for proof of age when buying cigarettes in a store. The same survey found that 62.4 percent were allowed to buy cigarettes even when the retailer was aware they were under eighteen.

http://www.smoking-facts.net/

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IMMEDIATELY AFTER QUITTING...

Develop a clean, fresh, nonsmoking environment around yourself - at work and at home. Buy yourself flowers - you may be surprised how much you can enjoy their scent now.

The first few days after you quit, spend as much free time as possible in places where smoking isn't allowed, such as libraries, museums, theaters, department stores, and churches. This is the most important time to stay focused. You don't want to be around smokers if possible.

Drink large quantities of water and fruit juice (but avoid sodas that contain caffeine).

Try to avoid alcohol, coffee, and other beverages that you associate with cigarette smoking.

Strike up a conversation instead of a match for a cigarette.

If you miss the sensation of having a cigarette in your hand, play with something else, a pencil, a paper clip, a marble.

If you do miss having something in your mouth, Try picking up a bag of lolli pop's at the store.

Try toothpicks or a fake cigarette. You could be amazed how much of your addiction is based on the habit form of hand-to-mouth.

Avoid temptation

Instead of smoking after meals, get up from the table and brush your teeth or go for a walk.
If you always smoke while driving, get rid of the cigarette lighter and ashtray, bring some juice to sip on, listen to a particularly interesting radio program or your favorite music, or take public transportation for a while, if you can.

For the first 1-3 weeks, avoid situations you strongly associate with the pleasurable aspects of smoking, such as watching your favorite TV program, sitting in your favorite chair, or having a cocktail before dinner.

Until you're confident of your ability to stay off cigarettes, limit your socializing to healthful, outdoor activities or situations where smoking isn't allowed.

If you must be in a situation where you'll be tempted to smoke (such as a cocktail or dinner party), try to associate with the nonsmokers there. Your not going to want to be socializing with a group of people that are going to go outside for a cigarette break.

Try to analyze cigarette ads to understand how they attempt to "sell" you on individual brands.

* http://www.quit4good.com/

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BEFORE COMPLETELY QUITTING... THE DAY YOU QUIT...

Practice going without cigarettes.

Don't think of NEVER smoking again. Think of quitting in terms of 1 day at a time.

Tell yourself you won't smoke today, and then don't.

Clean your clothes to rid them of the cigarette smell, which can linger a long time.

Throw away all your cigarettes and matches. Hide your lighters and ashtrays.

Visit the dentist and have your teeth cleaned to get rid of tobacco stains. Notice how nice they look, and resolve to keep them that way.

Make a list of things you'd like to buy for yourself or someone else. Estimate the cost in terms of packs of cigarettes, and put the money aside to buy these presents.

Keep very busy on the big day. Go to the movies, exercise, take long walks, go bike riding, Just keep busy.

Remind your family and friends that this is your quit date, and ask them to help you over the rough spots of the first couple of days and weeks.

Buy yourself a gift or do something special to celebrate.

* http://www.quit4good.com/

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DIFFERENT WAYS TO QUIT SMOKING

Switch brands. Switch to a brand that is not as enjoyable as your regular brand.

Change to a brand that's low in tar and nicotine a couple of weeks before your target date. This will help change your smoking behavior. However, DO NOT smoke more cigarettes, inhale them more often or more deeply, or place your fingertips over the holes in the filters. All of these will increase your nicotine intake, and the idea is to get your body used to functioning without nicotine. (If you smoke regular, go from regular to lights, then from lights to ultra lights.)

Cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke.

Smoke only half of each cigarette.

Each day, postpone lighting your first cigarette 1 hour.

Decide you'll smoke only during odd or even hours of the day.

Decide beforehand how many cigarettes you'll smoke during the day. For each additional cigarette, give a dollar to your favorite charity.

Change your eating habits to help you cut down. For example, drink milk, which many people consider incompatible with smoking. End meals or snacks with something that won't lead to a cigarette.

Reach for a glass of juice or some fruit instead of a cigarette for a "pick-me-up." ( The healthier you feel , the stronger you are.)

Remember: Cutting down can help you quit, but it's not a substitute for quitting. If you're down to about seven cigarettes a day, it's time to set your target date and get ready to stick to it.

Don't Smoke "Automatically" !

Smoke only those cigarettes you really want. Catch yourself before you light up a cigarette out of pure habit!

Don't empty your ashtrays. This will remind you of how many cigarettes you've smoked each day, and the sight and smell of stale butts will be very unpleasant.

Make yourself aware of each cigarette by using the opposite hand or putting cigarettes in an unfamiliar location or a different pocket to break the automatic reach.

If you light up many times during the day without even thinking about it, try to look in a mirror each time you put a match to your cigarette - you may decide you don't need it.

