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Weight Loss Exercise

Vitamin D Deficiency Can Be Deadly

I heard a stat about Vitamin D deficiency last week that I have not been able to confirm yet but I will throw it out there anyway. Apparently 90% of women have a Vitamin D deficiency and if this is true than this is a health problem that needs to be addressed.

Vitamin D deficiency can increase a person’s risk of death, according to a fresh study at the University of Eastern Finland. Researchers say individuals with low levels of vitamin D are about twice as likely to die early compared to those with higher levels. The study was published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

Vitamin D deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency

Researchers studied the effects of vitamin D on over 1,000 people between the ages of 53 and 73 who did not suffer from cancer or vascular diseases. The subjects were monitored for an average of nine years. A total of 87 of the participants died during the course of the study.

Sixty-five percent of the subjects were found to have low levels of vitamin D. According to the study, a dearth of vitamin D increases the risk of chronic diseases.

During the summer months in Finland, humans are able to obtain vitamin D from exposure to the sun. However, persons living in Finland must rely on vitamin D from food or supplements during the darker months of the year or they will have a Vitamin D deficiency.

The University of Eastern Finland is now planning a large-scale project to study the effects of vitamin D supplements on cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Vitamin D Deficiency and Glycemic Problems

In another study looking at the future risk of glycemic (diabetic type) problems associated with low Vitamin D there were some interesting results as well.

Individuals with low levels of vitamin D measured 10 years ago showed a trend toward an increased risk of developing diabetes, researchers reported here.

Of the 58 prospectively followed individuals with low baseline levels of vitamin D, 14 had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by 2010 — about 24.1%, reported Willy Valencia, MD, a fellow in geriatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida.

That compared with 10% of study participants (one of 10) with normal levels of vitamin D measured in 2000 who had developed type 2 diabetes 10 years later.

Willy Valencia presented the findings at at the World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease.

“Although these figures were not statistically significant, we see that after a 10-year follow-up there is a trend towards increased incidence of type 2 diabetes and higher levels of fasting plasma glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c in those with low vitamin D levels,” Willy Valencia told MedPage Today.

So what do you think? These are very interesting studies that point to the fact that a Vitamin D deficiency can be dangerous to your health both today and into the future and all it takes is some sun and vitamin supplements or foods high in Vitamin D to avoid Vitamin D deficiency.

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Weight Loss Exercise

Good Foods For Calorie Shifting Diet

For a considerable time, several loss experts have recommended the calorie shifting diet as the next best weight loss solution. While it is true to an extent. rarely do those experts recommend the ideal foods for the diet in the same vein. This leaves the common people confused.

If you already know about the benefits of the calorie shifting dieting program but have no idea of what to eat and what not to eat, this post would be the perfect read for you. For the five minutes you spend in reading it, you would collect some great recipe ideas that could form an integral part of your life.

Definition of Calorie Shifting diet

calorie shiftingThe name ‘calorie shifting’ itself is a term that doesn’t really tell you much. You can easily figure out that this diet recommends “shifting” your calorie consumption levels instead of restricting yourself to a low-calorie or low-carb meal.

Unlike the conventional fad diets, this calorie shifting dieting method makes you burn fat without forcing you to starve or eat boring foods; on top of that, you can also satiate your junk food cravings with this dieting method. Now isn’t that something quite unheard of?

The calorie shifting diet would teach you that food is your friend and NOT enemy, and as such, you should eat as much food as you need. Even though the calorie shifting diet restricts your daily calorie intake to a certain level, this level is fairly much higher compared to other fad diets.

Eat more AND Lose Weight?

With calorie shifting, you would be consuming a lot more calories than you would, say, with the South Beach or the Detox diet, and yet burn fat and lose weight faster than those diets. Calorie shifting requires you to eat foods of varying calorie contents, ranging from low-calorie to high-calorie.

