Coming Soon to a Restaurant Near You: Calories on the Menu

Fasten your belt buckles. With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s putting the ink on landmark legislation, California’s chain restaurants menus will soon join New York City in providing patrons all the calories, grams of fat, carbohydrates and other nutritional information they’d never want you to know about.

On Sept. 30, 2008, California became the first state nationwide to require chain restaurants with more than 15 outlets to post calorie counts for each item on their menus and menu boards. In January, New York City became the first American city to pass a law requiring full disclosure of calories on restaurant menus.

This American Council on Exercise page also includes a list of foods to eat rather than similar high calorie and fat options. Many are more than 200 calories less.

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Can you really have younger-looking skin? - Health - MSNBC

Hundreds of products claim to have “anti-aging” benefits or “wrinkle eraser” attributes. But do they work? Is there a magic potion? Can you turn back the clock and reduce the signs of aging? The answer is no, but Dr. Berson says that some of these products can help your skin look better.Three essential anti-aging products: Sunblock, Moisturizer, and Antioxidant cream.

I, Mike, would also add that to have healthy skin you need to eat good food sources of Vitamin A: carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots, spinach, broccoli, collard greens, and milk. Sue and I eat spinach every day. I drink at least three glasses of milk a day.

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The Power of Sunlight By Stormie Omartian

Over the last few decades we have increasingly left natural light and fresh air out of our lives. Man now constructs buildings with no windows at all. Already many of our schools have classrooms with no windows and our children are studying in artificial light and artificial ventilation.

SUNLIGHT IS MEDICINE
Sunlight is a powerful healer, tonic, germ killer, remedial agent, and relaxer, especially when it is used in conjunction with the other seven steps. When you spend time in the fresh air and sunlight, your body drinks in their life-giving elements. Scientists are now discovering a great connection between light and health. They have found that natural light has a very significant effect on our immune system. Light is already being used for treating various diseases of the blood and skin, and for curing certain kinds of depression and nervous disorders.

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Six Reasons to Do Dairy!

by Denise Austin

If you're not making dairy a part of your healthy lifestyle, you could be missing out on some big benefits, say experts from the American Dietetic Association. For example:

1. Research suggests that dairy intake and weight-management are strongly connected. Just three servings a day may make losing weight and keeping it off much easier!
2. A single 8-ounce serving provides 25 percent of your daily riboflavin needs. This important nutrient helps your body convert food into energy.
3. Fat-free milk is one of the leanest protein sources around. It provides all of the good stuff, but without the fat!
4. Dairy is rich in calcium, too! Bone up with an 8-ounce glass of milk — it'll provide 30 percent of your daily calcium requirement.
5. Milk allows you to get vitamin D without the sun damage! A single serving provides 25 percent of your daily intake!
6. Milk is a great post-workout drink! An 8-ounce glass of skim provides hydration, electrolytes, carbohydrates, and protein — and all for a bargain calorie count of 80. Yum!

Training materials by Denise Austin

Healing Super Snacks

byDavid Zinczenko, with Matt Goulding

If some doctors had their way today, Americans would be more medicated than industrial feedlot cattle. But what most people don’t realize is that the first line of defense against stress, fatigue, depression, and so many other maladies is found in supermarket aisles, not in the drug store.

Research shows that the vitamins, minerals, and active compounds specific to certain fruits, vegetables, and even chocolate and red wine have an immediate and lasting impact on your mood, your health, your fitness — even your sex life.

Whether you have a big presentation at work, or the need to burn a few hundred extra calories a day (and who doesn’t want to do that?), why not put food to work for you? Here are seven research-backed quick cures just waiting for you in the fresh produce bins and supermarket shelves.

David is the author of the New York Times bestsellers the Abs Diet and the Abs Diet for Women, and co-author of the new national bestseller Eat This, Not That!

Read David and Matt's list of 7 super snacks

Watermelon-a superfood?

ScienceDaily.com (July 1, 2008) — “The more we study watermelons, the more we realize just how amazing a fruit it is in providing natural enhancers to the human body,” said Dr. Bhimu Patil, director of Texas A&M’s Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center in College Station.

“We’ve always known that watermelon is good for you, but the list of its very important healthful benefits grows longer with each study.”

Scientists say watermelon has ingredients that deliver Viagra-like effects to the body’s blood vessels and may even increase libido.

