Monday, March 30, 2009 HAMILTON – Hamilton author and Keep Canada / Keep America Slim president Lee Fairbanks is the lead speaker joining some of North America’s top anti-aging specialists at the International Anti-Aging Show April 3-4-5 at Toronto's International Centre. He opens the seminar schedule at 1 pm, Friday.
Fairbanks completes a list of more than 15 experts that includes keynote speaker Dr. Pamela Smith, a women’s hormone expert from Michigan; Toronto TV host and homeopathic doctor Bryce Wylde; Bruce Krahn (The Fat Fighter Diet); Chelation Therapy expert Bill Allin; Florida TV Host Jackie Silver; and Colleen Hoffman Smith (The Inner Workout).
Fairbanks, an award winning journalist and resident weight loss expert for CHTV’s Live at 5:30 show with Mark Hebscher and Donna Skelly, will be discussing the hidden connection between losing weight and living longer.
“I will be looking at how we tend to ‘lower the bar’ as we age, so that we continue to think we are aging well, when in fact we are deteriorating at a faster than necessary rate,” explained Fairbanks. “We have been brought up in a pro-drug culture, with a misplaced belief that we are healthy when we control symptoms with pharmaceuticals. This rush to drug ourselves and our seniors instead of promoting wellness strategies is really misplaced.”
Fairbanks claims that people accept the side effects of drugs as being necessary to maintain health, when in fact they simply mask one problem while creating others. Eventually the new symptoms become health conditions of their own. The true path to a longer healthier life is to avoid drugs unless your condition is life threatening, and to use natural means such as better food choices to support health as we age.
“A long healthy life starts with how you shop, cook and eat,” he says. “Food is nature’s pharmacy, and we need to return to those roots if we want to avoid illness as we age.”
Fairbanks says the Keep Canada Slim program www.keepcanadaslim.com teaches the necessary choices to not only lose weight and keep it off, but to extend healthy lifespan as well.
“People usually separate weight loss from health, and this mistake backfires into increased degenerative disease risk. By embracing low-calorie diets people undermine their health as they lose weight. In addition, they lose muscle and bone density as part of their overall weight loss. This increases the risk of cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes,” he explains.
“We have discovered a way to combine the known strategies of a longer life with the goal of achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight and body composition. Our goal is not simply to ‘get’ people slim temporarily, as is the case with diets, but to ‘keep’ people slim now and throughout their life. And in the process, people will learn a way to shop, cook and eat that will give them a longer healthier life.”
Fairbanks is the opening speaker at the Anti-Aging show, going onstage Friday at 1 pm. He will also speak Saturday at 3 pm., and be available personally at the Keep Canada Slim booth all weekend.
The show hours are Friday, 12-7 pm; Sat, 10 am – 6 pm; Sun, 11 am – 6 pm. For details go to www.theantiagingshow.com
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Is your BMI reading false?
How do you measure your weight?
A news release last week from the head of the Canadian Obesity Network suggested that some obese people are in fact healthy and do not need to lose weight. This of course flies in the face of logic, so let’s look at the facts and see if we can make sense of this statement.
Dr. Arya Sharma says that as many as one-third of people deemed obese according to their BMI (Body Mass Index, which is the relationship between height and weight) have no medically-determined risk factors for heart disease and should not be counselled to lose weight.
Dr. Sharma goes on to say that since most people gain weight back after they lose it, the practical advice would be to simply suggest they not gain any further weight. Here’s the challenge with this thinking:
First off, the BMI is NOT an accurate measurement of obesity and should never be taken as such. The BMI was a creation of the insurance industry, which uses it as part of actuarial tables to determine mortality risk when issuing life insurance policies. Only recently has the medical community begun to use it in the evaluation of obesity and related risk factors. Doctors use it because it is easy to measure.
In truth, the key measurement needed to measure obesity is body fat percentage – the percentage of fat compared to lean muscle, bones, organ tissue, water and fecal matter.
