Anti-aging fruits  should also contain high amounts of Vitamin D, which is important for healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin D is produced naturally when we are exposed to sunlight, but it’s said that when we reach our 70’s, we are producing only about 40% of the Vitamin D our bodies need.

Obviously citrus fruits as they contain high amounts of Vitamin C. This includes oranges, tangerines, limes, and grapefruits. Bananas, strawberries, blueberries and apples are also high in many vitamins. Cantaloupe, peaches and  apricots have those vital anti-oxidants as well.

1.Apples: The Apple – very delicious, full of rich nutrients, widely consumed all over the world, and available year round. The saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” is not far from the truth. Regular consumption of the fruit can provide many vital nutrients and can help prevent a lot of health problems. There are many health benefits of this highly antioxidant fruit.
The antioxidants in the fruit are also known to protect the skin from various skin diseases.

2.Watermelon:
Both the flesh and seeds of the watermelon are nutritious so try blending them together in a food processor and drinking as a juice. They help against free radical damage and aging.

3.Berries:
All black and blue berries such as blackberries, blueberries, blackcurrants and black grapes contain phytochemicals known as flavonoids-powerful antioxidants which help to protect the body against damage caused by free radicals and aging.

4.Peaches:
A peach is extremely rich in vitamin A and potassium, apart from abounding in a number of other nutrients, making them rank very high in nutritional value and good for the health of an individual Peaches help make the skin healthy and also add color to the complexion. Researches have suggested that peaches have good to excellent antioxidant activity, some antimicrobial activity and good to excellent tumor growth inhibition activity.

5.Apricots:
Research shows that of any food, apricots possess the highest levels and widest variety of carotenoids. Carotenoids are antioxidants that help prevent heart disease, reduce “bad cholesterol” levels, and protect against cancer. In traditional Chinese medicine, apricots are considered helpful in regenerating body fluids, detoxifying, and quenching thirst.

6.Bananas:
Banana and longevity. Folk physicians of ancient Persia and India regarded this golden fruit as natures secret of perpetual youth. Even today, banana is known to promote healthy digestion and create a feeling of youthfulness. It enhances calcium, phosphorous and nitrogen retention which in turn helps in the regeneration of healthy tissues.

Banana contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin. Serotonin is a hormone that is known to make you feel happy and improve your mood.
Banana is a rich source of iron, thus it is helpful in cases of anemia.

7.Strawberries:
Ellagic acid, an antioxidant found in raspberries, strawberries, cranberries and pomegranates, may help prevent wrinkles and repair skin damage caused by the sun.

Researchers from Hallym University in South Korea applied ellagic acid to human skin cells in the lab and to the skin of hairless mice that had been exposed to strong, ultraviolet rays. In the human cells, ellagic acid reduced the destruction of collagen and inflammatory response, both major causes of wrinkles

8.Oranges:

Oranges are very rich in vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant which has many functions. 100gm oranges yield 53 mg of vitamin C.
They have 170 phytonutrients and 60 flavonoids, which are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.

Beta-carotene, a nutrient present in oranges, is a very powerful antioxidant that protects our cells from damage.

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That’s the finding of a team led by Charles H. Bombardier, professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and first author of a study published in the May 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Bombardier spoke Tuesday at a special JAMA teleconference, held to present findings from a number of studies focused on mental health.

Other studies in the same issue of the journal describe a treatment method for anxiety disorders that may provide help in primary-care settings, and a Detroit depression-care program that has dramatically reduced the number of suicides among patients at one hospital.

According to Bombardier, some 6 million people in the United States are living with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and have significant disability as a result. Major causes of traumatic brain injury include vehicle accidents, blunt injuries to the head and penetrating wounds such as gun shots. It is also a “signature injury” among soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, the study stated.

In this study of 559 patients with traumatic brain injury, more than half (53.1 percent) also endured major depressive disorder at some point during the study follow-up.

