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I've included some new recipes for you!
HUNGRY AMERICANS!!!!!
This winter, a record 49 million Americans are going hungry because of the economy.2
Our country needs change that gets to the root of the problem, but we also need to
help people survive the immediate crisis.
Here's a way to help: Feeding America is the nation's leading network of food
banks—including one near you. For every $1 you donate, Feeding America can help provide 7 meals to men, women,
and children facing hunger in our country.
Please contribute to Feeding America as generously as you can. Click
here to make a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year:
http://help.feedingamerica.org/moveon
2. "Hunger in U.S. at a 14-Year High," The New
York Times, November 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/us/17hunger.html
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| Photo By: Vimala 11/23/09 |
~HELLO WINTER, she's here!
Have a blessed day may your 2010 be prosperous and healthy!
I heard on the weather channel that January 25 every year is the most depressing day of
the year! Well, climb out of that funky feeling and get cooking some sweet potatoes and stir fry some tofu and veggies.....sprinkle
a little hot pepper flakes on to warm you up.....the days are getting longer and we have more LIGHT available to us!
Soak up that sunshine when you have the chance and remember Spring is not so far away.
We offer up our deep felt gratitude to
you this week and send out lots of joy to surround you.
Enjoy every little moment and remember to do the things that make you happy! EAT
WELL!
Enjoy being able to heat up the oven again for some extra warmth in the house!
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Alcohol and Your Health
By RealAge
"Here's to your health!" You may hear this toast often, but many of alcohol's effects on the body may actually be harmful
to your health. It all depends on how you approach it.
The health hazards associated with heavy alcohol consumption are well documented and range from liver damage to heart disease.
Just one night of heavy drinking can cause short-term maladies including headache, body aches, fatigue, nausea, and dehydration.
And when heavy drinking becomes a pattern, it puts immense strain on vital organs, jeopardizing a person's health and making
his or her RealAge much older.
But alcohol, in moderation, can be good for your health. A growing body of research shows moderate drinkers enjoy lower
risks of heart attack and stroke and may live longer than nondrinkers or heavy drinkers. After years of demonizing the drink,
some health experts now recommend a moderate serving of red wine, a nip of scotch, or a bit of beer each day. This is generally
considered good news, but it has also caused some confusion.
Health experts disagree about alcohol's role in a healthy lifestyle. Although some doctors advocate a daily drink, other
doctors question the value of alcohol consumption of any kind. Also, people are sometimes unsure of the definition of "moderate"
-- a critical distinction.
"Moderate" can mean different things to different people. For some people it means having a glass or two of wine every
night with dinner. For others it means drinking only on the weekends. Still others believe that partaking only at special
events and celebrations is the definition of a moderate drinker. This makes it hard for people to know whether their particular
drinking habits fit the "healthful" mold or whether they are putting their health on the rocks.
So what about your habits? Are you drinking too much?Just enough? Are you hurting your health if you don't
drink at all? And how does your age and gender affect the equation?
Pouring Over Serving Sizes
For people who choose to drink, striking a moderate balance can take careful research as well as practice and experience.
The maximum amount recommended by RealAge for Age Reduction benefits, is no more than one drink of wine, beer, or liquor
per day for most women, and two drinks per day for most men. This also is the general recommendation given by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Although these guidelines may seem straightforward, studies and surveys reveal a strong possibility this recommendation
could be misinterpreted. Many people tend to wing it when it comes to estimating the size of their drink or its alcohol content,
and this can lead to unintentional overimbibing.
For example, you may think you're having only one drink when, because of the amount of alcohol in your drink, you're really
having two; a small serving of the stronger beers, lagers, and spirits may contain many times the recommended daily amount
of alcohol. Or the size of your glass may trick your eyes and lead to larger serving sizes than would be appropriate for maximum
RealAge benefits.
A Look at Labels
The amount of alcohol a drink contains depends on many factors. Usually, the alcohol content is determined by fermentation,
but different brewing styles and fermentation durations also mean there is little uniformity.