Make smoking inconvenient

Stop buying cigarettes by the carton. Wait until one pack is empty before you buy another.

Stop carrying cigarettes with you at home and at work. Make them difficult to get to.

If you usually smoke indoors , go outside!

Make smoking unpleasant

Smoke only under circumstances that aren't especially pleasurable for you. If you like to smoke with others, smoke alone. Turn your chair toward an empty corner and focus only on the cigarette you are smoking and its many negative effects. Collect all you cigarette butts in one large glass container as a visual reminder of the filth smoking represents.

* http://www.quit4good.com/

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Beauty Recipes for Your Skin

Honey Lemon Sugar Scrub
Homemade scrub recipe for a honey and lemon sugar scrub that gently exfoliates your skin.
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sweet almond oil
4 teaspoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons honey
4 drops lemon essential oil
To make the sugar scrub, combine the sugar and sweet almond oil in a large bowl and stir well to combine. Add the lemon juice and stir again. Finally, add the honey and lemon essential oil and stir again to mix.

Homemade Bath Salt Recipes
Homemade bath salt recipes to soothe your skin and relax your aching muscles and joints.
Dead Sea Salts & Coconut Oil
3 cups Dead Sea salt
15-24 drops of your favorite essential oil
1 tbsp coconut oil (as a moisturizer)
Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Store in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid.
To use add 1/2 cup of the salts to running bath water and mix well so the salts dissolve completely before you enter the tub.

Basic Recipe for Homemade Bath Salts
Homemade Bath Salts are very easy to make.
Start with Dead Sea Salts, Kosher Salts or Epsom Salts (you can find these at any grocery store) - or a mix of any of them.
Then, add any of the following - slowly to not dissolve the salts - (all of the following ingredients are optional, so choose your favorites for the perfect bath salt recipe)
Baking Soda
Your Favorite Essential Oils

Dried Milk

Liquid Glycerin Soap

Dried Flowers

Dried Mint Leaves

Oatmeal
Combine your favorite ingredients and place into an attractive container. Keep your bath salts or give them as a gift to someone you love.

Almond Rose Body Lotion
1/4 cup sweet almond oil
Rose petals
3 tbsp vodka
water
1 tbsp beeswax – grated
4 drops vitamin E oil
Start by filling a clean Mason jar ¾ of the way with rose petals. Add the vodka then fill the jar up with water. Stir well and set it aside for 1 to 2 weeks. Strain and keep in an airtight jar.
Combine the almond oil and beeswax in a double boiler, or put them in a glass bowl and microwave in 30 sec. intervals. Stir gently until the beeswax is melted.
Take the mixture of the heat and slowly add ¼ cup of the rosewater, stirring constantly. Let the mixture cool completely, then add the vitamin E oil.
Store the lotion in a clean container with a tight fitting lid.

Lotion Recipe for Dry Skin
Ingredients
3/4 cup of almond oil
1/3 cup of coconut oil or cocoa butter
1 teaspoon lanolin
1/2 oz grated beeswax
2/3 cup rosewater
1/3 cup aloe vera gel
1 to 2 drops rose oil
1 vitamin E capsule
Directions
Melt almond oil, coconut oil, lanolin and beeswax over low heat. Mix well and let cool.
Mix rosewater, aloe vera gel and rose oil. Add the contents of the vitamin E capsule. Whip this mixture into the beeswax mixture until well blended. Store in a jar with a tight lid.

http://www.mybeautyrecipes.com/

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Beauty Recipes for Your Face

You don't have to be like this picture to protect your face...

You can make your own beauty recipes for your face...

Grape Cleanser Recipe
Grape juice makes an excellent cleanser for any skin type. Simply split one or two large grapes, remove pips and rub the flesh over face and neck. Rinse off with cool water.

Banana Wrinkle Fighter Recipe
Banana is wonderful as an anti-wrinkle treatment. Mash 1/4 banana until very creamy. Spread all over face and leave for 15-20 minutes before rinsing off with warm water followed by a dash of cold. Gently pat dry.

Facial Exfoliater Recipe
2 heaped tsp fine oatmeal1 tsp. baking soda. Combine ingredients, and add enough water to make a paste. Apply to skin and rub gently. Rinse and gently pat dry.

Honey Mask Recipe
The best facial mask is honey. Place a cloth in warm water and apply to your face to open the pores. Smear on honey, and leave on for 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse off with warm water, then use cold water to close the pores. Use once a week.

Avocado Facial Recipe
Avocado is a naturally rich moisturizer. Mash the meat of the avocado into a creamy texture. Massage into the face and neck . Leave on for 15 minutes and gently rinse off.