Here’s more: The BMI is known to be only accurate as related to body fat percentage for 68% of people. So the “revelation” that 1/3 of people measured as obese by their BMI are in fact not obese is no surprise to anyone with a wellness background.
Let me give you a typical example. On the BMI, almost all professional football linemen are obese, because the amount of muscle they have makes their weight in relation to their height “off the charts.” In fact however, most linemen have a body fat percentage of about 15-16%, which puts them right in the middle of the recommended range of 11-19% for men.
By comparison, running backs and defensive backs who are built for speed instead of muscle might be 5-10% fat.
So if you have heard that obese people might be healthy despite their weight, please disregard this info. You should measure body fat percentage.
There are several ways to do this. The most effective, but least practical are air and water displacement units, typically only found in research labs. More practical but slightly less accurate would be hand-held callipers. These can be purchased for less than $30 and are accurate for approximately 85-90% of people, when used by an experienced operator. Many gyms use this method.
Another method is electronic impedance scales or hand-held units, which can now be bought for less than $50 at most major department stores. These are about 80% accurate.
Both these methods are less effective for people with more than average muscle mass, or those who are highly obese. For these people, waist measurement can often be the best place to start.
Doctors have recently begun to promote the concept that women with a waist size less than 32 inches and a man below 37 inches are not overweight. I would suggest that these numbers are much too high, and that this scale should adjust for height. Obviously a 5-foot man and a 6-foor man should not be expected to have the same waist size.
There are also many free programs available on websites where you can get a body fat estimate based on specific measurements. We have one on our website at www.keepcanadaslim.com. Go there right now and find out how you are doing. It takes only a minute. This estimate will give you a starting point should you decide you want to change the shape you’re in.
Men should aim for 11-19%, women 17-23%, going as high as 25% if they are post-menopausal. High level athletes and those on a serious muscle-building workout program may be lower, although women who drop below 15% often stop having periods, which doesn’t seem to be a sign of health to me.
In closing, it is unfair to medical doctors to expect them to be experts in prevention. Doctors treat disease. The key point Dr. Sharma was making is that these patients have no sign of heart disease. Their blood pressure and cholesterol levels are within normal limits. Therefore doctors should not be using the resources of the medical system – which is under tremendous financial pressure – to “treat” them.
Unfortunately the extension of that is if left alone, these weight issues may eventually contribute to measureable risk factors, and then the person will be gladly accepted as a patient!
From a wellness perspective, we’d like to suggest people adjust their lifestyle to one that will prevent weight gain – plus adopt a shopping, cooking and eating program that will improve their health.
But don’t expect to find that program through our doctors.
In closing – forget the BMI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A news release last week from the head of the Canadian Obesity Network suggested that some obese people are in fact healthy and do not need to lose weight. This of course flies in the face of logic, so let’s look at the facts and see if we can make sense of this statement.
Dr. Arya Sharma says that as many as one-third of people deemed obese according to their BMI (Body Mass Index, which is the relationship between height and weight) have no medically-determined risk factors for heart disease and should not be counselled to lose weight.
Dr. Sharma goes on to say that since most people gain weight back after they lose it, the practical advice would be to simply suggest they not gain any further weight. Here’s the challenge with this thinking:
First off, the BMI is NOT an accurate measurement of obesity and should never be taken as such. The BMI was a creation of the insurance industry, which uses it as part of actuarial tables to determine mortality risk when issuing life insurance policies. Only recently has the medical community begun to use it in the evaluation of obesity and related risk factors. Doctors use it because it is easy to measure.
In truth, the key measurement needed to measure obesity is body fat percentage – the percentage of fat compared to lean muscle, bones, organ tissue, water and fecal matter.
Here’s more: The BMI is known to be only accurate as related to body fat percentage for 68% of people. So the “revelation” that 1/3 of people measured as obese by their BMI are in fact not obese is no surprise to anyone with a wellness background.
