Month: September 2013

It’s Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

In the United States alone, one in five men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. It is the most common cancer diagnosed in men. And although there is no proven prostate cancer prevention strategy, most doctors agree that making healthy choices is your best bet. Of course, this strategy has many benefits that go beyond just prostate cancer. Eating a healthy diet and exercising will go a long way to helping prevent most diseases. If you’re a woman reading this article, make sure to pass this along to the men in your life.

 

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are three good rules of thumb – maintain a healthy diet, exercise most days of the week and talk to your doctor about your risk factors.¹ An article in Men’s Health² has some further tips you can take to keep the odds in your favor.

1.  Drink more coffee – Harvard researchers found that men who drank six or more cups of regular or decaf coffee were 59% less likely to develop advance prostate cancer than those who eschewed the brew.
2.  Give your gland a regular workout (i.e. have lots of sex) – A 2004 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed data on 29,342 men and found that guys who had 21 or more orgasms a month were about 30% less likely to develop prostate caner than those who racked up only four to seven a month.
3.  See red, eat red – Eat more cooked tomato products to reduce your risk of prostate cancer. This quirky link was first noticed in the 1990s by Harvard researcher Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Sc.D., and subsequent studies have confirmed the power of edible red. Credit lycopene, a pigment in tomatoes that’s more potent after they’re cooked. Aim for two-plus servings a week.
4.  Move it – Exercise reduces the risk of fatal forms of prostate cancer by 41 percent. What’s more, among survivors, those who exercised vigorously for five hours a week had a 56% lower risk of death from the disease.
5.  Top off your oil – In studies on lab animals, the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA in fish oil inhibited tumors. Plus, Harvard researchers found that men who ate fish three times a week reduced their risk of aggressive prostate cancer by 25 percent.
6.  Ditch the doughnuts – Men with the highest blood levels of trans fats have more than twice the prostate-cancer risk of men with the lowest levels. Trans-fatty acids increase inflammation and insulin resistance, both of which may play a role in prostate cancer. Avoid commercially baked doughnuts and cookies, as well as packaged baked goods containing hydrogenated oil.
7.  Shelve the selenium supplements – A mineral found naturally in Brazil nuts, red meat, fish, and grains, selenium became popular as a supplement in the late ’90s because researchers believed it could help prevent prostate cancer. But a recent study of more than 35,000 men published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that 200 micrograms of selenium a day did nothing to defend against the disease (or any other cancer for that matter). Worse, taking selenium slightly increased the risk of diabetes in some men.
8.  Check for so-called bed bugs – A stealth STD may increase your risk for prostate cancer. In a new Harvard study, men with a history of trichomoniasis were more than twice as likely to develop advanced-stage prostate cancer as those who never had the parasite. The infection could lead to prostate inflammation, which has been linked to cancer risk and progression.
9.  Go green – produce is powerful stuff. Case in point: Regularly eating broccoli may lower your risk of prostate cancer and heart disease. In a 2008 British study, scientists found a disease-fighting benefit from consuming just 4 servings of the vegetable a week. It’s likely that compounds found in broccoli, called isothiocyanates, can activate genes that disturb the chemical processes that may cause cancer and inflammation.

If you need help with tip #4, it doesn’t make you any less of a man to reach out to a Personal Trainer. Even if it’s just to recognize areas where you can approve or up your workout regimen a notch, personal training can have many benefits. So what are you waiting for – schedule a free consultation with Advanced Physical Training now!

 

¹ http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prostate-cancer-prevention/MC00027

² http://www.menshealth.com/spotlight/prostatecancer/prostate-cancer-prevention-tips.php

Fiction:

Cardio is the only way to get those extra pounds off…

Fact:

Cardio is a great way to stay healthy. It conditions the heart and lungs. It gives you something to do during your favorite TV. show, but it takes a bit more to lose that last little bit of weight. Cardiovascular training is a key component in weight loss, but not the only component. A well balanced weight loss and conditioning program will include weight training and nutrition as well as cardio training.

According to WedMD (http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/make-most-your-metabolism?page=2), weight training is very important to weight loss, because each pound of muscle burns about 17 times as many calories in a day as a pound of fat. A more efficient muscle means an increase in metabolism. I’m not saying to stop doing cardio, just balance the program with some weights.

When it comes to nutrition, I’ve seen plenty of individuals hit the cardio 2-3 hours a day and not lose a pound. You have to be eating clean and in a calorie deficit to drop the weight.

Here are a few tips:

1. Don’t skip breakfast
2. Get your mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks in
3. Limit the alcohol when trying to lose weight
4. Make dinner the lightest meal of the day
5. Don’t snack after dinner.

Kick-Off Your Eating Plan

Football is back. It’s the start of drinking beer, eating nachos, devouring chicken wings, and spending endless hours on the couch in front of a TV – the perfect recipe for trouble when it comes to your eating and exercise regimen. So just like our Broncos, you need an offensive and defensive plan.

Going on the offense – think ahead so you don’t sabotage yourself. Eat something before you leave the house. Nothing too big, just a healthy snack so you don’t arrive pregame starving and make a beeline to the food table. If you’re not going to a bar, make or bring something healthy – this way you know there’s at least something you can nibble on successfully without all the guilt. Load up on fruits and veggies or choose a high protein option. This doesn’t mean go crazy on the chicken wings and blue cheese sauce. Did you know that ten fried chicken wings have roughly 1590 calories and 107 grams of fat!¹ So try and stay away from fried foods (get grilled if you can) and fill up on high fiber veggies instead. If you’re going to drink, try lower calorie versions of your favorite cocktail. Light beer for instance or club soda instead of fruit juice in a cocktail. And always remember the one to one rule – for every cocktail or beer you consume, drink a full glass of water. Remember, alcohol increases your appetite and decreases your willpower.

Send in the defense. So all the preplanning in the world didn’t keep you away from those nachos…it happens. Time to rebound and tackle those missteps with the fortitude of a strong defensive line. Get back on track the very next day. Don’t let a food coma keep you from working out. If all you can manage is a 45-minute brisk walk, something is better than nothing. Eat breakfast. It may seem counter productive but having a solid morning meal helps prevent overeating the rest of the day and kick starts your metabolism. According to an article in WomansDay.com, “research has consistently shown that including protein is key. That’s because protein (think eggs, lowfat cheese, yogurt) has the most staying power, so you stay fuller longer and wind up eating less overall.”² Next, you should avoid foods that cause water retention and add ones that help flush out extra salt. Odds are those football snacks were loaded with sodium, especially if you were eating out. Don’t add to your hangover bloat. Eat lots of fruits and veggies throughout the day and drink plenty of water.

Rerun the game day footage in your head. What could you have done better to set yourself up for success? Or did you do a healthy job of moving down the field? Congrats to you then on your win! However, with roughly 256 games in a football season, you’re not going to win them all. Enlist the help of a friend or even a Personal Trainer at Advanced Physical Training if you need some extra encouragement. It never hurts to stack the deck. Hope to see you at the Super Bowl lean and mean!

¹ http://www.thatsfit.com/2006/12/13/how-many-calories-in-10-chicken-wings/

² http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/nutrition/how-to-overcome-overeating