In terms of risk factors, patients with major depression at the time of their injury or before their injury, as well as those who were younger and those who reported alcohol dependence, were most likely to suffer depression after head trauma. Those who were diagnosed with major depression were also more likely to have anxiety disorders, the researchers found.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a troubling shortfall when it comes to depression care — only 44 percent of traumatic brain injury patients with depression had been treated with medications or counseling for their depression, significantly affecting their quality of life, the study found.

“Often the depression appeared in the first three months but the risk persisted for one year and probably beyond,” Bombardier said. “We need to improve recognition of major depression after traumatic brain injury and identify individuals at risk early on.”

A second study in the journal found that a strategy that gave patients with anxiety disorders a choice of medication, cognitive behavioral therapy or both, along with professional monitoring in a primary-care setting, had better results than “usual care.”

Approximately 1,000 patients participated in the study, which compared usual care or with a program called Coordinated Anxiety Learning and Management (CALM).

CALM also incorporated “non-expert” professionals to help doctors with treatment.

Volunteers in the CALM group, who suffered from panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder and/or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), reported greater alleviation of symptoms and better life functioning.

If reimbursement issues are worked out, the model could become an alternative to the current referral system, the study authors stated.

“This addresses one of the major public health problems in this country, which is that although we do have some fairly effective though not ideal treatments, very, very few people end up having access to them,” said lead author Dr. Peter Roy-Byrne, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. “We need to move available treatments from controlled research settings into real-world practice settings that have much greater variability in patients’ characteristics and skill levels of physicians. The majority of people with anxiety and depression are seen in primary-care and not mental health settings.”

A third study found that an individualized program to treat depressed patients reduced to zero the number of suicides at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, with not one depressed patient committing suicide over a two-and-a-half-year time span.

“The encouraging results of the initiative suggest that this care model can be highly effective for achieving and sustaining breakthrough quality improvement in mental health care,” Dr. C. Edward Coffey, Henry Ford’s vice president Behavioral Health Services, said in a news release.

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A new study found that obese women who started out losing 1.5 pounds a week or more on average and kept it up lost more weight over time than women who lost more slowly. They also maintained the loss longer and were no more likely to put it back on than the slowest losers, the researchers added.

The results shouldn’t be interpreted to mean that crash diets work, said study author Lisa Nackers, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Her report is published online in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Rather, she said, the quicker weight loss of the fast-losing group reflected their commitment to the program, Nackers said. “The fast group attended more sessions [to talk about weight loss], completed more food records and ate fewer calories than the slow group.”

Fast loss is relative. For her study, Nackers said, “fast losers are those who lost at least a pound and a half a week.”

The faster loss resulted from their active participation in the program, she said. “Those who make the behavior changes early do better in terms of weight loss and long term [in keeping it off].”

For the study, Nackers drew from data on 262 participants in an obesity treatment trial that included middle-aged women, average age 59, who were obese, with an average body-mass index (BMI) of 36.8 (30 and above is obese).

During the six-month intervention, they were encouraged to reduce calories enough to lose about a pound a week. The follow-up was another 12 months, for a total of 18 months.

When Nackers tracked the weight loss, she divided the women into three groups: 69 were in the fast group, losing about 1.5 pounds or more a week; 104 were in the moderate group, losing about a half pound to under 1.5 pounds a week, and 89 were in the slow group, losing less than a half pound weekly.

At six months, the fast group had lost an average of 29.7 pounds, the moderate group 19.6 and the slow group 11.2.

After 18 months, the fast group was 5.1 times more likely to achieve 10 percent weight loss — a good goal for improving health — than the slow group, and the moderate group was nearly three times as likely.

Nackers found no significant differences in weight regain among the three groups.

The results are no surprise to Alice Lichtenstein, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston. “It confirms that those individuals who are more adherent to the weight loss intervention lost more weight,” she said.

“I think the point is, you want people to make changes in their diet and physical activity patterns so they start losing weight and maintain the loss,” she said.

Nackers agreed, saying the study results should in no way encourage people to go on fad diets but to adopt healthier lifestyle behaviors.

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 Tip 1:

Write down your weight loss goals the time you feel you can commit to achieving them each day or week, and the amount of money you are willing to set aside from your budget each month to achieve your goals. Having this type of information already in mind will help you select the online weight loss program that is best suited for your time, goals and budget.

