The HRH Program for Metabolic Syndrome, Insulin Resistance, and Pre-Diabetes

Lunch Box Lead Tests Raise Concerns - washingtonpost.com

I'm not sure how much influence lunch box makers have over policy at the FDA, but this story makes me think we have the wrong people doing the deciding.

Here's a quote from Julie Vallese, a Consumer Products Safety Commission officer:

"Children would have to rub their lunch box and then lick their hands more than 600 times every day, for about 15-30 days, in order for the lunch box to present a health hazard."

That doesn't sound like something a parent of a young child would say. Imagine your child anxiously awaiting lunch, fidgeting by scratching his lunch box on his little desktop. Doesn't some lead come off in a case like that?

Why is ANY lead allowed in children's lunch boxes? Digg This!

Note to Women Only: Don’t let your spouse read this article.

Note to Men Only: Don’t let your spouse read this article.

My wife puts a priority on having the kitchen clean in the morning. It's her fresh palette for mixing and mashing a new masterwork by dinnertime.

Unfortunately, her kitchen maid, her husband, doesn't share the urgency, and instead thinks of the time after dinner until waking as the time to honor his wife's creations with still and quiet gestation - with just a dash of primetime television after the kids retire.

The conundrum: my wife rightly wants her creative workspace clear of clutter, and I want to...well, I really just don't want to do the dishes until right before dinner the next night (at the earliest).

Last night, and many nights prior, however, I found myself compelled the put away all leftovers and clear away the counters before leaving the kitchen. Why? Some sort of reasonable compromise, perhaps? Uh, no. Promises of even more outstanding culinary masterpieces? Ok, now you’re giving me too much credit. I like a good meal like the next guy, but my appreciative capabilities top out well before five-star dining.

No, this was psychological pressure. While reason couldn't convert me, it turns out that a small family of mice easily defeated my will to sit and do nothing.

To a mouse, our house looks just like cheese. They are instantly attracted. Once in and
established, the mice cleverly climb up through the stove, onto the counter, and find every last crumb of leftover delights.

I'm not easily dissuaded from eating things. If it drops on the floor, I have a very generous 10-second rule: if I can pick it up within 10 seconds of first seeing it, it’s edible, regardless of whether it's been there for a week and I haven't seen it yet. If food in the fridge smells OK when I have a cold, it will be fine. My kids call me their garbage disposal and are well aware that any uneaten dinner will disappear forever.

But sharing my foods with rodents is not OK. Don't they carry the plaque? Or maybe it's something worse?

So, if I’m not 100% convinced my traps have eliminated every last one (sorry PETA), I'm cleaning the kitchen right away.

These mice are real, but I started to think they wouldn't have to be for me succumb to the same pressure. If my wife suddenly screamed in the kitchen while making dinner, jumped onto the couch, and told me she saw a mouse on the counter, I'd be on watch from that moment on.

If the mice didn't appear in the traps, all the better for her, I suppose. The odd success of the Predator movies is probably based on the fact that, to a man, the most dangerous enemy is the one you can’t see. Then, vigilance must be at its highest, and you may need Schwarzenegger.

So, if you want your husband to clean the kitchen right away, "see" a mouse. And guys, if your wife "sees" a mouse, double check that it wasn’t in her imagination. We've got our own standards to uphold!

Labels: chores, cleaning, humor, kitchen, pest control

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Scientists have made an important advance in understanding who is more at risk for Type II Diabetes by mapping the genome for the disease. I'm a big supporter of gaining every bit of information about diseases like Diabetes, but I'm never sure exactly how information like this will influence behaviors.

Will some people think, "Wow, my mom and dad died from Type II Diabetes, but by the time I'll suffer from it, there will be a cure, so I shouldn't worry too much," and then proceed to act as if they're not at risk? Unfortunately, I think the answer is "yes".

The article cites 170 million people on earth are suffering from Type II Diabetes. That will likely double within a decade or two. Maybe drug makers will be able to give you medicine for it based upon your genes, and that will be good. However, since the progression from insulin resistance to pre-diabetes to full Type II Diabetes is almost 100% reversible, it's still best for us to focus intensely on preventing it than treating it once it's contracted.

