Expert fitness tips for a healthy, effective summer slim-down

While children long for the lazy carefree days of summer, many adults view the season as a reason to be active and get healthy. Whether it's to look good for an upcoming beach vacation or simply to have the energy to enjoy the season to the fullest, setting health goals is a great first step.

Sticking to those aspirations doesn’t have to be difficult or stressful. Just follow a few expert tips and you’ll look and feel great in no time.

Leading fitness expert and celebrity yoga and Pilates instructor Kristin McGee has partnered with CalNaturale Svelte to help busy adults maintain overall health and wellness. Her top tips for an effective yet healthy summer slim-down include:

Go outdoors
The weather is nice, so why not take your workout routine outdoors? So many outdoor activities are natural calorie-burners, plus they’re a lot of fun. Ride bikes on the weekend, run around and play tag with your kids, or play fetch with the dog. Infuse your social activities with fitness, too. For example, finish a date night with a romantic walk outside, or have friends over for an outdoor barbecue and dance party.

Lighten meals
Light foods pair well with warmer weather, so take a fresh approach to meal time. Visit your local farmers market to pick up fresh, seasonal food and get creative in the kitchen. Incorporate water-based fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and pineapple into meals. For dessert, freeze grapes for a sweet treat after dinner.

Snack well
Look for snacks and drink options made from pure and simple ingredients. CalNaturale Svelte is a premium protein shake that can serve as a delicious meal replacement. This dairy- and gluten-free shake is also perfect as a pre- and post-workout drink or an anytime on-the-go snack. Each tasty flavor helps control hunger and provides vital nutrients for sustained energy, important for keeping up with the bustle of summer to-do’s.

Drink up
Stay hydrated by stocking the fridge with healthy drink options. A big pitcher of cold water with slices of strawberries, cucumbers and lime is a refreshing drink that’s readily available. This low-calorie drink quenches on even the hottest days.

Rise and shine
Get some fresh air first thing in the morning; it will keep you energized all day long. Take a quick walk or practice yoga outside – try it during sunrise for a great way to start your day. You’ll be surprised with how cheery and upbeat you’ll feel.

Green your thumb
Gardening is a great way to enjoy the warm weather, plus you burn calories without even knowing it. Try planting your own herb garden. It’s a simple activity you can even do with your kids. Plus, you will have quick access to fresh herbs when you want to add a healthy flavor boost to your dishes.

Try new activities
Warm weather is the perfect time to try something new. Take tennis or golf lessons, or meet friends on a weekly basis to play a different sport. Hit the sand with the family and try some beach body Pilates; do a few crunches on your towel, try some planks in the sand, and even some crab walks. Don’t forget sunscreen and sunglasses to protect your skin and eyes.

For more healthy tips and information from McGee, visit www.sveltebrand.com.

Source  http://www.jsonline.com/sponsoredarticles/health-wellness/expert-fitness-tips-for-a-healthy-effective-summer-slimdown8077420101-207233111.html

10 Tips for a 10 minutes healthy shopping spree

For all the moms, hostelites, working professionals, freelancers or for that matter single men and women out there, life doesn't fit into neat little routine blocks, does it?

After all, time saved is time earned! And who wants to spend hours and hours doing mundane chores at home and then heading to the supermarket to shop for the coming week. But, when it comes to shopping for healthy food items one does not need to compromise on quality. So we thought, why don't we put together our top 10 tips which will help you shop in 10 minutes or less, without compromising on the nutritious front. Game? Read on!

Prepare a grocery list for one entire week's meals. This will save you from making multiple trips to the grocery store and will also help you in making sure you buy only what you need.

Stick to your grocery list. With new health items hitting the market every second day, you could be in that store for a long time. Keep a list handy, tick items as you buy them, and you're out in a jiffy.

In order to stock healthy fast food at home, compartmentalise your shopping list in a way that all the food items are written under a separate column focusing on the perimeter of the store. Based on your neighbourhood supermarket's isles system, divide your shopping list.

