Medifast is not Extreme Dieting and for Children Can Have Consequences

Although we condone healthy diets and choosing healthy foods over processed foods, fast foods, soft drinks and the like, there are limits to how far you should go with your food choices. For instance, celebrities are a perfect example of going to far when it comes to dieting. Many, not all, celebrities will go to extremes to maintain a low weight due to the demands that Hollywood place on their figures for television. While this may be true, it doesn't mean it's healthy especially when their diet may be void of proper nutrition - macro and micronutrients. That is, the body needs micronutrients from fruits and vegetables and macronutrients in the form of adequate carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. In the case of extreme diet choices, or lack thereof, the body can lose bone mass, organ function, and even proper brain function from lack of proper nutrition. Here is the story of what can happen to a child that doesn't get the nutrition needed for proper growth and developement:

A girl of 12 brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old.

Doctors are under pressure to report the couple, from Glasgow, to police and social workers amid concerns her health and welfare may have been neglected in pursuit of their beliefs.

The youngster, fed on a strict meat- and dairy-free diet from birth, is being treated at the city’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children. She is said to have a severe form of rickets and to have suffered a number of fractured bones. The condition is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is needed to absorb calcium and is found in liver, oily fish and dairy produce.

Dr Faisal Ahmed, the consultant treating the child, said he believed the dangers of forcing children to follow a strict vegan diet needed to be highlighted. “Something like this needs publicity,” he said. However, he refused to blame the parents, who are understood to be well-known figures in Glasgow’s vegan community: “We shouldn’t name and shame \. Mum feels guilty about the whole thing and feels bad about it.” Read on...

Bottom line: Don't deprive your body or that of your child's of the basic nutritional needs for proper function, maintenance of good health, and growth and developement. Fruits and vegetables are the primary source of the most important micronutrients needed for good health, while macronutrients - healthy fats, compound carbohydrates, and lean protein sources - are necessary for bone, organ, and brain development. Good health is a choice. Choose a healthy diet.

The Health & Wellness Institute, DC PC

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

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Medifast

Medifast diet program (located at http://www.drinkchooselive.com) controls portions and calories so you don't have to. Avoid calorie counting, diet pills, and confusing point systems with this simple, convenient 5 & 1 Plan. The plan is clinically proven to burn fat and help your body lose weight quickly, up to twenty pounds in a single month. The plan keeps you eating every two to three hours to help ensure that you don't get hungry between meals.

The 5 & 1 plan allows you to eat six meals a day. For five of your meals, choose from over 50 delicious Medifast options, including scrumptious shakes, satisfying soups, oatmeal, bars, pudding, drinks, snacks (crackers, soy chips, etc.), and scrambled eggs. These great-tasting, nutritious meals are low in calories and allow you to create a healthy gap between the calories you take in and the calories you burn so that you'll lose weight quickly and safely. The meals can be used interchangeably for your convenience. In addition to the five Medifast meals, you'll prepare a Lean & Green meal, which balances 5-7 ounces of lean protein (fish, poultry, pork, lamb, etc.) with a salad or vegetables. This weight loss program also provides a list of foods that can be used to replace the meat portion of the meal if you are a vegetarian.

This weight loss program is not a fad diet that abandons you after the initial stage. Once you reach your goal weight, you'll begin a Transition phase in which you can reintroduce foods you eliminated in the early stage of the diet, such as fruits, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, and higher-carbohydrate vegetables. Then, you'll move onto a Maintenance phase, in which you'll discover how to sustain your weight loss for life through activity and healthy diet. Medifast.com also provides an Exercise Guide to equip you for a healthy lifestyle essential for the maintenance of weight loss.

This company offers program packages for women, men, and diabetics. Studies have shown that people with Type II diabetes lose twice as much weight on this diet plan than they do following the ADA's recommended food guidelines. Medifast's program for diabetics may also make it possible for you to reduce your diabetes medication. In addition to providing a meal plan and healthful foods, Medifast1.com offers members weight loss tools and a supportive, online community. You can share your recopies and success stories on the message boards, find a physician, calculate your body mass index, or monitor your daily activities using downloadable PDF files. If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

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Fruits and Vegetables - Get Them to Support Your Medifast Meal Plan

From Yahoo! News/Johns Hopkins: You already know to eat at least five servings each of fruits and vegetables. But does it matter how these goodies make it to your plate?

Fresh fruits and vegetables straight from the produce aisle are usually best, as long as you're eating them soon after picking. Sometimes though, it's not always possible to purchase produce when it's fresh off the farm.

