Archive for 2. Current events
How to get the Information You want Most
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Microbes and beta catotene – is it really GRAS
Posted by: | CommentsI came across this news item in a Medical News feed today. I was really surprised. Beta carotene supplements had been thought to be unsafe for some men and here they are approving them for use in DAIRY products and in fruit and vegetable juices. I don’t like this!
Here is the link to the Medical News article and here is the article link in the Lancet. Here is the last couple of sentences from the abstract of that article:
In fact, the risk of fatal coronary heart disease increased in the groups that received either beta-carotene or the combination of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene; there was a non-significant trend of increased deaths in the alpha-tocopherol group. We do not recommend the use of alpha-tocopherol or beta-carotene supplements in this group of patients.
Here is a video I made about this. Your comments please!
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21 Life Lessons from Liv’in La Vida Low Carb by Jimmy Moore
Posted by: | CommentsJimmy Moore is a writer, blogger and great guy. He hails from SC and has just written his second book. I wanted you to know about it because it will be a great reference for you if you are a health writer, a blogger, a person who wants to loose weight, or you want more information about a low carbohydrate lifestyle. There are lessons here for everyone. Below is a cover shot of the book by Jimmy.
What is this book about? Well if we examine the table of contents, we can discover much about the book. Below are two pages from the book that contain the table of contents.
I love these chapters: #2 about the validity of cholesterol testing. The old standard test is great if all is really normal, but if your Doctor suggests you take a drug to lower your cholesterol, read this chapter and talk to your Doctor about a more detailed and comprehensive test.
Chapter 3 about the perils of high sugar, especially high fructose in your food is a gem. You know that this is called natural sweetener by the corn council. I was a farm kid, but we aren’t defending small family farms here. This is about something that is as toxic to your liver as Hepatitis. Actually, the fatty liver disease you can get from ingesting this stuff causes a form of hepatitis. Read up and be informed.
Here is a quote from Jimmy from pages 3 and 4:
If you are reading this and thinking you’d like to go ahead and get started on your own low-carb
lifestyle, then let me encourage you to do the following:
1. Read a solid low-carb book like Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, Protein Power by Drs. Mike
& Mary Dan Eades, or for a side-by-side comparison of the most popular low-carb diets get Dr.
Jonny Bowden’s newly-updated 2010 release Living Low-Carb.
2. Have your doctor conduct a NMR LipoProfile (NMRLipoprofile.com) blood test to measure
your LDL particle size, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides at baseline so you can see how much
improvement low-carb will make on your health.
3. Commit to following your chosen low-carb plan exactly as prescribed for at least three
months while continually educating yourself more and more about the low-carb lifestyle (read
Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories for an excellent history of the science behind low-
carb).
4. Get active support not just from your friends and family, but by getting involved with others
who have been successful eating this way online through low-carb forums like mine
(LivinLowCarbDiscussion.com).
5. Most importantly, NEVER, NEVER, EVER GIVE UP! You’ll likely face struggles, temptations,
cravings, and even some pain early on when you do this. But let me tell you, the payoff in the
end is totally worth it if you can just stick it out until you reach your goal. By the time you get
there, you’ll want to keep on low-carbing for the rest of your life.
The best place to purchase this is through Amazon. I used to be an associate but no longer am, and if you purchase the book, Jimmy receives all the profit from it. He wrote it and he deserves it. He did give me a PDF copy of the book to review and it is 300 pages so it took me a few days. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Consider giving a copy to friends and family who are trying to lose weight and are serious about keeping it off.
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Healthcare Reform, Headlines and Your Opinion
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What is it you would like to see happen with “Healthcare Reform”? Personally I would like to see insurance companies regulated with regard to executive pay, executive perks and who they must insure and for how much. I would like to see the language of my policy be clear and understandable. I would like all insurance companies to use standard forms to file insurance claims. I would like to see them reward good health habits and get into the customer health education business. People need the best health information and insurance companies know what it is. They ought to have to use their profits to educate and motivate their clients.
What about you? What do you want to see happen? I would like to read your comments below.
