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Snacking during the day can be a healthy habit, as it can help to keep blood sugar and energy levels steady. However, what you choose for mid-day edibles is important - use the four suggestions below for some healthy snack ideas

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ScienceDaily (May 12, 2009) - The more pills a dialysis patients takes, the worse their health-related quality of life, according to a new study. The findings indicate that increasing the number of medications to control patients' disease may interfere with their ability to enjoy normal activities. Kidney disease patients undergoing dialysis must take more pills than most patients with other chronic diseases. While these medications are important for controlling patients' disease, at some point taking too many pills (with their ensuing side effects) may negatively affect patients' health-related quality of life, or their perceived physical and mental health. Rajnish Mehrotra, MD and Yi-Wen Chiu, MD (Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute), and their colleagues conducted a study to see if "pill burden" affects dialysis patients' health-related quality of life. They studied 233 chronic dialysis patients from three clinics in different geographic areas in the United States. The investigators found that patients took an average of 19 pills a day and that a quarter of the patients took more than 25 pills a day. Patients with a high pill burden had lower perceived physical health. Medications called phosphate binders, which control the level of phosphorous in the blood, accounted for about half of the daily pill burden. Sixty-two percent of the patients did not take these medications as directed. The more phosphate binders a patient was prescribed, the less likely they were to take their medications as directed and the less likely they were to have their blood phosphorous levels under control. These findings indicate that increasing the number of prescribed pills does not seem to improve control of phosphorous levels and may come at the cost of poorer health-related quality of life. The authors note that any attempts to tackle dialysis patients' pill burden must address the number of phosphate binders a patient is prescribed on a daily basis. Dr. Mehrotra has re

MedWire News: Eating two eggs a day, as part of an energy-restricted weight-loss diet, does not increase levels of 'bad' or total cholesterol, results of a UK study show.

A glass of wine each evening is enough to increase your risk of developing cancer, women are being warned.\nConsuming just one drink a day causes an extra 7,000 cancer cases - mostly breast cancer - in UK women each year, Cancer Research UK scientists say

Grant WB, Garland CF, Gorham ED. \nAn estimate of cancer mortality rate reductions in Europe and the US with 1,000 IU of oral vitamin D per day.\nRecent Results Cancer Res. 2007;174:225-34.\nPMID: 17302200 [PubMed - in process]

New research reveals that drinking just one cup of regular, black tea per day may help to protect against cardiovascular disease. The research, conducted at the University of L'Aquila in Italy and supported by the Lipton Institute of Tea, is the first study to show that black tea consumption does - depending on dose - improve blood vessel reactivity, reduce both blood pressure and arterial stiffness, indicating a notably better cardiovascular health profile

Consumption of one egg per day increases serum lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations in older adults without altering serum lipid and lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Goodrow EF, Wilson TA, Houde SC, Vishwanathan R, Scollin PA, Handelman G, Nicolosi RJ. J Nutr. 2006 Oct;136(10):2519-24. PMID: 16988120 These findings indicate that in older adults, 5 wk of consuming 1 egg/d significantly increases serum lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations without elevating serum lipids and lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.

Had a bad day? Then you may wanna check this site on how to improve your mood naturally.

While sterols occur naturally in small quantities in food (nuts, vegetables, oils), food manufacturers are adding them to processed foods in order to earn a "heart healthy" claim. The FDA approved a cholesterol-reducing indication for sterols , the American Heart Association recommends 200 mg per day as part of its Therapeutic Lifestyle Change diet, and WebMD gushes about the LDL-reducing benefits of sterols added to foods. Sterols--the same substance that, when absorbed to high levels into the blood in a genetic disorder called "sitosterolemia"--causes extravagant atherosclerosis in young people. The case against sterols, studies documenting its coronary disease- and valve disease-promoting effects, is building

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2008) - An enriched extract of the 'Indian Frankincense' herb Boswellia serrata has been proven to reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy has shown that patients taking the herbal remedy showed significant improvement in as little as seven days.

March 23, 2009 -- Men and women who eat higher amounts of red meat and processed meat have a higher risk of dying from cancer, heart disease, and other causes compared to those who eat less, according to a new study. Those in the study who ate the most red meat took in about 4.5 ounces a day -- the equivalent of a small steak.

