Worth your time to review and comment before 15 July. This proposal leaves out the importance of using nutritional supplements.
Natural Products Association expresses "concern" over 2010 Dietary Guidelines
USDA Report
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Health Insurance Rewards More for Procedures Than Real Care
Are you wondering why Congress blocked Medicare reimbursements?
I thought this was quite a good report on the current state of health care. The problem as I see it is that this mentality has been the mainstay of Medicare and Big Insurance since the "managed care" movement moved in with gusto in the 80s.
I just hop my readers will take heed and realize this is what you are up against in regard to REAL health care reform.
I thought this was quite a good report on the current state of health care. The problem as I see it is that this mentality has been the mainstay of Medicare and Big Insurance since the "managed care" movement moved in with gusto in the 80s.
I just hop my readers will take heed and realize this is what you are up against in regard to REAL health care reform.
It was a case study in what primary-care doctors have long bemoaned: that Medicare rewards doctors far better for doing procedures than for assessing whether they should be done at all. The incentives for overtreatment continue, said Dr. Ted Epperly, the board chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians, because those who profit from them — specialists, hospitals, drug companies and the medical-device manufacturers — spend money lobbying Congress and the public to keep it that way.
Last year, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, medical-equipment manufacturers and other medical professionals spent $545 million on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. This may help explain why researchers estimate that 20 to 30 percent of Medicare’s $510 billion budget goes for unnecessary tests and treatment. Why cost-containment received short shrift in health care reform. Why physicians like Fales net an average of $173,000 a year, while noninvasive cardiologists like Rogan net about $419,000.
The system rewarded nobody for saying “no” or even “wait” — not even my frugal, intelligent, Consumer-Reports-reading mother. Medicare and supplemental insurance covered almost every penny of my father’s pacemaker. My mother was given more government-mandated consumer information when she bought a new Camry a year later.
And so my father’s electronically managed heart — now requiring frequent monitoring, paid by Medicare — became part of the $24 billion worldwide cardiac-device industry and an indirect subsidizer of the fiscal health of American hospitals. The profit margins that manufacturers earn on cardiac devices is close to 30 percent. Cardiac procedures and diagnostics generate about 20 percent of hospital revenues and 30 percent of profits.
According to an analysis by the Dartmouth Atlas medical-research group, patients are far more likely than their doctors to reject aggressive treatments when fully informed of pros, cons and alternatives — information, one study suggests, that nearly half of patients say they don’t get. And although many doctors assume that people want to extend their lives, many do not. In a 1997 study in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 30 percent of seriously ill people surveyed in a hospital said they would “rather die” than live permanently in a nursing home. In a 2008 study in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 28 percent of patients with advanced heart failure said they would trade one day of excellent health for another two years in their current state.
Complete article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20pacemaker-t.html
Is Physical Therapy An Option For Your Back Pain?
There are many causes of back pain. When it is due to injury from an accident, from improper lifting, or disc problems, you may need to supplement your medical care with physical therapy. The only way to know is to have your back pain monitored by a medical professional who can direct you to a qualified physical therapy specialist if and when needed.
Physical therapy is one of many methods used to return the back to good health. We can’t always do it all ourselves when we hurt our back. No matter how many stretching and strengthening exercises we do, our back just won't heal. Specialized techniques may be needed to aid in your rehabilitation.
What constitutes the need for a physical therapist? Here are a few examples that may qualify you to receive further care involving physical therapy:
Back pain from injury
Chronic pain
Rehabilitation after back surgery
Physical therapy may be a very valuable rehabilitation tool in your overall back health. Depending on your particular case, the physical therapist may prescribe active or passive care for your back pain.
Passive care involves avoiding certain movements, applying cold or heat, or something that someone is doing to you. The following are methods a back pain sufferer may use before, during, or after physical therapy to relieve the pain:
1.Stay still – When given the order to stay in bed, rest, you would think that would be a welcome order to receive. However, most of us find it difficult to do this. The reason your doctor may order you to be on bed rest is so the inflammation in your back can calm down, lessening the pain and advancing the rehabilitation.
2.Use ice or heat – Ice can numb the pain so you can get some rest, as well as reduce inflammation and swelling of the joints. Heat relaxes the muscles so they can be massaged and unknotted in order to relax and heal. The use of cold and heat can be tricky so use your doctor's advice when deciding which to apply, especially when you are in pain that is above the norm.
