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Plant-Based Diets for Heart Health

A review of 30 clinical trials published between 1982 and 2022, covering about 2,400 participants in many different countries, found that vegetarian and vegan diets reduced blood levels of total cholesterol levels by seven percent, the harmful LDL cholesterol by 10 percent, and apolipoprotein B by 14 percent. These blood factors are strong predictors of likelihood to suffer a heart attack or stroke, and reducing these three factors has been consistently shown to reduce risk for heart attacks in normal-weight and obese patients.

Multi-Vitamins May Help to Slow Memory Loss of Aging

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that 39 percent of adults ages 60 and older take multi-vitamin pills, spending more than $8 billion on them each year. Highly respected researchers at Harvard and Columbia medical schools conducted a study of more than 3,500 people, ages 60 and older, and found that compared to those who took a placebo, those who took a multi-vitamin pill did significantly better on word recall after one year

Tina Turner: High Blood Pressure and Kidney Failure

Tina Turner died on May 24, 2023 at age 83 of kidney failure following many years of severe high blood pressure, a kidney transplant, colon cancer, and several strokes. She was a singer, dancer and actress who rose from depressing poverty and an abusive marriage to become the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll" as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, before divorcing him and becoming a very popular solo performer.

How Fast Do You Lose Fitness When You Stop Exercising?

A review of 31 published studies found that the COVID-19 epidemic has forced many people to stop exercising, which will increase their risk for several diseases that can shorten their lives. COVID-19 is caught mainly by breathing indoor air where people congregate, so the epidemic stopped many people from going to gyms or practicing sports indoors.

WHO Warnings on Artificial Sweeteners

WHO (World Health Organization), the United Nations' health agency, advises that most people should not use non-sugar sweeteners to replace sugar in foods. They report that artificial sweeteners have not been shown to help people lose body fat long-term.

Elastic Resistance Bands Can Make You As Strong As Lifting Weights

Scientists reviewed studies on elastic resistance bands, and concluded that strength training with elastic bands could cause the same gain in strength as lifting heavy weights for both the upper and the lower body. Training in the studies ranged from 2-5 times a week for 4-12 weeks.

Sugar Added to Foods and Drinks Causes Inflammation

Your immune system helps you by preventing harmful germs from entering your cells. Your immune system responds with these same cells and proteins when cells in your body are injured, to remove damaged tissue and start the healing process. As soon as the germs are destroyed, or tissues heal, your immune system is supposed to stop sending out huge amounts of these cells and proteins. However, if your immune system stays overactive all the time, you develop inflammation in which these same cells and proteins attack and damage your own cells.

Roger Bannister, First Sub-4-Minute Miler

Roger Bannister was the first human to run a mile in less than four minutes, even though his training was totally inadequate for world-class competition because he was a full time medical student who trained on a single 30-minute workout per day, compared to today's runners who train twice a day for as much as three hours.

Basic Resistance Band Training

Start your introduction to resistance band training by first reading a prior article on this site about resistance training. The same principles apply but now the implement is resistance bands and not free weights or machines. And, resistance bands can be an effective implement with the added benefits of low cost, convenience, and the ability to resistance train virtually anywhere at any time.

Fred Kummerow, Hero of the Trans Fat Battle

Fred Kummerow died at age 102 of arteriosclerosis, a disease that he had spent most of his life working to prevent. He was the first researcher to show that trans fats in margarines and many prepared foods cause plaques to form in arteries, with a paper published in Science in 1957.