8 Ridiculous Nutrition Myths

There is a lot of incompetence in the area of nutrition and health. Even health professionals seem to constantly contradict each other. Here are 8 ridiculous nutrition myths, thoroughly debunked.

1. A Calorie is a Calorie

It is a common myth that all that matters for weight loss is calories in, calories out.

Of course, calories matter. But the types of foods we eat are also important.

Here are 3 examples of how “a calorie is NOT a calorie.”

-Fructose vs. Glucose: Fructose is more likely to stimulate hunger, increase abdominal obesity and insulin resistance, compared to the same amount of calories from glucose.

-Protein: Eating protein can raise the metabolic rate and reduce hunger compared to fat and carbs.

-Medium vs. long-chain fatty acids: Fatty acids that are of medium length (such as from coconut oil) raise metabolism and reduce hunger compared to longer chain fatty acids.

Bottom Line: A calorie is not a calorie. Different foods affect our bodies, hunger and hormones in different ways.

2. Eating a Lot of Protein is Bad For You

Some people think that a high-protein diet will harm your kidneys and cause osteoporosis.

It is true that eating protein can make you excrete more calcium in the short term.

However, long-term studies show that protein intake is associated with improved bone health and a lower risk of fractures, not the other way around.

Studies don’t find any association with kidney disease either.

The two most important risk factors for kidney failure are diabetes and high blood pressure. Eating adequate protein helps with both, which should reduce your risk of kidney disease later in life.

Unless you have a medical condition, there’s no reason to be afraid of having more protein in your diet. It’s a good thing.

Bottom Line: Eating a high protein diet may be protective against bone fractures and reduce the two most important risk factors for kidney failure.

3. The Healthiest Diet is a Balanced Low-Fat Diet

The low-fat guidelines first came out in the year 1977, at almost the exact same time the obesity epidemic started.

This diet was never actually proven to work. It was merely based on observations.

The National Institute of Health decided to test this diet and funded the Women’s Health Initiative, which is the largest randomized controlled trial ever conducted on diet.

In this study, tens of thousands of women were placed on either a low-fat diet, or continued to eat the standard western diet like before.

The study went on for 7.5 years and the conclusions were very clear:

-The diet did NOT prevent weight gain. The low-fat group weighed only 0.4kg less than the control group after 7.5 years.

-The diet did NOT prevent heart disease either. There was no difference between groups after 7.5 years.

-The low-fat diet got tested. It didn’t work, period.

Bottom Line: There is no evidence that low-fat diets lead to better outcomes. The largest randomized controlled trial ever conucted on diet proves that the low-fat diet is completely ineffective.

4. Everyone Should be Cutting Back on Sodium

Sodium is a crucial electrolyte in the body and our cells need to keep it within a very tight range, or we’ll die.

For a long time, sodium has been thought to elevate blood pressure and therefore raise your risk of disease.

It is true that it can mildly elevate blood pressure in the short term.

However, studies do not support the idea that lowering sodium helps improve actual hard outcomes like heart attacks.

Randomized controlled trials on sodium restriction show that there is no effect on cardiovascular disease or death. They also show that sodium restriction may increase triglycerides and cholesterol levels.

Unless you have elevated blood pressure, there is no reason to avoid adding salt to your foods to make them more palatable.

Bottom Line: Sodium restriction has been thoroughly tested. None of these studies have found any evidence that it actually leads to better outcomes.

5. Saturated Fat Raises The Bad Cholesterol and Gives You Heart Disease

The myth that saturated fat raises cholesterol and causes heart disease is still alive today.

This ideas was based on some flawed observational studies conducted in the 60s and 70s.

Since then, many studies have re-examined this relationship and discovered that:

-There is literally no association between saturated fat consumption and cardiovascular disease.

-Saturated fat raises HDL (the good) cholesterol and changes the LDL from small, dense (bad) to Large LDL, which is benign.

-There is no reason to avoid natural foods that are rich in saturated fats. Meat, coconut oil and butter are perfectly healthy foods.

Bottom Line: Despite decades of anti-fat propaganda, saturated fat has never been proven to cause heart disease. New studies prove that there is literally no association.

6. Coffee is Bad For You

Coffee has gotten a bad reputation in the past.

It is true that caffeine, the active stimulant compound in coffee, can slightly raise blood pressure in the short term.

Despite these mild adverse effects, long term observational studies actually show that coffee lowers the risk of many diseases. Coffee can:

-Improve brain function.

-Help you burn more fat.