Facial Mask Recipe
Squeeze half a lemon and mix the juice with one beaten egg white. Leave on your face overnight or, for a quick pick-me-up, just 15 minutes. Splash warm water on your face to rinse.It helps to removes blotches, because the lemon works as a bleaching agent.

Lighten Circles under Eyes Recipe
To lighten dark circles under your eyes, wrap a grated raw potato in cheesecloth and apply to eyelids for 15-20 minutes. Wipe off residue and apply an eye cream.

Egg & Honey Mask Recipe
Mix together 1 tablespoon honey, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 teaspoon almond oil and 1 tablespoon yogurt. Honey stimulates and smoothes, egg and almond oil penetrate and moisturize, and yogurt refines and tightens pores.

Egg, Avocado & Mud Facial Mask Recipe
Clay is available in powder form at any health food store. Mix 1 tablespoon dry clay with 1 egg yolk, 1/4 of a mashed avocado and enough witch hazel to create a smooth mixture. Mud dries excess sebum while the egg yolk and avocado replenish lost moisture. Witch hazel tones.

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Physical Activity in Your Daily Life

At Home
It's convenient, comfortable and safe to work out at home. It allows your children to see you being active, which sets a good example for them. You can combine exercise with other activities, such as watching TV. If you buy exercise equipment, it's a one-time expense and other family members can use it. It's easy to have short bouts of activity several times a day. Try these tips:
Do housework yourself instead of hiring someone else to do it.
Work in the garden or mow the grass. Using a riding mower doesn't count! Rake leaves, prune, dig and pick up trash.
Go out for a short walk before breakfast, after dinner or both! Start with 5-10 minutes and work up to 30 minutes.
Walk or bike to the corner store instead of driving.
When walking, pick up the pace from leisurely to brisk. Choose a hilly route. When watching TV, sit up instead of lying on the sofa. Better yet, spend a few minutes pedaling on your stationary bicycle while watching TV. Throw away your video remote control. Instead of asking someone to bring you a drink, get up off the couch and get it yourself.
Stand up while talking on the telephone.
Walk the dog.
Park farther away at the shopping mall and walk the extra distance. Wear your walking shoes and sneak in an extra lap or two around the mall.
Stretch to reach items in high places and squat or bend to look at items at floor level.
Keep exercise equipment repaired and use it!


At the Office
Most of us have sedentary jobs. Work takes up a significant part of the day. What can you do to increase your physical activity during the work day? Why not...:
Brainstorm project ideas with a co-worker while taking a walk.
Stand while talking on the telephone.
Walk down the hall to speak with someone rather than using the telephone.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Or get off a few floors early and take the stairs the rest of the way.
Walk while waiting for the plane at the airport.
Stay at hotels with fitness centers or swimming pools and use them while on business trips.
Take along a jump rope in your suitcase when you travel. Jump and do calisthenics in your hotel room.
Participate in or start a recreation league at your company.
Form a sports team to raise money for charity events.
Join a fitness center or Y near your job. Work out before or after work to avoid rush-hour traffic, or drop by for a noon workout.
Schedule exercise time on your business calendar and treat it as any other important appointment.
Get off the bus a few blocks early and walk the rest of the way to work or home.
Walk around your building for a break during the work day or during lunch.


At Play
Play and recreation are important for good health. Look for opportunities such as these to be active and have fun at the same time:
Plan family outings and vacations that include physical activity (hiking, backpacking, swimming, etc.)
See the sights in new cities by walking, jogging or bicycling.
Make a date with a friend to enjoy your favorite physical activities. Do them regularly.
Play your favorite music while exercising, something that motivates you.
Dance with someone or by yourself. Take dancing lessons. Hit the dance floor on fast numbers instead of slow ones.
Join a recreational club that emphasizes physical activity.
At the beach, sit and watch the waves instead of lying flat. Better yet, get up and walk, run or fly a kite.
When golfing, walk instead of using a cart.
Play singles tennis or racquetball instead of doubles.
At a picnic, join in on badminton instead of croquet.
At the lake, rent a rowboat instead of a canoe.

source: http://www.americanheart.org

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How to Choose Healthy Chocolate

Chocolate can be good for you. By choosing chocolate wisely, you can actually reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, the primary cause of death in the industrialized world. More importantly, if you give chocolate as a gift, say for Mother's Day or St. Valentine's Day, you can now blend chocolate's emotional lift with a genuine health benefit.

Instructions
Step1 Understand why chocolate can be healthy.

Raw cocoa has more antioxidants than green tea or red wine. Cocoa is also rich in bioflavonoids, especially epicatechin, which is absorbed at high levels. This compound increases blood flow in the arteries, according to a study at the University of California San Francisco. Chocolate is rich in magnesium, which affects nerve transmission, and chromium, which helps control blood sugar. Chocolate is high in fat, but the fat itself is largely oleic acid, the healthy fat also found in olive oil.