Let me give you a typical example. On the BMI, almost all professional football linemen are obese, because the amount of muscle they have makes their weight in relation to their height “off the charts.” In fact however, most linemen have a body fat percentage of about 15-16%, which puts them right in the middle of the recommended range of 11-19% for men.
By comparison, running backs and defensive backs who are built for speed instead of muscle might be 5-10% fat.
So if you have heard that obese people might be healthy despite their weight, please disregard this info. You should measure body fat percentage.
There are several ways to do this. The most effective, but least practical are air and water displacement units, typically only found in research labs. More practical but slightly less accurate would be hand-held callipers. These can be purchased for less than $30 and are accurate for approximately 85-90% of people, when used by an experienced operator. Many gyms use this method.
Another method is electronic impedance scales or hand-held units, which can now be bought for less than $50 at most major department stores. These are about 80% accurate.
Both these methods are less effective for people with more than average muscle mass, or those who are highly obese. For these people, waist measurement can often be the best place to start.
Doctors have recently begun to promote the concept that women with a waist size less than 32 inches and a man below 37 inches are not overweight. I would suggest that these numbers are much too high, and that this scale should adjust for height. Obviously a 5-foot man and a 6-foor man should not be expected to have the same waist size.
There are also many free programs available on websites where you can get a body fat estimate based on specific measurements. We have one on our website at www.keepcanadaslim.com. Go there right now and find out how you are doing. It takes only a minute. This estimate will give you a starting point should you decide you want to change the shape you’re in.
Men should aim for 11-19%, women 17-23%, going as high as 25% if they are post-menopausal. High level athletes and those on a serious muscle-building workout program may be lower, although women who drop below 15% often stop having periods, which doesn’t seem to be a sign of health to me.
In closing, it is unfair to medical doctors to expect them to be experts in prevention. Doctors treat disease. The key point Dr. Sharma was making is that these patients have no sign of heart disease. Their blood pressure and cholesterol levels are within normal limits. Therefore doctors should not be using the resources of the medical system – which is under tremendous financial pressure – to “treat” them.
Unfortunately the extension of that is if left alone, these weight issues may eventually contribute to measureable risk factors, and then the person will be gladly accepted as a patient!
From a wellness perspective, we’d like to suggest people adjust their lifestyle to one that will prevent weight gain – plus adopt a shopping, cooking and eating program that will improve their health.
But don’t expect to find that program through our doctors.
In closing – forget the BMI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Wellness Workplace: A Brave New World
If there is a brave new world on the frontier of our corporate consciousness it must surely be the land of employee wellness programs. Owners and managers worldwide are recognizing the connection between employee health and productivity, and therefore bottom-line profits, and yet very few companies are confidently embracing wellness options.
Perhaps part of the reason for that is the difficulty in relating nationwide costs directly to an individual employee, or individual workplace. Numerous studies have linked various illnesses and conditions with reduced productivity - also known as presenteeism, which can be defined as being present at your job but with reduced productivity because of your condition - and absenteeism, which of course is simply being absent from work because you are unwell. But what does that mean in real dollars in your workplace?
Estimates are that un-wellness directly costs the US economy $260 billion per year. If we assume a workforce of 100 million people this would be $2600 per person per year. One can expect similar figures on a percentage basis in countries throughout the Western world. Multiply that by the number of full-time employees in your company and you have a reasonable estimate of the real costs to you. This does not include interdependent losses, such as those that occur for instance when a department manager is absent, and dependent staff are less productive than they would be if he/she was on the job.
The top 11 health risks related to productivity are poor diet, high body mass index, high cholesterol, physical inactivity, excessive stress, overdue preventative visits, lack of emotional fulfillment, high blood pressure, tobacco use, diabetes or high blood glucose, and alcohol use.