3.Nerve stimulation – The nerves that supply the back can be supplied with electrical impulses to relieve pain. One process is called TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation). This works for people suffering from spinal stenosis. It can also be used in conjunction with acupuncture.
4.Chiropractic care – A chiropractor is used to helping people with spinal issues that result in back pain. You may need to be “stretched.” It’s not like the process of making taffy but a gentle stretching of your back to lengthen the spine and alleviate pain and pressure.
Active physical therapy involves something that you do with supervision from the physical therapist.
1.Aerobic activity – This may be as simple as using a treadmill or stationary bicycle. The goal is to increase your blood circulation which increases oxygen intake. This increased circulation and oxygen will help muscle flexibility and strength.
2.Strength training - Building muscle in the back and body improves your back's strength and resilience. The therapist will help you do strengthening exercises and will give you exercises to do at home as well. Start out slow to avoid injury and increase your repetitions as you get stronger. Follow your therapists instructions and stick with the exercises.
3.Stretching – Yoga and other stretching exercises perfects the connection between our muscles, bones, and mind. Stretching your entire body works to increase mobility and flexibility in your back. Your physical therapist will work with you on the perfect stretching exercises for your particular back problem.
4.Manipulation – Physical therapists are trained in the ins-and-outs of muscle structure and how each muscle interacts with the other muscles, bones and nerves. You may have the need for a procedure in which the therapist manipulates your muscles in a massaging fashion which “revs up” the healing process by stimulating the nerves. This procedure is sometimes compared to revving up a car's engine to get it to idle smoother.
Is physical therapy for your back pain a good option? It can be. Most doctors will work with you through a series of basic methods to relieve your back pain. They will then move you into the physical therapy area when they see you need additional rehabilitation to get your back, and you, back on track.
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Back Pain Relief Guide - Get the latest, cutting-edge information about back pain, what causes it and how to get lasting relief. Millions of people suffer from back pain unnecessarily - don't continue to be one of them.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Know Your GMO
The United States Supreme Court announced its decision today in Monsanto v. Geerston Farms, the first genetically modified crop case ever brought before the Supreme Court. Although the High Court decision reverses parts of the lower courts’ rulings, the judgment holds that the ban on planting Roundup Ready Alfalfa still stands until and unless future deregulation by the Agency occurs. This is a major victory for the Center for Food Safety and the Farmers and Consumers it represents!
In the majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court held: “In sum…the vacatur of APHIS’s deregulation decision means that virtually no RRA (Roundup Ready Alfalfa) can be grown or sold until such time as a new deregulation decision is in place, and we also know that any party aggrieved by a hypothetical future deregulation decision will have ample opportunity to challenge it, and to seek appropriate preliminary relief, if and when such a decision is made.” (Opinion at p. 22).
The Court also held that:
- Any further attempt to commercialize RRA even in part may require an EIS subject to legal challenge.
- The Court further recognized that the threat of transgenic contamination is harmful and onerous to organic and conventional farmers and that the injury allows them to challenge future biotech crop commercializations in court.
Many of you may have read press this morning reporting that the 7-1 decision announced by the Supreme Court today went entirely in Monsanto's favor. Not to our surprise, Monsanto’s PR machine is working hard to overpower the truth in today's decision in the first-ever Supreme Court case on genetically engineered crops (Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms). While the decision is complicated, this Court opinion is in many ways a victory for CFS and a defeat against Monsanto—especially given that it is still illegal to sell or plant GMO alfalfa.
CFS’s Executive Director, Andrew Kimbrell authored an article in today's Huffington Post to help clarify the legal ramifications of the decision. Grist also has a good piece outlining the decision, as does Eco Centric.
Despite what Monsanto is claiming—and what many mainstream media outlets reported earlier this morning—today’s ruling isn’t even close to the victory they were hoping for. Generally speaking, Monsanto asked the Supreme Court to rule on three main issues: (1) to lift the injunction on GMO alfalfa; (2) to allow the planting and sale of GMO alfalfa; (3) to rule that contamination from GMO crops not be considered irreparable harm.