Once a month, when you have ample time for food shopping in your hands, go for bulk shopping, if possible. Basic stapes such as tomato ketchup, flour, chilli sauces, oregano, rice, pasta and so on should be bought in bulk.

Avoid depending on 2-minute processed snacks. Instead opt for a variety of sauces, herbs (both fresh and dry), and fruits (both fresh and dry). Replace buying too much of tinned, processed foods with fresh homemade pastes and whole wheat products.

Stock your kitchen with easy-to-find healthy food items in order to maximize health benefits. Go for cheeses labelled as fat-free or reduced-fat, products with zero gram trans fat and whole grain stamp items. Fat free milk or low fat milk and products which say 'low in saturated fat and cholesterol' are good choices.

Avoid shopping right after work as busy evenings mean crowded stores. Try shopping over weekends.

Do eat a protein rich snack such as almonds or peanuts or a whole fruit before shopping. This way you'll avoid mindless bingeing while shopping.

Get your choices right. Select wisely when you are shopping and don't give in to the temptation. Choose a burger which is made of 100% whole grain bread instead of the white bread option. Go for low-fat dressings or better still just take ingredients such as lemon, parsley, honey, chilli flakes, mixed herbs, vinegar, soya sauce and prepare your own homemade hygienic dressing.

Tell your friend who shares your fitness routine or weight loss goal to accompany you. This will help you stick to your healthy weight management goals without getting distracted or tempted.

Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/diet/10-Tips-for-a-10-minutes-healthy-shopping-spree/articleshow/8150396.cms

FDA clears first new weight-loss pill in 13 years

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Arena Pharmaceutical's anti-obesity pill Belviq, the first new prescription drug for long-term weight loss to enter the U.S. market in over a decade.

Despite only achieving modest weight loss in clinical studies, the drug appeared safe enough to win the FDA's endorsement, amid calls from doctors for new weight-loss treatments.

The agency cleared the pill Wednesday for adults who are obese or are overweight with at least one medical complication, such as diabetes or high cholesterol. The drug should be used in combination with a healthy diet and exercise.

Obesity Society President Patrick O'Neil said he's encouraged by the drug's approval because it underscores the notion that lifestyle changes alone are not enough to treat obesity.

"This is good news because it tells us that the FDA is indeed treating obesity seriously," said O'Neil, who teaches at Medical University of South Carolina and was the lead researcher on several studies of Belviq. "On the other hand, it's not the answer to the problem — or even a big part of the answer."

Even if the effects of Belviq are subtle, experts say it could be an important first step in developing new treatments that attack the underlying causes of obesity.

"The way these things tend to work is you have some people who do extremely well and other people don't lose any weight at all. But if we had 10 medicines that were all different and worked like this, we would have a real field," said Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the weight loss program at Weill-Cornell Medical College.

The FDA denied approval for Arena's drug in 2010 after scientists raised concerns about tumors that developed in animals studied with the drug. The company resubmitted the drug with additional data earlier this year, and the FDA said there was little risk of tumors in humans.

Arena and its partner Eisai Inc. of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., expect to launch the drug in early 2013.

With U.S. obesity rates nearing 35 percent of the adult population, many doctors have called on the FDA to approve new weight loss treatments.

But a long line of prescription weight loss offerings have been associated with safety problems, most notably the fen-phen combination, which was linked to heart valve damage in 1997. The cocktail of phentermine and fenfluramine was a popular weight loss combination prescribed by doctors, though it was never approved by the FDA.

In a rare move, the FDA explicitly stated in a press release that Belviq "does not appear to activate" a chemical pathway that was linked to the heart problems seen with fen-phen.

The FDA said the drug acts on a different chemical pathway in the brain, which is believed to reduce appetite by boosting feelings of satiety and fullness.

Belviq is one of three experimental weight-loss drugs whose developers have been trying for a second time to win approval, after the FDA shot them all down in 2010 or early 2011 because of serious potential side effects.

Vivus Inc.'s Qnexa is thought to be the most promising of the drugs, achieving the most weight loss. But the FDA has delayed a decision on that pill until July.

