Large Amounts of Fruit May Not Be Healthy

The editorial linked below appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It traces the rise in fructose consumption, and the rise in chronic diseases that have come in its wake.

Fructose is a simple sugar found in honey, fruit, table sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Because of the increase in the consumption of these sweeteners, fructose intake worldwide has quadrupled since the early 1900s.

Over the past three decades, there has been an even greater acceleration in consumption, in part because of the introduction of HFCS. The increase in fructose consumption parallels the rise in obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease.

Studies in animals have shown that fructose can induce insulin resistance, elevated triglycerides, abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure, inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, microvascular disease, hyperuricemia, glomerular hypertension and renal injury, and fatty liver. The consumption of large amounts of dietary fructose also can rapidly induce insulin resistance.

Sources:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition November 2008, 88(5): 1189-1190

(and brought to our attention by Dr. Mercola)
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JACQUES' remarks:

Another in many "Experts' Advice, Recommendatiions, die-hard Rules, etc." corrective "Ooooops!"-like retractions, modifications, etc. which deny, contradict, reverse and generally render their previous earth-shattering revelations a hoax, which have even shown to be toxic or lethal ones on occasions! :(

From time to time I feel compelled to bring these to your attention, in keeping with my own raised eyebrow approach to much of what the "All-Knowing (or is it Know-It-All?---LOL) "Experts" like to pontificate to whoever shall listen to and believe in their "carved in stone Truths"---to you and me who, after all, represent a seemingly endless and convenient supply of FREE and willing Lab rats who have usually gone along with, adopted and followed their lead...

...And, when the latter proved erroneous, it was a "no skin off their nose" no-fault goof which a simple retraction would make go away...like sticking their heads in the sands of life - ostrich-like...waiting for the enbarrassing clouds overhead to disappear...

So, today, as usual...I chose to kick the turned up asses of these real "OZ"es.

Have a Great weekend! And my apologies for failing to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving,(I'll tell you why at another time)... I hope was a wonderful one for you and yours!

Your Friend in Welleness and Success,

Jacques

The Dark Side of Chocolate: Healthy or Hype?

By Shawn McKee
Staff Writer

We all love chocolate, but there is a side of chocolate most people don't see... the dark side. Unlike its lighter-shaded cousins, dark chocolate has spent years as the "other chocolate." But now it's coming out of the shadows and into the forefront of the chocolate revolution -- and, apparently, finding plenty of support from health-conscious consumers.

The reports of dark chocolate being healthy for one's heart has sent demand for this sweet treat soaring. With sales up 40 percent this year and dark chocolate revenue from last year topping $1.62 billion, according to Mintel International, it's time to recognize the chocolate shade shift.

But is dark chocolate really the answer to your cravings? Well, if you believe the research that has recently surfaced about its antioxidant-rich and flavonol-filled nature, then it could be what you need for your chocolate fix.

The new fervor about the health benefits of chocolate come from -- you guessed it -- research done by chocolate companies. Nearly 80 percent of the research that's fueling the frenzy for dark chocolate as a health food comes from the Mars Corporation. The findings help the marketing for their Dove Dark, CocoaVia, M&M's Dark and limited-time Snickers Dark offerings.

It seems most chocolatiers are no longer afraid of the dark. One in three chocolate product launches this year included dark chocolate.

Is it time to go to the dark side?

According to Pamela Ofstein, eDiets director of nutrition services, dark chocolate "contains epicatechin, which is a compound of plant flavonoids. These flavonoids can help keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels and reduce the risk of blood clots."

But before you trade in your granola bar for a chocolate bar, remember that chocolate also contains a high amount of fat and calories per small serving -- 210 calories and 12 grams of fat for a Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate bar.

So adding chocolate to your diet just for the heart-health effects will also add unwanted calories, sugars, saturated fats and pounds. Ofstein recommends one to 1.5 ounces per day of dark chocolate to curb your confection cravings.

The benefits are real, but like most things, dark chocolate works best in moderation.

Americans spend nearly $10 billion a year to buy roughly 1.5 million tons of chocolate. If you need a chocolate fix, go dark because typically the darker the chocolate, the sweeter the health benefits.

Here's how your sweets stack up:

Dark chocolate should be your first choice; with heart-healthy antioxidants called flavonoids and no added milk fat, it's superior to its chocolate cousins.

America's favorite, milk chocolate, has more added sugar and fewer flavonoids than dark chocolate, as well as containing added milk fat, which raises cholesterol levels.


White chocolate contains no flavonoids and has added sugar and milk fat. It's the least healthy of the three.

(Courtesy: GLEE Magazine)

Try My High-Protein Pumpkin Pancakes!

I’m going to do my due diligence today to help you avoid the candy dish and other Halloween - Thanksgiving temptations by giving you a delicious healthy alternative! Try this treat: High protein pumpkin pancakes(aka “pumpcakes”). Enjoy!

