7/31/11
7/29/11
whale medicine:
Native Americans teach us that the Great Spirit speaks to us through our animal brethren. The whale is one animal that we can learn from. Whales have existed for over 50 million years and are considered to be record-keepers who possess knowledge of the past.
It is through the vibrations of their unique sound that they release this ancient wisdom to us. At the same time, their sound carries across such great distances that whales can enter the realm of the future where they can acquire knowledge of what is to come. Every whale sings a song, and they never repeat the same pattern when they sing their song. Since whales must be conscious at all times in order to breathe, they cannot afford to fall into an unconscious state for too long. Never completely asleep, their brain has constant access to the collective unconscious where all answers lie. Whales float peacefully, secure in the ocean environment that supports and sustains them.
You can learn from the wisdom of whales by remembering to express what’s uniquely yours. Each of us has a unique “song” or gift to offer the world. Your song is meant to be sung by you and heard by others. No one else can sing this song but you, and your song is medicine for the healing of the planet. Like whales, you can choose to access information about the future when you go into a meditative state. Whales teach us to look at where we came from and where we are headed. Knowing that our past helps shape our future, we can remember to make positive choices regarding our lives, the environment, and our world. Like whales, we can remember to stay awake and actively engaged in a universe that supports and sustains us. When we express ourselves and share our unique gifts, we add our wisdom and vibration to the planet."
www.dailyom.com
7/20/11
SAN JOSE, Calif. — No good deed goes unpunished, and that seems to include people who virtuously reach for diet sodas instead of the calorie-laden good stuff.
Before guzzling that artificially sweetened beverage in a haze of guilt-free carbonation, bear in mind that your diet soda may only be adding to your bottom line — or your waistline. At least that's the conclusion of a recently completed 12-year study.
The study looked at 474 people, ages 65 to 74, and found that, on average, those who drank diet sodas ended up with waistlines that increased three times more than those who avoided them.
People who consumed more than two diet sodas a day had waistlines that increased five times more than the nondiet soda drinkers, which included people who drank water, juices and even regular sodas, said Helen Hazuda, chief of clinical epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, and one of the study's investigators.
These results were comparable to similar studies in younger people, said Hazuda.
Belmont, Calif., resident Karen Krebser, 46, has been drinking diet soda since high school in an effort to help manage her weight. "I'm currently mostly off refined sugar and have tried a zillion different diets, but the one constant has been diet soda," she said.
Krebser consumes three or four cans a day since she gave up refined sugar in April. But after hearing about this unpublished study — presented at the American Diabetes Association Conference in June — she threw out the can of diet soda sitting on her desk.
There isn't a single explanation as to why drinks with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose or saccharin result in us having to squeeze our bulging bellies into larger pants.
Part of the reason could be psychological, Hazuda said. Some people splurge on calories in their food because they're saving on calories in their drinks. Think Big Macs and super-sized fries and diet Cokes.
Another factor Hazuda thinks plays a role in expanding waistlines is something called taste dysfunction. Because artificial sweeteners taste hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar, our bodies come to expect sugary foods to be extremely sweet. So we start to seek out more sugar-laden options.
A third explanation is that our bodies are smarter than we think. When we suck down sweet things, our bodies register the sugary taste and wait for the accompanying calories, said Lillian Castillo, a public health dietitian with the Santa Clara (Calif.) County Public Health Department.
But with artificial sweeteners, our bodies don't get the calories they expect, so we start to crave foods high in fat and sugar. Santa Clara resident Karl Watanabe has consumed diet sodas since his wife started buying them exclusively three years ago. But it hasn't really affected his weight, he said. "Of course, it helps that I run marathons and do triathlons all the time."
"Once in a while, it's OK to have one," Castillo said. "But water is the only thing that's going to quench your thirst."
If water is just too bland, Castillo and Hazuda recommended adding slices of lemon or cucumber to brighten the flavor.
