Vitamin D The Wonder Vitamin

Vitamin D is the current rage in the world of supplements. Is it a wonder drug that will keep you healthier and prevent cancer. Possibly not, but it is  currently under extensive investigation to determine exactly what can be proven. The jury is still out, but there is no doubt that everyone should have a blood test to determine whether their level of vitamin D is adequate.

 By the way it is erroneous to label vitamin D as a vitamin since it is really not a vitamin at all. It is a hormone that your body makes when your skin is exposed to sunlight. If you sit in the sun frequently enough you will not need to take vitamin D supplements; however, the days of baking in the sun are over for all of us who want to avoid the risk of developing skin cancer. This means that almost everyone needs to supplement in order to maintain acceptable vitamin D levels.

Our advice is to consult with your physician and to follow his or her recommendations for supplementation. If you want more information on the possible benefits of vitamin D please refer to our book.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Don't Worry Be Healthier

We have known for years that hard driving compulsive people with type A personality traits are more prone to cardiovascular disease, but here is a new twist on the old story.

A recent article in the American Journal of Cardiology based on a study conducted at John Hopkins came to the conclusion that "If you are by nature a cheerful person and look at the bright side of things, you are more likely to be protected from cardiac events."

The lead author Lisa R. Yanek states "A happier temperament has an actual effect on disease, and you may be healthier as a a result."

All the more reason to say "Don't worry, be happy"

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

How To Improve Your Brain Fitness?

Most of us are concerned about staying sharp mentally. Mind games are designed to exercise your brain. There are mobile apps such as Luminosity and Fit Brains claim to boost cognitive ability and ward off mental decline.

Do they actually work?

David Linden a professor of neuroscience at the John Hopkins School of Medicine doesn't think so. He says "the effects are small and don't last very long."

So if the games don't work what does?  Dr. Linden believes that the best way to maintain mental fitness is with physical exercise. "Walking 30 minutes a day has a greater effect than playing any brain game. Even moderate, low intensity exercise is five times more beneficial to cognitive tasks than playing brain games on your iPad" he says.

Research has shown that exercise increases the volume of the brain and elevate patters of activity. The effects are especially beneficial for middle aged people.

The bottom line is clear. Exercise your brain by exercising your body.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

How To Find Whole Grains in Your Food

We all know that we should be eating more whole grains and less refined flour. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines advise that at least 50% of your daily grains should be whole grains. The goal is clear. The problem is how do you know whether you are getting enough whole grain in your diet?

Food labeling is confusing. In fact the food industry goes to great lengths to make it difficult for the consumer to understand the nutritional value of many foods. Iy is easy for them to mislead us. For example bread that is baked with wheat flour. This sounds good but all flour is wheat flour. The flour used may be white flour, refined flour or enriched with some vitamins and minerals. Yes it is wheat flour but not whole wheat and   certainly  not be whole grain.

A study from Harvard published in Public Health Nutrition looked at 545 grain products and reported that the most reliable way to determine the overall carbohydrate quality was to use the ratio of grams of total carbohydrate to grams of fiber. To qualify as whole grain the ratio should be about 10 to 1. To make the math easier multiply the grams of fiber in a product by 10. The result should be more than the grams of total carbohydrates.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Are You On The Wrong Dietary Path?

The dietary buzz word in the 1980's was low fat. In order to pander to the public's desire to eat less fat a new generation of low fat treats, foods and snack foods were developed. A perfect example are the SnackWells. All of these low fat foods had two things in common. They had less fat, but they had more empty calories from carbohydrates.Think of carbohydrates as sugar because your metabolism rapidly converts starches to sugar.

As Americans ate more low fat foods and more empty calories they gradually became fatter and fatter. The result is the obesity epidemic that is now the number one public health problem. The reason  for the weight gain is easy to explain. It has to do with blood chemistry.  Remember carbohydrates are sugar. A bagel is no different than candy bar after it is digested. Sugar stimulates the body to produce insulin. Insulin drives the fat cells into storage overdrive. This causes weight gain.

As people continue to overdose on low fat high carbohydrate foods their cells become more resistant to insulin. This causes them to gain even more weight and also increases their insulin resistance. The result in many instances is Type 2 diabetes.

The lessons to be learned is that fat in your diet is not necessarily bad. Refined carbohydrates in your diet are always bad. Eating a reasonable diet with a balance between protein, fats and whole grains is always good.

You are what you eat. A good rule to follow before taking a bite is to ask yourself whether this particular food will nourish me or it it just empty calories.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Should You Use Tanning Beds?

Do you yearn for a golden suntan? Are you devoted to indoor tanning salons sand tanning beds? The American Suntanning Association that represents 14,000 tanning saloon owners has hired a public relations agency and a lobbying firm to lure you on to their tanning beds. Their mission is to expand the sales of the multi billion dollar tanning bed industry. They do it with false claims that the tanning beds are not only safe but also that they will boost your mood, relieve joint pain, reduce cellulite and even make your skin look younger.

The truth is tanning beds and sunlamps are dangerous. The International Agency for Research on Cancer listed UV-emitting tanning devices as "carcinogenic to humans" This is the highest cancer risk category on par with cigarettes and asbestos. In fact those who start using sunlamps and tanning bags before age 30 increase their risk for melanoma by 75%

We strongly urge you to avoid indoor tanning and to use a safe and effective sunless tanning product if you must have that "golden tan"

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

There Are Good Fats And Bad Fats

It doesn't take a leap of imagination to assume that if you eat fat it will make you fat. After all fat has more than twice the number of calories per gram than carbohydrates or protein. As the old saying goes "you are what you eat." Furthermore it is an easy step to assume that the fats that float through your blood stream and clog your blood vessels come from the fats that you eat.

However when the numbers are crunched by statisticians it is not possible to verify a connection between eating saturated fat and cardiovascular disease. It is true that saturated fat raises the level of LDL cholesterol levels that are associated with higher rates of heart disease, but they also raise the level of HDL, the good cholesterol. HDL flows through your body and removes LDL from the walls of your blood vessels. Since saturated fat raises the levels of both LDL and HDL it's influence is probably a dietary wash.

In addition it seems as though there are two different LDL particles. Some are small and dense while others are larger and fluffy. The large ones are mostly harmless. Ingesting saturated fat raises the levels of these larger particles. What most people do not realize is that eating Carbs will raise the level of the small sticky particles that are linked to heart disease.

This new information does mean that you should go out and eat more double cheeseburgers or other foods high in saturated fat. It does mean that you should explore the options of eating foods that are high in other fats that are heart healthy. That topic is the subject of our next blog.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net