Your Muscles Have Memory

A new study is suggesting that muscles retain memory and are able to bounce back quickly after a period of no exercise.

This is interesting stuff. From my perspective, the most crucial part is quoted as follows from the article:

"As people age, their ability to build muscle mass declines. The new study suggests that pumping muscles full of nuclei early in life could help stave off muscle loss with age. This could be an argument for mandatory physical training in schools."

Promoting exercise to kids is a good idea, of course, and I don't think anyone would disagree with that. We can just add the above to the long list of exercise benefits.

-Daily Life Wellness

Photo: Vierdrie

Bad Trend: Company recalls ground beef after E. coli reports

In what is now becoming a ridiculous -- and very disturbing -- trend in the food supply chain, yet another recall is in effect. This time the culprit is potentially contaminated (E. coli) ground beef.

Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. (Are they kidding with that name? Meat solutions?) has recalled some 8,500 pounds of the stuff.

With all the recalling going on, what's your "meat solution?" 

Well, your best bet -- if you can afford it -- is to buy pastured grass-fed/grass-finished beef. It's not cheap...certainly by comparison to the stuff you can buy in bulk from BJ's.

An alternative solution, and one that I often take advantage of, is the local butcher. Mine provides grass-fed/grain-finished ground beef raised locally at about $3.79 a pound. He knows where his beef comes from and he stands by its quality. It's no contamination-free guarantee of course, but the odds are in my favor -- much more so than the beef you buy at the big box stores.

At the butcher I'll usually buy about 6 pounds of ground beef split into 2 pound portions, and freeze it.

- Daily Life Wellness  

Photo: juliaf

Black Rice Packs Bigger Antioxidant Punch Than Blueberries?

Talk about your bold claims...but that's the message.

According to new research:

"Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants," researcher Dr. Zhimin Xu, associate professor of food science at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, said."

OK. If that's the case, where has this new "wonder rice" been hiding all these years? Of course rice isn't on the paleo diet spectrum. But if you don't otherwise have issues with grains, then a bit here and there won't be the end of the world -- especially with a grain that's packing as much heat as this one, apparently.

Good luck finding the stuff. My guess is that your first stop should probably be Trader Joe's or Whole Foods if you want to get your hands on some.

- Daily Life Wellness

Flawed Research...And Paleo to the Rescue.

Great post today at Health Habits (plus a staggering photo of a dude with a gut of almost unbelievable size.)

The study referenced suggests that folks that are too far gone on the obesity train cannot possibly hope to achieve anything approaching good health. To quote from the post...

The researchers concluded that patients with a high level of belly fat & a high level of insulin insensitivity wereunlikely to ever be successful at improving their situation with lifestyle modification. 

Ever.

Ergo…to lose weight, they would need the help of pharmaceuticals and/or weight loss surgery.

Hello? Paleo is at the door...and would like to introduce himself.

-Daily Life Wellness 

Wal-Mart Pulling Recalled Deli Meats From Shelves

Hmmm...processed deli meats contaminated? This is a familiar tune, what with the egg situation not having even reached its crescendo yet.

From the article:

Zemco Industries in Buffalo, New York, has recalled approximately 380,000 pounds of deli meat from Wal-Mart stores nationwide; the meat may be contaminated with bacteria that can cause a potentially fatal disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

As a general rule, steer clear of the processed meats (like deli and sausage) in favor of grass fed cuts of beef, free range chicken, and wild caught fish.

Not only do these (non-processed) meats provide a better nutritional bang for your buck, but they're also less prone to contamination. 

-Daily Life Wellness

Half a Billion Eggs to Be Recalled

No doubt you've heard the news: "Salmonella outbreak leads to massive egg recall! Thousands sick!"

With consolidation in the food industry, combined with lax federal oversight and failure by producers to conform to basic health and safety standards -- this was bound to happen...again (E. coli, anyone?) In fact, it will continue to happen as demand for cheaper and faster food continues to grow with the population.

Suggestion: Buy your eggs locally, labeled organic, and made by chickens that are allowed to roam about freely. Yes, they're more expensive than the robo-eggs you can get anywhere, but organic eggs are more nutrient dense, and less likely to be tainted with salmonella. Personally, that's an additional expense I'm happily willing to pay to get better eggs.

-Daily Life Wellness

Green Leafy Veggies May Cut Diabetes Risk

A new study from Leicester University in the UK has found that upping intake of green leafy vegetables (like the spinach shown above) can lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.  And by "upping" the study suggests that this would mean an increase of 1.5 servings per day.

