Critical Week For New Year’s Resolutions

This is the pivotal week for New Year’s resolutions. The holidays are over, life has slipped back into its’ normal routine, and now the hum and drum of daily life takes its’ natural course. If the excitement is already wearing off for your New Year’s resolution, it might quickly become a thing of the past.

Now is the time to review your commitment to the cause and re-affirm your positive outlook on achieving your goal.

2008 is still a very young year, so there’s no need to give up on anything. You can have whatever you set you mind too, as long as you stick with it until the end.

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Faspirin - Dissolvable Aspirin

Improvita Health Products, based in Cleveland Ohio, recently introduced a new aspirin that is absorbed through the lining of the mouth as opposed to having to swallow it.

The product is called Faspirin and contains 81 mg of aspirin. It’s ingested by placing it on the tongue where it quickly dissolves - getting aspirin into the blood stream quicker than swallowing a traditional tablet.

The ability for aspirin to rapidly enter the blood stream has far-reaching advantages for heart attack and stroke sufferers whose best line of defense at the first sign of an attack is immediately taking aspirin. Aspirin has been proven to stop blood platelets from sticking together, which reduces the chance for blood clots to form and block
arteries.

Long revered for its pain-relieving qualities, aspirin is widely prescribed by physicians as a preventative measure in the battle for heart health. Adults over 45 years of age are maintaining a prescribed daily low dose aspirin routine in increasing numbers, as doctors are seeing the many benefits this life-saving medicine can offer.

In tests, Faspirin dissolves in 3 to 5 minutes. It comes in a sugar-free citrus flavor and is available in a 30- tablet, easy-to-open blister package, which should make it an instant
favorite with older adults who sometimes struggle with traditional tamper-proof drug packaging.

Faspirin is available wherever aspirin is sold and can also be purchased at Faspirin.com

Would you prefer this type of aspirin over a standard tablet?

Posted in Health Products | 4 Comments »

Weight Loss Without Will Power

Losing weight is viewed by many people as an act of sheer will power. If you think this way, you might be in danger of failure. If you absolutely “cannot give up” some food for whatever reason, you’re looking for excuses to stay at your current weight or gain more. You have to be flexible on a diet, or you end up hating the way you’re eating and you go back to your old ways. That’s the point when will power will play a role in your weight loss efforts.

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Eat More Vegetables and Fruit To Lose Weight

It’s no secret that people these days don’t eat enough vegetables. The recommended daily intake for people in the United States is 2 fruit portions and 3 vegetables portions. But people aren’t hitting that lowly target too often.

“We found that fruit and vegetable consumption patterns are low for all American adults and that there was no trend toward increased consumption between 1988 and 2002. In addition, minorities and poorer individuals were less likely to meet the guidelines. These findings raise concern because it has been shown that fruit and vegetable availability and quality is inadequate in disadvantaged communities,” said Sarah Stark Casagrande, lead author of the study and a graduate student in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology.

The numbers are almost shockingly bad, with a quarter of respondents saying they don’t eat any vegetables at all. It would not take a large stretch of the imagination to see that less people are eating the recommended amount of vegetables than ever before, and people weigh more than ever before. Yet year after year people search for the perfect way to lose weight, when one of the most obvious ways of eating is ignored.

The advantages of eating fruit and vegetables are many.

1) Fruit and vegetables are low in calories compared to meats and processed foods.
2) Fruit and vegetables have been shown to lower the chance of cancer.
3) The consumption of fruit and vegetables are almost always recommended for any weight loss campaign.

Fruit and vegetables are generally cheap, as well, and easy to prepare and clean up! The fact is, people who are out of the habit of eating much fruit and vegetables, and are overweight, need to look at the simple concept of replacing higher calorie foods with more portions of fruits and vegetables.

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5 Weight Loss Tips For The New Year

Everybody gets excited about January because “this year is going to be different”. But when it comes to losing weight, this year had better be different, if many of you past years have ended up with you not dropping the weight you wanted. The slate has been wiped clean and the time is now to get on track for massive weight loss.

Here are some tips to help you get started for 2008.

1) Losing weight is not brain surgery. In a nutshell you need to take in less calories and burn more calories to lose weight and get in shape. The way to do this hasn’t changed in many years. You increase your exercise and while extending your interest in proper nutrition.

2) Get out and move! I don’t care if you really “get out”, but you will need to move your body in order to lose weight. Most people are gaining weight in modern society because they take in too many calories through improper nutrition and burn too few calories with a sedentary lifestyle. Change up your eating plan and begin exercising to drop unwanted weight.

3) Make a vow to learn as much as you can about combating fat and getting fit. Knowledge is power and you need to have a lot of knowledge to beat your enemy, the expanding waistline.

4) Find support online. If you can’t find any supportive people to help you lose weight off-line, then visit our diet forum. You’ll find a lot of help there.

5) Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a great physique. Don’t be frustrated if they weight doesn’t fall off in days. It probably took years to gain it and it will take a consistent effort for a lengthy time to lose the fat.