In fact, the court only ruled on the first request which it did affirm by stating that the injunction was overly broad and should be overturned. However, the Court ruled in CFS's favor on the other two issues, which in many ways are more important as the fact remains that the planting and sale of GMO alfalfa remains illegal. The Supreme Court ruled that an injunction against planting was simply unnecessary since, under lower courts’ rulings, Roundup Ready Alfalfa became a regulated item and illegal to plant. In other words, the injunction was “overkill’ because our victory in lower federal court determined that USDA violated the National Environmental Protection Act and other environmental laws when it approved Roundup Ready alfalfa. The court felt that voiding the USDA’s decision to make the crop legally available for sale was enough.
The Center is victorious in this case in several other ways: most importantly, the High Court did not rule on several arguments presented by Monsanto about the application of federal environmental law. As a result, the Court did not make any ruling that could have been hurtful to National Environmental Policy Act or any other environmental laws. In addition, the Court opinion supported the Center’s argument that gene flow is a serious environmental and economic threat. This means that genetic contamination from GMOs can still be considered harm under the law, both from an environmental and economic perspective, another huge victory for CFS.
We could not have gone all the way to the Supreme Court without your support—thank you! Your letters, phone calls and donations have been invaluable in the efforts to ban GE alfalfa. We will keep you updated on any Agency attempts to deregulate GE alfalfa and on the ongoing EIS process. In the meantime, if you have not already done so, please take a moment to contact your Congressional representatives and ask them to sign the “Dear Colleague” letter circulating in the U.S. House and Senate urging USDA to ban GE alfalfa.
Further background information on the history of this case and scientific studies are available at http://truefoodnow.org/publications/supreme-court-briefs/. Today’s press release can be found here: http://truefoodnow.org/2010/06/21/supreme-court-ruling-in-monsanto-case-is-victory-for-center-for-food-safety-farmers/#more-1217, and The Supreme Court decision can be viewed here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/09-475.pdf
UPDATE: 28 May -
Genetically Modified Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant MortalityTom Vilsack was well known to be a great Monsanto cheerleader before Obama selected him for AG Secretary -
"This study was just routine," said Russian biologist Alexey V. Surov, in what could end up as the understatement of this century. Surov and his colleagues set out to discover if Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) soy, grown on 91% of US soybean fields, leads to problems in growth or reproduction. What he discovered may uproot a multi-billion dollar industry.
After feeding hamsters for two years over three generations, those on the GM diet, and especially the group on the maximum GM soy diet, showed devastating results. By the third generation, most GM soy-fed hamsters lost the ability to have babies. They also suffered slower growth, and a high mortality rate among the pups.
And if this isn't shocking enough, some in the third generation even had hair growing inside their mouths—a phenomenon rarely seen, but apparently more prevalent among hamsters eating GM soy.
Now here's another chance to let him and Health Secretary Sebelius know how dangerous GMO's are to health and why labelling MUST be required on food.
You Do Have the Right to Know
Action Alert – Protect Your Right to Know Which Foods Contain GMOs
Please send this URGENT message to U.S. Government leaders to protect your right to know which foods are made from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Click and send an email today to the Secretaries of State (Clinton), Agriculture (Vilsack), and Health and Human Services (Sebelius). Please try to do this before Wednesday, May 5th, but don’t stop until they come around.
They must stop U.S. negotiators at an international (Codex) conference from May 3-7, from pushing an agenda that could make it difficult for anyone, anywhere in the world to label foods as genetically modified (GM) – or even make non-GMO claims on their product’s label.
The U.S. is taking the ridiculous and unscientific position that GMOs are not different from conventional foods, claiming labels that say GMO or non-GMO are misleading.
If they succeed at the meeting, the U.S. may then file lawsuits through the World Trade Organization against any country that implements mandatory labeling of GMOs, or even allows non-GMO claims on packages.
This Is a Grave Threat to the Non-GMO Tipping Point – We Must Push Back Now!
The growing evidence and concern about health dangers of GMOs is making waves. A renowned US Medical organization (American Academy of Environmental Medicine) called on doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets for all patients. Consumers are seeking non-GMO brands, and the fastest growing claim among store brands in 2009 was “GMO-Free” (Neilson Survey). The trade journal Supermarket News predicts GMO concerns will erupt this year, specifically because consumers are now given choices by the new Non-GMO Shopping Guide website and the Non-GMO Project’s third-party verified standard for making non-GMO claims.
Most Americans (53%) say they would avoid GMOs if they were labeled. But even 5% would likely be enough to create a tipping point of consumer rejection, forcing all GM ingredients out of our food supply.