It seems not a single day passes that I don't learn something new about this unique hormone (mis)named "vitamin D." \nFrom its humble beginnings recognized only as the factor responsible for bone maturation (with deficiency leading to childhood rickets), vitamin D now commands a recognized role in almost every conceivable aspect of health and disease. \n

Vitamin D's days of obscurity seem pretty much over. Once just an afterthought to most people-relegated to the sides of milk cartons and the pages of medical texts-it's now on the cusp of becoming a full-fledged disease prevention star. Although vitamin D has long been known as an important factor in bone health, a quickly growing body of evidence now shows that it may also help lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and even premature death.[1], [2] Not surprisingly, scientists and the public have started to take note, particularly of vitamin D's potential to protect against cancer

Being overweight or seriously underweight as a teenager curbs life expectancy as much as smoking 10 cigarettes a day, a study suggests.\nSwedish researchers followed 46,000 men from the age of 18 for 38 years.

I stumbled on one of the growing number of local media stories on the power of vitamin D. \nIn one story, a purported "expert" was talking about the benefits of "high-dose" vitamin D, meaning up to 1000, even 2000 units per day. \nI regard this as high-dose---for an infant. \nJudging by my experiences, now numbering well over 1000 patients over three years time, I'd regard this dose range not as "high dose," nor moderate dose, perhaps not even low dose. I'd regard it as barely adequate.

dbroadwa I had a case of macular degeneration 7 years ago. For about three months I couldn't make out any features on a person's face from across a room with my right eye. My eye doc told me there was no cure. I contacted a person who worked at a holistic health college and she told me it sounded like I was dangerously deficient in zinc and selenium. She also sent me a chinese herbal formula called Celosia 10, some died red berries and told me to pick up bilberry supplement. I started taking these five supplements and in a week to ten days my eyesight was back to normal. On the next visit to the eye doc he was reading my file as he came in and asked if there were any changes since my last visit. I said 'as a matter of fact, yes'. He wrote down all the supplements I'd taken and I later printed out all the info off the containers and dropped it off at his office. He called to tell me that I was taking too much zinc and it could do liver damage, but I'd stopped taking it by then. Three times since, I've started to get the symptoms back and took at least some of these things with the same results. There are two types of MD, and I think only one responds to this approach. bpfsa Spinach truly is a wonderful vegetable, full of healthy properties. There's a website at http://www.spinachwords.com that shows how spinach is a multi-vitamin, multi-mineral, multi-amino, multi-phytonutrient powerhouse. There's alot more to spinach than just lutein and zexanthin and it is beneficial for much more than just your vision. It is great for your heart, for cancer prevention, for maternal & fetal health & development, it boosts your natural SPF levels in your skin, it wards of memory loss, dementia and other signs of ageing, and it is good for strong bones, too. Popeye was right - except maybe about eating a highly processed, canned product instead of fresh spinach.

These slimming foods are not miracle foods, but you will find that they help you to consume fewer calories over the course of your day.

A prospective study of egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women. Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Rimm EB, Manson JE, Ascherio A, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, Spiegelman D, Speizer FE, Sacks FM, Hennekens CH, Willett WC. JAMA. 1999 Apr 21;281(15):1387-94. PMID: 10217054 CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that consumption of up to 1 egg per day is unlikely to have substantial overall impact on the risk of CHD or stroke among healthy men and women. The apparent increased risk of CHD associated with higher egg consumption among diabetic participants warrants further research.

You can begin the positive mental reprogramming process by writing down your goals, changing your internal dialogue and taking a few minutes to relax, quiet your mind and perform a session of visualization or mental rehearsal every day.

Our findings suggest that administration of n-3 FA (EPA and DHA) in doses of at least 1.5 g/day for a prolonged period of time to patients with advanced cancer is associated with an improvement in clinical, biological and QoL parameters. N-3 fatty acids, cancer and cachexia: a systematic review of the literature. Colomer R, Moreno-Nogueira JM, García-Luna PP, García-Peris P, García-de-Lorenzo A, Zarazaga A, Quecedo L, del Llano J, Usán L, Casimiro C. Br J Nutr. 2007 May;97(5):823-31. Review. PMID: 17408522 doi:10.1017/S000711450765795X