Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Reduce Breast Cancer Risks

As October Breast Cancer Awareness Month closes, I'd like to pass along this information.

To limit your risks of breast cancer, essentially you need to control your estrogen levels to limit or slow cancer cell growth and boost your immune system to fight disease.

Achieve a healthy body composition
  • Extra body fat produces more estrogen which can stimulate cancer cell growth in the breast.  Estrogen levels tend to be lower when you are at a healthy weight, and loosing weight will lower the risk of developing breast cancer.
Exercise regularly
  • Activity helps control body weight, lowers estrogen levels, and supports your immune system.
Eat a healthy diet
  • Good nutrition helps attain a healthy body composision, supports normal estrogen levels and boosts your immune system.
  • A daily healthy diet includes at least five servings of vegetables and fruits, three servings of whole grains and restricted consumption of processed meats.  Also, be sure to limit saturated fats, so stick with lean meats (including lean red meats that are not seared when cooked) and fat-free or 1% dairy products--some people prefer to consume hormone-free meats and dairy as well.
  • A couple of things to consider:  green tea has been found to slow breast cancer growth by protecting cells from damage and premature aging (I recently heard three cups a day suggested), and vitamin D3 can stop cancer cells from dividing (try 1,000 to 2,000 IUs a day).
  • Eating to stabilize blood sugar levels, as promoted by Venice Nutrition, and myself as a nutrition coach, helps to keep your endocrine (hormone) system in balance.  If you're interested in more information, please see the Venice Nutrition link listed under My Favorite Sites--or contact me! (click on: My complete profile (in the upper right corner)).
Limit alcohol consumption
  • Limit yourself to one alcoholic drink per day to help your liver regulate blood estrogen levels. 
Don't smoke
  • Research shows that smoking increases the risk of developing breast cancer.
Please know your own risk factors and keep up to date with regular screening with mammograms and breast exams at your annual check-up!  --Jeanie

Sunday, October 18, 2009

10 Super Foods!

One of my favorite nutrition sources, Nutrition Action Health Letter, has named 10 super foods:
  • sweet potatoes
  • grape tomatoes
  • fat-free or 1% milk
  • broccoli
  • wild salmon
  • crisp-breads by wasa
  • microwavable quick cooking brown rice by Uncle Ben's (my personal favorite is Trader Joe's frozen pre-cooked brown rice--it microwaves perfectly!)
  • citrus fruit
  • pre-diced butternut squash
  • spinach and kale
Interested in more of this kind of information?  Check out their website listed under My Favorite Sites--Jeanie

Thursday, October 1, 2009

How to Weight Train to Increase Metabolism



How to take advantage of weight training's fat burning benefits?
  • Avoid non-active rest periods between each set of repetitions.
  • The idea is to work one muscle group while allowing the another muscle group to rest.  By removing the inactive rest periods, you boost the intensity of the workout.
  • You also shorten your workout time!
Here are a few ways to accomplish this: 

Perform your exercises in a circuit. 
  • A circuit is a group of exercises performed in a row one set at a time.  A set should consist of 8-15 reps.  Typically, when you complete the circuit once, you will go back to the beginning and repeat the sequence one or two more times.
  • For example, an upper body circuit might include the following exercises:  chest press, back row, shoulder press, bicep curl and triceps extension.  You perform one set of the chest press, one set of the back row, one set of shoulder press and so on.

Alternate between upper and lower body exercises.
  • You can alternate between upper and lower body muscle groups in a circuit like this:  leg press, chest press, squats, back row, leg extension, shoulder press and hamstring curl.  Do one set of each and then repeat the sequence.
  • Or you can alternate sets between two exercises:  leg press with chest press; leg extension with back row; and hamstring curl with shoulder press, and so on.
Perform supersets.
  • With supersets, you alternate between two opposing muscle groups for two or three sets.
  • For example, you perform one set of the chest press followed immediately by one set of the back row.  Then go back to the chest press for one set, followed again by the back row. 
  • When you finish this pair, you move on to two other opposing muscle groups like the quadriceps leg extension and the hamstring curl.
These suggestions are just snippets--they are not complete workout plans.

Don't forget to warm up first and stretch at the end! -- Jeanie