So while we may know in our hearts that our employees would be more productive if they were healthier, as HR professionals we have difficulty evaluating and proposing an investment in this area in terms of its bottom-line benefit, and then choosing appropriate programs.
Fortunately this question has not escaped notice by researchers and today we have many well-designed studies that have applied actual numbers to wellness issues in a variety of occupations and age groups. For example, in a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2007 the overweight were 32% more likely, the obese 61% more likely and the morbidly obese 118% more likely to miss a day of work than those without weight issues. These figures do not include workplace costs due to disability and early retirement.
You can find some of these studies on our website at www.keepcanadaslim.com/index.cfm?page=corporate or by doing a Google search.
On the other hand it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look around your office and realize that people who are stressed and depressed, overweight and with low energy, or just plain sick with a cold or the flu and are still at work are less productive than they would be if they were healthy.
So let's start with the given that healthier workers are more productive and see if we can design a workplace wellness program that makes sense both financially and physically. This could perhaps start with a budget. If unwellness is costing your company $2600 per person per year, perhaps an initial investment of 20% or $520 per person per year would be a reasonable starting point.
Given that wellness is a personal responsibility, and that not all employees require the same program I would recommend that you include a user pay portion if possible. For instance a matching 50% program would turn $520 into $1040. This user pay concept ensures buy-in by the participants and this buy-in ultimately determines the success of any program. It also helps target corporate funds toward areas of wellness that would be best received and therefore most appropriate as a starting point.
According to the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), there are seven steps to a successful employee wellness program. They are as follows: 1. Capturing Senior Level Support; 2. Creating Cohesive Wellness Teams; 3. Collecting Data to Drive Health Efforts; 4. Crafting an Operating Plan; 5. Choosing Appropriate Interventions; 6. Creating a Supportive Environment; 7. Consistently Evaluating Outcomes.
The important thing if you are to lead your company to the brave new world is to get started. The size of your employee force will determine the complexity of your challenge. Don't try to impact every health risk at once. Start with one program and achieve a level of success before moving on to a second concern. Given that most HR people are not wellness experts, at some point you will need to reach out to professionals who can help you in these areas. Fortunately there are just as many wellness professionals looking to fill your needs as there are HR people with needs to fill.
Let's bridge that gap and get our people, our companies, our communities and ultimately our countries moving forward to a healthier more productive future.
Lee Fairbanks is the President of Keep Canada Slim Inc., in Hamilton, Ontario and can be contacted at www.keepcanadaslim.com, by emailing bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com or by phone at 905-628-0279. Keep Canada Slim offers custom-designed corporate wellness programs for companies of all sizes.
Perhaps part of the reason for that is the difficulty in relating nationwide costs directly to an individual employee, or individual workplace. Numerous studies have linked various illnesses and conditions with reduced productivity - also known as presenteeism, which can be defined as being present at your job but with reduced productivity because of your condition - and absenteeism, which of course is simply being absent from work because you are unwell. But what does that mean in real dollars in your workplace?
Estimates are that un-wellness directly costs the US economy $260 billion per year. If we assume a workforce of 100 million people this would be $2600 per person per year. One can expect similar figures on a percentage basis in countries throughout the Western world. Multiply that by the number of full-time employees in your company and you have a reasonable estimate of the real costs to you. This does not include interdependent losses, such as those that occur for instance when a department manager is absent, and dependent staff are less productive than they would be if he/she was on the job.
The top 11 health risks related to productivity are poor diet, high body mass index, high cholesterol, physical inactivity, excessive stress, overdue preventative visits, lack of emotional fulfillment, high blood pressure, tobacco use, diabetes or high blood glucose, and alcohol use.
So while we may know in our hearts that our employees would be more productive if they were healthier, as HR professionals we have difficulty evaluating and proposing an investment in this area in terms of its bottom-line benefit, and then choosing appropriate programs.
