Heart attack risk for diabetics

A study from the University of Dundee in Scotland shows that neither antioxidants nor aspirin pills prevent heart attacks in diabetics (British Medical Journal, October 2008). Heart attacks occur when a plaque breaks off from the walls of a coronary artery and travels down an ever-narrowing artery to form a clot and block the flow of blood to the heart muscle. Aspirin helps to prevent clotting and therefore prevents heart attacks. Ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal pain medications block aspirin so they can increase clotting and heart attack risk in susceptible individuals.

One of the strongest risk factors for a heart attack is diabetes; 80 percent of diabetics die of heart disease. Diabetes could be such a strong risk factor for heart attacks that aspirin does not prevent it, or it may be that aspirin should be prescribed only for people with established symptomatic heart disease.

Other studies show that taking antioxidant vitamins (500 milligrams of vitamin C every day, 600 units of vitamin E every other day or 50 milligrams of beta carotene every other day) does not prevent heart attacks (Archives of Internal Medicine August 2007). As of today, there is no evidence that taking antioxidant pills helps to prevent heart attacks. Now many scientists think that you should aim to prevent your mitochondria from making excessive amounts of oxidants. The cells of your body have tiny chambers in them called mitochondria that help convert food to energy. When they do this, they knock of electrons from nutrients, and these extra electrons can eventually end up attached to oxygen. Electron-charged oxygen, called reactive oxygen species or free radicals, then attach to the DNA in cells to damage them and shorten life.

At this time, the only practical ways to reduce the amount of oxidants produced by mitochondria are exercise or calorie restriction with adequate nutrients. Both help the mitochondria burn food to produce fewer oxidants. In the future the same effect may be accomplished with chemicals, such as resveratrol or dichloroacetate, but studies of these substances in animals have not yet been successfully applied to humans.

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Stretching: Pros and Cons

Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia reviewed the world's literature and concluded that stretching does not prevent muscle soreness that follows vigorous exercise (1). Athletes train by taking a hard workout, feeling sore the next day, and then taking easy workouts for as many days as it takes for the soreness to go away. Since stretching does not reduce muscle soreness, it does not help you to recover faster from hard exercise. The best way to recover from exhausting competition is to move with little pressure on muscles, such as cycling on a stationary bicycle (2).

Stretching does not prevent injuries (3). Muscles and tendons tear when the force applied to them is greater than their inherent strength. Anything that makes a muscle stronger helps to prevent injuries, but stretching does not make muscles stronger or faster.

Even though most high school and college coaches have their athletes stretch before games or races (4), you should not stretch before competition because it decreases muscle strength (5) and impairs your ability to run fast (6).

However, stretching can make you a better athlete. Muscles attach to bones by long fibrous bands called tendons. Stretching lengthens tendons, and the longer the tendon, the greater the force a muscle can exert on a joint (7). So stretching a tendon to make it longer allows an athlete to exert more force around a joint to help him jump higher, run faster, lift heavier or throw further (8).

References:
(1) Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 4
(2) American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, June 2007
(3) Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, March 2005
(4) Clinical Journal of Sports medicine, May 2006
(5) Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. April 2006
(6) Sports Science, May 2005
(7) Journal of Sports Science, February 2006
(8) The American Journal of Sports Medicine, February 2006

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BodyCombat™ 37

Fighters, welcome to BodyCombat™ 37, where you'll witness the fitness!

It's fully loaded with an arsenal of Strikes, Kicks and Blocks and will equip you with the tools you need to defeat the sedentary lifestyle that keeps creeping up on you.

An Underworld/Blade Vampire theme has been chosen for this class, which comes out strongly in Tracks 4 and 10. You'll love those powerful menacing moments where you can get in the zone and really let rip.

Watch out for the big focus on Brazilian Capoeira in Track 6 – the third combat track. Drills are used that take leg conditioning to a whole new level and you'll find out why after you've done the class a few times. It's a slow burn, with some awesome results when done correctly.

And of course we've got some great sounds from Fallout Boy feat. John Mayer, Matchbox 20 and Rogue Trader that'll drive your energy levels sky-high.

Enjoy BodyCombat 37™ and stay with the fight!

