Skinny-Fat? Can you be thin & fat?

You can look thin on the outside, and still be fat – it’s called skinny-fat

“Skinny-fat”.  It sounds like a conflict in terms – like “jumbo shrimp” or “freezer burn”.  But I see skinny-fat clients all the time – they’re people who look as if their weight is about right, but they’ve actually got a lot of excess body fat.  And – hard as this may be to believe – some of these people are, technically, obese.  You’d be wrong to think that all obese people are large.  Obesity simply means that someone has too much body fat – regardless of their weight they can be skinny-fat.  So even if body weight falls within a ‘normal’ range, a person can still be obese. Or to put it another way, normal weight + high body fat = “skinny-fat”.

The fact is body weight doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with body fat.  Just as you can’t assume that a ‘large’ person is carrying around a lot of excess fat, you also can’t assume that someone who looks to be of normal weight isn’t.

The only way to really sort this out is by analyzing a person’s body composition  – that is, determining how much fat and how much lean tissue they have.  Once that’s done, the body fat percentage can be compared to expected averages, which are roughly 15-20% for young men, and 22-25% for young women (as people age, the average body fat goes up somewhat).

Recently, I measured a young female client of mine (whose weight of 120 pounds seems appropriate for her height of 64 inches) – and found her to have a whopping 39% body fat. Skinny-fat?  You bet.

Why does this matter?  If a person looks okay, what difference does it make if they have too much fat?  The answer is simply this; having too much fat isn’t just unsightly, it’s unhealthy. For one thing, people who are “thin on the outside but fat on the inside” tend to be couch potatoes.  Since they don’t exercise that much, they have to rely on calorie restriction alone to keep their weight down – rather than maintaining proper weight through a combination of a healthy diet and an active lifestyle.  Excess body fat, particularly if it’s carried around the midsection, can spell trouble, too.

The good news is that when I explain to clients what this all means, they get it.  With my client, I explained that her resting metabolic rate – the number of calories her body needs every day just to carry out its most basic functions – is determined by how much lean body mass she has.  Since each pound of lean body mass burns about 14 calories per day, I determined her metabolic rate to be a meager 1000 calories per day.  And, since she doesn’t exercise much, she doesn’t burn a whole lot more calories than that every day.  I could practically see the light go on in her head -  “so that’s why I have to eat so little in order to keep my weight down!”

One of the best things a skinny-fat person can do is to get more active and, in particular, to start strength training.  Adequate protein is important, too, to help build muscle.  That will shift the body composition in favor of more lean body mass and less fat – which, in turn, will raise the resting metabolic rate.  And, just maybe, turn someone from ‘skinny-fat’ to ‘skinny-fit’.

6 reasons you’re eating when you’re not hungry – & how to stop

Here are some reasons why you might eat when you’re not hungry – and what you can do about it.

You’re not hungry but you eat anyway:

Life and calorie control would be a whole lot easier if we only ate when we were truly hungry.  Then it would simply be a biological drive that needed to be satisfied – like downing a glass of water when your throat is parched. It’s the rare person who doesn’t eat for reasons other than hunger – most of us find ourselves doing it from time to time. 

Part of the reason is that there is so much context to eating – who you’re with, what the occasion is, how you’re feeling – so that food is more than simply a way to fill up your belly.  Instead, the act of eating can become an emotionally charged relationship.  If this sounds like you, here are some of the reasons that you might be eating – even though you hadn’t intended to – and what you can do about it.

Eating for comfort

For many people, this one tops the list.  Perhaps you have your ‘go-to’ foods that ease the pain of a lousy day at work or an argument with a relative.  Unfortunately, the soothing effect doesn’t usually last long – it’s often quickly replaced by guilt, because you ate something you shouldn’t have. “Stuffing down your feelings” with food isn’t going to make the problem go away – you may be better off trying to deal with any issues head-on.  Call a friend, take a brisk walk to blow off some steam, or write your thoughts down in a diary instead.

Eating as a reward

I’ve never quite understood this, but I’ve had plenty of clients who reward themselves for doing well on their diet with… food.  It’s fine to allow yourself to have a treat from time to time – that’s a natural thing to do.  But if you only allow yourself a treat as a reward for being good, that treat becomes very, very special –and so desirable that you’ll want it again and again.  Find another way to reward yourself – maybe download some new music or get a massage.