Step2 Cacao Pod Appreciate its history.

The cacao bean is actually classified a fruit. It grows in tropical climates, where it is harvested from the tree of the same name. The bean had long been in use by the Aztecs in Mexico when, in 1519, the Spanish General Hernando Cortez landed. Montezuma, the king of Mexico, mistook Cortez for a god, and served him a drink of chocolate in a gold cup. The bean was so highly valued there, that it was used as a currency, so in Mexico, money did literally grow on trees. Cortez brought chocolate back to Europe, where it rapidly caught on. Milk chocolate was invented in 1876 by the Swiss Daniel Peter, who successfully blended milk solids with chocolate. Today the average American consumes 12 lbs. a year, mostly as milk chocolate.

Step3 Learn how it is made.

After harvesting at the peak of ripeness, the pods are split with a machete to expose the beans. These are covered with banana leaves to ferment for 5 days. They are next dried in the sun, then roasted. The husk is removed, producing cocoa nibs. These are milled with large granite slabs, making chocolate liquor, a non-alcoholic liquid. Cocoa butter is the fat in the liquor. It is solid at room temperature, but melts readily in your mouth. The butter is frequently extracted through a cocoa press and used for other products such as sun screen, because it’s a great moisturizer. After the butter is removed, the dried solids are ground into cocoa powder. You can create cocoa with different butter content by varying the press time. Sometimes the powder is made more alkaline to offset some of the bean's natural acids through what is called Dutch processing. The cocoa particle size in a bar is reduced by refining. Conching blends sugar with the cocoa. Tempering aligns the crystals, and then the chocolate is cooled and is ready for consumption.

Step4 Know that all chocolate is not created equal.

To maximize the health effect from your chocolate, you want your bars to have the richest concentration of chocolate liquor. The percentage of chocolate liquor is proudly displayed on the labels of quality chocolate bars. Unsweetened baking chocolate has the highest percentage, followed by bittersweet and semi sweet chocolate. Organic chocolates are the healthiest, since they have no pesticide residue.

Step5 Avoid chocolates high in sugar.

Read the ingredient label. If sugar is listed first, don’t buy it. Refined carbohydrates are responsible for a slew of health problems, including obesity and diabetes. Favor other sweeteners that are more slowly absorbed, like evaporated cane juice or barley malt. If you see chocolate sweetened with sorbitol, eat it in moderation, since sorbitol can act as a laxative. Don’t eat any chocolate with hydrogenated fat. Avoid milk chocolate, which just adds saturated fat to your diet.

Step6 White chocolate is seductive

a blend of cocoa butter with sugar and vanilla extract--but it has no chocolate liquor whatsoever. It has absolutely no health benefits. It's simply a flavored confection of fat and carbohydrates. In some cases, white chocolate is made with hydrogenated fat.

Step7

Finally, when you’ve found a dark, rich, mildly sweetened chocolate, eat it slowly and savor it. Let it melt on your tongue to appreciate the complexity of flavors present. Allow it to stimulate your endorphins. Choose quality over quantity. Don’t eat too much but enjoy this healthy yet sensuous addition to your diet.

Article By: Paul M. J. Suchecki

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Homemade Refreshing Fruit Juice Recipes

Lemon~Lime Ginger Ale
handful of grapes1 apple,

cored and sliced½ inch fresh ginger (less if you find the taste too strong)

1/2 lime

1/4 lemonsparkling mineral water

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Remove the grapes from the stem. Juice the apple and ginger together, then juice the rest of the fruit. Pour the juice in a large glass and fill to the top with sparkling water and serve with ice.

Sparkling Tropical Fruit Juice
1 kiwi peeled

1 orange peeled and sectioned

1/2 mango peeled and sliced

sparkling mineral water

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Process the fruit in a juicer. Pour the juice in a large glass and fill to the top with sparkling water and serve.

Blueberry Cherry Juice Recipe

handful of cherries pitted

3/4 cup blueberries

1 apple, cored and sliced

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Process the fruit in a juicer and serve.

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Snacks for Children

Snacking worries parents and they often try to prevent eating between meals. That isn't necessary or even helpful. Children's energy needs are high, and they usually can't eat a lot at any one time, so they need to eat about every 3 hours. What's important is that you have control over the time of the snacks and the type of food.