Tom Venuto’s “pumpcakes” (pumpkin pancakes)

7.5 oz (212 g) of canned pumpkin
1/3 cup (27 g) oatmeal dry
1/3 cup (40 g) multigrain or whole wheat pancake mix
1 scoop (26 g) vanilla (or plain) protein powder
4 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
Sweetener (brown sugar, stevia or splenda): Optional
Yield: makes 2 large (5 inch wide) pancakes

Nutrition information for 2 pancakes, unsweetened
Calories: 507
Protein: 44.1 g.
Carbs: 69.7 g.
Fat: 5 g.

Bon Appetit!---Courtesy: BurnTheFat Newsletter

The Magic of Solitude

By: Brian Tracy

The greatest men and women of all ages have practiced solitude regularly. They learned how to use silence to still their minds and tap into their superconscious powers for answers to their questions.

In this newsletter, you learn how you can apply this wonderful technique immediately to improve the quality of your inner and outer life.

The Magic of Solitude

Your feelings, your emotions, are the access point to your inner powers of mind. The most important part in the process of getting in touch with your feelings is to begin to practice solitude on a regular basis. Solitude is the most powerful activity in which you can engage. Men and women who practice it correctly and on a regular basis never fail to be amazed at the difference it makes in their lives.

Most people have never practiced solitude. Most people have never sat down quietly by themselves for any period of time in their entire lives. Most people are so busy being busy, doing something-even watching television-that it's highly unusual for them to simply sit, deliberately, and do nothing. But as Catherine Ponder points out, "Men and women begin to become great when they begin to take time quietly by themselves, when they begin to practice solitude." And here's the method you can use.

To get the full benefit of your periods of solitude, you must sit quietly for at least 30 to 60 minutes at a time. If you haven't done it before, it will take the first 25 minutes or so for you to stop fidgeting and moving around. You'll almost have to hold yourself physically in your seat. You'll have an almost irresistible desire to get up and do something. But you must persist.

Solitude requires that you sit quietly, perfectly still, back and head erect, eyes open, without cigarettes, candy, writing materials, music or any interruptions whatsoever for at least 30 minutes. An hour is better.

Become completely relaxed, and breathe deeply. Just let your mind flow. Don't deliberately try to think about anything. The harder you "don't try," the more powerfully it works. After 20 or 25 minutes, you'll begin to feel deeply relaxed. You'll begin to experience a flow of energy coming into your mind and body.

You'll have a tremendous sense of well-being. At this point, you'll be ready to get the full benefit of these moments of contemplation.

The River of Ideas

The incredible thing about solitude is that if it is done correctly, it works just about 100 percent of the time. While you're sitting there, a stream, a river, of ideas will flow through your mind. You'll think about countless subjects in an uncontrolled stream of consciousness. Your job is just to relax and listen to your inner voice.

At a certain stage during your period of solitude, the answers to the most pressing difficulties facing you will emerge quietly and clearly, like a boat putting gently to the side of a lake. The answer that you seek will come to you so clearly and it will feel so perfect that you'll experience a deep sense of gratitude and contentment.

Trusting Yourself

When you emerge from this period of quiet, you must do exactly what has come to you. It may involve dealing with a human situation. It may involve starting something or quitting something. Whatever it is, when you follow the guidance that you received in solitude, it will turn out to be exactly the right thing to do. Everything will be OK. And it will usually work out far better than you could have imagined. Just try it and see.

You must learn to trust yourself. You must develop the habit of listening to yourself and then acting on the guidance you receive.

Action Exercises

Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, select a specific time and place to sit quietly and practice one full hour of solitude. Don't put it off.

Second, take small periods of silence and solitude during the day, especially when you feel overwhelmed with problems or responsibilities.

Third, take action immediately on the ideas and insights you receive while in solitude. One good idea can save you months and years of hard work. The key is trust.

-----

Jacques' Comments:

The excellent article and techniques above reflect benefits which are commonly derived during and after deep meditation exercises and self-hypnosis.

You have read a number of my remarks interjected within some of my posts. I am referring to those in which I urge participants of my deep self-hypnotic "Modulations" to practice learning to "Listen to your Inner Voice, or Higher Self"---believe, trust and follow these instinctive silent messages from your powerful, all-knowing subconscious mind and you will invariably be directed in the most accurate, safe and beneficial direction. You shall also receive the most perfect guidance imaginable---especially in the area of weight and eating management.

8 Foods That Get You Going in the Morning

A healthy post-Elections '08 tip for you, dear friends:

Having trouble switching from dreamland to realityville? Head for the kitchen. What you eat can help you be more alert, think more clearly, have more energy, and even be more creative, says Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of Food & Mood. Assuming you’ve clocked at least 7 hours of sleep, these foods will get you up, focused, and feeling like a morning person -- even if you're totally not.