Fortunately this question has not escaped notice by researchers and today we have many well-designed studies that have applied actual numbers to wellness issues in a variety of occupations and age groups. For example, in a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2007 the overweight were 32% more likely, the obese 61% more likely and the morbidly obese 118% more likely to miss a day of work than those without weight issues. These figures do not include workplace costs due to disability and early retirement.
You can find some of these studies on our website at www.keepcanadaslim.com/index.cfm?page=corporate or by doing a Google search.
On the other hand it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look around your office and realize that people who are stressed and depressed, overweight and with low energy, or just plain sick with a cold or the flu and are still at work are less productive than they would be if they were healthy.
So let's start with the given that healthier workers are more productive and see if we can design a workplace wellness program that makes sense both financially and physically. This could perhaps start with a budget. If unwellness is costing your company $2600 per person per year, perhaps an initial investment of 20% or $520 per person per year would be a reasonable starting point.
Given that wellness is a personal responsibility, and that not all employees require the same program I would recommend that you include a user pay portion if possible. For instance a matching 50% program would turn $520 into $1040. This user pay concept ensures buy-in by the participants and this buy-in ultimately determines the success of any program. It also helps target corporate funds toward areas of wellness that would be best received and therefore most appropriate as a starting point.
According to the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), there are seven steps to a successful employee wellness program. They are as follows: 1. Capturing Senior Level Support; 2. Creating Cohesive Wellness Teams; 3. Collecting Data to Drive Health Efforts; 4. Crafting an Operating Plan; 5. Choosing Appropriate Interventions; 6. Creating a Supportive Environment; 7. Consistently Evaluating Outcomes.
The important thing if you are to lead your company to the brave new world is to get started. The size of your employee force will determine the complexity of your challenge. Don't try to impact every health risk at once. Start with one program and achieve a level of success before moving on to a second concern. Given that most HR people are not wellness experts, at some point you will need to reach out to professionals who can help you in these areas. Fortunately there are just as many wellness professionals looking to fill your needs as there are HR people with needs to fill.
Let's bridge that gap and get our people, our companies, our communities and ultimately our countries moving forward to a healthier more productive future.
Lee Fairbanks is the President of Keep Canada Slim Inc., in Hamilton, Ontario and can be contacted at www.keepcanadaslim.com, by emailing bigskinny@keepcanadaslim.com or by phone at 905-628-0279. Keep Canada Slim offers custom-designed corporate wellness programs for companies of all sizes.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Recession Can Lead to Better Health
Good Time for Traditional Food Values
An economic recession is a great time to return to traditional food values. If you’re feeling the crunch financially you could save a lot of money on groceries while actually improving your health by cutting back on processed and packaged foods. And if you’re smart about your choices you can actually improve your health at the same time.
If you go through the store aisles you’ll find opportunities everywhere to save money. These savings can add up to hundreds and even thousands of dollars for a family over a period of months and years.
Some of the simplest strategies are to return to the lifestyle of our parents and grandparents. For instance rather than boxed processed cereals such as Frosted Flakes and Cheerios old favourites such as oatmeal offer superior health at about one third the price.
You can also save money on food by going on the Keep America / Keep Canada Slim weight loss program for another win-win. KAS is the lowest-priced complete weight loss program in North America at only $129.95 for the entire program of CDs, DVD, books and website support.
For more information go to http://www.keepamericaslim.com/.
Many of our most expensive foods are also high in fat and calories. A health-based weight loss program such as Keep America Slim will show you how to reduce the consumption of these choices, which will naturally save you money.
In the produce section, look for sale products. This week you might find broccoli and cucumbers for $.99 each but next week they are $1.99 and something else is on sale. Staple fruits such as bananas and bagged apples are less than $.99 a pound and provide tremendous nutritional value. More exotic fruits from tropical areas such as strawberries, grapes and oranges also go on sale even in the winter. It requires going to the store with a flexible shopping list, as opposed to simply buying the same things every week regardless of price.