Timing of snacks

Offer snacks midway between meals. Give snacks long enough after the meal that your children know they'll have to wait a while to eat again if they refuse the meal. That keeps children from refusing meals and then asking for food a short time later. It will be easier for you to refuse their begging if you know a snack is coming up.
If children have an early lunch and late dinner, they may need 2 snacks. Try having a snack with protein, fat, and carbohydrate in it 2 or 3 hours after lunch. Then offer a lighter carbohydrate snack, such as fruit juice or crackers, later in the afternoon. Regulating snacks
Plan a reasonable snack time and get the food on the table. Then you will be in charge of the timing, location, and selection of food. If you wait for your children to request the snack, they may have made up their minds about what they want and you may have a struggle over food.

Selecting snacks
In general, snacks should be nutritious. Any food appropriate for a meal is okay for a snack. Snacks that you want to last a while should have some protein, fat, and carbohydrate, the same as a nutritious meal. Snacks should be big and substantial enough to be filling for a hungry child.

Nutritious snack ideas

Grain products
Bread products:

Use whole-wheat products about half the time. Read the label to make sure the flour is enriched or is whole grain (the first listed ingredient should be whole wheat). Try a variety of yeast breads and quick breads, such as whole wheat, rye, oatmeal, mixed grains, and bran -- plain or with dried fruit. Try rye crisps, whole-grain flat bread, and whole-grain crackers. Serve bread and crackers with cheese, peanut butter, or a glass of milk to give protein and fat.
Dry cereals:

Choose varieties of cereals with less than 5 grams of sucrose or other sugar per serving. Serve with milk to give protein and fat. Add dried fruits, nuts, and seeds for variety and increased nutrients.
Popcorn:

Try using grated cheese on the popcorn instead of salt and butter. Serve with milk or cocoa to give protein and fat. Be cautious offering popcorn to young children as they may choke on it.
Cookies:

Bake your own cookies, substituting whole wheat flour for half of the white flour. Try oatmeal, peanut butter, or molasses cookies. Experiment with cutting down on sugar in recipes. Often you can decrease the amount of sugar by one third to one half. Serve cookies with milk to give protein.

Beverages
Use fruit juices and vegetable juices rather than powdered or canned fruit-flavoured drinks. Fruit drinks lack folate, fibre, and other nutrients provided by real juice.
Serve milk with bread, crackers, cereal, etc. Mix milk in a blender with a banana or other fruit or mix it with orange juice for a healthy milkshake. Try adding vanilla extract, honey, molasses, or even a little sugar. Use chocolate or strawberry flavourings for a treat sometimes.

Vegetable snacks

Cut up fresh raw vegetables. Be careful about serving broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower because young children could choke on them. Serve the vegetables with peanut butter, cheese, cottage cheese, or milk to provide protein and fat. (Use 2% or whole milk to give fat.) Add crackers or fruit juice for carbohydrates.

Good vegetables include:
broccoli
green beans
carrots
green peas
cauliflower
turnip sticks
celery
zucchini
cucumber

Fresh fruit snacks

Slice the fruit or serve it whole. Serve it with peanut butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, ricotta cheese, or milk to give protein and fat.

Good fruits include:
apples
grapefruit
oranges
apricots
grapes
peaches
bananas
melons
pears
berries
nectarines
pineapple

Dried fruit snacks, nuts, and seeds

Serve dried fruit with nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts) or seeds (pumpkin, squash, sunflower) to give protein and fat. Be very cautious about giving seeds and nuts to young children because they could choke on them.

Nutritious dried fruits include:
apples
dates
pears
apricots
figs
prunes
bananas
peaches
raisins

CARBOHYDRATE
The main energy source for the body. Sugars and starches are carbohydrates.

*source: www.aboutkidshealth.ca

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Weight Gain >< Weight Loss

What Causes Weight Gain?

Whether or not your weight changes depends on a simple rule:

Weight change = calories in - calories out

If you burn as many calories as you take in each day, there's nothing left over for storage in fat cells and weight remains the same. Eat more than you burn, though, and you end up adding fat and pounds. Many things influence what and when you eat and how many calories you burn. These turn what seems to be a straightforward pathway to excess weight into a complex journey that may start very early in life.
Genes:
Some people are genetically predisposed to gain weight more easily than others or to store fat around the abdomen and chest. It's also possible that humans have a genetic drive to eat more than they need for the present in order to store energy for future. This is called the thrifty gene hypothesis. It suggests that eating extra food whenever possible helped early humans survive feast-or-famine conditions. If such thrifty genes still exist, they aren't doing us much good in an environment in which food is constantly available.

Diet:

At the risk of stating the obvious, the quantity of food in your diet has a strong impact on weight. The composition of your diet, though, seems to play little role in weight—a calorie is a calorie, regardless of its source.

Physical activity:
The "calories burned" part of the weight-change equation often gets short shrift. The more active you are, the more calories you burn, which means that less energy will be available for storage as fat. Exercising more also reduces the chances of developing heart disease, some types of cancer, and other chronic diseases.In other words, physical activity is a key element of weight control and health.