Shares of San Diego-based Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped $2.54, or 28.7 percent, to close at $11.39. Shares of Mountain View, Calif.-based Vivus rose $1.94, or 7.4 percent, to $28.33. Shares of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., the third drugmaker with an obesity pill before the FDA, rose 20 percent to close at $4.92.

Arena's studies showed that patients taking Belviq, known generically as lorcaserin, had modest weight loss. On average patients lost just 3 to 3.7 percent of their starting body weight over a year. About 47 percent of patients without diabetes lost at least 5 percent of their weight or more, which was enough to meet FDA standards for effectiveness. By comparison, average weight loss with Qnexa is 11 percent, with more than 83 percent of patients losing 5 percent of their weight or more.

The FDA said patients should stop taking Belviq after three months if they fail to lose 5 percent of their body weight. Patients are unlikely to see any significant weight loss by staying with the drug.

Side effects with the drug include depression, migraine and memory lapses.

In May a panel of expert advisers to the FDA voted 18-4 to recommend approval of Arena's drug, concluding that its benefits "outweigh the potential risks when used long term" in overweight and obese people.

Experts say the challenge of weight loss drug development lies in safely turning off one of the body's fundamental directives: to eat enough food to maintain its current weight.

While several drugs are available for short-term weight loss, until Wednesday there was only one FDA-approved prescription drug for long-term weight loss: Xenical from Roche, which is seldom prescribed because of unpleasant digestive side effects and modest weight loss. Belviq is the first new prescription drug approved to treat obesity since Xenical's approval 13 years ago.

Other safety failures for diet pills have continued to pile up in recent years.

Four years ago Sanofi-Aventis SA discontinued studies of its highly anticipated pill Acomplia due to psychiatric side effects, including depression and suicidal thoughts. In 2010, Abbott Laboratories withdrew its drug Meridia after a study showed it increased heart attack and stroke.

The Weight-Loss Nutrient You're Not Eating

Fiber: Weight-loss superfood?The U.S. often isn't the first nation to come to mind when you think of countries with healthy eating habits to adopt, but it turns out we may be influencing how our friends across the Atlantic dine.

The "all things fiber" trend taking over American supermarkets is also on the rise in Spain, Germany, Poland, and the U.K., where 62 percent of people say consuming enough fiber is important, a new European report found. Fiber even trumps calories, as only 56 percent said reducing calories was important.

This study intrigued me because while there are a number of foods with fiber added on the market-everything from pasta to yogurt-the latest nutrition data indicates that the average intake in the United States is less than half the recommended 14 grams per 1,000 calories (which works out to roughly 25 grams a day for women and 38 for men). And when I talk to my clients, most don't know much about this nutrient, other than it's generally good for you.

In a nutshell, fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can't digest or absorb, and there are two primary types: soluble and insoluble. Soluble is the soft, sticky type found in oats, barley, beans, and the "meat" of fruits, which helps to lower cholesterol and soften waste so it can pass through your system more easily. Insoluble is the tough type, found in whole wheat and the skin, stalks, and seeds of fruits and veggies, that helps to push waste through the GI tract and improve bowel regularity.

Fiber also has a number of weight-control benefits, which I've often touted on this blog. First, it fills you up, but because you don't break it down and absorb it into your bloodstream, you don't have to worry about burning off fiber in order to prevent it from getting socked away in your fat cells.

There is also some research showing that for every gram of fiber you eat, you eliminate about seven calories. That means if you gobbled 30 grams a day, it would essentially "cancel out" 210 of the calories you ate, which could result in shedding up to 20 pounds in a year's time.

Lastly, fiber has been found to slow the digestion and absorption of other carbs, which results in a slower, steadier rise in blood sugar and a delay in the return of hunger.

RELATED: In addition to fiber, be sure you're eating these eight super nutrients that help you slim down.

But fiber's powers don't stop at weight loss. It may also reduce the risk of death from any cause, according to a recent paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Women who ate about 25 grams of fiber a day were 22 percent less likely to die during the nine-year study than those who ate only 10 grams daily. And the risk of death from heart disease, infections, and respiratory diseases was reduced by as much as 50 percent in in the high-fiber eaters, with the greatest benefit seen from consuming grains. Pretty powerful stuff!