 Tip 2:

If you are pretty disciplined and need only a few tools to stay on track, you may want to consider a free online weight loss site like FitDay.com. Sign up and get free tools for tracking your daily food intake, exercise, weight loss and overall goals.

 Tip 3:

If you need more of a step-by-step regimented program, you may want to consider an online program like WeightWatchers.com. The site offers exclusive online tools, recipes, and strategies for a relatively inexpensive monthly price. It can also be used in conjunction with local Weight Watchers programs in your area if you feel you need additional support.

Tip 4:

There are literally hundreds of available programs online, and while all programs don’t suit all individuals, there’s a good chance that with a little research you can find a program that’s right for you. If at first you don’t succeed, try again!

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Nuts in Diet to Cut Cholestrol

Going nuts in your diet can be good for your health, according to a study published Monday, which showed that eating nuts helps to lower blood cholesterol levels. People who ate an average of 67 grams (2.4 ounces) of nuts a day saw a 5.1 percent fall in total cholesterol concentration and a 7.4 percent drop in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) — sometimes referred to as bad cholesterol — concentration compared to no-nut eaters, the study showed. People with high triglyceride levels who ate nuts saw a 10.2 percent fall in those blood lipid levels, said the study, which analyzed data from 25 trials conducted in seven countries, involving 583 men and women aged 19-86 with high or normal cholesterol levels. All the trial data that were analyzed for the study compared nut-eaters to a control group that did not eat nuts. None of the participants were taking medication to lower their blood lipids. Researchers led by Dr Joan Sabate of Loma Linda University in California found in the study published Monday in the American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine that the benefits to health were the same no matter what nut is eaten. A person’s weight and baseline LDL cholesterol levels did, however, influence whatever benefits might be derived from eating nuts. The higher the starting LDL-C, the greater the cholesterol-lowering effects of nuts, the study found. And the lower a patient’s body mass index — in other words, if the patient was not overweight or obese — the greater the effects of nuts on lowering cholesterol levels, the study found, urging more research to determine why nuts are less effective in lowering the blood cholesterol levels of obese people. A person’s diet also played a role in the effect nuts have on blood cholesterol levels. Consumers of Western diets, which are high in saturated fat, got more benefits from nut-eating than those who already ate a healthy diet, high in monounsaturated olive oil, fish and fresh fruit and vegetables, the study found. And there’s more good news: the data analyzed for the study showed that the benefits of eating nuts remain with us for a long time; that nut consumption appears to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes; and, in spite of their high fat content, nuts don’t necessarily make us fat. “Research has shown that frequent nut consumption does not lead to weight gain,” said the study. “Increasing the consumption of nuts as part of an otherwise prudent diet can be expected to favorably affect blood lipid levels… and have the potential to lower coronary heart disease risk,” it concluded.

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Tip 1:

Eat Oatmeal or Oat Bran – Oatmeal and oat bran contain soluble fiber which has shown to help reduce the absorption of bad cholesterol in your intestines. Eating at least 10 grams of soluble fiber each day can decrease your LDL cholesterol. Other foods that contain soluble fiber include bananas, pears, apples, kidney beans, prunes and barley.

Tip 2 :

Replace Meats and Dairy Products with Soy Products – Eating a soy-based meat or drinking soy milk instead of dairy milk can help reduce your intake of bad cholesterol while getting the protein your body needs to stay healthy. You don’t have to replace all of your meat and dairy, but try replacing at least one meat and dairy product each day. Try soy burgers, soy hot dogs or soy lunchmeat instead of one meal which contains red meat. Using plant sterol-enriched margarine instead of a regular butter or margarine is also a way to reduce your bad cholesterol intake.

Tip 3:

Add More Fish to Your Diet Such as Baked SalmonTry Adding More Fish to Your Diet – Fish contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids which not only helps in reducing bad cholesterol but also helps to reduce blood pressure and the risk of blood clots. It is recommended to eat two servings of fish each week. Fish that contain the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are mackerel, salmon, herring, lake trout, sardines and albacore tuna. Cook your fish the healthiest way by baking or grilling it.