What Leads to Weight Loss?

Just as weight gain is fundamentally caused by eating more calories than you burn, the only way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than what you burn. People can cut back on calories and lose weight on almost any diet, as long as they stick to it. The real challenge is finding a way to keep weight off over the long run.
Low-fat weight loss strategies don't work for most people.
Low-fat diets are routinely promoted as a path to good health. But they haven't fulfilled their promise. One reason is that many people have interpreted the term "low-fat" to mean "It's OK to eat as much low-fat food as you want." For most people, eating less fat has meant eating more carbohydrates. To the body, calories from carbohydrates are just as effective for increasing weight as calories from fat. In the United States, obesity has become increasingly common even as the percentage of fat in the American diet has declined from 45 percent in the 1960s to about 33 percent in the late 1990s. In South Africa, nearly 60 percent of people are overweight even though the average diet contains about 22 percent of calories from fat.Finally, experimental studies lasting one year or longer have not shown a link between dietary fat and weight. And in the eight-year Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial, women assigned to a low-fat diet didn't lose, or gain more weight than women eating their usual fare.
Low-carbohydrate, high-protein strategies look promising in the short term.
Another increasingly common approach to weight loss is eating more protein and less carbohydrate. Some of these diets treat carbohydrates as if they are evil, the root of all body fat and excess weight. That was certainly true for the original Atkins diet, which popularized the no-carb approach to dieting. And there is some evidence that a low-carbohydrate diet may help people lose weight more quickly than a low-fat diet, although so far, that evidence is short term.
Why do high-protein, low-carb diets seem to work more quickly than low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets, at least in the short term?
First, chicken, beef, fish, beans, or other high-protein foods slow the movement of food from the stomach to the intestine. Slower stomach emptying means you feel full for longer and get hungrier later. Second, protein's gentle, steady effect on blood sugar avoids the quick, steep rise in blood sugar and just as quick hunger-bell-ringing fall that occurs after eating a rapidly digested carbohydrate, like white bread or baked potato. Third, the body uses more energy to digest protein than it does to digest fat or carbohydrate. No one knows the long-term effects of eating little or no carbohydrates. Equally worrisome is the inclusion of unhealthy fats in some of these diets. If you want to go the lower-carb route, try to include some fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain carbohydrates every day. They contain a host of vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients that are essential for good health and that you can't get out of a supplement bottle. Choosing vegetable sources of fat and protein may also lower your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Mediterranean-style diets may be effective.
Eating a so-called Mediterranean-style diet—one that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables and that is low in saturated fat but has a moderate amount of unsaturated fat—offers another seemingly effective alternative. In a controlled trial conducted by researchers at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, 101 overweight men and women were randomly assigned to a low-fat diet or a Mediterranean-style diet. After 18 months, volunteers on the low-fat diet had gained an average of 6 pounds while those on the Mediterranean diet lost 9 pounds. By the study's end only 20 percent of those in the low-fat group were still following the study diet, compared to more than half of those on the Mediterranean-style diet.

Lessons from Losers

Since 1993, more than 5,000 women and men have joined the National Weight Control Registry. This select "club" includes only people who lost more than 30 pounds and kept them off for at least a year. What was their secret?

They exercised.
Registry participants burn an average of 400 calories per day in physical activity. That's the equivalent of about 60 to 75 minutes of brisk walking, or 35 to 40 minutes of jogging.
They ate fewer calories.
On average, registry volunteers consume about 1,400 calories a day. That's significantly less than the calories consumed by the average American. This doesn't mean, however, that you should aim for 1,400 calories a day. What's right for you is based on your weight, height, and activity level.

They watched less television, limited fast food intake, cut back on sugars and sweets, and ate more fruits and vegetables.

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General Strategies for Achieving or Maintaining a Healthy Weight

It's easy to gain weight in what Yale psychologist Kelly Brownell calls our "toxic food environment." How, then, can you lose weight if you need to? Here are some suggestions that work:

Set a realistic goal.
Many people pick weight goals they'll have a hard time achieving, like fitting into a size 8 dress or a wedding tuxedo from 20 years ago. A better initial goal is 5 to 10 percent of your current weight. This may not put you in league with the "beautiful people" profiled in popular magazines, but it can lead to important improvements in weight-related conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. You don't have to stop there, of course. You can keep aiming for another 5 to 10 percent until you're happy with your weight. By breaking weight loss into more manageable chunks, you'll be more likely to reach your goal.

Slow and steady wins the race.
Dieting implies deprivation and hunger. You don't need either to lose weight if you're willing to take the time to do it right. If you cut out just 100 calories a day, the equivalent of a single can of soda or a bedtime snack, you would weigh 10 pounds less after a year. If, at the same time, you added a brisk 30-minute walk five days a week, you could be at least 20 pounds lighter.