BodyCombat 37™ Sizzler

BodyCombat 37™ Track List:-
1. Summer Of '69 / I Never Liked You
2. Beat It
3. Baby I'll Let You Know
4. We Will Survive / The Great Bouzouki
5. How Far We've Come
6. Stamp
7. Let The Beat Control Your Body
8. Sea Of Love (Hixxy Remix)
9. Church
10. Our Solemn Hour

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BodyVive™ 8

BodyVive™ 8 has a great singalong, feel-good nature that everyone's going to love.

The music spans four decades – hits starting in the '80s, moving through to the '90s, then into the 21st century before finishing back in the '70s.

And, as always, there's a mix of fresh new moves to challenge and excite regular class members, along with variations on key moves you'll know from past releases.

BodyVive™ 8 has lots of highlights and there's none bigger than the Dance Cardio Track to the music of Irene Cara and Fame. This is where you get to become part of that vibrant, energetic, young group trying to find a ticket to stardom at the famous New York Performing Arts School.

And look forward to the Balance & Leg Strength Track to George Benson's On Broadway. This is challenging because the song is longer than usual and it has a cool new move for balance called the Fondue Sequence – from fondue, meaning 'to melt'.

There's a great Phil Collins track to wrap up the music and the class, which will leave everyone feeling rejuvenated, uplifted and ready for anything!

BodyVive™ 8 Sizzler

BodyVive™ 8 Track List:-
1. Stomp! ~ The Brothers Johnson [Rise & Shine]
2. Venus ~ Bananarama [Connect & Go]
3. Fame ~ Irene Cara [Dance Cardio]
4. Would I Lie To You? ~ Eurythmics [Interactive Cardio]
5. She Bangs ~ Ricky Martin [Fitness Cardio]
6. Love's Theme ~ The Love Unlimited Orchestra [Tai Chi & Yoga]
7. On Broadway ~ George Benson [Balance & Leg Strength]
8. Pour Some Sugar On Me ~ Def Leppard [Biceps, Upper Back & Shoulders]
9. Free Your Mind ~ En Vogue [Hips, Glutes & Hamstrings]
10. Can't Get Enough Of Your Love ~ Taylor Dayne [Ab Strength]
11. As ~ George Michael Duet with Mary J. Blige [Back Care]
12. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me ~ Phil Collins [Release & Restore]

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Is Fruit Juice good? (Part 2 of 2)

Continued from Part 1...

Fruit juice taken with cereal or other foods will be absorbed slower than fruit juice by itself, but will still cause higher blood sugar levels than if we did not drink the fruit juice. Smoothies are halfway between juice and whole fruit. The more the fruit is liquified, the faster its sugar is absorbed.

Scientists are frantically trying to explain the marked increase in diabetes, severity of diabetes, deaths from diabetes, increase in heart attacks, increase in obesity and so forth over the last 50 years in the United States. While the questions have not been answered yet, refined carbohydrates, particularly in liquid form, are suspect. Sugar-water does not suppress hunger the way that sugar in solid food does, and sugar-water causes the highest rises in blood sugar.

In a nutshell

Consume fruit in whole and its original form to get its nutrients.

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Is Fruit Juice good? (Part 1 of 2)

Researchers at Tulane University showed that eating fruit helps to prevent diabetes, while drinking fruit juices increases risk (Diabetes Care, July 2008). They analyzed diets of 71,346 women enrolled in the Nurses Study. Increasing intake of whole fruit by three servings a day lowered risk for diabetes by 18%, while a serving of fruit juice each day increased risk by 18%.

The food that we eat passes into our stomach and must remain there until it is turned into a liquid soup. No solid food is allowed to pass into our intestines. This delay prevents blood sugar levels from rising too high. However, sugar in drinks can pass directly into our intestines to cause an immediate rise in blood sugar. This can cause sugar to stick to the surface of cell membranes and damage them to cause the side effects of diabetes which include blindness, deafness, heart attacks, strokes, and so forth. It makes no difference whether the sugared drink is "junk food" such as a soft drink, or a supposedly healthful fruit juice.

If drinking fruit juice alone is bad to health, what about if we drink fruit juice while eating other foods?

Continue to Part 2...

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