It’s a great time to revisit the potato and to also eat more brown rice, basic starch products that provide a lot of energy per dollar. This is also a great time to endorse the highly recommended habit of reducing the portion size of animal protein products such as meat, chicken and fish which can be expensive, and eating larger portions of vegetables and starches which are much cheaper. Potatoes and rice both lend themselves to a variety of cooking options, such as baked, mashed, roasted and scalloped potatoes, or stir-fried rice with diced vegetables, teriyaki sauce and so on.
Sometimes frozen chicken and fish can be much less expensive than fresh, and purchasing store brands instead of name brands can save even more. Buy chicken with the skin on and bone in and remove the skin and bone yourself at home the way your parents would have. Beans and lentils also offer inexpensive high-quality protein sources as alternatives.
Frozen orange juice can usually be found for a dollar a can on sale, as opposed to $3-$4 for the same amount in a carton. Instead of buying bottled water buy a small carbon filter and make your own. A $7 Brita filter makes 150 L of bottled water with savings of about $50 compared to the equivalent number of 500 ml bottles.
It’s important not to sacrifice nutritional value when making these substitutions. There is a tendency to believe that good foods are all more expensive but this has never been true and is certainly not true today. There have always been healthy choices for people on a budget but sometimes it takes an economic crisis for people to re-evaluate their habits. Just don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. For instance, I wouldn’t eat white bread no matter what the price difference. I will continue to use cold-pressed olive oil for cooking and salad dressing, even though there are cheaper oils. The loss of nutritional value is just too great.
This would be a great time to spend a little extra time in the kitchen making foods that you have been in the habit of purchasing. These would include such things as tomato sauces, stews, salad dressing and snacks. Make your own muffins and cookies. You could spend a few hours in the kitchen on the weekend and make enough of these for a week or more.
Keep America Slim includes a cookbook with 60 easy recipes to start you on your way. Go to our What's in the Package page for more info.
You should check your neighbourhood for alternatives to the mainstream grocery stores that you may be more familiar with. Bulk stores and dollar stores today have a lot of non-perishable goods at cheaper prices and grocery stores. This would include pasta, rice, coffee, tea and flour.
And speaking of coffee, the recession might actually be beneficial to some companies such as Dunkin’ Donuts. I see a lot of people switching from designer coffees at five dollars a crack and going back to DD. You can feed a family of four for a week for the same price as a designer coffee every day.
So remember, there is always a silver lining in every cloud. This recession may be just what you need to get you committed to a healthier lifestyle!
An economic recession is a great time to return to traditional food values. If you’re feeling the crunch financially you could save a lot of money on groceries while actually improving your health by cutting back on processed and packaged foods. And if you’re smart about your choices you can actually improve your health at the same time.
If you go through the store aisles you’ll find opportunities everywhere to save money. These savings can add up to hundreds and even thousands of dollars for a family over a period of months and years.
Some of the simplest strategies are to return to the lifestyle of our parents and grandparents. For instance rather than boxed processed cereals such as Frosted Flakes and Cheerios old favourites such as oatmeal offer superior health at about one third the price.
You can also save money on food by going on the Keep America / Keep Canada Slim weight loss program for another win-win. KAS is the lowest-priced complete weight loss program in North America at only $129.95 for the entire program of CDs, DVD, books and website support.
For more information go to http://www.keepamericaslim.com/.
Many of our most expensive foods are also high in fat and calories. A health-based weight loss program such as Keep America Slim will show you how to reduce the consumption of these choices, which will naturally save you money.
In the produce section, look for sale products. This week you might find broccoli and cucumbers for $.99 each but next week they are $1.99 and something else is on sale. Staple fruits such as bananas and bagged apples are less than $.99 a pound and provide tremendous nutritional value. More exotic fruits from tropical areas such as strawberries, grapes and oranges also go on sale even in the winter. It requires going to the store with a flexible shopping list, as opposed to simply buying the same things every week regardless of price.