The best thing is, the year is young. You have every opportunity to get started on a weight loss attempt that will change your life forever. I wish you all the luck in the world.

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Kaiser Permanente And Discovery Health Work To Fight Childhood Obesity

Kaiser Permanente and Discovery Health recently announced an initiative to fight against childhood obesity. They have developed an educational program called “Healthy Steps to Treating Childhood Obesity” geared towards physicians and healthcare providers to help educate them about preventing and treating overweight children.

“Childhood obesity is a multifaceted issue that requires a network of support from families, clinicians and entire communities,” said Philip Wu M.D., Pediatric Clinical Lead for Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute’s Weight Management Initiative. “Our goal in creating this program is to disseminate evidence-based recommendations to clinicians, who
can then encourage families to start making environmental and lifestyle changes to improve the total health of their children.”

“Discovery Health CME was pleased to work with Kaiser on this critical issue facing America’s children. With our premiere just days after the new, aggressive childhood obesity guidelines were published in Pediatrics, the timing couldn’t be better to provide health care providers the information they need in a succinct, engaging format,” according to John Whyte, MD,
MPH, Vice President for Continuing Medical Education at Discovery Health.

This program is scheduled to air on Discovery Health Channel December 16 at 9 a.m.
ET/PT. It will also be played several times throughout 2008.

Highlights of the program include:

— Recommendations to prevent obesity in children, including age-appropriate physical activity and recommendations for a healthy diet.
– New weight classifications for at-risk or overweight children including recommended screening procedures and appropriate medical tests for the onset of conditions like diabetes and glucose intolerance.
– Recommendations for individualized counseling techniques with sensitivities to cultural values or stigma.
– Behavior modification strategies that emphasize the level of family involvement as a key indicator of success.

Be sure not to miss this program to learn more about childhood obesity and what you can do to prevent it in your own family.

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Advantages Of Bodyweight Exercises

Bodyweight exercises are certainly not glamorous. But that doesn’t mean you should shy away from them. Bodyweight exercises tend to be one of the most affordable and effective exercise methods you can use. If budget is an issue that’s been keeping you away from beginning a fitness campaign, then using your own bodyweight instead of joining a gym makes a lot of sense!

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Exercise Doesn’t Have To Be A Drag

As I’m sure you’re already aware, exercise is very beneficial part of staying healthy. Contrary to what you might believe, exercise doesn’t have to be a drag!

With technology, exercisers have more choices than ever on ways to work up a sweat.

If you like to dance, you can test your skill and burn calories playing Dance Dance Revolution on WII, PS3, PS2, PS, Xbox, 360. This is such a great time, the kids will even want to join you!

Exercise balls are a great thing to use to improve your overall balance. They can be used to do resistance training like push-ups, sit ups and free weight exercise. Some come with accompanying training DVD’s to help get you started.

Other traditional style exercises like walking, jogging, exercise videos or participating in group exercise are always great standbys, too.

The point is, find something you like to do and DO IT! Exercise doesn’t have to be a drag..

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Prepare For The Cold And Flu Season - Get Your Flu Shot!

It’s that time of the year - the cold and flu season - and now is the time to prepare for it by getting your annual flu shot.

The flu shot is highly recommended for the elderly and children, as it will help build immunity in the case that their bodies have to naturally defend against the virus/bacteria, it can. It isn’t a bad idea for healthy adults, either (unless you’re allergic to eggs, if so this is not for you!)

Flu shots are available at pharmacies that offer flu shot clinics. Some larger employers might offer employees these shots. Your primary care physician is another source for this shot.

Keep yourself and your family healthy this fall and winter and get your flu shot!

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Dentist Announces ‘Halloween Candy Buyback’

With Halloween just around the corner, you can already visualize your kids looking cute as buttons in their Spiderman and Princess outfits - holding an enormous bag of candy.

In an effort to make his (and his patient’s) life easier, Dr. Nelson Smith, a dentist in an Ohio town has decided to ‘buy back’ candy for $1.00 a pound at his local office. (He’s not asking kids to turn ALL of it in, just the ones they don’t want ) Dr. Smith will send all of the candy he collects to soldiers stationed in Iraq. He’ll be weighing out candy for 2 hours on November 1, 2007.

Smith says he got the idea after taking a course in Columbus from Chris Kammer, a Wisconsin dentist who started a similar project a couple years ago.

“It’s the first time anyone’s tried it in Fremont,” Once Smith collects the candy, it should serve a good cause aside from the obvious benefits to local children’s teeth. Smith said he’ll be packaging the candy and shipping it to soldiers in Iraq. All Smith asks is that the children don’t take a bite and put a piece back in with the rest of their haul.

The candy must be unopened.

Scott Green, a marketing director for Kammer’s office in Middleton, Wis., said their program has been successful and dentists in several states are now participating as well. He said last year, Kammer’s office received about 250 pounds of candy from 71 children.

I think that this is a cool program that more dentists should participate in. That could have came in handy when I was of trick-or-treating age.

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