Tip 4:

Flavor Foods with Spices Instead of Fatty Butter or SaucesUse Spices Instead of Fatty Butter or Sauces – Try flavoring your favorite potatoes or other vegetables with spices rather than using butter, sour cream or creamy sauces. Spices such as rosemary, basil, parsley, oregano, cumin, thyme or cilantro will add zesty flavor without adding fat and calories to your diet.

Tip 5:

Add Olive Oil to Your Diet – Olive oil, especially extra-virgin olive oil, contains a high amount of antioxidants and actually helps to lower the bad cholesterol in your body. The Food and Drug Administration recommends having two tablespoons each day. You can use when cooking meats or vegetables or add mix it with vinegar to make salad dressing.

Tip 6:

Eat Almonds to be Heart HealthyEat More Nuts – Walnuts and almonds are especially beneficial for reducing blood cholesterol, however hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts and peanuts all help to reduce your risk of heart disease. A handful of nuts, about 1.5 ounces, are all you need each day to enjoy the benefits. Add them to salads or eat them for a healthy snack.

Tip 7:
 
Eat Healthy so You can Enjoy Your Family and Friends for Years to ComeBe Serious about Your Health – If you are serious about lowering your bad cholesterol, be conscious of the foods that you purchase. Watch for foods that contain saturated and trans fat and lower your intake of red meat and fatty dairy products. Just a few simple diet changes can help you on your way to lowering your bad cholesterol and living a healthier life.

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Symptoms of Diabetes

Diabetes is a serious disease, but with the proper education and medical care, one can manage the situation and live a long life. Knowledge of early symptoms of diabetes can prepare you to deal with the disease. Following are some things to watch out for when determining if you are at risk or in the early stages of diabetes.

Thirst and Frequent Urination
The person with incipient diabetes will become thirstier than normal since fluid is pulled out of the bloodstream. This causes the person to drink more fluid than usual, and she will urinate frequently, often waking up in the night to go to the bathroom.

Hunger with Weight Loss
The inability of the body to adjust the sugar will cause a weight lose without the person deliberately trying to diet. At the same time, the person will still be hungry, the body becomes fatigued, and the person may become easily irritated. Although the person is hungry and eating more, he loses calories and weight drops off.

Slow Healing
A minor cut or bruise may take an inordinate amount of time to heal. A person who often has infections and has difficulty fighting them off may also have diabetes.

Difficulty in Vision
When the normal balance of fluid diminishes in the eyes, the vision may become unfocused and objects will seem to be blurred.
Dry, Itchy or Dark Skin
Lack of proper fluid balance will affect the skin’s hydration, causing it to become dry or itch. In addition, the insulin problems may cause skin to darken in certain areas, such as the neck or armpits.

Sugar in the Urine
With the lack of insulin, the body cannot use sugar and releases it into the urine. This symptom is the definitive sign that diagnoses diabetes. A fasting plasma glucose or oral glucose tolerance test can show either diabetes or a pre-diabetic tendency.

Follow-Up to Symptoms
If symptoms of diabetes occur, tell your physician. If you do not have symptoms, but would like to know your risk factors, The American Diabetes Association provides a diabetes risk test online, plus a variety of other information that can help you prevent the onset of diabetes or help diabetics manage their condition.
.

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Health Insurance,Life Insurance

Life insurance is a type of policy that seeks to make financial provisions to beneficiaries upon the death of a sole provider. However, many people seek life insurance for a multiplicity of reasons. Most people will want to die with the notion that their family will be well taken care of economically. It could be used for the settlement of debts and other bills, for the academic provisions of your children. Whatever the reason, the ultimate purpose is financial security upon death.