1. A spoonful of sweetness:
A tad of sugar in your coffee or honey in your smoothie stimulates the release of acetylcholine, a brain chemical that enhances memory. But don’t overdo it or you’ll soon feel drowsy. Excess sweetness can raise serotonin levels to a sleep-inducing high.

2. A whole-wheat bagel:
Your primo brain fuel is glucose, the basic building block of carbs. So after a night of fasting, your brain is on red alert for a carb fix. But you don’t need a lot -- half a whole-wheat bagel will rev up your engines. So will a bowl of oatmeal. Pick your fave.

3. Lox on that bagel:
Salmon contains a fat known as DHA, which makes up 97% of the omega-3 fatty acids in your brain. You need lots of it to get your mental decks cleared for action -- part of DHA’s job is to carry away cellular waste products that make your brain feel sluggish.

4. Spicy V8:
Hot and spicy foods amp up blood flow, which is like warming your engines. If tomatoes are too acidic for you in the morning, toss a tablespoon of peeled fresh ginger into hot tea or a cold smoothie for a similar rush.

5. Soy:
It contains compounds called isoflavones that help clear your mind (and fight memory loss, too). Drink a glass of calcium-fortified soymilk, pour it over whole-grain cereal, or toss some chopped tofu into scrambled eggs.

6. Ice water:
A small glass of frosty H2O will get your blood pumping. The cold shock forces your system to defend its normal temperature, which gives your metabolism a slight boost.

7. Coffee:
But of course! Caffeine helps alertness by dampening a chemical called adenosine, which otherwise blocks energy-boosting brain chemicals. As a result, you think faster, drive better, and remember more. Just know your jitter threshold -- getting too wired can undermine your efficiency.

8. If all else fails:
Place a tin of ginger-flavored Altoids, a few Red Hots, or a packet of Listerine strips beside your alarm clock. When the buzzer goes off, pop one or two of them into your mouth before hitting the snooze button. It’s virtually impossible to sleep with that “curiously strong” taste waking up your mouth!


Besides facing the day -- we all have to, eventually -- the real benefit of switching your system to "on" in the morning is that your brain starts buzzing, absorbing interesting info and making sense of the news. And becoming a lifelong learner can make your RealAge as much as 2.5 years younger.


Comments:
According to Consumer Reports - Lox or Smoked Salmon contains NO Omega-3's because the smoking process smokes all the Omega'3's right out of the salmon. There is a technical difference between Lox and Smoked Salmon - Lox isn't smoked its cured. But today, almost all Lox is both cured and smoked. The smoking process is what kills the Omega 3'. So forget the smoked salmon and ONLY buy Lox if you KNOW it's not smoked.

Courtesy: RealAge Newsletter

Vitamin D is a Key Player in Your Overall Health

Vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now recognized as a major player in overall human health.

In a paper published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D, identifies vitamin D's potential for contributions to good health in the adaptive and innate immune systems, the secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas, the heart and blood pressure regulation, muscle strength and brain activity.

Access to adequate amounts of vitamin D is also believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of cancer.

Norman also lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to vitamin D, including bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and uterine tissues.

According to Norman, deficiency of vitamin D can impact all 36 organs. Already, vitamin D deficiency is associated with muscle strength decrease, high risk for falls, and increased risk for colorectal, prostate and breast and other major cancers.

An unrelated study also suggests that low vitamin D is associated with Parkinson’s disease. The majority (55 percent) of Parkinson's disease patients in the study had insufficient levels of vitamin D.

Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics has doubled its recommendation for a daily dose of vitamin D in children, in the hopes of preventing rickets and promoting other health benefits.

The new guidelines now call for children to receive 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day, beginning in the first few days of life.

“ … Evidence has shown this could have life-long health benefits," said Dr. Frank Greer of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Sources:
Eurekalert October 9, 2008
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition August 2008, Vol. 88, No. 2, 491S-499S
Archives of Neurology October 2008, Vol. 65, No. 10
Reuters October 13, 2008


Courtesy: Dr. Mercola
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Jacques' P.S.:

You may wonder why I post so many health-related articles in this, a basically "Business and $ucce$$"-related Blog.

Very simply that, without overall physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health, the sum total of our business dynamics suffer a lot.

And so, I feel morally, ethically and lovingly compelled to contribute my own balance and harmony posts for "A Healthier Mind in a Healthier Body".

Make this post-Halloween and pre-Election Day weekend a Great One!

Your Friend Always,

Jacques

Powerful secret to a better, easier life

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
(Helen Keller)

How to Double or Triple Your Brainpower Almost Immediately
By Michael Masterson

In the past few months, I've rediscovered a powerful secret to making life better and easier. It's something I've talked about in ETR before - because I've experienced it before.