To boost your intake and hit the daily target, I recommend bulking up on naturally fiber-rich foods, primarily fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, and nuts. Just a cup of raspberries, a cup of black bean soup, a medium orange, and an ounce of almonds packs more than 25 grams, so meeting the recommendation doesn't require a drastic change in your diet.

Some good general rules of thumb for upping your intake include:

• Choose more fruits with edible seeds, skins, and membranes, including apples, raspberries, and oranges.
• Reach for veggies with tough stalks and edible skin, such as artichokes and broccoli.
• Opt for whole rather than refined grains. Oats, barley, quinoa, brown and wild rice, and 100% whole-wheat versions of bread, pasta, and crackers are good options.
• Replace meat with beans or lentils at least five times a week.
• Snack on nuts and seeds, or use them to garnish salads, stir-fries, cereal, and yogurt.

Oh, and one more thing: As you increase your fiber intake, be sure to drink plenty of extra water. It's key to help the fiber move through your system. Too little H2O and too much fiber can be a recipe for bloating and constipation, or a pretty uncomfortable tummy ache!

Health Benefits of Curry Leaf

Health Benefits of Curry Leaf

Image source: By Original uploader was Rantingsteve at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3518477

Murraya koenigii, commonly known as curry leaf or kari patta in Indian dialects, belonging to Family Rutaceae which represent more than 150 genera and 1600 species.  Murraya Koenigii is a highly values plant for its characteristic aroma and medicinal value.

The plant is credited with tonic and stomachic properties. Bark and roots are used as stimulant and externally to cure eruptions and bites of poisonous animals. Green leaves are eaten raw for cure of dysentery, diarrhoea and for checking vomiting.

The leaves retain their flavour after drying and hence these are marketed both in fresh and dried forms.

The leaves are a good source of vitamin A and they provide a rich source of calcium.

Their mineral and vitamin contents are calcium, phosphorus, iron, nicotinic acid and vitamin C. Fresh leaves on steam distillation under pressure yield a volatile oil. 

Besides the oil, the leaves contain a residual glucoside named as koenigin. 

1. Curry leaf has many medicinal properties. It stimulates digestive enzymes and helps break down food more easily. Have a glass of buttermilk mixed with a little  hing (asafoetida) with a few curry leaves thrown after meal for good digestion.

2. A good remedy for nausea and indigestion. Extract juice of curry leaves, squeeze a  lime and add a pinch of sugar.

Image source: By Chiring chandan - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41463493

3. Chew a few leaves every day to lose weight.

4. Loaded with folic acid and iron, eating curry leaves helps fight anemia.

5. Curry leaves also have anti-inflammatory benefits and hence aids in improved digestion. 

6. Curry leaves are also known to improve eyesight, so make sure you do not throw away the
leaves while eating. It is also believed to prevent cataract. 

7. Fresh juice of curry leaves, with lime juice and sugar,is an effective medicine in the treatment of morning sickness, nausea and vomiting due to indigestion and excessive use of fats. The curry leaves, ground to a fine paste and mixed with buttermilk, can also be taken on an empty stomach in case of stomach upsets.

8. Curry leaves are also good for hair growth and colour. If you don't like its raw taste, you can buy the curry leaf powder widely available in the market. This will  prevent premature greying of hair.

9. Curry leaves can be effectively used to treat burns, bruises and skin eruptions. They should be applied as a poultice over the affected areas.

10. Alternatively, you can also add a few curry leaves to your hair oil and boil it for a few minutes.Applying this hair tonic will keep your hair healthy.

11. Eating 10 fresh fully grown curry leaves every morning for three months prevents diabetes due to heredity factors. It also cures diabetes due to obesity,as the leaves have weight reducing properties.  As the weight drops, the diabetic patients stop passing sugar in urine.

FOOD WITH ORAL CANCER DRUGS?