It’s a great time to revisit the potato and to also eat more brown rice, basic starch products that provide a lot of energy per dollar. This is also a great time to endorse the highly recommended habit of reducing the portion size of animal protein products such as meat, chicken and fish which can be expensive, and eating larger portions of vegetables and starches which are much cheaper. Potatoes and rice both lend themselves to a variety of cooking options, such as baked, mashed, roasted and scalloped potatoes, or stir-fried rice with diced vegetables, teriyaki sauce and so on.
Sometimes frozen chicken and fish can be much less expensive than fresh, and purchasing store brands instead of name brands can save even more. Buy chicken with the skin on and bone in and remove the skin and bone yourself at home the way your parents would have. Beans and lentils also offer inexpensive high-quality protein sources as alternatives.
Frozen orange juice can usually be found for a dollar a can on sale, as opposed to $3-$4 for the same amount in a carton. Instead of buying bottled water buy a small carbon filter and make your own. A $7 Brita filter makes 150 L of bottled water with savings of about $50 compared to the equivalent number of 500 ml bottles.
It’s important not to sacrifice nutritional value when making these substitutions. There is a tendency to believe that good foods are all more expensive but this has never been true and is certainly not true today. There have always been healthy choices for people on a budget but sometimes it takes an economic crisis for people to re-evaluate their habits. Just don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. For instance, I wouldn’t eat white bread no matter what the price difference. I will continue to use cold-pressed olive oil for cooking and salad dressing, even though there are cheaper oils. The loss of nutritional value is just too great.
This would be a great time to spend a little extra time in the kitchen making foods that you have been in the habit of purchasing. These would include such things as tomato sauces, stews, salad dressing and snacks. Make your own muffins and cookies. You could spend a few hours in the kitchen on the weekend and make enough of these for a week or more.
Keep America Slim includes a cookbook with 60 easy recipes to start you on your way. Go to our What's in the Package page for more info.
You should check your neighbourhood for alternatives to the mainstream grocery stores that you may be more familiar with. Bulk stores and dollar stores today have a lot of non-perishable goods at cheaper prices and grocery stores. This would include pasta, rice, coffee, tea and flour.
And speaking of coffee, the recession might actually be beneficial to some companies such as Dunkin’ Donuts. I see a lot of people switching from designer coffees at five dollars a crack and going back to DD. You can feed a family of four for a week for the same price as a designer coffee every day.
So remember, there is always a silver lining in every cloud. This recession may be just what you need to get you committed to a healthier lifestyle!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Low Calorie Diets = Low Fibre Diets = Increased Disease Risk: Doctor
Former Health Canada Advisor Warns Women: DON'T DIET
As many as four million Canadian women - and 40 million American women - who diet constantly to lose weight are increasing their risk of disease later in life warns a former Health Canada adviser.
Dr. George Grant owner of the Academy of Wellness in Toronto www.academyofwellness.com says his client data indicates that the majority of Canadians who diet do not consume enough fiber on a daily basis, and are also deficient in many key nutrients.
"Most Canadians are only having one bowel movement per day,” explains Dr. Grant. "This is very unhealthy in the long-term. People should have on average three if they are eating three meals per day. This is essential to maintain intestinal health and will help reduce the incidence of many diseases later in life.”
Dr. Grant points out that low fiber intake increases the likelihood of many diseases including heart disease, diabetes, cancer of the colon, breast, ovaries and uterus, diverticulitis, kidney stones and gallbladder disease. Dr. Grant warns that Canada will face a huge increase in these degenerative diseases as the next generation of Canadians - those obsessed with dieting - reach old age.
“In my work as a health analyst across Canada I see many, many people consistently under eating in a vain attempt to lose weight and keep it off," says Dr. Grant. "This starvation approach to life not only doesn't work for weight loss but it actually leaves people dramatically deficient in most essential minerals and vitamins as well as fiber," he said.