Eating because you think you should

Think of those times when you’ve said to yourself, “I should eat this because it was offered to me” or “Mom took the time to make this for me and I don’t want to offend her” or “I should eat these leftovers because it’s wrong to waste food”.  Instead, put the leftovers away – that’s easy.  While it’s not quite as easy to turn down food offers, you can try by simply saying, “thanks, it looks delicious, but I’m not hungry right now”.  Or you can accept, and take just a bite or two to be polite.

Eating food because it’s there

You didn’t mean to eat that stale donut in the break room at work – it was just there.  You weren’t lookingfor candy – but that bowl of jellybeans on your friend’s kitchen counter was just there.  Next time this happens to you, ask yourself this – “if this food weren’t in front of me, would I even be thinking about eating it?”

Eating because other people are eating

A group of coworkers asks you to join them for lunch – but you just ate.  You had a healthy snack before heading to a friend’s house to watch the football playoffs – and there’s a buffet full of greasy snack foods.  In situations like these, you might feel pressured to eat to be ‘part of the group’ .  But I assure you – you can be just as sociable with a cup of tea or glass of sparkling water in your hand as you can with a plate full of food that you neither want, nor need.

Eating as a distraction

This one also includes ‘eating when you’re bored’.  You’re eating either because it keeps you from doing something else that you should be doing –  or, because you can’t think of anything else to do.  Using food as entertainment can be dangerous.  Instead, take a jog around the block, or get down on the floor and do some stretching and some sit-ups, and let exercise – rather than food – be your distraction instead.

Why do men lose weight faster than women?

A client I saw recently said something to me that I know resonates with millions of women about women’s weight loss.

“I work out so hard,” she told me.  “I follow my diet to the letter, and it’s a battle just to lose a couple of pounds in a month.  But my boyfriend – even if he cheats on his diet a little bit – still  experiences weight loss week after week.  It’s just not fair!”

Fair or not, that’s just the way it is.  But why? Why do men tend to lose more quickly than women?

Too many women figure that they’re ‘not trying hard enough’.  But it usually isn’t that they aren’t doing enough – or that men are trying harder.  It really comes down to the fact that men and women are simply made differently – and those differences have a big impact on women’s weight loss rates.

Here’s what’s at play.  The number of calories that your body requires – just to fuel its most basic functions – is determined by a couple of things.  First is simply your total body size – it takes more calories to fuel a large body than it does a smaller one.  Most men are larger than women, so chalk up one for the guys.

Then there’s the issue of body composition – every pound of lean body mass you have burns about 14 calories a day, while every pound of fat you have only burns about 2 calories.  So, the more muscle you carry (and the less fat) the greater your daily calorie burn.   Score another one for the guys…not only are their bodies bigger, they tend to carry more muscle than women do, too.

As if that weren’t enough, men are more likely to burn more calories when they exercise.  Again, it’s not that they’re necessarily pushing themselves that much harder – it’s just that the larger the body, the more calories it takes to move that body through space.  A 250-pound guy is going to burn more calories running for an hour than a gal weighing 150 pounds – even if they go at the same pace.

So it boils down to this:  the number of calories it takes for the average man to maintain his weight is higher than it is for the average woman. And that can be a big advantage to men when it comes to weight loss.  A heavy-set guy who maintains his weight on 2500 calories a day can cut out 1000 calories or so from his daily intake, still have a reasonable 1500 calories to spend on his meals and snacks, and drop a couple of pounds a week.

On the other hand, his girlfriend who is struggling with her weight might be maintaining on only 1600 calories or so.  To lose weight safely, she shouldn’t cut her intake to less than 1200 calories a day – which means that while he can easily create a 1000 calorie-per-day shortage, the 400 calories that she’s able to cut means she’ll be hard-pressed to lose even a half a pound in a week’s time.

I think it’s great when couples work together to try to get in shape.  Because, when it works, they can help support and motivate each other.  But when it doesn’t work, it’s often because she resents him for losing more quickly, or he faults her for ‘not trying hard enough’.  It’s not a contest, and even if it were, the playing field simply isn’t level. And in any other match-up, that just wouldn’t be fair.

Healthy Eating: Can You Eat Too Much Healthy Food?

Last week, a friend was telling me that he’d eaten a huge serving of a delicious end-of-the-summer watermelon the evening before. Afterwards, he got to thinking – did he overdo it? Can you, in fact, eat too much of what’s good for you?