-Lower your risk of diabetes… in some studies as much as 67%.

-Lower your risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

-Protect your liver against cirrhosis and cancer.

Coffee is also loaded with antioxidants. It is actually the biggest source of antioxidants in the western diet and outranks both fruits and vegetables, combined.

Bottom Line: Despite coffee being able to mildly elevate blood pressure, observational studies show a strong and consistent reduction in many serious diseases like Alzheimer’s and type II diabetes.

7. Eggs Are Rich in Cholesterol And Can Give You Heart Disease

Eggs have been unfairly demonized because they contain large amounts of cholesterol.

However, dietary cholesterol doesn’t necessarily raise blood cholesterol and eggs have never been proven to cause harm.

If anything, eggs are among the most nutritious and healthiest foods you can eat.

They’re loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Studies show that egg consumption actually improves the blood lipid profile. They raise the HDL (good) cholesterol and change the LDL from small, dense to Large, which is benign.

Observational studies show no association between egg consumption and risk of heart disease.

Additionally, some studies show that eggs for breakfast can help you lose weight… at least compared to a breakfast of bagels.

Bottom Line: Eggs are one of the healthiest and most nutritious foods you can eat and there is no association between egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease.

8. Low-Carb Diets Are Ineffective or Dangerous

Low-carb diets have been considered dangerous because of their high amount of saturated fat.

For this reason, they have been thought to raise your risk of heart disease and other chronic illness.

However, since the year 2002, more than 20 randomized controlled trials have been conducted and compared low-carb against the standard of care, the low-fat diet.

In almost every one of these studies, low-carb diets:

-Cause significantly more weight loss than low-fat diets.

-Drastically lower triglycerides, an important risk factors for heart disease

-Raise HDL (the good) cholesterol.

-Improve blood sugar and insulin levels, especially in diabetics.

-Change the LDL cholesterol from small, dense (bad) to Large (benign) – which should lower the risk of heart disease.

-Lower blood pressure significantly.

Low-carb diets are also easier to follow and have an outstanding safety profile. There is no evidence of any adverse effects, despite the scare tactics.

They are certainly a much better choice than a low-fat, calorie restricted diet… which many mainstream organizations still push despite zero evidence of effectiveness.

(source:mailonline/Health)

The usage of distal anterolateral thigh flap- two Cases

Case:

1.   A 53-year-old man with a skin ulcer over the anterior surface of the left tibia secondary to plate fixation for an open fracture. The perforator marked with preoperative Doppler was located 8 cm proximal to the superior border of the patella. Without thinning, the flap was 10 × 4 cm in size and 5 mm thick.

2.   A 46-year-old man with necrosis of the right index finger after replantation. The flap was 5 × 3 cm in size and 3 mm in thickness. This “distal” anterolateral thigh flap can be raised as a quite thin flap with a long pedicle and, therefore, is considered useful in the reconstruction of various soft tissue defects.

Conclusion:

This “distal” anterolateral thigh flap can be raised as a quite thin flap with a long pedicle and, therefore, is considered useful in the reconstruction of various soft tissue defects.

Full article:Download PDF

Why your health expenditures is higher than others?A comparison between a US and a Japanese academic hospital

In some country,the health expenditures is high,however,some are rather low.The reason?Yes, the national health care policy make a difference.Is there any other reason you don’t know?Aresearch list some other factors by contrastive analysis:

To drill down into why per capita health expenditures vary between the US and Japan, this exploratory study compares the price, volume and composition of services provided to inpatients for two procedures in an academic hospital in the US, and one in Japan. 
You can read the full artical to learn the analysis process and results.

Maybe it is not very comprehensive,welcome to complete.

Spiraling Esophagus,a strange esophagus disease which is no cure presently

An 87-year-old Swiss woman who suffered painful spasms in her chest turned out to have an esophagus that twisted itself into a corkscrew shape whenever she swallowed, according to a report of her case.

The woman had lost 11 pounds in the past several months, and told doctors she had cramplike spasms shortly after eating.

Her doctors performed an endoscopy and found that, when she swallowed, her esophagus had the same helical shape as a playground twisty slide. 

It is an unusual condition,and has been  encountered before. In fact, another elderly female patient, 89 years old, who complained of difficulty swallowing, abdominal pain and frequent belching, also turned out to have her esophagus twisting into a helical shape when she swallowed, according to a 2003 case report in the same journal.

Dr. Michael Vaezi, who specializes in treating "esophageal motility disorders" at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee, said he has seen the condition many times.