The question worth asking is; must I buy a life insurance policy? This question depends on each individual’s circumstances in life. My responsibilities in life may be different from yours. Most people think only the elderly or married people should take out a life insurance policy. Think of the fact that though young and unmarried, many others may be needing support from you. Think of the fact that you may one day get married and eventually have children. What will become of them if death suddenly catches on you? Think of what may happen to your business if you have one, or what may happen to your successors if you eventually become a debtor. Even without these, you may want to leave an inheritance to be bequeathed to one organization or another. Therefore everybody can take a life insurance policy.

Is there a price for taking out a life insurance policy? There is obviously one. There is also no fix price for the premium as insurers will interestingly find different things from different policy holders. They will usually take into consideration your age, your health history, your occupation, and whether you are a smoker or not. Generally, the more probable that your life can be at risk, the more probable that you rate of premium will be higher.

You must also weigh what type of coverage you desire with what you are able to pay against that coverage. Most people will want the best, but their income may not permit them to. Thus, there is a term as well as whole life insurance. Those with little income may opt for term life insurance while those with higher income may opt for whole life insurance. Life insurance is abundant and accessible especially with the coming on of the web. You may be able to seek out what you want depending on your location and money. However, keep watch of insurers who may profess to provide more that the can afford.

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The analysis, published in the Lancet medical journal, illustrates the challenges facing doctors, patients and healthcare systems as such DNA maps become easier to get and as people seek to find out their disease risks.

As for his own findings, Stanford University bioengineering professor Stephen Quake found them “interesting.”

“I was curious to see what would show up,” Quake said in a statement.

“But it’s important to recognize that not everyone will want to know the intimate details of their genome, and it’s entirely possible that this group will be the majority. There are many ethical, educational and policy questions that need to be addressed going forward.”

The Stanford team designed a computer algorithm to bring together Quake’s known and genetic health risks.

For example, as a 40-year-old white male, Quake began with a 16 percent lifetime chance of developing prostate cancer. But after taking his genes into account, the researchers put his risk at 23 percent.

His Alzheimer’s risk, however, plummeted from 9 percent for most white men his age to 1.4 percent when genetics were considered.

Quake’s genome cost about $50,000 to sequence using a Heliscope sequencer from Helicos BioSciences It was double-checked using an Illumina Inc sequencer.

But the price is falling. The latest machines from companies like Illumina and Life Technologies Corp can map out a patient’s whole DNA code for as little as $5,000.

“The $1,000 genome is coming fast,” said cardiologist Dr. Euan Ashley, who led the team analyzing Quake’s sequence.

Hours of expert interpretation went into Quake’s genome but Ashley said this could eventually be reduced to a computer algorithm.

While Quake’s cholesterol levels were healthy, the genes made Ashley think twice.

“We discovered rare variants in three genes that are clinically associated with sudden cardiac death — TMEM43, DSP, and MYBPC3,” Ashley’s team wrote. Plus Quake had a distant relative who had died suddenly in his sleep at the age of 19.

Checks of other genes showed Quake would respond well to cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, and that he was unlikely to have an unusual side-effect from the drugs.

Ashley prescribed a statin for Quake, but to his surprise, Quake has not filled it.

“It’s human nature — even with the evidence from their own genome, they are reluctant to take the doctor’s advice,” Ashley said. “I will wear him down.”

Hank Greely, director of Stanford’s Center for Law and the Biosciences, points out the huge issue facing doctors and their patients — how much does anyone want to know?

“Patients, doctors and geneticists are about to be hit by a tsunami of genome sequence data. The experience with Steve Quake’s genome shows we need to start thinking — hard and soon — about how we can deal with that information,” Greely said in a statement.

“Who will provide skilled interpretation of whole-genome sequence to millions of patients?” Greely asked in a commentary in The Lancet.

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“These findings strengthen the relationship between inflammation, obesity and diet and provide evidence at the most basic level of healthy effects derived from virgin olive oil use in humans,” study leader Francisco Perez-Jimenez of the University of Cordoba, Spain, said in a news release from BioMed Central, publisher of BMC Genomics. The study was published online April 19 in the journal.

Perez-Jimenez and his colleagues studied how a diet rich in so-called phenol compounds — which are found in olive oil, especially extra-virgin types — affected the workings of genes in 20 people with a common condition called metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome puts people at risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

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