Thinking of starting a diet? Are you already on a diet? Are you trying to lose a little weight before a specific event? You are not alone!

Practically every day another benefit of Vitamin D is revealed!

Have Fun This Season Without The Guilt - Or Weight Gain

Don’t let the holidays leave you dragging – make a plan for a healthy, fun holiday.

The holidays are here! With them come more opportunities to get together with family, friends, colleagues at work, and in your church. And of course, there will be holiday food and drink! Home-made cookies, pies, cakes, eggnog, and those extravagant holiday dinners!

Weight Loss Foods

Foods for successful weight loss and overall health.

Obesity Epidemic Is Killing Our Children- Parents Have the Power To Stop It.

We’re killing our children. Since 1980, the number of overweight children between ages six and 11 has more than doubled, and the rate of overweight teens has more than tripled. This means more young people are at risk for developing potentially life-threatening type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, asthma and psychological issues, such as low self-esteem and depression. To make matters worse, according to a recent report in the British Medical Journal, children don’t tend to outgrow their “baby” fat. Researchers found that children who were overweight at 11 were just as likely to be overweight at 16.

For advice to parents and caregivers on how to deal with it, Dr. William Dietz, PhD, obesity and nutrition expert at the Center for Disease Control says the problem can’t be chalked up to any one cause.

Stress And Aging

Are you a stressed out person? 

If you are, you may be aging faster than you should be.  In fact, chronically stressed people may be 9 to 17 years older than they realize. A new study from the University of California, San Francisco, found that chronic psychological stress may lead to chromosome changes that can cause premature aging.  Scientists found that stressed-out people have much shorter chromosome-stabilizing caps than other people.  These protective caps (called telomeres) shrink each time a cell divides – when they become too short, a cell can no longer divide and the cell dies. In the study, researchers discovered that chronically stressed people have shorter telomeres – an average of 550 units shorter.  And since all adult’s telomeres naturally become shorter each year (by 31 to 61 units), that adds up to 9 to 17 extra years of aging.  Telomere shortening is not only linked to aging, but to premature death from infections and cardiovascular disease.  The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and compared stressed-out mothers of chronically ill children and mothers of healthy children.

Luckily, there are things you can do to bring relaxation and peace into your life.  Try these tips to feel better and avoid early-aging.

Is Diabetes In Your Future?

Change your destiny through exercise, nutrition, herbs, and supplements

Do you have a family history of type 2 diabetes? Do you go to the Doctor regularly and have your blood glucose checked – just waiting to be told that you have diabetes? Or, perhaps your previous blood work has shown no signs of trouble, but a more sensitive test was ordered  - and the results were disturbing! You’ve been told you have pre-diabetes!

When blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not quite elevated enough to be deemed full-blown diabetes, this condition is now called pre-diabetes, but also referred to as syndrome X, insulin resistance syndrome, or metabolic syndrome.

Pre-diabetes doesn’t mean you’re destined to develop diabetes. According to the Diabetes Prevention Program, a study of 3200 pre-diabetics that Edward Horton, M.D., director, conducted, lifestyle changes can prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes – and do it more effectively than standard diabetes medications.

The 7 Percent Solution

Most people with pre-diabetes have at least one thing in common: They need to lose weight. When you increase the size and number of fat cells, you release factors that cause insulin resistance. (Insulin is a hormone that allows cells to use glucose as energy; when cells become resistant to insulin, blood glucose levels rise.) What’s more, fat deposits in muscle and the liver cause insulin resistance, too.