Move more.

While the precise amount of physical activity needed to maintain a healthy weight may vary based on your diet and your genes, the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association conclude that "more activity increases the probability of success." For more tips on fitting physical activity into your day, read Staying Active: Every Body's Path to Better Health. Keep track.
It's easy to eat more than you plan to.

A daily food diary can make you more aware of exactly how much you are eating. Include everything, no matter how small or insignificant it seems. Small noshes and drinks of juice add up to real calories. Tame your blood sugar. Eating foods that make your blood sugar and insulin levels shoot up and then crash may contribute to weight gain. Such foods include white bread, white rice, and other highly processed grain products. As an alternative, choose foods that have a gentler effect on blood sugar (what's called a lower glycemic index). These include whole grains such as wheat berries, steel-cut oats, and whole-grain breads and pasta, as well as beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.

Don't be afraid of good fats.
Fat in a meal or in snacks such as nuts or corn chips helps you feel full. Good fats such as olive or canola oil can also help improve your cholesterol levels when you eat them in place of saturated or trans fats or highly processed carbohydrates. Reach for slow foods. Fast food is cheap, filling, and satisfying. It also delivers way more calories, not to mention harmful saturated and trans fat, than you need. People who eat at fast-food restaurants more than twice a week are more likely to gain weight and show early signs of diabetes than those who only occasionally eat fast food.

Bring on the water and skip the soda.
When you are thirsty, reach for water. Drinking juice or sugared soda can give you several hundred calories a day without even realizing it. Several studies show that children and adults who drink soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages are more likely to gain weight than those who don't, and that switching from these to water or unsweetened beverages can reduce weight.

*source: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/healthy-weight-full-story/index.html

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How to Get to Your Healthy Weight

What's a Healthy Weight?
Although nutrition experts still debate the precise limits of what constitutes a healthy weight, there's a good working definition based on the ratio of weight to height. This ratio, called the body mass index (or BMI for short), takes into account the fact that taller people have more tissue than shorter people, and so tend to weigh more.

Dozens of studies that have included more than a million adults have shown that a body mass index above 25 increases the chances of dying early, mainly from heart disease or cancer, and that a body mass index above 30 dramatically increases the chances. Based on this consistent evidence, a healthy weight is one that equates with a body mass index less than 25. By convention, overweight is defined as a body mass index of 25 to 29.9, and obesity is defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher.
Nothing magical happens when you cross from 24.9 to 25 or from 29.9 to 30. These are just convenient reference points. Instead, the chances of developing a weight-related health problems increases across the range of weights.
Muscle and bone are more dense than fat, so an athlete or muscular person may have a high body mass index, but not be fat. It's this very thing that makes weight gain during adulthood such an important determinant of weight-related health—few adults add muscle and bone after their early twenties, so nearly all that added weight is fat.

Calculate your BMI

Here's how to determine your body mass index: Divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches. Divide the answer by your height in inches. Multiply the answer by 703. For an easier way, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute offers an online BMI calculator or simple BMI tables.

Waist Size Matters, Too
Some research suggests that not all fat is created equal. Fat that accumulates around the waist and chest (what's called abdominal adiposity) may be more dangerous for long-term health than fat that accumulates around the hips and thighs.Some studies suggest that abdominal fat plays a role in the development of insulin resistance and inflammation, an overactivity of the immune system that has been implicated in heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers. It's also possible, of course, that abdominal fat isn't worse than fat around the hips or thighs, but instead is a signal of overall body-fat accumulation that weight alone just doesn't capture.
In people who are not overweight, waist size may be an even more telling warning sign of increased health risks than BMI. The Nurses' Health Study, for example, looked at the relationship between waist size and death from heart disease, cancer, or any cause in middle-aged women. At the start of the study, all 44,000 study volunteers were healthy, and all of them measured their waist size and hip size. After 16 years, women who had reported the highest waist sizes—35 inches or higher—had nearly double the risk of dying from heart disease, compared to women who had reported the lowest waist sizes (less than 28 inches). Women in the group with the largest waists had a similarly high risk of death from cancer or any cause, compared with women with the smallest waists. The risks increased steadily with every added inch around the waist. And even women at a "normal weight"—BMI less than 25—were at a higher risk, if they were carrying more of that weight around their waist: Normal-weight women with a waist of 35 inches or higher had three times the risk of death from heart disease, compared to normal-weight women whose waists were smaller than 35 inches. The Shanghai Women's Health study found a similar relationship between abdominal fatness and risk of death from any cause in normal-weight women.

Measuring your waist is easy, if you know exactly where your waist really is.