It may take a couple months for your brain to adjust to the different flavors, but the research suggests if you want those six-pack abs, it doesn't look as if you'll be able to find them at the bottom of a six-pack of diet soda.
Before guzzling that artificially sweetened beverage in a haze of guilt-free carbonation, bear in mind that your diet soda may only be adding to your bottom line — or your waistline. At least that's the conclusion of a recently completed 12-year study.
The study looked at 474 people, ages 65 to 74, and found that, on average, those who drank diet sodas ended up with waistlines that increased three times more than those who avoided them.
People who consumed more than two diet sodas a day had waistlines that increased five times more than the nondiet soda drinkers, which included people who drank water, juices and even regular sodas, said Helen Hazuda, chief of clinical epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, and one of the study's investigators.
These results were comparable to similar studies in younger people, said Hazuda.
Belmont, Calif., resident Karen Krebser, 46, has been drinking diet soda since high school in an effort to help manage her weight. "I'm currently mostly off refined sugar and have tried a zillion different diets, but the one constant has been diet soda," she said.
Krebser consumes three or four cans a day since she gave up refined sugar in April. But after hearing about this unpublished study — presented at the American Diabetes Association Conference in June — she threw out the can of diet soda sitting on her desk.
There isn't a single explanation as to why drinks with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose or saccharin result in us having to squeeze our bulging bellies into larger pants.
Part of the reason could be psychological, Hazuda said. Some people splurge on calories in their food because they're saving on calories in their drinks. Think Big Macs and super-sized fries and diet Cokes.
Another factor Hazuda thinks plays a role in expanding waistlines is something called taste dysfunction. Because artificial sweeteners taste hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar, our bodies come to expect sugary foods to be extremely sweet. So we start to seek out more sugar-laden options.
A third explanation is that our bodies are smarter than we think. When we suck down sweet things, our bodies register the sugary taste and wait for the accompanying calories, said Lillian Castillo, a public health dietitian with the Santa Clara (Calif.) County Public Health Department.
But with artificial sweeteners, our bodies don't get the calories they expect, so we start to crave foods high in fat and sugar. Santa Clara resident Karl Watanabe has consumed diet sodas since his wife started buying them exclusively three years ago. But it hasn't really affected his weight, he said. "Of course, it helps that I run marathons and do triathlons all the time."
"Once in a while, it's OK to have one," Castillo said. "But water is the only thing that's going to quench your thirst."
If water is just too bland, Castillo and Hazuda recommended adding slices of lemon or cucumber to brighten the flavor.
It may take a couple months for your brain to adjust to the different flavors, but the research suggests if you want those six-pack abs, it doesn't look as if you'll be able to find them at the bottom of a six-pack of diet soda.
7/9/11
who is diana nyad:
In the 70's Diana Nyad was a long-distance swimmer without parallel, breaking numerous world records, including the mark she set in 1975 for circling Manhattan Island, a swim that hadn't been attempted in half a century. Following an unsuccessful attempt to swim 100 miles from Cuba to Florida in 1978 (due to poor weather conditions and difficult currents), she made a 102.5-mile swim from the Bahamas to Florida in 1979, setting a record that has yet to be broken.
Following that long swim, Nyad seemingly abandoned swimming. She turned to journalism, working in TV, radio and print, including such outlets as CNBC, ABC, NPR and the New York Times among others. But despite the apparent burnout from swimming, there was something still gnawing at her, after all those years, something that would make itself much more clear in 2009. As she noted on her website, "... approaching 60 last year threw me into the existential angst of wondering what I had done with my life. I felt choked by how little time seemed left." So she started to swim again, first just a few laps, but then her workouts started to increase, as did her motivation.
And now, more than 30 years after her first attempt, she's going to try and fulfill her dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida, and, as she noted, "this time, without a shark cage." To prepare for that grueling swim, this Saturday Nyad will take her first test swim, aiming to swim for 24 hours consecutively off the Florida coast. To keep tabs on her swim, you can go to KCRW, which will be posting updates, or follow Nyad on Twitter.
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