While primary care doctors may rarely see this disorder, at his center, they "encounter these patients on weekly basis."

Dr. John Pandolfino, a gastroenterologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, explained that this strange phenomenon occurs because of the way the muscles of the esophagus contract. Normally when a person swallows, the muscle fibers that encircle the top of the esophagus contract first, and then as they relax, the muscles just below them contract, and this wave of contraction continues all the way down to the stomach.

But in a person with this condition, all the muscles contract simultaneously. As a result, rather than moving food downward toward the stomach, the muscles pull the esophagus itself into a spiral shape.

Why this happens, however, is still unknown. Vaezi said "some have speculated that gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) could be playing a role."

While there is no cure for the condition, the doctors in the study tried to treat the patient's symptoms by giving her high-dose proton-pump inhibitor drugs, which are typically used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, and long-acting calcium channel-blockers, which Vaezi said can help to scale down the "squeeze" of the esophagus's contractions. 

Regretfully,in this patient's case, neither drug had much of an effect.

I think there will be a solution in this disease sooner or later.As esophageal neuroendocrine carcinomas,ever  are rare, aggressive and have a poor prognosis.A study claimed that there has been a esophageal neuroendocrine carcinomas petients “administered adjuvant chemotherapy using cisplatin and CPT-11, and he is now alive disease-free at the time of this writing.”

source: Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the esophagus: Report of a case and review of the literature

Spiraling Esophagus: Strange Condition Found in Elderly Woman

Is low birth weight associated with hypertension in adult life?

The factors which may cause hypertension may include : age,the salt intake, weight, heredity, environmental and occupational.Besides,there has been a hypothesis- fetal origin hypothesis, suggests that birth weight is related to several adult diseases.A research from Scientific Research Publishing has prove the hypothesis:

Our results support the hypothesis that low birth weight is associated with hypertension in adult life, also after considering several confounding factors and weight history later in life. Furthermore, the previous weight history might have an influence on the association between birth weight and the risk for adult hypertension.

You can read the article for more research detail.

(source:scirp/ Health)

Obama and his wife will get tattoo and show off on YouTube if his daughters get one ,a new way to remove tattoo

US President Barack Obama has warned his daughters that if they get tattoos, he and his wife will get matching ones on the same place on their bodies.

In an interview on NBC's Today show, Mr Obama said he hoped the "family tattoo" threat would discourage teen rebellion.

About  tattoo

Tattoo brings temporary alternative happy to fashionable men and women,while it lives permanent pain and spiritual shackles to the tattoos. A lot of tattoos may be regret and eager to remove them.

Methods to remove tattoo

Traditional methods to remove tattoo including chemical, mechanical, surgical, termal and laser assited methods.A scientists introduces a new method: Q-switch mode.They claimed this method as one of the most effective methods of tattoo removal with advanced the laser method.The scientists also conclude that lymphatic elimination may be one of the significant mechanisms of tattoo removal through contrast experiment.

The rise of 'lotus births': How more mothers are leaving their baby's umbilical cord ATTACHED until it falls off ten days later

An increasing number of women are choosing to leave their newborn baby's umbilical cord attached, in an all-natural trend called Lotus Birth.

Lotus Birth, or umbilical nonseverance, means the mother waits for the cord to detach from her baby naturally - rather than cutting it off near the stomach after childbirth.

It can take up to 10 days for the placenta and umbilical chord to fall away - and mothers must carry around the matter with their baby was they wait for nature to take its course.

[Recommend: Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology]

Mary Ceallaigh, a 47-year-old Lotus Birth advocate and Midwife educator, believes the non-traditional practice can help with the mother and baby's health.

The Texas native, who has helped deliver more than 100 natural births, told The New York Post that keeping the umbilical cord intact can lessen the chance of infection, and 'allows a complete transfer of placental/cord blood into the baby at a time when the baby needs that nourishment the most.

'Babies’ immune systems are going through huge changes at a very rapid rate when they’re first born. Not disrupting the baby’s blood volume at that time helps prevent future disease,' she said.

'The mother and baby benefit from having all the focused placed on bonding, rather than the common focus of "who's going to cut the cord, cut the bond?" Invading the natural process when there's a healthy mother and baby is likely to cause harm in some way seen or unseen.'

Ms Ceallaigh said that five percent of her clients have practiced Lotus Birth. 'For prepared folks, it's the easiest part of the birth!' she said.