Seasonal changes will also affect which type of produce we purchase, since fresh fruits and vegetables often are quite expensive. If you can't afford to purchase all your fruits and vegetables fresh, try canned and frozen.

Frozen produce is nutritionally comparable to fresh but canned produce does lose some vitamins and minerals during the heating process. However, the canned versions of at least three vegetables are actually higher in healthful phytochemicals than their fresh versions: Corn, carrots, and tomatoes all benefit from the canning process.

Another benefit of frozen and canned produce: They have a longer shelf life, so you can keep them on hand for quick additions to meals.

If you do purchase more canned or frozen produce, make sure the label says they contain no added salt and sugars. (Remember "heavy syrup"?)

Bottom line: It's more important to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day than it is to worry about how they made it to your plate.

________

Commentary: well said! Despite what Dr. Atkins said, I don't believe it is possible to eat "too many" when it comes to fruits and vegetables--however, apple pie doesn't count as an apple, zucchini bread is no longer like 'eating zuccini'. With those guidelines in mind, bring on the fruit and veggies! There is so much research showing how the nutritients found in them help improve many markers of health. I sincerely believe that Juice Plus+ taken on a daily basis is a smart investment in your health. visit http://www.jpsupplement.com/ to read some of the research and learn what it can do for you.

Note: If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

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Cause of Death; Cause of Life

What is the #1 cause of death? Death. Yes, death is the #1 cause. Everyone will die, unless we figure out how to play with genetics, aging, the mind, and things beyond the physical world for sure. So let's ask a better question. What's the #1 cause of life? Is it diet, exercise, a positive mental attitude, peace, meditation, money (doubt it), love?

We as a society, and more from doctors, researchers, and drug companies' perspectives and approaches, are so focused on the top causes of death, that we forget to inform, educate and promote the top causes of a healthy life! What great information and conditioning of beliefs that could be instilled into the public is the focus was not and is not on the negative. We're alive! What can we do to make it better!?

We're so busy avoiding the inevitable instead of making the quality and joy of living much more fulfilling that we've forgotten about the opportunities that exist to pursue of life of health, happiness and prosperity. We need to be so busy ignoring the obvious - those things that are obviously compromising our health - and start relying on healthy choices to provide and support most everything we need to be healthy (save those few instances when antibiotics are needed).

Diet can mean everything when it comes to matters of the mind or body. Eat how you want to feel. That is, if you want to feel sluggish, tired, run-down, lackadaisical, 'foggy', unsure, unclear, uncertain, and/or unhealthy, then you want to eat plenty of fast food, french fries, milk shakes, candy bars, pizza, burritos, soft drinks, potato chips, and oh yeah hot dogs. But if you want to feel energized, clear-headed, productive, creative, and start to discover your full potential, then your diet will consist of lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of nutrient-dense foods (fruits and vegetables again), water-rich foods (fruits and vegetables), and plenty of lean protein sources (fish, beans), and of course water as your #1 beverage. Even supplementing your diet with whole food based nutrients to be sure you're getting enough antioxidant support is good. Overall, focusing on the quality of life is more important, and a positive approach to health, than trying to avoid, fix, heal, or cure what ails you after the fact. And leaving your cure in the hands of doctors or drugs is just as much a negative approach than trying to correct your diet and lifestyle. So start making healthy choices and living your life to its fullest!

The Health & Wellness Institute, DC PC

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

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Low Income Equals Poor Diet - Is Medifast Affordable?

It's one of those familiar sayings - you think you can't afford to eat 'well', but really you can't afford NOT to! It turns out that low income families have poor dietary habits, eating more processed foods and less fruits and vegetables (although it is a studied fact that the majority - like 95% - of Americans don't get the minimum recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables, so this may be a mute point!). But the reality is that if you want to get out of poverty, you've got to strive for better. For starters, that means better health. A healthy diet doesn't have to be expensive. Exercise doesn't have to be expensive (last time we checked, a 20 minute walk didn't cost anything). These two variables are the start of building a foundation of a healthy life. A better diet means the brain functions better. Just the discipline of striving for good health will create a ripple effect into other areas of life - doing a better job at work, setting goals to 'move up' and get promoted, more creative thought, improved relationships, and so on. Here's more on the subject of low income families and their poor diet --

Three studies published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association have found that people with lower income do not consume enough fruits and vegetables, largely due to cost factors.

"Cost is one of the factors often cited as contributing to less fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income populations," wrote Alanna Moshfegh in an introductory article. "Cost, as well as convenience, has been shown to be a leading influence on food choice for low-income individuals."