But just recently, I proved to myself once again that this secret can help you double (at the very least) your brainpower. And you know what comes with having a more powerful brain...

You have more and better ideas, and you come up with them more quickly. Which can lead to more products for your business, more marketing channels to explore, and, eventually, more money.

Best of all, this secret is very simple: Hook up with a partner.

Now there's more to finding a partner than meets the eye, and I'll get into that in a minute. But first, I want to show you how truly powerful partnership can be.

The Power of Partnership in Action

On Tuesday, my latest book, Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business, hit bookstores. This book is different from anything I've ever written. For one thing, it's got a very narrow focus: multi-channel marketing. But the biggest difference is that I didn't write it by myself.

Changing the Channel is my seventh book. I've already penned six books. So why, you might ask, did I need a co-author? The answer: Because I knew that writing the book with this particular co-author would make it at least twice as good.

My co-author, as you probably know, is ETR's own MaryEllen Tribby.

When I first met MaryEllen, I knew she was special. She had the golden touch when it came to business building. So when the opportunity arose to bring her on as CEO of ETR, I jumped at it. And since she's been at ETR, revenues have quadrupled.

While ETR's revenues were soaring, MaryEllen and I had weekly meetings. And those meetings were a frenzy of idea-sharing. I would mention a marketing technique I'd used, and MaryEllen would talk about how she'd used it in the past. We'd brainstorm new products. We'd feed off each other's enthusiasm, and we'd think about new ways to grow ETR. We'd leave those meetings feeling energized and full of ideas.

One of the major breakthroughs we made during that time resulted in Changing the Channel. You see, we'd both been testing marketing ideas throughout our careers. But once we started talking every week, we discovered something astounding: We'd been using the same 12 strategies, over and over, to repeat our successes.

After making that discovery, we knew we had to put those 12 profit-acceleration secrets into a step-by-step plan that CEOs, entrepreneurs, and even entry-level employees could use. And the plan - which became Changing the Channel - was doubly strong because we worked on it together.

We each brought a different perspective to the book-writing process. We encouraged each other through writer's block. We helped each other strengthen weak chapters. We shared examples to help bolster our explanations. We challenged each other to include only our strongest and best advice... and on and on.

In the end, we wrote the book using more than twice the brainpower I could have provided had I written it by myself.

How to Recognize a Perfect Partner

In my view, a great partner has the following characteristics:

She has something (besides money) to offer the partnership that you don't have. This might be intelligence, assertiveness, creativity, perspicacity, a capacity for networking, an indomitable spirit - anything, so long as it is helpful to getting the job done.
She is fair-minded. By that, I mean she understands that there are many ways to contribute to a relationship (see above) and she values the way you contribute.
She is long-term-oriented. She understands that doing a good job on any major project takes time.
She is loyal. She will never try to break the original deal even if it starts to become unbalanced.
And partners don't have to be colleagues. Some of my best partnerships have been with mentors or superstar employees. One of my greatest mentors, JSN, helped me become a business owner, an entrepreneur, and a multimillionaire. My next partner took me even further.

Why Go It Alone?

Studies show that the majority of successful people rely on at least one other person. My own experiences validate those findings, as do the experiences of my most successful friends and colleagues. (I can't think of a single lone wolf who made it to the top on his or her own. I know several people who think they did - but, in reality, they were helped by others along the way, and then denied those people the credit they were due.)

Surveys show that business partnerships achieve greater success than individual proprietorships. Statistically speaking, they are more likely to survive the difficult start-up stage, they grow faster, net greater profits (for both partners), and last longer.

The same can be said of social partnerships. The capacity of a single mind is enormous - but the likelihood that its potential will be fully tapped is very small. We are all limited by emotional hang-ups, negative addictions, and self-destructive behavior patterns. But those limitations can be broken through when you have a partner to push and prod you. And when you reciprocate by pushing your partner to do and think and see more than they would on their own - well, then you have the beginning of something very powerful.

The fact is, a partner - whether a mentor or a superstar or a colleague or a spouse - can help you reach success much more quickly.

As your career or business develops, you'll face problems and opportunities you haven't met before. In such cases, it helps to get advice from a talented, intelligent partner. Someone who sees the world differently than you do. Someone who has had different experiences. Someone who can offer you all the benefits his or her unique viewpoint affords.

And you can take all that additional experience and brainpower straight to the bank.

Great partners will not only make you rich, they will make your life easier. Start looking for yours today.

[Ed. Note: Now's your chance to "partner up" with two of the greatest minds in Internet marketing. In Changing the Channel: 12 Easy Ways to Make Millions for Your Business, Michael Masterson and MaryEllen Tribby combine 60+ years of their best marketing ideas, insights, and strategies. Spend a few hours reading the book, put its techniques to work, and soon you could be making more money than you ever imagined. Order your copy of Changing the Channel today from "ETR" -Early Tp Rise]