In addition here are some recent articles on health care debate:
1. Democrats make abortion agreement
http://www.gettheskinney.com/ehl
2. Obama presses congress to pass Democratic bill
http://www.gettheskinney.com/kxs
3. National Alliance of Hispanics and Healthcare reform support
http://www.gettheskinney.com/tly
4. Business Roundtable weighs in on the Democratic Bill
http://www.gettheskinney.com/yxc
5. The Democratic compromises to get a majority
http://www.gettheskinney.com/c8p
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Health Information on Hormones, Pain Relief and Weight Loss
Posted by: | CommentsI have shared material from Bette Dowdell before. She has a news letter Too Pooped to Participate and a blog by the same name. Her recent blog post about hormones can be found here. Do you know what hormones are produced by your body and what tissues produce them? Read Bette’s latest post to get those facts and stay tuned to what she shares about how to keep those hormone-producing-tissues healthy. Bette has written a book about this, and you can receive a complimentary chapter here.
Kathryn Merrow is the Pain Relief Coach. She has a blog and a blog talk internet radio show. You can listen to her archived shows on Pain Relief Radio show. She also blogs about the subject matter covered on her show on the Simple Pain Relief blog. This week she talked and blogged about using walking to relieve low back and hip pain. Read about what you can do to get relief of this problem in yourself. I am the kind of writer that says “Hey, You there! Read this stuff. It will be good for our mind.” Sounds like a line of dialogue from some movie about gangsters. Here is what Bette Dowdell sent me about Kathryn just this morning,
With twenty years experience as a neuromuscular massage therapist–giving more than 20,000 treatments–Kathryn Merrow knows about treating pain. She’s so good at what she does, she makes it look easy.
Kathryn says, “Pain happens for a reason. Bodies are very logical, and they follow certain rules. When you understand why you have pain, some simple, natural steps can make you pain-free.”
You may have noticed that bodies come one to a customer. No trade-ins. And self-help is more and more the better way to go. So check out Kathryn for help with your muscles, and stay tuned here for help with your innards–starting with the endocrine system.
In case you’re wondering, these words aren’t motivated by money. I get none. Just so you know.
Just so you know I don’t get money for any of this either.
Last, Jimmy Moore form down in Spartanburg, SC has the Livin’ La Vida Low Carb blog and podcast. You can catch his shows on iTunes. This week Jimmy and two others discuss saturated fat. Last week Jimmy was in Raleigh, NC to visit the HQ of a laboratory company here. A few of us answered his last minute offer to meet us for dinner. Here is a picture of Jimmy, his wife Christine (seated on left) and a few local readers.
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Medical Marijuana – How will the marijuana debate affect you?
Posted by: | CommentsIt was news today that the US Attorney General is not going to prosecute users of medical marijuana if if is legal in the state where the user lives. This is a major change in precedence.
It brings law enforcement on the state and local level into opposition with this policy. According to FBI statistics, in 2008 over 80% of all drug arrests were for possession. 45% of all drug arrests were for simple possession of marijuana. Drug arrests totaled 1,702,537 and possession of
marijuana totaled 752,531. That is a lot of money from fines, court costs and such. That is a lot of police time and material used to do that job. There were as many arrests for possession as there were for violent crime. It would seem that the police go after easy targets – those possessing a small amount of an illegal substance – versus those committing serious crimes. I guess it looks good. Arrests are up yet marijuana use according to Federal statistics is flat to trending down. It would seem money and man power are being used to target non-violent crimes of little consequence.
I don’t want to put down police. I am glad we have them. I would like to see those finite resources used for better purposes. What I know about marijuana shows that it is about the same as alcohol in its effect and duration. Just like alcohol, it is subject to abuse. Just as in the days of prohibition, lots of money is made that is untaxed, lots of resources are consumed with enforcement, and little progress is made. We have had a”war on drugs” but stats would show that the war is mainly on small consumers of drugs.
I think marijuana use should be legalized, taxed and regulated. I think real facts about marijuana’s medical benefits and the real problems with use should be available. I do not think marijuana should be smoked for medical purposes. If THC, the active ingredient is what is needed it should be extracted and prescribed through a pharmacy. I think it should be legal to do so and that prescribing it like many other drugs should require certain licenses or training on the part of the practitioner.