We can see the tipping point just over the horizon, but it is now threatened by the US position at Codex.
Tell our government leaders that you will not stand for this outrageous obstruction of our democracy and human rights. Demand that the U.S. support the right for countries everywhere to label GMOs. And remind them that 9 out of 10 Americans want mandatory GMO labeling, and that President Obama actually made a campaign pledge to implement it—which are all waiting for.
Send an email today
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This email was sent by The Institute for Responsible Technology, located at PO Box 469 - Fairfield, IA 52556 -
Kagan goes to bat for Monsanto
U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court, is the most recent in a long line of pro-biotech Obama appointees.
As Solicitor General, Kagan submitted a friend of the court brief to the Supreme Court in favor of Monsanto's appeal in Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms.
Monsanto is trying to get the Supreme Court to force genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa onto the market, despite passionate opposition from organic consumers and farmers, and despite the fact the USDA never did a proper Environmental Impact Statement. Geerston Seed Farms made the case that GE alfalfa would permanently contaminate their GE-free alfalfa seed, prompting a California US District Court to effectively ban Monsanto's GE alfalfa.
As Solicitor General, Kagan is supposed to represent the interests of the American people in matters that come before the Supreme Court. Instead, she went to bat for Monsanto Co.
ORIGINAL POST DATE 5/4/10
The Best Exercise Substitutions for Your Workout
By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
http://turbulencetraining.rxsportz.com
The truth is that sometimes you just won't have the equipment, space, or strength to do some exercises in Turbulence Training.
Fortunately, there's GREAT news about that, which I realized last week while writing up a new exercise column for Men's Health magazine.
And the GREAT news is this:
Almost every single TT exercise can be substituted by an equally amazing exercise from my repertoire.
So let's go through a huge list of exercise substitutions. This will be perfect for you to print out and keep with your TT program or in your workout area.
Exercise Substitutions
1) To replace Squats, you can do:
1-leg hip extensions
Step-ups
Deep Step-ups
Split squats
Reverse lunges
Forward lunges
Bulgarian split squats (with back foot elevated on a bench)
Reaching lunges
1-leg deadlifts
1-leg squats (use bands or straps for assistance if necessary)
1-leg squats standing on a bench
By the way, if you are using dumbbells for squats or lunges and you find that the weights are too heavy to hold, you can switch to a barbell if you have access to it.
The only reason you don't see barbell exercises in the TT programs are because most TT readers exercise at home with dumbbells.
2) To replace Deadlifts:
The only "direct replacement" is dumbbell squats.
Otherwise, just replace deadlifts with a superset pairing of any lower body exercise paired with a row.
For example:
Barbell lunge supersetted with a DB row
Stability Ball Leg Curl supersetted with Inverted Row
3) If you have sore knees and need to replace lunges:
First, see a doctor and have them diagnose the problem. Second, see a therapist and have them treat the issue. Third, see a trainer and have them assess where you need to work on flexibility and how you can include some "knee-friendly" exercises in your workout program.
These exercises include:
Lying Hip Extensions (also known as Lying Hip Bridges)
1-leg Hip Extensions
Lying Hip Extensions with your feet on the ball
Stability Ball Leg Curls
4) To replace Bench Presses or Dumbbell Chest Presses (of any kind), you can do one of these:
Pushups
Close-grip pushups
Decline pushup
Elevated pushups
Off-set pushups
Pushups with your feet on the ball
Pushups with your hands on the ball
Pushups with your feet on the ball and hands on the bench
Suspended strap pushups
Spiderman pushups
Spiderman climb pushups
Pike pushups
Dips
Decline close-grip spiderman pushups
By the way, if you have dumbbells but no bench, you can replace flat dumbbell bench presses by lying on the floor. And you can replace incline dumbbell presses with standing 1-arm dumbbell shoulder presses.