When it comes to carrying out daily chores with a placenta attached to your newborn, Ms Ceallaigh said it is much easier than people expect.

'The cord usually dries and breaks off by the third day, so no mother would be running errands during that time anyway...hopefully not until at least the fourth week after giving birth!' she explained.

(source:mailonline)

Community-based obesity prevention initiatives in aboriginal communities: The experience of the eat well be active community programs in South Australia

Source: Scientific Research Publishing 

DOI: 10.4236/health.2012.412A215

Download:PDF

Childhood obesity is a growing concern world-wide, and obesity rates are higher in certain groups in the developed world, including Australian Aboriginal people. Community-based obesity prevention interventions (CBOPI) can help to address obesity, however the approach of such programs to reach diverse groups, including Aboriginal people, must be considered. This paper considers one mainstream1 CBOPI, the eat well be active (ewba) Community Programs in South Australia, which was delivered in two communities and sought to reach Aboriginal people as part of the overall program. This paper considers how well this approach was received by the Aboriginal people living and working in those communities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine Aboriginal workers who had some connection to the ewba program, and seven ewba project staff. Qualitative data analysis was performed and factors found to affect how well the program was received by Aboriginal people include relationships, approach and project target group, including geographical area. A different response was observed in the two communities, with a more positive response being observed in the community where more relationships were developed between ewba and Aboriginal staff. For any CBOPI seeking to work with Aboriginal (or other Indigenous) communities, it is vital to consider and plan how the program will meet the needs and preferences of Aboriginal people in all stages of the project, in order to reach this group.

Do you satisfy with your marriage?It depends on your psychological health

What will affect your marital satisfaction? Economic factors, personality factors, knowledge factors, social status, children factors, environmental factor, sex factors,ect.Maybe each one of the above factors will affect your satisfaction towards your marriage.No matter what, psychological health is indeed a crucial factor.

Association has been postulated between marital satisfaction, job satisfaction and mental health.

“No association was found between marital dissatisfaction and job dissatisfaction. No association was also found between job dissatisfaction and psychological disorder.”According to a research made by University of Benin,with the secondary school teachers for the object,” A high level of marital satisfaction was found in the study population. However, the strong association also found between marital dissatisfaction and psychological disorder provides empirical evidence on the need to educate married couples as well as the general public on the mental health implication of marital dissatisfaction.”

A good mental attitude is important for your whole life.It makes you treat everything in positive way when your marriage encounters all kinds of trouble.So you feel you get a happy marriage. On the contrary, bad psychological,made your marriage life seems like a real mess.

(source:SCIRP)

Does Music Really Benefit to Sleep and Memory, Scientific Point of View

When I was in junior high school,I have heard that music is good to our memery. Then I have heard other benefits of music:music can be good medicine for depression mood and music can contribute to creative thinking in Pre-School children. Is music really that magic?A report from mailonline can reveal some truth to us.

Music is benefit to sleep and memory indeed,however,there are some limits.

Researchers have discovered that playing sounds synchronised to the rhythm of the slow brain oscillations of people who are asleep enhances these oscillations which boosts their memory and improves the quality of their sleep. It has long been known that slow oscillations in brain activity, which occur during so-called slow-wave sleep, are critical for retaining memories. Attention:The sounds must synchronised to the rhythm of the slow brain oscillations, sound stimulation which is out of sync does not improve memory.

Dr Born and his colleagues conducted tests on 11 people during which they exposed the participants to sound stimulations.

When the volunteers were exposed to stimulating sounds that were in sync with the brain's slow oscillation rhythm, they were better able to remember word associations they had learned the evening before.

Stimulation out of phase with the brain's slow oscillation rhythm was ineffective.

Another 2 benefits of music referred  above  need’s further study, author thinks.

Why some people may be depressed while some people are in positive state after traumatic event

Experiencing a traumatic event,negative people may feel the sky is falling, everywhere was in the gloom,and finally never recovered. Optimists may be sad for a period of time,then make adjustments, return to normal life sowly, sun still belongs to him.

The root of the gap between the two lies in posttraumatic growth and negative psychological adjustment after traumatic events can coexist，which accounts for a major advantage decides your life after a traumatic event.

The conclusion is based on an experiment ,which evaluated current measures of grief to determine if such positive outcomes can be adequately assessed. Methods: The Texas Revised Inventory of Grief, Grief Experience Inventory, Bereavement Phenomenology Questionnaire, Core Bereavement Items, Continuing Bonds Scale, and Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist (currently the most common measures of grief).

（source：SCIRP）