When I see articles like this, I just hate that they don't really mention that even people with a genetic predisposition can and should do everything possible to start exercising and eat better.

Labels: genetics, genome, MSM, Type II Diabetes

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FDA Approves Non-Prescription Diet Pill - washingtonpost.com

This can't be good. It says in the article that the weight loss pill "alli" will not work if a person does not exercise and restrict calories. When someone is doing the appropriate exercise, they will lose a couple extra pounds for every 5 pounds lost naturally.

First of all, if you can lose weight with a diet and exercise program, why not just do it a little longer without the diet pill?

It simply must be dangerous to stop digesting fats and having them pass right through you. If the colon isn't used to pushing that through, it makes sense that it will be negatively affected, and I suppose the research pointing toward pre-cancerous tumors bears that out precisely.

But the real problem isn't for people who are exercising and eating more healthily. The biggest problem is for those who take it and don't modify their lifestyle!

If a person has to convince a doctor that they are exercising and eating well in order to get the pill, then that's helping build a foundation for future success without the pill--you know, if they don't die of colon cancer first.

But what about the person who maintains a sedentary lifestyle and doesn't modify their diet? Will they use it just so they can eat a little more? Will they use it before they eat hugely fatty meals?

Like I said, that can't be good for anyone...except GlaxoSmithKline.

Labels: alli, lifestyle, weight loss, xenical

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Lifestyle Changes Cut Diabetes Risk in Half

At the link above, there is an interesting discussion on the latest research confirming, once again, that "lifestyle interventions seem to be at least as effective as drug treatment" in preventing the progression from pre-diabetes to Type II Diabetes. In other words, as we talk about so often here, lifestyle choices can reverse insulin resistance.

I love to read Dr. Mercola's work in general, but I think the advice he gives is too extreme for most people. His advice to eliminate all grains and sugars just isn't a realistic option for most people. Not that it wouldn't help insulin resistance, but just that it's way too hard for a "normal person" to simply stop eating grains and sugar. Stress, something most children and adults are experiencing in heavy doses, creates a direct craving for sugary treats. Trying to fight against that with will power isn't going to get the job done for most people.

The HRH Program is designed to have the same effect on pre-diabetic insulin resistance over a longer time frame. If you exercise using the heart rate zones in the HRH Program, your stress levels diminish, your body utilizes insulin better, and you stop having the cravings for sugars that you're used to.

Most people find it's a lot more pleasurable to reduce their insulin resistance this way than just to try to stop cold turkey. Of course, Dr. Mercola as recommends exercise--and a good form of it, at that. I've just found that trying to do it all at once creates a lot more failure than success. On the other hand, letting your body adjust gradually seems to create a lot of success in losing weight and reversing pre-diabetes.

Labels: diabetes, insulin resistance, lifestyle, pre-diabetes, prevention

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You might have heard something about the unusual snowstorms in Colorado over the past three weeks. Something like four feet of snow since before Christmas, and the snow has been on the ground ever since it started. As I was out shoveling snow yet again tonight, the results of numerous studies showing that Minnesota was the "healthiest state" finally made sense to me.

Before, I just ignored the results, thinking there's no way Minnesota can be healthier than Colorado. As Minnesotans have told me, their weather features four distinct seasons of winter. Unless everyone snowshoes in sub-zero weather, they just couldn't be more active and fit than Coloradans.

Now I know. It's the shoveling! As fellow Colorado digger Brad Feld pointed out this morning, every cubic foot of packed snow weighs about 30 pounds. He had to get rid of about 4000 cubic feet with two friends this morning, which equates to lifting about 40,000 pounds of snow in 90 minutes. Whew!

I did far less than that, and I thought my abdominal muscles might explode. To say it's a good aerobic workout is the ultimate understatement. In Denver, where a good half of our population lives, we get surprisingly little snow (or moisture in general). When it does snow, the odds are good that it will melt that very same day.

That has clearly made us weak!

So, I give up. Minnesota, you've earned your right to be #1. And, please know, I'm in no hurry to beat you out in this category. Digg This!

Happy New Year from Craig at the HRH Program! Digg This!