Pistachio Principle

I've taken this health article by Margaret Furtado from Yahoo. I'm simply intrigued on what "Pistachio Principle." really is.

Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/weightloss/6373/the-quotpistachio-principlequot-of-weight-loss/

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James Painter, PhD, RD, has come up with a new, non-dieting approach to weight loss that he calls the "Pistachio Principle." He says his experiments have shown that people can consume fewer calories without consciously restricting themselves, and yet finish a meal feeling as satisfied and full as does the average American who consumes more calories.

Long-term failure of diets

As justification for the new direction he is taking, he cites the fact that all forms of dieting, including the Pritikin Principle®, the Atkins Diet®, and Weight Watchers®, have yielded poor long-term weight-loss results, and he points to rebound eating in response to feelings of deprivation as one probable reason for their failure.

To address weight issues from another direction, Painter, a professor and chair of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences at Eastern Illinois University, advocates a behavioral and environmental approach that he's developed.

How, you ask, can you have calorie reduction without a feeling of restriction or deprivation?

Why increase those feelings of deprivation?

According to Painter, Americans over the past decades haven't consciously set out to increase the amounts of fat, carbohydrates, or calories they eat--there's no grand plan afoot to gain lots of weight. And so, he questions why we would do an about-face and consciously restrict extra calories, thereby igniting feelings of deprivation.

In one of Painter's behavioral studies, subjects self-selected helpings of either shelled pistachios or those still in their shells. Since pistachios in shells take more effort and time to eat, the actual calories these subjects consumed were 50 percent less than those eaten by the shelled-nut group. And the upshot was, both groups felt equally satisfied with their portions, and equally full.

How you might put the Pistachio Principle to the test:

    * Instead of drinking juices, where calories are quickly consumed, eat fresh fruit instead--a whole orange or tangerine, for example, eaten slowly and section-by-section after peeling it, takes longer to consume and has fiber you don't find in the juice.
    * If you have a hankering for peanuts, go with shelled vs. unshelled.
    * Try cutting up fresh fruits and veggies into much smaller pieces than you normally would and see how slowly you can eat them.

The bottom line is that it takes your brain 20 minutes to get the signal that you're full. The Pistachio Principle may slow your eating down to the point where you can feel that the stomach is full before you tuck into that second helping.  

What you need is a Massage

Are you feeling stress all the time? Having that bad back pain after rigorous athletic performance?

I think what you need is a massage, not done by a massage therapist who stretches you out from head to toe, but a massage chair that will do the soothing therapy right for you.

Human Touch Massage Chairs can emulate the fingers of professional massage therapist, from rolling gently up and down your back or spine, to foot massage that stimulates the blood vessels in your feet.

Massage chairs proves to promote good health by applying pressures in areas where the body blood flows freely. In tapping the body pressures, Human Touch uses a state-of-the-art technology after decades of therapeutic massage experience in developing an innovative Robotic Massage system.

This massage chair simply provides you a full body massage. You can choose different massage technique to your liking and it comes with an easy to use remote control. The remote customizes the strength on how your body should be massage.

In addition, it has its own sleek design, whether you are into modern or classic, Human Touch has a chair for everyone.

It’s a relief when you know a chair is waiting for you, if you want to relax your tired mind and body, Human Touch Massage Chair is available to sit on.

A Healthy Coffee

Most of us can’t make out of the day without enjoying that morning cup of coffee. Coffee thus helps speed up our metabolism for the rest of day. However, before we take that first sip of coffee, have we ever thought of the benefits it brings?

What makes your coffee healthy to drink? On the other hand, I might say, “Is there a healthy coffee?”

The Gano Brand Healthy Coffee contains the Ganoderma "Reishi", which is the secret ingredient that makes this coffee uniquely healthy. The “Reishi” mushroom has the natural ability to help improve the body's pH level and detoxify the body as it has 200 active nutrients, vitamins and minerals including 150+ different antioxidants.

A ganoderma coffee is a type dietary supplement that promotes alkalinity in the body unlike those ordinary coffees having high level of acidity. Because this coffee has the finest organic “Reishi”, you are promoting good health with every cup you take.

Before taking that morning sip, think first whether you’re drinking a healthy coffee or not.

Cola Equals Muscle Problems

After reading the news provided by HealthDay below, I drop the cola I’m drinking. Looks like drinking too much cola can increase the risk of a muscle problem called “hypokalemia”.

HealthDay News - In people with hypokalemia, a drop in blood potassium levels results in problems with vital muscle functions. Symptoms can range from mild weakness to serious paralysis, say Greek researchers who conducted a review of people who drank between two to nine liters of cola a day.

Two of the patients were pregnant women who were admitted to hospital with low potassium levels. One was a 21-year-old woman who drank up to three liters of cola a day and complained of fatigue, appetite loss and persistent vomiting. An electrocardiogram revealed she had a heart blockage, and blood tests showed she had low potassium levels, the researchers explained in a news release.

The second pregnant patient, who'd consumed up to seven liters of cola a day for 10 months, had low potassium levels and was suffering from increasing muscular weakness, the researchers noted.

Both patients made a rapid and full recovery after they stopped drinking cola and took oral or intravenous potassium. The case studies are described in the June issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

"We are consuming more soft drinks than ever before, and a number of health issues have already been identified including tooth problems, bone demineralization and the development of metabolic syndrome and diabetes," and there's increasing evidence that excessive cola consumption leads to hypokalemia, Dr. Moses Elisaf, of the University of Ioannina, said in the news release.

Elisaf said the three most common ingredients in cola -- glucose, fructose and caffeine -- can contribute to hypokalemia.

"The individual role of each of these ingredients in the pathophysiology of cola-induced hypokalemia has not been determined and may vary in different patients," Elisaf said. "However, in most of the cases we looked at for our review, caffeine intoxication was thought to play the most important role. This has been borne out by case studies that focus on other products that contain high levels of caffeine but no glucose or fructose."

However, "caffeine-free cola products can also cause hypokalemia because the fructose they contain can cause diarrhea," Elisaf said.

Memory Food

To make the right eating choices then pay special attention to what you eat. If you want to have that mental boost then this series of parts will help you job your memory.

A study in the Journal of Physiology makes the point that, though your brain represents only 2 percent of your body weight, it makes 20 percent of the energy demands on your resting metabolism.

For short-term memory boost drink COFFEE.

Fresh-brewed joe is the ultimate brain fuel. Caffeine has been shown to retard the aging process and enhance short-term memory performance. In one study, British researchers found that just one cup of coffee helps improve attention and problem-solving skills.  

And Not: ENERGY DRINKS/TOO MUCH COFFEE

Ever heard of the concept “too much of a good thing”? If you OD on caffeine—too many cups, a jolt of caf from the late afternoon onward, a Red Bull cocktail—it can mess with your shuteye schedule. Sleep is reboot time for your mental computer, and you don’t want to mess with it.

End of Part 1…