RealAge considers a standard drink to be about half an ounce of alcohol. This corresponds roughly to:
- 12 fluid ounces of regular beer
- 5 fluid ounces of wine
- 1.5 fluid ounces of 80-proof liquor/distilled spirits (standard shot glass)
- 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits
However, some drinks contain more than the typical amount of alcohol. The alcohol content can range from about 4% to as
high as 18% or more for some beers and wines. Standard shot measurements of alcohol used by bartenders make it easier to gauge
how much booze is in your mixed drink, but different glass sizes and heavy pours could result in too big of a drink. Even
when mixing a drink yourself, you could make it too strong if you just eyeball it.
An occasional heavy pour or stiff drink is generally not cause for too much alarm, although if
you consume alcohol regularly, your best bet is to stick to modest serving containers -- standard size glasses, tumblers,
or shot glasses -- and to consult the label for information on alcohol by volume (ABV) or proof.
You want your single serving of alcohol to contain about half a fluid ounce of alcohol, or about 12 grams.
Access the University of Prince Edward Island's chart of the alcohol content of common beverages.
What's in a Day?
Another area of confusion regarding the definition of moderate drinking lies in the distribution of drinks throughout the
week. Having several drinks on Saturday night is not equivalent to having one drink each evening, as some might believe. These
two patterns have very different health implications.
A recent study comparing two groups of drinkers -- one that drank one serving of alcohol every
day and another that had several drinks one day per week -- revealed that once-a-week drinkers had more abdominal fat than
daily drinkers. Known as binge drinking, this type
of drinking behavior makes your RealAge older because excess abdominal fat is associated with an increased risk of heart disease.
Binge drinking may also contribute to atrial fibrillation, a heart-rhythm disturbance that causes the upper chambers of
the heart to quiver. This decreases the heart's ability to pump blood and increases a person's risk of developing blood clots
and having a stroke.
Calculate your alcohol consumption over the last week with this tool from the British United Provident Association.
The Benefits Breakdown
Most of the epidemiological studies about moderate alcohol consumption suggest the biggest benefits of moderate drinking
are to the cardiovascular system. Dozens of studies connect moderate drinking with a reduced risk of heart attack, ischemic stroke, peripheral vascular disease, sudden cardiac death, and death from all cardiovascular causes.
There are many possible explanations for these protective effects. Randomized trials consistently demonstrate that moderate
daily alcohol intake appears to significantly increase HDL-cholesterol levels. Higher levels of this “good” cholesterol
are associated with reductions in coronary heart disease risk. Studies also suggest moderate alcohol consumption may help
prevent stroke by decreasing blood levels of a protein that promotes clot formation and increasing levels of an enzyme that
helps dissolve clots.
But any benefits are negligible for people under 40. Men over 40 years of age who regularly drink between one and two drinks
per day are generally found to have the lowest all-cause mortality. For women, it appears the protective benefits of moderate
alcohol consumption may be irrelevant until after menopause. No evidence suggests that drinking in your 30s protects you from
having a heart attack in your 50s.
The potential benefits of moderate drinking aren't limited to the heart, however. A long-term study reveals that type 2
diabetes is less likely to occur in moderate drinkers than in nondrinkers. Also, some evidence shows that moderate alcohol
consumption inhibits the formation of cholesterol-type gallstones. Some research suggests that consuming alcohol in moderate
amounts may help ward off Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia as well.
Read this Article from Drug and Alcohol Dependence on the psychological benefits associated with moderate alcohol use.
Is Wine Better?
There is no conclusive evidence that any one type of alcoholic drink offers more protection against heart disease than
another. Some studies suggest that wine's health benefits are superior to beer and liquor because of certain compounds in
red wine, such as resveratrol and flavonoids. But other studies document the same cardiovascular benefits with all three major forms of alcohol.
System Overload
If you do have an occasional drink, it can be easy to overdo it, even if you don't intend to. After one drink, inhibitions
become lowered and judgment can be impaired, making it difficult to adhere to your limits.