5) To replace any kind of row, here are alternatives:
Dumbbell rows
Dumbbell rows with elbows out
Dumbbell chest supported rows
Barbell rows
Inverted rows
Underhand grip rows
Seated cable rows
Renegade Rows (with flat dumbbells or kettlebells)
Dumbbell rear deltoid raises
Rows with TRX or blast straps
Chin-ups (these are done with an underhand grip)
Eccentric chin-ups
Sternum chin-ups
V-grip chin-ups
Pull-ups (these are done with an overhand grip)
Eccentric pull-ups
Sternum pull-ups
And in place of pull-ups or chin-ups, you can do:
Dumbbell rows
Dumbbell pullovers
Underhand grip pulldowns (kneeling) - replaces chin-ups
Overhand grip pulldowns (kneeling) - replace pull-ups
Assisted chinups/pull-ups using machine
However, if you have absolutely no equipment (i.e. no dumbbells, no barbell, no cables, no straps, and no bar) then unfortunately there is no way to train your upper back. The best you can do is to add a lot of prisoner squats, prisoner lunges, stick-ups, and WYT's to your bodyweight program.
6) To replace dips, you can do:
Any version of close-grip pushups
Dumbbell floor presses
Dumbbell close-grip presses
Close-grip bench press
7) To replace dumbbell split squats, you can do:
1-leg lying hip extensions
Bulgarian split squats (use higher reps or the 1 & 1/4 rep method)
Split squats with your front foot elevated 4-6 inches
1-leg deadlifts
1-leg squats (holding straps or cables for assistance)
1-leg squats standing on the bench
Step-ups
Deep step-ups
Reaching lunges
(NOTE: For many exercises, including pushing and pulling too, you can play around with the 1&1/2 rep style - lowering to the bottom position, coming halfway back up, and then lowering again, and then coming all the way back up.)
Please forward this list to your friends or print them a copy.
To your success,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
http://turbulencetraining.rxsportz.com
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Ranch Dressing a Favorite, Even with Questionable Ingredients
Ranch dressing is the most popular salad dressing offered in restaurants of North America, according to Mintel Menu Insights.
Kraft Ranch Dressing came in at the 'Numero Uno' position and of course I wonder why that is because the writer made no inclusion of the ingredients.
As fro me I'd leave this on the shelf after viewing some of the ingredients I highlighted.
According to Kraft, their Ranch dressing contains -
And the label sports this information -
Here in a report posted Yahoo's 'Shine' pages you'll find the report -
Kraft Ranch Dressing came in at the 'Numero Uno' position and of course I wonder why that is because the writer made no inclusion of the ingredients.
As fro me I'd leave this on the shelf after viewing some of the ingredients I highlighted.
According to Kraft, their Ranch dressing contains -
WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, SUGAR, GARLIC JUICE, BUTTERMILK, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, WHEY, PHOSPHORIC ACID, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, EGG WHITES, VINEGAR, XANTHAN GUM, CITRIC ACID, POLYSORBATE 60, SPICE, NATURAL FLAVOR, ENZYMES, WITH SODIUM LACTATE, NATAMYCIN, AND CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA AS PRESERVATIVES. CONTAINS: MILK, EGG.
And the label sports this information -
- Serving Size
- 2tbs
- Servings per Container about
- 24
- Amount Per Serving
| Calories | 120 | Calories from Fat | 110 |
| % Daily Value* |
- Total Fat 12g
- 18 %
- Saturated Fat 2g
- 10 %
- Trans Fat 0g
- 0 %
- Cholesterol 0mg
- 0 %
- Sodium 370mg
- 15 %
- Total Carbohydrate 3g
- 1 %
- Dietary Fiber 0g
- 0 %
- Sugars 2g
- Protein 0g
Here in a report posted Yahoo's 'Shine' pages you'll find the report -
So how did we choose our test subjects? Some were easy--you can't think of the words Hidden Valley without Ranch attached--but some required more thought. So I took myself to an Associated Supermarket (a New York chain akin to Giant, Safeway, and the like), stood in front of the dressing aisle, and let my hand wander to bottles like the planchette on a Ouija board. Just kidding; this choice involved email discussions among colleagues and many a chat with grocers.
Once I arrived back to the office, plastic bags in hand, we set out to decide which brand is the best. The only fair way to do this was a blind taste test, so that no one on staff knew which dressing was which. And baby carrots were the vehicle of choice, because "baby carrots and ranch dip is the official food of preschoolers everywhere," said Executive Editor Victoria von Biel.
#1 Kraft Ranch Dressing & Dip
Nutrition: 1 serving = 120 calories; 12 g fat; 370 mg sodium
Cost: $2.19 for an 8oz. bottle at Associated Supermarket
Blind Tasting Notes: "Nice bright white color"; "Well balanced"; "Tastes like my childhood"
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