Read more about watermelons

Nuts About Your Eyes

Regardless of their shape, size, or type, fatty foods may be bad for your eyes. With this exception: nuts!

Yep, eating nuts at least once a week may help protect your peepers from vision-stealing conditions like macular degeneration.

Read more Nuts About Your Eyes at RealAge.com

Good and Bad Fats: The Ultimate Guide

Remember when any fat was bad fat? When the only difference between a croissant and a donut was snob appeal? Now science has found that some fats are good fats.

TOP FATS: THE OMEGA-3s

Among the best fats on the planet, omega-3s add years to your life by dramatically reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. They may also stave off arthritis, depression, and some cancers, and might even tame menstrual cramps, postworkout soreness, and give you clear, soft skin and great hair!

Eat these frequently:

• Fatty fish, such as wild salmon, sardines, herring, and tuna
• Flaxseeds and flaxseed oil
• Walnuts

GOOD FATS: THE MONOS

All monounsaturated fats are kind to your heart because they raise good HDL cholesterol and lower bad LDL cholesterol (the kind that clogs arteries). But virgin olive oil, the MVP of monounsaturates, does more. For starters, it contains micronutrients that are needed for hormone and enzyme production. But olive oil also boasts compounds that may fight breast and colon cancer as well as boost the cancer-fighting power of other foods.

Delicious sources are:

• Olives
• Virgin olive oil (be sure it's virgin; processing destroys nutrients)
• Canola oil
• Peanut and other nut oils
• Nuts
• Avocados

PRETTY GOOD FATS: THE POLYS

Most polyunsaturated fats are heart-friendly, but, with the exception of omega-3s, they don't have the star power of other healthy fats. Also, poly fats contain omega-6s, which are healthy unless you get too many of them -- and most Americans get up to 25 times more omega-6s than they need. Omega-6s should be eaten more sparingly because they can overwhelm the superstar omega-3s. Overall, try to get most of your polyunsaturated fats from omega-3 sources.

Find them in:

• Corn, soybean, safflower, canola, sunflower, and cottonseed oils
• Fatty fish (canned light tuna counts)

LOUSY FATS: THE SATS

Saturated fats are mainly trouble because they raise blood cholesterol to artery-clogging levels. In one study, eating a single slice of carrot cake and drinking a milkshake that were high in sat fat hindered the body's heart-protective functions. Loading up on saturated fats may also harm brain molecules that help form memories, raising the risk of dementia.

Skimp or skip:

• Meats, particularly with visible fat
• Poultry skin, fat, and dark meat
• Whole-milk dairy foods, including butter, full-fat cheeses, ice cream, sour cream
• Most hard margarines (those in stick form)
• Coconut and palm oils
• Lard and shortening

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT 'EM: TRANS FATS

These fats are so scary that they're being banned in some cities, and food manufacturers and restaurants are working fast to find substitutes. Trans fats boost bad cholesterol, decrease good cholesterol, gum up arteries, and set off inflammation throughout the body, which can trigger a host of problems, from stroke to diabetes.

Bypass completely: Be suspicious of any fast or processed food that's not labeled trans-fat-free (packaged-food labels must now list trans fats), including:

• All deep-fried foods -- chips, French fries, onion rings, donuts, etc.
• Many fast foods
• Candy
• Commercial baked goods -- cookies, pies, cakes, rolls, muffins, etc.

Bottom line: Stay away from trans fats the way you'd avoid highways on the day before Thanksgiving. Clog city.

Read more from RealAge.com

Amazing Omega-3 Eggs

Amazing Omega-3 Eggs
source The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin

High omega-3 eggs are nature's nearly perfect food. Eggs contain all known nutrients except for vitamin C! They are good sources of fat-soluble vitamins A and D as well as certain carotenoids that guard against free-radical damage to the body. They also contain lutein, which has been shown to prevent age-related macular degeneration. When possible, buy eggs directly from farms where the chickens are allowed to roam free and eat their natural diet, or purchase eggs marked DHA or high omega-3 eggs (they contain a healthy balance of omega-3 to omega-6). Despite the unfounded cholesterol scare during the past 15 years, eggs can be a healthy addition to anyone's diet; they can actually help reduce the risk of both heart disease and cancer.