According to the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) 70% of Canadian women over the age of 20 are currently on diets, and 40% are yo-yo dieters, constantly losing weight and gaining it back.
Dr. Grant recommends the Keep Canada Slim weight loss program www.keepcanadaslim.com to his clients. This program is shipped worldwide.
"The Keep Canada Slim program recommends higher levels of calories than any other commercial program in Canada, and yet still delivers weight loss results. Most Canadians trying to lose weight are eating so little that they increase their risk of disease. It is imperative that we stop Canadians from living on low calorie diets," said Dr. Grant.
According to Dr. Grant most overweight women should not eat less than 1450 calories per day and men should aim for a minimum of 1850 calories per day.
“Obese people should eat even higher levels of calories,” he suggests. “Overweight people should aim to create no more than a 500 calorie deficit based on their daily maintenance levels while obese people should aim for no more than a 1000 calorie a day deficit.”
Typical commercial diets suggest calorie levels as low as 500 calories per day, ranging to a high of perhaps 1200 calories for women and 1500 calories for men. This creates a calorie gap of between 1500 and 2500 calories per day for most people. Because of the body’s response to the starvation nature of these diets 95% of the people who lose weight gain it back.
Dr. Grant says it is impossible to consume adequate levels of fiber and nutrients at these levels.
For a list of high-fiber foods click here
As many as four million Canadian women - and 40 million American women - who diet constantly to lose weight are increasing their risk of disease later in life warns a former Health Canada adviser.
Dr. George Grant owner of the Academy of Wellness in Toronto www.academyofwellness.com says his client data indicates that the majority of Canadians who diet do not consume enough fiber on a daily basis, and are also deficient in many key nutrients.
"Most Canadians are only having one bowel movement per day,” explains Dr. Grant. "This is very unhealthy in the long-term. People should have on average three if they are eating three meals per day. This is essential to maintain intestinal health and will help reduce the incidence of many diseases later in life.”
Dr. Grant points out that low fiber intake increases the likelihood of many diseases including heart disease, diabetes, cancer of the colon, breast, ovaries and uterus, diverticulitis, kidney stones and gallbladder disease. Dr. Grant warns that Canada will face a huge increase in these degenerative diseases as the next generation of Canadians - those obsessed with dieting - reach old age.
“In my work as a health analyst across Canada I see many, many people consistently under eating in a vain attempt to lose weight and keep it off," says Dr. Grant. "This starvation approach to life not only doesn't work for weight loss but it actually leaves people dramatically deficient in most essential minerals and vitamins as well as fiber," he said.
According to the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) 70% of Canadian women over the age of 20 are currently on diets, and 40% are yo-yo dieters, constantly losing weight and gaining it back.
Dr. Grant recommends the Keep Canada Slim weight loss program www.keepcanadaslim.com to his clients. This program is shipped worldwide.
"The Keep Canada Slim program recommends higher levels of calories than any other commercial program in Canada, and yet still delivers weight loss results. Most Canadians trying to lose weight are eating so little that they increase their risk of disease. It is imperative that we stop Canadians from living on low calorie diets," said Dr. Grant.
According to Dr. Grant most overweight women should not eat less than 1450 calories per day and men should aim for a minimum of 1850 calories per day.
“Obese people should eat even higher levels of calories,” he suggests. “Overweight people should aim to create no more than a 500 calorie deficit based on their daily maintenance levels while obese people should aim for no more than a 1000 calorie a day deficit.”
Typical commercial diets suggest calorie levels as low as 500 calories per day, ranging to a high of perhaps 1200 calories for women and 1500 calories for men. This creates a calorie gap of between 1500 and 2500 calories per day for most people. Because of the body’s response to the starvation nature of these diets 95% of the people who lose weight gain it back.
Dr. Grant says it is impossible to consume adequate levels of fiber and nutrients at these levels.
For a list of high-fiber foods click here
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