Wrap a flexible measuring tape around your midsection where the sides of your waist are the narrowest. This is usually even with your navel. Make sure you keep the tape parallel to the floor.
An expert panel convened by the National Institutes of Health concluded that a waist larger than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women increases the chances of developing heart disease, cancer, or other chronic diseases. Although these are a bit generous, they are useful benchmarks.
Waist size is a simple, useful measurement because abdominal muscle can be replaced by fat with age, even though weight may remain the same. So increasing waist size can serve as a warning that you ought to take a look at how much you are eating and exercising.

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Getting to Your Healthy Weight

Move more, eat less. Turning off the television and skipping the sugary drinks can help.

Weight is a tough issue. Most people know how important it is to keep weight in check yet struggle to do so. And it's understandable in today's world where calorie-packed food comes fast and easy. But, the health benefits of staying at a healthy weight are huge and well worth the effort. In addition to lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure, keeping weight in check can also lower the risk of many different cancers, including breast, colon, kidney, pancreas, and esophagus.

Because most people put on a pound or two every year, the first, and easiest, goal should be to stop any more weight gain, which has big health benefits itself. After that, getting weight down to a healthy level should be the next step. Quick weight control tips? Get active, choose smaller portions, and eat more s-l-o-w-l-y.

5 Quick Tips Achieving Healthy Weight
1. Ban the strange diets.
They may work in the short term, but almost any strange, extreme diet is doomed to fail. Your best friends when it comes to losing weight—and keeping it off? Choosing healthy foods (check out the Healthy Eating Pyramid for ideas) and eating smaller portions, slowly.
2. Be more active.
If there's one best weight loss mantra it's "exercise, exercise, exercise." Choose activities you enjoy and do them every day. Exercising with a friend can help keep you on track. For tips on how to fit exercise into your lifestyle, check out the Staying Active section of Nutrition Source.
3. Turn off the television.
Watching less TV can give you more time to be active—and less time to be enticed by junk food ads. Two easy ways to cut back on TV-watching: take the TV out of your bedroom, and make sure it's off during meals.
4. Skip the sugary drinks.
Drinking sugared soda, fruit drinks, or juice can give you several hundred calories a day without realizing it. Research suggests children and adults who drink soda or other sugary drinks are more likely to gain weight than those who don't, and that switching from these to water or unsweetened drinks can reduce weight.
5. Think before you eat.
Before you mindlessly reach for a snack, pause and ask yourself, Am I really hungry? Is there a healthier choice? It's easy to lose sight of good food choices in today's ad-crazy world. Simple questions like these can help keep us on track.

*source: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight

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Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties
By Daniel J. DeNoon

WebMD Health News

It's the best medical news in ages. Studies in two prestigious scientific journals say dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate or milk chocolate -- is good for you.

Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure
Dark chocolate -- not white chocolate -- lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
But that's no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure -- if you've reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.

Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate -- but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk -- is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy's National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28, issue of Nature. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.
"Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate."
Translation: Say "Dark, please," when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don't even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word "moderate" as you nibble.

The Studies
Taubert's team signed up six men and seven women aged 55-64. All had just been diagnosed with mild high blood pressure -- on average, systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 153 and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 84.
Every day for two weeks, they ate a 100-gram candy bar and were asked to balance its 480 calories by not eating other foods similar in nutrients and calories. Half the patients got dark chocolate and half got white chocolate.
Those who ate dark chocolate had a significant drop in blood pressure (by an average of 5 points for systolic and an average of 2 points for diastolic blood pressure). Those who ate white chocolate did not.
In the second study, Serafini's team signed up seven healthy women and five healthy men aged 25-35. On different days they each ate 100 grams of dark chocolate by itself, 100 grams of dark chocolate with a small glass of whole milk, or 200 grams of milk chocolate.
An hour later, those who ate dark chocolate alone had the most total antioxidants in their blood. And they had higher levels of epicatechin, a particularly healthy compound found in chocolate. The milk chocolate eaters had the lowest epicatechin levels of all.

Chocolate for Blood Pressure: Darker Is Better
What is it about dark chocolate? The answer is plant phenols -- cocoa phenols, to be exact. These compounds are known to lower blood pressure.
Chocolates made in Europe are generally richer in cocoa phenols than those made in the U.S. So if you're going to try this at home, remember: Darker is better.
Just remember to balance the calories. A 100-gram serving of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar has 531 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you ate that much raw apple you'd only take in 52 calories. But then, you'd miss out on the delicious blood pressure benefit.
A hint: Don't replace healthy foods with chocolate. Most people's diets have plenty of sweets. Switch those for some chocolate if you're going to try the truffle treatment.

© 2003 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.

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