In case you haven't seen it yet, my new website was launched last week. It has been updated with new pages - including a blog, video coaching, testimonials and newsletters - new content, and new photos. Big thanks go out to Scott and Matthew Pessoni of Gemini Production Group, Inc. If you are looking for great service , these two guys provide it (http://www.geminiproductiongroup.com/).

The new website format will allow me to make updates, post important events and opportunities, and clear my head some with a blog. The most viewed page may prove to be the "Video Coaching" page. This page will include short videos of me performing some of the corrective exercises I commonly prescribe to patients in my office. We are in the process of finishing these so look for them soon!


 

I recently had a new patient ask me, "What is the one thing I can do today to improve my overall health?" After looking at her body, her skin, current habits and health history, I knew the answer immediately. I told her she needed to drink more water. She was consuming about 8 ounces a day. Was she also drinking some other beverages?  Yes, mainly soda, tea, and a little alcohol. All too commonly I see people who are drinking way too little water on a daily basis.

Insufficient water intake causes dehydration which impacts your immune system negatively, lowers oxygen in your body, negatively affects muscle and other soft tissue and creates a highly acidic environment. Health problems including cancer of the colon, kidney, bladder and breast may be related to unintentional water deficiency. Water flushes toxins from your body before the toxins can execute their damage or be re-absorbed.  

Intend to consume an adequate amount of water on a daily basis. Of course, the number of ounces required is different for each of us. Most of us have heard at one time or another to drink eight glasses of water a day. Unfortunately, this does not take into account your weight, your activity level, or environmental factors.

To calculate the number of ounces you need, take your bodyweight in pounds and multiply by .7.  This formula will provide you with the number of ounces to drink daily.

The color of your urine should be a very light colored yellow, similar to lemon juice. If it is a deep, dark yellow color, this is an indication that you are not drinking enough water. Note that vitamin B2, riboflavin, may produce bright, fluorescent-yellow urine.

Before you read the rest of this newsletter, go get yourself a glass of water and drink it....and smile because you just gave your body something it needs and wants. 

Many people tend to think of medical breakthroughs as a new drug or high-tech surgical procedure. Furthermore, most have a hard time believing that the simple choices that we make in our lifestyle - what we eat and drink, how much we exercise, whether or not we smoke cigarettes, how we respond to stress, and the quality of our relationships - can be as powerful as drugs and surgery. The truth of the matter is they are, and in many cases, even more powerful.

Our current "health"-care system is primarily a disease-care system. Last year, $2.1 trillion was spent in the U.S. on medical care, or 16.5% of the gross national product. Of these trillions, 95 cents of every dollar was spent to treat disease after it had already occurred. At least 75% of these costs were spent on treating chronic diseases that are preventable or even reversible by changing diet and lifestyle, including heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and obesity. With knowledge and personal implementation, much of the suffering from these diseases can be delayed in onset if not prevented entirely.

Many of the latest scientific studies have proven the powerful effects that low-cost, integrative approaches can have. Healthy diets rich in vegetables and fruits, moderate amounts of exercise, meditation, and psychosocial support may stop or even reverse the progression of heart disease, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, obesity and other chronic conditions.

One study published in The Lancet Oncology reported that these changes increase telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes that control how long we live. Even drugs have not been shown to do this! 

Despite the costs, danger, and astonishing ineffectiveness, Medicare and other insurers and individuals pay billions for surgical procedures like angioplasty and bypass surgery. Yet they pay nothing to very little for integrative approaches that have proven to reverse and prevent most chronic diseases that account for at least 75% of our nation's health-care costs.

Task: eat healthier, exercise, quit smoking, meditate, and have more love in your life. Result: more energy, more blood and oxygen to your brain so you think more clearly, healthier skin and less wrinkles, more blood flow to your heart giving you more stamina, and more sexual vigor. For many, these choices are worth making - not just to live longer, but also to live better!  Make it your time to focus on what works and what doesn't and make the changes for yourself!

Many people I talk with are seeking the most time-efficient way to shed unwanted bodyweight and fat. The abstract below should provide some insight. I have included the most relevant information from the study in an effort to keep it short and to the point. We all like efficiency, right?

Effect of Exercise Training Intensity on Abdominal Visceral Fat and Body Composition. IRVING, BRIANA, DAVIS, CHRISTOPHER K, BROCK, DAVID W, WELTMAN, JUDY Y, SWIFT, DAMON, BARRETT, EUGENE, GAESSER, GLENN A, WELTMAN, ARTHUR. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: Volume 40(11), November 2008, pp 1863-1872.

Purpose: To examine the effects of exercise training intensity on abdominal visceral fat and body composition in obese women with metabolic syndrome (a complex clustering of metabolic defects associated with physical inactivity, abdominal adiposity, and aging).

Methods: Twenty-seven women completed one of four 16-week aeorbic exercise interventions: no exercise training (control), 5-day-a-week low-intensity exercise training (LIET), 5-day-a week at lactate threshold training(LT), and high-intensity exercise training (HIET). The HIET group exercised three days a week at an intensity greater than LT and two days a week at LT. 

Exercise time was adjusted to maintain caloric expenditure (400 calories per session). Single-slice computed tomography scans obtained from the L4-L5 disk space and midthigh were used to determine abdominal fat and thigh muscle cross-sectional areas. Percent body fat was assessed by air displacement plethysmography. 

Results: HIET significantly reduced total abdominal fat, abdominal subcutaneous fat, and abdominal visceral fat. There were no significant changes observed in any of these parameters with the control or the LIET groups. 

Conclusions: The present data indicate that body composition changes are affected by the intensity of exercise training, with HIET more effective for reducing total abdominal fat, subcutaneous abdominal fat, and abdominal visceral fat in overweight and obese women.