The three articles appear in the November issue of the journal, which is devoted to issues of poverty and nutrition as part of the Council of Science Editors' Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. More than 230 scientific journals have participated on the council. Read more...

Bottom line: a healthy diet is the beginning of a healthy and balanced lifestyle that can lead to increased productivity and a healthier way of life (you know, the American Dream!)

Note: If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed. See if Medifast is an affordable diet for you!... and get a personal diet consultant when you order!

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Diet Influences Evolution

What you eat can determine the health of future generations. Or can it? If the food that you eat and the liquids that you consume can influence the health of your DNA, does it stand to reason that your offspring's health could be influenced by the meals you are eating today? Possibly, and logic would say sure, why not? On a broader level, diet and the influence on the cell and DNA is apparently an important and significant enough subject to require a conference with some very bright minds sharing their research and thoughts on the subject. Here's more --

The question of how the food we eat influences the behaviour of our cells – including our genes – is the focus of a major international conference that starts today in Melbourne.

The three-day ‘3rd Asia Pacific Nutrigenomics Conference 2008: Diet-Gene Interaction in Human Health and Disease’, has attracted food scientists, nutritionists, dieticians, doctors, nurses, food industry representatives and food regulators from around Australia and the world.

Conference Chair, the Director of the CSIRO Preventative Health National Research Flagship Dr Richard Head, says that better understanding human genes and cellular function will provide us with better ways of understanding chronic diseases and retarding or contributing to their prevention. This is of interest to the broader biomedical community including those involved in nutrition and food sciences.

The conference will feature a thorough review of current science in the area, presented by leading international experts in the field, as well as exploring industry perspectives and regulatory issues. The areas covered in the Conference include the interaction of diet and genes in obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and inflammation. In addition, there will be discussions on the most recent technologies available for understanding these interactions. More on this here....

Bottom line: Diet must be one of the most important influential factors on the future health of mankind. And certainly the quality of the foods we do have and the ground on which it is grown, needs to be taken care of in the utmost degree. Where will we be without nutrient-rich soil and plenty of fruits and vegetables from which to choose? We don't want to find out.

HWI

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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Fast Food Strikes Again with New Nutritional Education Ads - the Wolf's New Ad for Sheep Safety.

And the sheep is now in charge of the flock! From “Fast Food Nation” to “Super Size Me,” McDonald’s has become the go-to villain in the United States’ obesity drama.

Not willing to become the de facto whipping boy, the company best known for its indulgent burgers and greasy fries has already added salads, fruits and other new menu options. Now, it’s defending the rest of its food lineup as well.

The “what we’re made of” campaign includes TV commercials, in-store promotions and a Web site boasting about its beef, chicken and other basic ingredients. In the coming weeks, the company also plans to add billboards and expand the Web site to include more information about cooking methods, suppliers and other practices.

WHAT THE F?

Molly Starmann, McDonald’s director of U.S. marketing, said the company hasn’t changed the farming or preparation methods that have drawn so much criticism. The point of the campaign, she said, is simply to provide more information about what the company already does.

“Our customers love the taste of our food and they just had some questions about how it’s created,” she said.

The most striking thing about the campaign is that it exposes what the company is up against. Click on lettuce, and McDonald’s will tell you that it washes its lettuce “at least twice.” Under eggs, it notes that they are delivered to stores twice a week.

Forget quality or taste -- if a company has to dispel the myth that it doesn’t follow basic hygiene practices, it’s obviously in for an uphill battle.

Still, some of McDonald’s attempts to inform are strikingly uninformative. Click on “potatoes,” and you’ll get a blurb about why fries have salt on them. That’s not exactly going to answer burning questions about food production, healthfulness and what exactly is meant by the ingredient “natural beef flavor (wheat and milk derivatives).” Under tomatoes, the company only discloses what kind it likes to use in salads.

Elsewhere on the site, McDonald’s lets you build a meal and see its nutritional value and ingredients. Nutrition information also can now be found on the back of the company’s tray liners and on other packaging.

McDonald’s deserves credit for having the guts to make such information easily accessible, even if eaters may well cringe at the high fat content – including trans fats - and unpronounceable ingredients.

For example, parents may not be too pleased to realize that six pieces of Chicken McNuggets contain 15 grams of fat and include the ingredient “dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.” The visual images conjured by the words “antifoaming” in food are plentiful, and none are pretty.