I get asked this a lot, particularly when it comes to fruit. Depending on what it is you’re concerned about, the answer could be yes or no. If you’re worried about eating “too much sugar” from fruit, then I’d say the concern is unwarranted. Yes, fruit is sweet from the natural sugar it contains, but it’s also packaged up with vitamins, minerals, fiber and a host of healthy phytonutrients that act as antioxidants. And, you’re probably not getting nearly as much sugar as you think – you’d need to eat a quarter of a large watermelon to match the sugar in a medium-sized soft drink. That’s a lot of melon.

If you’re worried that you might ‘overdo’ a particular vitamin or mineral, you can rest easy, too. We’re designed to take in a wide range of foods – so, as long as your diet is well-rounded and includes a variety of whole foods, you’d be hard-pressed to take in too much of any one vitamin or mineral. You just wouldn’t be able to eat enough food in order to do that.

On the other hand, when it comes to eating healthy foods, some people figure that ‘if some is good, more is better’. So while it’s highly unlikely that you could over eat a particular nutrient, you can certainly eat too many calories. And this is where the answer to the question is yes – you can eat healthy, but still eat too much.

I’ve run into this more times than I can count. The patients who say, “I don’t get it – I eat healthy, but I can’t lose weight” are often the ones who boast that they’ve switched from regular chips to fat free chips, but ignore the fact that they still eat the entire bag in one sitting.

I’ve had patients who took in huge amounts of excess calories from the most unlikely sources – foods that are “healthy” or “low calorie” – simply because they ate too much of them. One ate jar after jar of pickles; another ate over 200 calories a day from breath mints. I also had a patient who satisfied her craving for potato chips by munching on dry, uncooked (but fat free) pasta – to the tune of about 450 extra calories a day.

The healthy food that we eat – fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and nonfat dairy products – do have a lot fewer calories per bite than the less healthy food that’s full of fat and sugar and they’re also more satisfying. The proteins keep hunger at bay, and the fiber and water in the plant foods help to fill us up.

But we have the capacity to eat a lot more calories than we burn off. So don’t assume – as many do – that portion size doesn’t matter as long as you’re eating only healthy foods. Yes, even fruit can add up – if you did eat that quarter of a watermelon, it would cost you about 350 calories. Fat free granola might be healthy, but that doesn’t mean you should eat it from a bowl the size of a football helmet. When it comes to calories, you can, in fact, get too much of a good thing.

Survey Says: Most Summer Bodies Stayed Under Wraps this Year

It’s late spring, and you’re standing in line at the supermarket, staring at the magazines.  The covers are graced with people who are tanned, toned and fit and the headlines scream, “get your bikini body now!” or “there’s still time to shape up for summer!”  And many of us do toss around the ideaof getting rid of a little excess flab that’s been hiding under bulky sweaters and long coats all winter.  But how many people actually attempt to get in shape for summer?  And, when they slip into their swimsuits, how do they feel “letting it all hang out”?  In order to find out, Herbalife sponsored a nationwide survey* – and the results were really surprising. 

The survey asked 1000 men and women whether they tried to diet and exercise their way to a better body for the summer, and how they felt about being seen in swimwear.  And a large majority – 69% of the women and 76% of the men – said that they put forth absolutely no effort to get in shape for the summer.

And while we didn’t gather height and weight data in the survey, it’s probably safe to say that most of those surveyed are carrying around more weight than they’d like.  When asked how they felt about their bodies being out in plain view, only 3.5% thought, “I’ve got it, so I flaunt it”.  And despite summer’s searing heat wave, more than half said they keep their bodies “under wraps”, 36% said they’re “embarrassed to be seen in a bathing suit”, and another 16% avoid swimming situations altogether – because they simply don’t want to be seen.

Interestingly, the majority – 61 percent – admitted that while their bodies aren’t perfect, they were comfortable with what they’ve got.  And on the surface, that body acceptance would appear to be a good thing.  But when nationwide statistics are also showing that, as a nation, we’re just getting heavier and heavier, it could also suggest that our view of what a normal and healthy body looks like is shifting – in the wrong direction.  And, that may mean that many are simply giving up the fight to get fit – they’re working out less and loving it more. 

With so many people keeping themselves covered up and avoiding the water altogether, a day of activity at the beach or pool is a missed opportunity for those who could really use it.  Swimming is a great cardio workout, and the natural resistance of the water helps to build muscle.  And a walk or jog in the sand at the beach really works the legs.

So now imagine that it’s next spring, and you’re standing at the checkout line, looking at the magazine covers.  Okay – maybe you can’t get a bikini body in time for summer – but you sure aren’t going to get one if you spend the summer on the couch.  Instead of avoiding the beach and the pool (or the mirror) next year, get into those swimming togs, get outside and get moving.  While it’s great to be comfortable with the body you’ve got, if you take care if it with proper diet and exercise, it’ll also be the best body it can be. 