Over time, anything beyond moderate drinking can lead to a chronic increase in blood pressure. High blood pressure associated
with heavy drinking makes the heart work harder than it needs to and can be a key risk factor for coronary heart disease,
leading to heart attacks and strokes. In addition, with increased intake of alcohol, levels of triglycerides in the blood
can become elevated, which could contribute to heart problems.
Following alcohol's path through your body helps demonstrate how easy it is to overload your system and accelerate your
body's aging.
After alcohol passes your lips, it travels into your stomach and small intestine, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream.
Your blood alcohol content depends on how quickly you drink it, as well as on:
- Carbonation -- this may increase absorption speed.
- Stomach contents -- solid food impedes alcohol absorption.
- Gender -- women have less alcohol-metabolizing enzyme and tend to feel alcohol's effects more quickly than men.
- Age -- alcohol concentration will reach a higher level in the blood of people over 65 and will circulate in the body longer.
- Weight -- the less a person weighs, the higher that person's blood alcohol content from drinking a given amount of alcohol.
Once in your bloodstream, alcohol quickly travels through the blood via a network of arteries to your heart, brain, lungs,
and organs until it can be broken down. A small amount of the alcohol taken into the body leaves through the lungs, kidneys,
and skin, but it is your liver's job to break down the majority of the alcohol with enzymes, purging the blood and body of
alcohol's toxic by-products.
However, this is a slow process. The liver can generally only process 1 ounce of liquor an hour. Consuming more than this
saturates your system, causing the additional alcohol to accumulate in the blood and body tissues until it can be metabolized.
The more alcohol in your blood, the greater the effect on your vital organs.
Repairing Past Damage
Can you make up for any of the aging you may have caused your body from past overindulgences? Fortunately, if harmful drinking
habits are addressed at an early stage, many of the damaging effects can be reversed either by cutting back on, or abstaining
from, alcohol consumption.
Find out more about moderate drinking from Moderation Management, a national support group network for cutting back or quitting.
Identify risky drinking with this Boston University self-assessment tool, "How much is too much?"
Exercising Discretion
Abstaining from alcohol does not make your RealAge older. Most health experts agree that if you don't already drink, the
new research on the health benefits of alcohol is not a reason to start.
Whether you choose to drink should also depend on your health interests and health concerns. Certain health conditions
require avoiding alcohol completely. Individuals who have liver or pancreatic disease or who have had a hemorrhagic stroke
should not consume alcohol because even small amounts could cause serious health complications. And you should refrain from
drinking alcohol if your doctor has identified any precancerous signs of cancer of the esophagus, larynx, pharynx, or mouth;
some studies suggest having two drinks a day greatly increases your risk for oral and esophageal cancers.
It's also important to consider family history and personal concerns when it comes to drinking. For instance, those with
a family history of alcoholism have an increased risk of alcoholism themselves.
Women with a strong family history of breast cancer might decide to forgo alcohol altogether because even small amounts
of alcohol may increase breast cancer risk by 30%. However, several recent studies suggest sufficient folate intake may modify
the association between alcohol intake and breast cancer risk.
Individuals with conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood triglycerides, ulcers, severe acid reflux, and sleep
apnea should seek advice from their healthcare provider about alcohol consumption.
Because alcohol is a depressant at elevated doses, long-term misuse or abuse can ultimately increase anxiety and cause
depression. It is also related to problems with sleeping and mood. Alcohol prevents deep sleep and interferes with REM-stage
sleep, the dreaming stage of sleep that stimulates the learning centers of the brain. When your blood-alcohol level drops,
you begin dreaming much later in the night. This change in sleep pattern may explain why people often feel irritable and somewhat
disoriented after a night of heavy drinking.
What's Right for You?
Alcohol is not an essential part of RealAge living. It is not a health food or wonder drug. But for some people it can
be an enjoyable complement to a healthy RealAge lifestyle. Your approach to drinking must be reasonable and responsible. If
you practice moderation, alcohol can offer some valuable health benefits, particularly for people over 40.