Are oral oncology drugs being mislabeled? Maybe.
Most oral cancer drugs stipulate that they should be taken in a fasting state, but some actually have better bioavailability when taken with food. This is particularly true for the new prostate cancer drug abiraterone acetate (Zytiga), which has a greater interaction with food than any other marketed drug, yet it is labeled to be taken when fasting.
These points are highlighted in a comment published in the October 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Mark J. Ratain, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Personalized Therapeutics at the University of Chicago, Illinois.
"My major concern is safety," Dr. Ratain told Medscape Medical News. "Very few patients would anticipate that the consequences of taking their medications with food...would be an effective overdose."
In the case of abiraterone acetate, the dose of the drug could be increased 10-fold by eating breakfast half an hour after taking the drug, he writes.
Dr. Ratain notes that food interactions are described in the labeling of many drugs, but are notably absent in the labeling of new oral cancer agents.
Most drugs can be taken either with or without food, he explains, because the effects of food are not clinically significant to drug absorption. There are cases in which absorption is decreased by food; generally, the labeling on those drugs instructs that they be taken on an empty stomach. Similarly, labeling on drugs for which absorption is enhanced by food typically instructs that they be ingested with meals.
"However, a recent study of oral agents approved by the US Food and Drug Administration [FDA] in the last 10 years demonstrated that oral oncology drugs have generally been labeled fasting, despite food effects as large as a 4-fold increase in bioavailability," Dr. Ratain notes.
Bias in Labeling?
This apparent bias for fasting labeling in cancer drugs is exemplified with abiraterone, he notes. Abiraterone, which was approved earlier this year in the United States for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer, has a greater food interaction than any drug currently on the market. Depending on the fat content, food can increase drug exposure 5- to 10-fold, yet it is labeled to be taken in a fasting state, Dr. Ratain points out.
The effect of a high-fat meal indicates "that absolute bioavailability in the fasting state is no more than 10%," says Dr. Ratain, and is likely due to the low absorption rate under fasting conditions; 77% of the drug is excreted as abiraterone (or its prodrug acetate) in the stool.
"In addition, there is marked interindividual pharmacokinetic variability, with a coefficient of variation in the plasma concentration area under the curve of 59% under labeled conditions," he notes.
It is unclear why this faulty labeling is occurring, or why the FDA has not been more stringent about proper labeling for oral oncology drugs, Dr. Ratain said. He told Medscape Medical Newsthat the FDA has not responded to his inquiries and "essentially stonewalled" him because of the confidentiality of their discussions with sponsors.
"The blame could be assigned to sponsors, the Office of Oncology Drug Products, and/or the Office of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics," he said. "Given that there are multiple sponsors, all of whom who have a different approach to oncology..., the evidence points to an FDA origin."
Oral Drugs Relatively New
Alex Adjei, MD, PhD, who was approached by Medscape Medical News for independent comment, explained that until recently, oncology drugs have generally been given intravenously; for other diseases, oral drugs have been in common use for many years.
Perhaps that is why there has not been that much attention on the food-effect data, Dr. Adjei hypothesized. He is chair of the Department of Medicine at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, in Buffalo, New York.
"In clinical trials, we tend to give the drugs on an empty stomach," he said. "So that was how the drug was tested and that was how it was approved. We don't go back and change the label."
Dr. Adjei pointed out that unlike intravenous drugs, there is considerable variation in the way oral drugs are absorbed. "We try to simplify it by giving them on an empty stomach," he said.
Food-Effect Data Ignored
In a study published last year (Clin Cancer Res. 2010;16:4446-4451), Dr. Ratain and his colleague, Soonmo Peter Kang, MD, also from the University of Chicago, evaluated the effect of food on 99 oral agents that received FDA approval from January 2000 to May 2009. They compared food-labeling patterns between oncology and nononcology drugs using Fisher's exact test.
Food had a significant effect on drug bioavailability in 34 of the 99 drugs evaluated. In cases where food markedly enhanced bioavailability, 8 of 9 nononcology drugs were labeled to be taken with food to take advantage of the food–drug interaction. However, all oncology agents were labeled to be taken in "fasted" states (P = .01).