Do you think this is crazy? What is your opinion?
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H1N1 Vaccine Information
Posted by: | CommentsThere are currently 4 vaccines licensed for novel H1N1 or “Swine Flu”. These are coming to the market now and are available through Health Departments. Visit the site Flu.ogv for more information linked to your local HD. 
The four licensed companies are CSL Biotherapies, GSK (soon), Novartis, Sanofi Pasteur – these are the injectable type vaccines. MedImmune has the nasal mist with is a live vaccine approved for patients ages 2-49 years old. All the single dose vials and syringes, except the Novartis brand, do not contain a mercury preservative. I do not believe this represents a risk as some do, but if you like me are allergic to that preservative, you have to take the injection from a single dose syringe or vial. All multi-dose vials contain a preservative. This is true of just about every vaccine.
The usual seasonal flu vaccination is not likely to provide any protection against novel H1N1 influenza. The priority groups recommended to receive the “Swine flu” vaccine are:
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Pregnant women but only the inactivated injection not the nasal mist
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Persons caring for infants less than 6 months old
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Health Care workers and Emergency Services Personnel
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Children 6 months – 4 years old but less than two years must receive the injection
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Adolescents 5-18 Y/O with medical conditions that put them at risk for complications
Infants less than 6 months old should not receive the injection but if Mom was immunized they probably enjoy immunity also.
The injection can be expected to provide protective antibody levels within 14 days in adults. In unpublished studies, a single injectable dose provided immunity to 76% of children aged 10-17 and 36% of those aged 3-9 years old and 25% of those aged 6-35 months old.
Pregnant women and people with lung disease like asthma and COPD should only take the injectable vaccine.
I have heard members of the CDC vaccine committee say that 300 milliondoses of vaccine will be produced. That should meet all demand for vaccine injections by everyone who wants it, but the availability of the vaccine will be staggered as it becomes available and according to orders placed by the states. Visit your state Health Department (HD) site and gain further information. You can find that site by visiting the Flu.gov site linked above.
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Physician Assisted Suicide – do you trust the Court
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Readers opinions wanted – tell me what is right
Posted by: | CommentsI am updating my content and editorial plan. The content here has become too broad and I have branched out into other areas. I am looking for your feed back. Take this reader poll and tell me what you like. There is an open or other category so you can include things I did not think about. I will be asking you for your negative opinion later but right now tell me what I am doing right and things you want more of. Thanks so much.
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Free Information and Coaching from Bruce L Bair
Posted by: | CommentsThere are a number of ways to get good information from me. I wanted to provide you with a list of what is available to you. You can find reference to most of it on my blog.
First is this Blog Get the Skinney You are reading it now.
Then you can read my 77 articles and growing at Articles By Bruce L Bair
I have a privileged Twitter feed. You have to ask me to be a follower. I am trying to keep junk out. My profile name on Twitter is BruceLBair.
I have a free weekly call. Sometimes it is just me and many times like Aug 5, 12, 13, and 19 I will have expert guests. You can sign up to be notified about each call (max 2 emails per week) by signing up at Ask Bruce Anything
I have a series of 20 free mp3 files I send to you over a month. They are all on wellness, diet, fitness, stress management topics. You sign up at PEPbyBruce.
Both PEP by Bruce and Ask Bruce Anything require you to reply to the first email and acknowledge that you want what is offered. It keeps you from being spammed. My Twitter account under the name BruceLBair requires you to ask to be accepted as a follower. I have an account under the name DurhamDad also. It was my first Twitter account and just includes who ever on the account.
These are all the ways I provide you with free content. I also run coaching groups, have workshops and do coaching with individuals. I am certified to use Coaching for Healthy Behaviors and the Circle of Life Coaching system. My Coaching in this way costs money but is far more specific. So you have a menu of choices. If you want more information use the contact me info on this blog and email me. Sign up for one or more of these free information streams so when you email me, you will have a better idea about me and how I sound and think.
If you have a general question, leave it in the comments section below. I know if you have it 20 or 30 other people do too.
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