Click here to see the “what we’re made of” Web site. Click here to view one of the ads.

http://adblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/22/912157.aspx

Click to see what they are made of? Plump tomatoes? Would that be the ketsup? And the chicken nuggets are coated in: "light tempura batter" What the Mc?

Chicken McNuggets® (10 piece)
Serving Size: 5.6 oz (160 g)

I don't know about you, but grilled chicken with spices, has a LOT less than 420 calories and 24 grams of fat! The typical grilled chicken breast is about 150 cal/3 grams fat. So that "light tempura batter" isn't really "light" is it?

And, after you are done laughing, just wait for MY "ad" that starts next week about McDonald's and just what the heck is in their food! It will be MUST see "TV"!

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Ritalin has Consequences

Almost everyone seems to know someone who has a child on Ritalin. As you may know, use of Ritalin doesn't come without risk. As with any drug, there are unwanted side-effects that can occur. Even with the research and studies showing such promising results for children with Attention Deficit Disorder, all drugs come with side-effects and can even be life threatening.

While this author doesn't necessarily agree that Ritalin is the answer to ADD, the drug companies have certainly capitalized on the deficit children seem to be in. But I think that "deficit" comes from the lack of physical activity - the kind away from a computer or TV. Getting out and observing those things that are not digital is such a key to having a calmer and more focused mind. This is not research, but just common sense, that tells us the TV and computers and cell phones are electronics that put the eye and brain's focus no more than 3 feet away. When you can put the focus on natural things that are beyond the world that exists within 10 feet of your being, you take on a picture of the world that is much greater than the many minute details that can be consuming to the brain. It is our opinion that the calming effect to the mind and possibly the attention disorder can be helped by this approach.

According to the Medical Observer, "children who use Ritalin for a long period of time could be more at risk of deliquency and substance abuse." For this reason they suggest 'taking a break' from the drug after 3 years, because "the more days of prescribed medication, the more serious the risk."

It is the opinion of The Health & Wellness Institute that a diet that is deficient in proper nutrients - i.e. fruits and vegetables - and filled with stimulants like sugar and caffeine, will also contribute to the symptoms of those diagnosed with ADD. This evidence is shown in studies where children were put on a healthy diet and after a year the results showed better grades, less conflict, less absences, and more participation in school activities. While there may not be a direct relationship between the two, there should be at least some logical deduction that diet plays a big role in the health of the mind and therefore should provide noticeable benefit to those with ADD.

Bottom line: a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables, and without processed foods, high amounts of sugars - i.e. soft drinks or fruit drinks - and even including some regular exercise, will always be beneficial to anyone, no matter what condition they may be diagnosed with.

HWI

Note: If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

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Cancer Risk with Potato Chips

With a headline like that, you may think twice before picking up a bag of potato chips. Yet not only are chips a source linked to an increase in cancer risk, but so too are sweet biscuits, certain breads, rolls, toast, or most fried, roasted, or grilled foods - all which contain the carcinogen acrylamide. This substance can be contained in certain foods, but also the result of those types of preparation methods. Grilling has long been known to create carcinogenic substances that can be detrimental to good health.

A study of more than 60,000 post-menopausal women has linked the chemical - produced when sugars and amino acids are cooked at temperatures greater than 120 degress - to ovarian and endometrial cancers. The Dutch report examined data from the Netherlands Cohort Study, which involved 120,000 people aged 55-70 years, about 62,000 of them women.

Here's the kicker. After 11 years, the group was analyzed and those who had consumed high levels of acrylamide, that is 40 milligrams a day or the equivalent of what is in one pack of potato chips, were twice as likely to develop ovarian or womb cancer as those who ingested a smaller amount. These findings were published in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

Since the study was performed prior to 1997, the consumption of foods like french fries and other similar foods has increased, and therefore would be safe to conclude that the risk of these cancers has gone up even more!

Bottom line: If you're eating a healthy diet, one that contains more raw foods and unprocessed foods than anything else, then you're not going to have to worry about levels of acrylamide in your system. It's one thing you shouldn't have to worry about when it comes to your health - and that is preventable conditions based on what foods and beverages you consume. So stick to mainly water, fruits, vegetables, fish, 12 grain breads, and organic foods if you can. You'll be glad you did in the years to come.

