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Ho Ho Ho
The season came up upon us so fast. Snow and all! I hope that
this finds you warm and toasty and ready to enjoy it. A couple
of months back I reported that I wanted to lose 10 lbs by
Thanksgiving - well I lost 6 lbs (hardly anyone has noticed)
but I must say that I do feel better. I did Weight Watchers
on line - and I have been happy with the diet. Frankly, it
makes a lot of sense. See, no foods are off limits -- it just
that many (enjoyable) foods have limits due to their fat/fiber/carb
ratio and you must learn what those are if you want to lose
weight. My partial downfall is that I didn't really go to
the meetings. You need to go to the meetings to figure out
how to "work it". There is a way to eat a pretty
hefty volume of food (that's me) and have it not add up to
a lot of points. (Like 94% fat free microwave popcorn) The
reason for only 6 lbs is that it took me a while to figure
it all out and for a while there I wasn't eating enough! Apparently,
you don't lose weight unless you eat enough. What I really
appreciate is the "way of thinking" - you learn
to budget what you eat. I'm sticking with it because at least
the scale is going in the right direction and with WW, unlike
Atkins, there is room for error.
This months newsletter, we have a special
for you that truly sweetens the deal. We report on a gene
that may be the cause of early menopause. With all the smiling
you will be doing this season, is there a down side to having
your teeth whitened? And if you happen to be taking antibiotics,
is it true that you shouldn't drink? And finally we look at
the holiday fruit, pomegranate. What nutritional value does
this labor intense food hold?
MENOPAUSE GENE?
This is an interesting preliminary finding. Scientist have
believe they have located the gene that regulates the rate
of egg production. The discovery was made with mice but may
have positive implications for women. The gene is called Foxo3a
and mice that are lacking the gene use up all their available
eggs earlier in life. They also had fewer and smaller litters
than those with the gene. The hope is that researchers may
be able to develop contraception that delays the activation
of a woman's eggs until she wants to become fertile at the
age she chooses. Now that's science. For more info go to:
http://www.betternutrition.com/view.asp?issue=Oct03&article=485
and scroll down until you see "Hot News Flash" or
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol301/issue5630/index.shtml
under "Reports" Science Magazine is pay per article
TEETH AS WHITE AS SNOW
There is nothing like a greeting with a bright white smile
but are we doing any long term harm to our teeth? Well for
once, something we do in vanity appears to be safe. According
to the Academy of General Denistry, we are more interested
in the color and shape of our teeth than the health of our
teeth and cosmetic dental procedures are driving the $15 billion
a year cosmetic dental industry led by the over 50-crowd with
the most disposable income. It's nice to know that it is relatively
safe with the most common side effect being tooth sensitivity,
which usually goes away. Also, ten years out, it does not
appear to that there is much of a difference between treated
and untreated teeth. A couple of things to keep in mind, if
you do bleach your teeth, spring for the money and go to a
dentist to get fitted for a tray, the over the counter ones
have some efficacy issues. Also, stick with a10% carbamide
peroxide. It may take a little longer but all the research
points to the safety at this level. Also, there are now methods
to help bleach teeth that have been damaged by tetracycline.
For more information, see About.com's
http://dentistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa101900.htm?terms=teeth+bleaching
http://dentistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa070199.htm?terms=teeth+bleaching
A GLASS OF WINE WITH AN ANTIBIOTIC
I am certainly one of those people who would never have a
drink if I was taking an antibiotic for any reason. According
to the folks at Better Nutrition, it's a myth. They don't
recommend that you over-indulge and tax your immunity system
which may have gotten you sick in the first place, but it
does not affect the performance of the medication. Go to
http://www.betternutrition.com/view.asp?issue=Oct03&article=485
and scroll down.
THE FUNNY POMEGRANATE
Although this fruit has not caught on in this country, it
turns out this is a very serious food with a rich history
and folklore. It may also emerge as the next superfood. With
its abundance of seeds, the fruit has long been a symbol of
fertility, royalty, hope and abundance and extensively celebrated
throughout many cultures in art, mythology and religious texts.
Some hold that it was the pomegranate that was the fruit on
temptation leading to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the
Garden of Eden.
Each pomegranate holds exactly 840 seeds
each surrounded by a sac of sweet-tart juice contained by
a thin skin. Many people eat the fresh fruit by chewing on
the seeds to release the juice from the sacs and then swallow
seeds and all. The seeds are considered good roughage to help
cleanse the body. Others will chew the juice from the seeds
and then spit out the seeds. Another method is to "juice"
the fruit by rolling it on a hard service and breaking the
juice sacs. When the fruit is soft, a straw can be inserted
and the juice sucked out.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about
pomegranates is the recent research on the phytochemical profile.
According the research by A. Kader at University of California,
total antioxidants of pomegranate juice is two to three times
that of red wine or green tea. Also Israeli research published
in J Ethnopharmacol, July 1999) indicates that the
polyphenols contained in the pomegranate seed possess such
potent antioxidants that if consumed dialy over a long period
of time could help to combat cancer and may prevent hardening
of the arteries. The seeds also contain an number of flavoniods,
including isoflavones, so for women it may help with hot flashes.
How these isoflavones compare with soy, we don't know, but
we do know that its best to get isoflavones from foods. More
research is emerging, but it's safe to say that the ignored
pomegranate will not be ignored for much longer. General nutrition
information is as follows:
1 Piece of fruit:
For more information, http://www.wholehealthmd.com/hk/articles/view/1,1471,807,00.html
That's it for this month! As always, check
out our website for lots more information at www.oonahealth.com.
That's it for this month! As always,
check out our website for lots more information at www.oonahealth.com.
In Good Health,
The Oöna Team
Questions or comments? Write valerie@oonahealth.com
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