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Eat These Foods to Get Happy
By RealAge
From the land of olives and gyros comes the key to sidestepping a low mood.
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet appears to help lower the risk of depression by about 30 percent, thanks
to a high concentration of good-for-you-fats and B vitamins.
Opa! Olives, fresh seafood, hummus served with crisp veggies -- items like these are staples
of Mediterranean fare. Fortunately, they not only are good for you but taste good, too. And the beneficial fats, B vitamins,
and powerful antioxidants found in traditional Mediterranean cuisine supply your brain with the nutrients it needs to stay
in good working order. Perfecto. Because when your brain works the way it should, you're less likely to get depressed! (Here's a detailed breakdown of the foods you should eat when you go Mediterranean.)
Food Fights Depression A Mediterranean menu helps your brain in several ways. It's rich
in inflammation-fighting phytochemicals, nerve-cell nurturing "healthy" fats, and neurotransmitter-assisting B vitamins. The
healthy fats -- like those found in olive oil -- also help feel-good serotonin bind to brain receptors.
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GREAT BOOKS TO READ!
#1 New York Times Bestsellers:
YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE
Louise Hay
EATING WELL FOR OPTIMUM HEALTH
The Essential guide to Bringing Health and Pleasure Back To Eating
ANDREW WEIL, M.D.
YOU ON A DIET
The Owner's Manual for Waist Management
Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
Mehmet C. OZ, M.D.
Cooking For Love
Digestion, a Celebration of Life
by Anne-Marie Fryer Wiboltt
The processes of digestion are a mystery so wonderful and quite inconceivable.
What is most amazing to recognize is that our human substances are very unique and completely different from what is found
anywhere in nature. The minerals and protein in our bones and blood are entirely different from the minerals and proteins
we find in other parts of nature. Calcium inside the human body is unlike any calcium outside of it. Foods and substances
that enter the human body must be completely digested and broken down beyond anything physical. First then will each individual
soul/spirit, in co-creation with other majestic spiritual forces, fashion its own distinctive blood, muscles and bones. www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/July09/cooking-for-love.htm
EDITOR'S PICK

What mineral keeps you feeling stronger? Just think M . . . as in max, mega, magnificent,
muscular MAGNESIUM! Not getting enough feels like you’re running on a partially charged battery.
Put some more omega-3s into your diet deliciously. This little cookbook is packed with more than 100 joint-loving, taste-bud-pleasing recipes -- from frittatas to vegetarian meals. Much
more satisfying than fish oil supplements!
Good nutrition generates more usable energy—energy to keep pace with the kids,
tackle that home improvement project or have better sex more often, Michael F. Roizen, MD, says in The RealAge Diet.
Too much fat in your bloodstream means that arteries won’t open properly and that your muscles won’t get enough
oxygen. The result? You feel zapped. Balanced vegetarian diets are naturally free of cholesterol-laden, artery-clogging animal
products that physically slow us down and keep us hitting the snooze button morning after morning. And because whole grains,
legumes, fruits and vegetables are so high in complex carbohydrates, they supply the body with plenty of energizing fuel.
Health and Wellness
You might seriously slash your risk of catching a cold this season if you adopt this immune-enhancing
trio: salmon, sunshine, and a vitamin D supplement.
That's right. Prioritizing all three this winter will dramatically boost your vitamin D levels,
and that in turn may curtail your risk for upper respiratory tract infections (like the common cold).
Maintaining your health and wellness is pretty simple, really. Just replace that bag of chips with a piece
of fruit and you’re home free, right? Well, not quite. If it were that simple, we’d all be slim and live to be
100!
There are many theories about what constitutes a "perfect" diet. We think a good foundation for any diet consists
of a mix of fresh, minimally processed foods from all food groups, including lean proteins; carbohydrates from fresh fruits,
vegetables and whole grain-based breads, cereals, and pastas; and heart-healthy fats such as olive oil, nuts, and avocado.
And, just as important, a good diet contains delicious foods you enjoy.
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