HWI

Note: If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

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Sugar - Enemy of a Healthy Medifast Diet

There is always debate about what diet is healthy and which one work best - is Atkins safe, is low-carb better, are carbs the enemy, what food combinations work, is low-fat better? The questions are endless, and the solutions seem to be even more so. However, there is one truth about a healthy diet that rings true throughout the diet community, and that is that simple sugars are the enemy. That is, sugar is so prevalent in so many foods and drinks that it is hard for most people to get away from consuming too many. And with sugars like high-fructose corn syrup you're sure to lose on all levels - bad calories, unhealthy, and too many easily consumed. Here's more about how sugar can creep into your diet --

A bran muffin and a flavored coffee drink are not unusual choices for a breakfast on the run. But along with fiber and caffeine, you may be getting something you hadn't bargained for: a day's worth of added sugar in just one small early morning meal.

We shouldn't consume more than 40 grams -- about 10 teaspoons -- of sugar a day, based on a 2,000-calorie diet, said Andy Bellatti, a graduate student at New York University's department of nutrition and food studies who blogs about diet and health at Small Bites. "It's very easy, though, to go way above that because that's basically one can of soda," Bellatti said. "So although 10 teaspoons sounds like a lot, it's actually not really that much."

Though the World Health Organization recommends that added sugar should make up no more than 10 percent of our daily caloric intake, the average American eats about double that. A muffin could have 11 teaspoons of sugar added, and a grande vanilla latte at Starbucks has about seven teaspoons. Read more...

Final note: do yourself a favor and avoid products that have sugar, except for fruits and vegetables. Even with a good effort you'll find that you're getting some in foods and drinks that you didn't expect.

HWI

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

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Life Expectancy and Diet

Women's Life Expectancy Has Fallen in Poor Parts of U.S.

Life expectancy for American women today is shorter in some geographical areas than it was in the 1980s, mostly because of chronic diseases linked to smoking, high blood pressure, and being overweight or obese, according to a new study published in the journal PLoS Medicine. Researchers used data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau to calculate life expectancy for every year between 1961 and 1999 and found that women in certain areas of the United States are living shorter lives than they were in the 1980s. But when researchers looked at overall U.S. data, average life expectancy increased for men--to about 74 years--and for women--to nearly 80 years.

Still, the shortened life spans in certain areas of the country suggest that those people who were already disadvantaged became worse off between the early 1980s and 1999 and didn't benefit from gains in life expectancy seen in other, wealthier parts of the country. The findings show that it's important to monitor and address health inequalities, the study authors wrote. read more...

Comment: It's not hard to see why life expectancy would fall when the diet of most Americans is getting worse and worse, with less nutrients and nutritional value in each item consumed. For this reason we recommend Medifast as an alternative to traditional diet plans. But to make sure that you get the nutrients necessary for a healthy diet, be sure to consume at least 7 servings of fruits and vegetables per day!

HWI

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

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Less Food Related Sickness

In a previous blog, it was mentioned that irradiation may reduce the nutrient-value in fruits and vegetables, all to help reduce food borne illnesses. In a recent article from the Associated Press, food poisoning has been on the decline over the last decade. If this is true, then it may be harder to justify a process for "cleaning" foods that diminishes the value of the nutrients in them. Here's more on the reduction of illnesses originating from food sources --

Americans didn't suffer more food poisoning last year despite high-profile outbreaks involving peanut butter, pot pies and other foods. But it's not getting better, either. Although there have been significant declines in certain food-borne illnesses since the late 1990s, all the improvements occurred before 2004, federal health officials said in a report released Thursday.

A food safety advocacy group called the report discouraging. "We don't consider this a success at all. We want to see these numbers going down," said Nancy Donley, president of Safe Tables Our Priority, which was founded by victims of food poisoning. Read on...

Comments: While these numbers may be "discouraging" to some, the fact will remain that eliminating all food borne illnesses would be the equivalent of eliminating disease all together. Good bacteria exists with bad, and is part of the equilibrium of the environment and all living things. Imagine a world with no bacteria risks, and somehow suddenly one is introduced into the environment. It could be worse than any biological warfare imaginable. Cleaning your fruits and vegetables is a good idea. Growing them on nutrient-rich, well-maintained soil is even more important. Trying to correct the problem after the fact may be fruitless if you will, when the end result becomes a beautiful looking piece of fruit or vegetable with no bacteria yet little to no nutritional value. Taking care of the source is where we need to start. That is where good health originates. Then making healthy choices - that is, choosing fruits and vegetables over breads, processed carbohydrates, and fatty and salty foods.

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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Irradiation Depletes Food Quality

weight loss, diet, medifast, Dr. Patrick Havey Our fear of a dwindling healthy food supply from the environmental contaminants and soil depletion may now be trumped by the FDA. Yes, the FDA may actually take care of compromising the quality of our best sources of nutrients by demanding they be irradiated before being put on shelves and tables for consumers.