*Survey of US adult population, conducted by Synovate eNation, June 27, 2011 through June 29, 2011, margin of error +/- 3 percentage points.

Top Five Myths about Body Fat

For all the time we spend thinking about how to get rid of it, body fat is probably one of the most misunderstood tissues in the human body.  We pinch and pull at it, wishing it would just go away, as if it were just some extra unnecessary ‘stuff’ that serves little purpose -other than to act as a reminder that we’re out of shape or eating too much. With so few people having a clear understanding of what body fat actually is, why they even have it in the first place, and what they can (and can’t) do to get rid of it – it’s time to bust a few myths about body fat. 

¨       If you don’t exercise, your muscle will turn to fat.  It certainly seems that way – you stop exercising for a while, and pretty soon your taut and toned muscles start to feel like foam rubber.  Strength training does build and repair muscle, so when you quit working out, your muscle fibers do shrink.  And, you can start to store little bits of fat in between the muscle fibers – so you definitely feel a lot softer.  But muscle and fat cells aren’t interchangeable.  Just as you can’t turn a bone cell into a nerve cell, or a red blood cell into skin cell, muscle tissue can’t ‘turn into’ fat.

¨       You can target where you want to lose your body fat.  Spot-reducing – trying to get rid of fat in just one part of the body – simply doesn’t happen.  Yes, if you do a lot of exercise that targets the abdominal muscles or the legs, you’ll tone the muscles underneath – and that will make you look slimmer.  But when you lose body fat, you lose it pretty much uniformly.  If you start out heavy and curvy and then lose weight, you’ll still have curves.  And if you’re built more ‘straight up and down’ -without much of a waistline – you won’t suddenly get one, no matter how many situps you do.  When you lose body fat, your silhouette will be more or less the same.  Only smaller. 

¨       Fat cells are just a place to store fat.  Up until relatively recently, it was generally thought that fat cells were pretty much just bags of fat – a place to stockpile excess calories.  Far from it.  Fat cells are now known to produce a number of hormones – chemical messengers that are released into the bloodstream, sending signals to other parts of the body that can have far-ranging effects on health.  And it doesn’t just sit there – fat is constantly moving in and out of cells depending on what the body needs.

¨       You should try to get your body fat as low as possible. While it is certainly true that having excess body fat can put your health at risk, you do need to have some.  As much as body fat is something we ‘love to hate’, it does serve some important functions.  In addition to producing vital hormones, fat stores fat-soluble vitamins, provides insulation from heat and cold, and provides padding around vital organs and even the soles of the feet.  Healthy body fat levels are around 15% for men and 22% for women. 

¨       Fat weighs less than muscle.  You hear this all the time, but technically it’s not correct.  A pound is a pound – whether it’s a pound of fat, a pound of muscle or a pound of feathers.  It’s more correct to say that fat is less dense than muscle – which means that a pound of fat takes up more space in the body than a pound of muscle. That’s why people who are really muscular often weigh more than you might think – their bodies are densely packed with a lot of muscle weight crammed into a small volume.

Best tips for maintaining weight after weight loss

You’ve Lost the Weight – Now What?

I begged him not to leave me.  Right now, he needed me more than ever.  But I’d been through this before, and I knew he’d be back.  And I would be waiting for him….

His name was Frank.  He’d been my patient for nearly a year, and with plenty of guidance on my part, and a lot of hard work on his part, he was 60 pounds lighter.  But the day he hit his goal weight, he decided we were through.  In his mind, his weight lost task was accomplished – like something he could check off his ‘to do’ list – which meant he could push all thoughts of dieting aside and move on.  As we said our farewells, I left him with only this:  “there’s a reason they call it weight management, Frank.”

What I was trying to say to Frank is that once you’ve reached your weight goal, there’s still plenty of work to do.  Only about 1 in 6 people say they’ve held onto even small weight losses for as little as a year – which says that maintaining weight loss is a huge challenge for a lot of people.

