A Healthy Take
A
daily walk can change your life.
The
risk factors associated with a greater likelihood of developing heart
disease, diabetes, and stroke are large waist circumference, high blood
pressure, high levels of triglycerides, low amounts of HDL (�good�
cholesterol), and high blood sugar. Having three out of five of these
factors gets you a �MetS diagnosis� � metabolic syndrome. But you can
change that just by walking.
In
a recent Duke University Medical Center study, 41 percent of participants
were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (MetS) before walking for 30 minutes
six days a week. After eight months of walking on this schedule � without
making any dietary changes � only 27 percent still met the criteria for
MetS.
A
Meaty Fact: Adults who eat two or more servings of meat per day increase
their risk of developing metabolic syndrome by 25 percent, compared to
adults who eat meat only twice a week.
�
from Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association
Free-range
eggs ... are they worth it?
If
you�ve purchased a dozen eggs lately, you might have been a bit flummoxed
when trying to decide whether to put out more of your hard-earned cash for
the free-range variety. How do you know if paying the extra price for this
�boutique� variety of eggs is worth it?
First,
you have to understand just what the term free range means, and that its
definition can be a matter of perspective. Warning: It�s not all that
simple. According to Mother Earth News, true free-range chickens eat a
natural chicken�s diet that includes �all kinds of seeds, green plants,
insects and worms, usually along with grain or laying mash.� True
free-range chickens also spend time out of doors walking around and foraging
� something factory farm birds can�t do. And factory farm birds are
usually fed cheap mixtures of corn, soy, and cottonseed meals with
additives. Here�s the confusing part: The USDA defines free range as birds
merely having access to the outdoors.
Some
manufacturers are taking advantage of this definition by leaving tiny doors
open on huge sheds, which in turn leaves the door open for the manufacturers
to label their eggs as �free range.� So what�s a consumer to do?
Know
what you�re getting for your money. According to Mother Earth
News�sponsored tests, free-range chickens produce eggs of superior
nutritional value as compared to eggs from factory hens. And when compared
to the official USDA nutrient data for commercial eggs, the eggs from
free-range chickens contained up to ...