In case you don't know, the idea behind irradiating food - or any item for that matter - is to sterilize it. That means all live pathogens that may be present on that item is put in check so that it can't take hold in your body or some other living organism. Big problem here. The way we improve our immune system's ability, function, and strength is not just by consuming healthy foods. Believe it or not, we also need to be exposed to certain things so that our immune system builds up defenses. Not everything, but some things. Vaccines are an artificial way of exposing the body and although there is debate on that issue, it still holds true. The immune system is like an army of fighters. But they need to be trained, need not be complacent thinking everything is fine, and is and will always be fine.

However, without some bacteria and certainly without the optimal amount of nutritional value provided by the fruit or vegetable, the body won't have either to support the immune system. Here's more as reported on NaturalNews.com --

Medifast

Get medifast for weight loss, health, a healthy diet, and a diet plan. Medifast is a product that helps you lose weight. There are benefits to using Medifast in your diet, and can be used for weight loss. Phase 1 - 5 & 1 Program for Weight Loss 5 Medifast Meals per Day Over 50 meals to choose from - shakes, bars, drinks, oatmeals, chili, soups, pudding and more. 1 "Lean and Green" Meal per Day Lean Meat: 7 ounces of chicken, turkey of fish, or 5 ounces of lean beef, pork or lamb. Grill, bake or poach meats using non-stick spray. Salt, pepper, herbs and spices may be added if desired. You may also use 1 - 2 teaspoons of condiments such as ketchup, mustard or barbecue sauce. Salad or Vegetables: Either 2 cups of salad greens (any kind) and up to ½ cups raw vegetables, or up to 1 ½ cups cooked vegetables.

Medifast Diet

You may also use 1 - 2 tablespoons of Media low-fat or non-fat dressing.Phase 2 - BeSlim™ Philosophy of Lifelong Weight Control Once you have reached your healthy weight, your Health Advisor will help transition you to the BeSlim™ philosophy of lifelong weight control. The BeSlim™ philosophy is a part of the Take Shape for Life program that incorporates key behaviors mastered by those who lost significant amounts of weight and kept their weight off for years. These key behaviors include: Breakfast (eating Breakfast every day) - High quality fuel, such as our delicious Medifast oatmeal, cappuccino, or chai latte, is essential to start your day the right way. Exercise - Continued exercise increases metabolism, provides strength, flexibility, and mental clarity.

Medifast Nutrition

Support - Your Health Advisor is here to help you reach and maintain your goals, providing the coaching, tools, education, and caring support you will need along the way. Low-fat meals 5-6 times a day - Eating frequently, controlling portion and total calories, especially those from fat, are critical for success. Individual Plan - Create an individual plan to help you achieve an optimal healthy lifestyle and build the skills and strategies you need to cope with modern life. Monitor your weight - Weigh yourself on a regular basis to maintain optimal weight. Catch it before it becomes a challenge! Join the BeSlim™ Club today and set your life in motion! Introducing the New BeSlim Club & Rewards Program! Optimal Health is its own reward, but how about earning a bonus or two along the way? You’re on a journey to Optimal Health. You’ve made a commitment to lose weight and keep it off! You’ve earned the right to celebrate your success! The new Take Shape For Life BeSlim Club & Rewards Program is your ticket there. The BeSlim Club & Rewards Program is Take Shape For Life's progressive savings program, offering clients and Health Coaches an easy way to obtain their Medifast Meals at a savings, with exciting rewards you can earn along the way! The longer you are member of the BeSlim™ Club, the more significant your savings are and the more rewards points you’ll earn. When you join the Take Shape For Life BeSlim Club & Rewards Program, you: Enjoy your favorite Medifast Meals all month long, with orders conveniently shipped right to your door Save on your meal purchases and enjoy increased savings the longer you’re on the program Earn points towards exclusive rewards that promote healthy living Receive coupons for special savings. Enrich your life as you achieve Optimal Health Available to all, the BeSlim™ Club is a great way for individuals learning and practicing the BeSlim™ philosophy. Every time you order, you earn points towards healthful rewards. Here’s how: There’s no minimum purchase required. Redeem your reward points* for exclusive Take Shape For Life merchandise, including: Apparel, Exercise Equipment,

Medifast is healthy meals for weight loss. Medifast and health information, opinion and news.

June 09, 2008

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June 07, 2008

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May 08, 2008

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May 02, 2008

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April 25, 2008

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April 15, 2008

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April 14, 2008

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