In fact, with this dieting method, you won’t even realize that you are dieting, since your eating habits are more or less kept at a normal level. However, if you have been eating junk foods day in and day out or surviving on a piece or carrot or cabbage, then of course you would notice a huge change as none of these abnormal food habits are allowed under the calorie shifting method of dieting.

Exercise and Calorie Shifting

I have kept the best for the last. The best part of this program is that you won’t have to workout if you don’t want to, although I highly recommend workouts to all my clients, even if you spend no more than 10-15 minutes on it per day.

Now the foods. With the calorie shifting diet, you can have fatty foods such as cheese, fishes, etc, as well as protein-rich foods such as eggs and lean chicken breast. Your carb intake is not restricted as well; you can consume carbs in the form of organic fruits and vegetables. Most of these organic fruits and vegetables are also rich in fiber, which means they would keep you full for a long time and suppress your hunger effectively.

Although there are some restrictions on your junk food intake, you won’t ever feel deprived. Let’s say that if you eat a lot of burgers on one day, the very next day you are required to eat only low-calorie fruits, thereby balancing the “act”. With this diet, you are least likely to ‘cheat’ because your junk food cravings are satiated fully.

And here is the real shocker: while most conventional diet programs last for months or even years, the calorie shifting diet lasts only for 11 days straight, after which you are allowed a 4-day “cheat period” when you could eat whatever you want, including junk foods.

There is one diet that uses exactly this method and that is the Fat Loss for Idiots diet

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Weight Loss Exercise

Symptoms of Depression

Depression is a very serious problem for many people and families and one of the real problems is that as a person starts to fall into depression the change is gradual and even your family does not see it coming until you need help.

You may have been feeling low for some time, or have noticed that someone close to you appears to be out of sorts, and you may be wondering whether this could be depression; here we list the most common symptoms of depression and how it could be affecting you or a loved one.

Initial Signs of Depression

One of the first signs of depression is that your sleep may be affected. You may have difficulty getting to sleep at night, and may find that you are troubled by negative thoughts. Often people with depression will wake several times during the night, or wake very early.

Getting back to sleep can then be very difficult. Some people find that their sleep pattern goes to the other extreme; they need a lot more sleep than usual, and will need to nap during the day.

symptoms of depression

How To Identify Depression Symptoms In Others

People with depression generally suffer from a loss of motivation. They can find it difficult to continue to carry out daily activities, and may find that they lose interest in their work.

They can also lose the will to participate in activities that they previously enjoyed, as they may no longer see any point in doing them. They may appear to lose enjoyment in spending time with friends and family, and can withdraw from contact with others.

They will feel ’empty’ for much of the time, and will appear to others to be sad and obviously depressed. It may be impossible to break through this sadness and raise their spirits and they will display this behavior consistently each day.

Quite often they may feel worthless, as though their life means nothing, and can feel an overwhelming guilt which may not seem rational to others.

They may have suicidal thoughts, or feel that their life is not worth living. Sometimes suicide is even attempted, often without warning. They may be overcome by anxious or upsetting thoughts which they are unable to control.

People with depression can appear to be very ‘flat’, as though nothing excites or interests them. They can display signs of anxiety, and can also have difficulty in concentrating. They will possibly be very short tempered and easily irritated, or else be very emotional and cry very easily, seemingly for no reason.

Appetite and Energy with Depression

Changes in appetite are also a clue. People who are depressed may either comfort eat or lose their appetite. Clinical diagnosis usually states that a gain or loss of 5% of body in the space of a month could be an indicator. Some sufferers may start to drink heavily to try to cope with their feelings and thoughts.

Sufferers can also appear to be exhausted; they will usually have little energy and can appear to move almost in slow motion. Alternatively some sufferers can appear to be very restless, even ‘hyper’, and need to be constantly on the move.

Depression can also manifest itself in physical symptoms, such as general aches and pains which have no obvious physical cause. Many sufferers also report recurrent headaches.

If you or someone you care for is displaying some of these symptoms of depression, you are best advised to see your doctor, who can provide a diagnosis and appropriate course of treatment.

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