This is good -- if not surprising -- news, of course.

However, let's look at this from the practical, 30,000 feet up perspective: If all you're doing is eating an extra handful of spinach each day, while the rest of your diet is Big Macs and Mr. Pibb -- you aren't doing yourself any favors.

Vegetables should be the cornerstone of your healthy diet, a diet that also includes lean meats, fruit, nuts and seeds.  By doing this, not only are you reducing your risk for diabetes, but also a whole host of other diseases.  Add in some exercise and your life is about to change radically -- for the better.

-Mike

Daily Life Wellness

Separating the wheat from the chaff in physical culture (with big thanks to @KeithNorris of Theory to Practice)

Great post recently by Keith Norris on his Theory to Practice blog.  There's a ton of good info in the post (as always), but I focused laser-like on this particular paragraph...

Those of us who immerse ourselves in the world of Physical Culture are especially sensitive to all of the “spin” and surface-level (at best) understanding that’s unleashed upon the public on a daily (hourly?) basis.  Just listen to all the “leading authorities” on this subject or that; the total lack of knowledge/understanding displayed is shocking.  And unfortunately, this is the window through which the vast majority of the population “sees” Physical Culture.  Is there any wonder as to why our society in embroiled in the heathcare crisis that it is?  The real wonder is why we’re not actually worse off than what we are.  I guess I should concentrate more on “H8′n the game, not the playuh”, but things such as Shape Ups and the Cookie Diet just ain’t gonna cut the most direct path to to an exemplary expression of Physical Culture, folks.

It's relatively easy for those of us who spend a good chunk of our time in the world of "physical culture" (to quote Keith) to separate the wheat from the chaff.  As such, ridiculous things like the "cookie diet" get laughed away without much thought.

But for many folks -- folks looking desperately for a way to lose weight, for example -- the newest, shiniest diets tend to grab attention. And if you call your diet the "cookie diet" for God's sake, and pimp out a fancy website to boot...well, you'll most likely have people beating a path to your door.  (Never mind the long-term ineffectiveness or ruinous health effects of such a "diet.")

Tough to sell people on good nutrition and practical life wellness that actually requires work (blasphemy!) with all this noise in the background.

-Mike

Daily Life Wellness

Study Suggests Building Muscle Doesn't Require Heavy Weights (...Bullshit)

A new McMaster University study is suggesting that to build muscle you only need to lift weights in the range of 30 percent of your max. To quote the article...

"Rather than grunting and straining to lift heavy weights, you can grab something much lighter but you have to lift it until you can't lift it anymore," says Stuart Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. "We're convinced that growing muscle means stimulating your muscle to make new muscle proteins, a process in the body that over time accumulates into bigger muscles."

Sounds a lot like Westside Barbell's "repetition method" at work (light weights in the 30 percent range done for time, rather than rep count.) But the repetition method is only one part of the program -- a program that includes large doses of lifting heavy weights as well.

To build muscle and get stronger you should be consistently pushing that maximum lift, then work off of percentages of that maximum in the 70 to 90 percent range.

-Daily Life Wellness

Photo: Dmitry Valberg

 

Why Barefoot is Best For Children

As you may know, I'm a big fan of my Vibram Five Fingers. It's been a growing trend for some time, the whole barefoot deal.  I've noticed the mainstream media is starting to pick up on the trend, in this case for kids...

Tracy Byrne, a podiatrist specialising in podopaediatrics, believes that wearing shoes at too young an age can hamper a child's walking and cerebral development. "Toddlers keep their heads up more when they are walking barefoot," she says. "The feedback they get from the ground means there is less need to look down, which is what puts them off balance and causes them to fall down." Walking barefoot, she continues, develops the muscles and ligaments of the foot, increases the strength of the foot's arch, improves proprioception (our awareness of where we are in relation to the space around us) and contributes to good posture.

Spend a few minutes and read the whole article.

-Daily Life Wellness 

Whooping Cough is Back...And Spreading

I mentioned in an recent Daily Life Wellness post that Whooping Cough (aka, pertussis) was spreading quickly in California. Well, now apparently it's making news in Michigan...

It's particularly problematic for infants and seniors. As always, first line of defense should be a healthy diet and the right exercise, but folks are being encouraged to get booster shots. Talk to your doc if you have concerns.