If you don’t want that lost weight to come back and find you, you can’t just stop what you were doing.  When it comes right down to it, what you do in order to lose weight and what you need to do to keep it offare pretty much one and the same. So here are some tips for managing your weight successfully:

• Remember what got you into trouble in the first place.  Was it too much fast food? Eating when you’re stressed? Too many sweets?  You know yourself well enough to know when you’re falling back into old habits – so catch yourself before a slip becomes a fall.
• Continue to keep track of what you’re doing.  Keeping a food and exercise log and tracking your weight are great tools when you’re in the weight loss phase – but don’t stop there.   Self-monitoring is key to weight maintenance – you’re more likely to be successful if you continue to keep track.
• Stay active.  Once you’ve lost weight, your body burns fewer calories than it did when you were heavier – so exercise plays a critical role in helping to burn calories and keep your weight off.
• Recognize what your true, best and natural weight is.  In your efforts to lose, you may have ended up at a weight that’s actually below your body’s natural, healthy, weight – and it may be difficult to maintain. That’s not to say that you should let all your weight come back.   But sometimes you may find it easier to maintain a weight that’s slightly higher than you had intended.  Many of my clients tell me they’re happiest when they just live a healthy, active lifestyle and let their bodies find their own healthy, natural weight.  For them, it’s so much better than obsessing over every bite of food they eat – even if it means carrying a few extra pounds.
• Reward yourself.  When you were losing, you probably found ways to give yourself a pat on the back for sticking to your plan – but don’t forget to reward yourself for continuing those new habits every day.
• Remind yourself of how much you’ve accomplished.  Keeping photographs around is good – old ones to remind you of where you were, and new ones to remind you of how far you’ve come.  Remind yourself of all the positive steps you’ve taken to improve your health – and of how empowered you are, now that you’ve managed to take charge and manage your weight successfully.

Orange Mango Protein Shake

A creamy smoothie with the exotic taste of mango.

Ingredients: 
2 scoops French Vanilla Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix
2 tablespoons Personalized Protein Powder (or more)
1 cup plain soy milk or nonfat milk
1/2 cup frozen mango chunks
1/2 cup canned mandarin oranges, drained
4 ice cubes

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the blender and mix thoroughly until the ice cubes are completely crushed. Ice cubes are optional.

Nutritional Analysis (with nonfat milk):
Calories: 320
Protein: 30 grams
Fat: 0.5 gram
Carbohydrates: 47 grams

Blueberry Cranberry Protein Shake

A health sensation, packed with the goodness of blueberries and cranberries.

Ingredients: 
2 scoops French Vanilla Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix
2 tablespoons Personalized Protein Powder (or more)
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup low-calorie cranberry juice
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
A few drops orange extract
4 ice cubes

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the blender and mix thoroughly until the ice cubes are completely crushed. Ice cubes are optional.

Nutritional Analysis (with nonfat milk):
Calories: 340
Protein: 30 grams
Fat: 1 gram
Carbohydrates: 44 grams

Banana Bread Protein Shake

Don't slice this dessert treat, slurp it.

Ingredients: 2 scoops French Vanilla Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix
2 tablespoons Personalized Protein Powder (or more)
1 cup plain soy milk or nonfat milk
1/2 very ripe banana
1/8 teaspoon black-walnut flavoring
A few drops vanilla extract
1 dash cinnamon
4 ice cubes

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the blender and mix thoroughly until the ice cubes are completely crushed. Ice cubes are optional.

Nutritional Analysis (with nonfat milk):
Calories: 270
Protein: 30 grams
Fat: 1 gram
Carbohydrates: 26 grams

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

Johns Hopkins Update 
This is an extremely good article.

Everyone should read it.

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins: 

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer
cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients
that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
size. 

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a
person's lifetime. 

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer
cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
forming tumors. 

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors. 

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing
diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day 
and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system. 

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing
cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells
in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc., and can
cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc. 

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars
and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs. 

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often
reduce tumor size.
However, prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction. 

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from
chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either
compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb
to various kinds of infections and complications. 

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to
mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply. 

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc. are made
with Aspartame and it is harmful.  A better natural substitute
would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in
color Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt. 

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved. 

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based
diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat, 
like chicken.  Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer. 

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole
grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked
food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most
vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw
vegetables 2 or 3 times a day.  Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).. 

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high
caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer
fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or
filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of
digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup. 

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering.  By
refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes
to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the
body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells. 

14. Some supplements build up the immune system
(IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,
EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy
cancer cells.  Other supplements like vitamin E are known
to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's
normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
unneeded cells. 

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.

A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior
be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put
the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to
have a loving and forgiving spirit.  Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated
environment.  Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to
get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells. 

1. No plastic containers in micro. 

2. No water bottles in freezer. 

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.. 

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer.  Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Please share this with your whole email list . . .
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life . . . now you know.