"The food-labeling pattern of recently approved oral oncology drug products is inconsistent with fundamental principles of oral drug delivery," they write. "The labels of 3 agents (erlotinib, nilotinib, and lapatinib) minimized bioavailability through food restrictions, which is in contrast to the labeling principles used for all other classes of oral agents."
In an editorial that accompanied the study by Drs. Ratain and Kang (Clin Cancer Res. 2010;16:4305-4307), Rajul K. Jain, MD, from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues explained that the effects of food are complex, and that multiple factors determine final labeling recommendations. "When analyzing the label given to any product or product class, all of the potential influencing factors should be considered," they said.
They also noted that "sponsors are encouraged to conduct food-effect studies early in a product's development so the results can be implemented into larger clinical trials."
In his comment, Dr. Ratain refers back to that editorial, and points out that the agency has "expressed concern about the potential for high intraindividual variability in cancer patients resulting from variability in oral intake secondary to disease or concurrent medications." This appears to indicate a preference for labeling drugs to be used when fasting, even if their bioavailability would be substantially increased when taken with food.
He explains that there isn't any evidence that this concern applies to all oral oncology drugs, and that there is no evidence that intraindividual variability in diet is greater for cancer patients than for those with other life-threatening conditions who also take daily oral drugs.
"If the US Food and Drug Administration were truly concerned about intraindividual variability in diet, why has this never come up in the labeling of nononcology drugs?" he asks.
He notes that the FDA was aware of the food-effect data from early studies of abiraterone and could have required at least 1 randomized study to be conducted to review this, so that it could have been labeled to be taken with food. The FDA has the authority to require such studies as a postmarketing requirement, but chose not to.
With the risk for poor adherence to food-effect labeling, there is a risk for overdose or underdose of a given drug, with the more serious being overdose, Dr. Ratain says.
In addition to this safety issue, there are economic implications, Dr. Ratain notes.
The standard dose of abiraterone for men without liver problems is 1000 mg once daily. But because the bioavailability of the drug is greatly increased when taken with food, it would be interesting to have studies of abiraterone at a dose of 250 mg once daily, administered with a standard breakfast. If this approach is shown to be safe and effective, it could save patients and their payers approximately $3750 per month at current prices.
"It also would send a message to the pharmaceutical industry that flawed drug development has financial consequences," he notes, "along with potential risks of product liability because of defective labeling."
He concludes: "After all, given the high attrition rate for oncology drugs, do we really need to flush our few successful products down the toilet?"
Impracticalities of Dosing and Diet
Lawrence J. Lesko, PhD, FCP, former director of the Office of Clinical Pharmacology at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, and a coauthor of the editorial by Dr. Jain, pointed out that the principal of labeling is consistent safety.
"The most consistent way to take drugs is on an empty stomach," said Dr. Lesko, who is now at the Department of Pharmaceutics at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "It would be impractical to expect that patients are going to adhere to a specific diet when taking these drugs. And it is often unclear what 'food' may mean to the patient. Is it a glass of juice, breakfast cereal, a cheeseburger?"
The goal is to minimize the variability, he told Medscape Medical News. "Food studies are generally conducted in healthy volunteers and not cancer patients. Labeling can't be done on a theoretical basis; it has to reflect what was done in the study."
Dr. Lesko noted that another problem with tying an oral drug dose to food is that many cancer patients have problems with appetite, nausea and vomiting, and gastrointestinal motility. "Their appetite can change on any given day," he said. "Some days, they may not be able to tolerate a high-fat meal, for example, which raises the bioavailability of abiraterone. It would just be impractical to do this on a day-to-day basis."
The other issue that Dr. Ratain focuses on in his comment is the comparison of oncology and nononcology drugs, Dr. Lesko pointed out. "But you really can't compare them."
For most nononcologic agents, food doesn't matter, so it isn't that important how the product is labeled, he said.
But that is not the case with oral oncologic agents. "Every drug in oncology has a narrow therapeutic index, and taking the drug with food could affect the therapeutic range," he said. "The labels are intended to minimize variability and mimic approval data."