Hey everyone,

I have recently decided to transfer the content of my fitness site (http://fitnessmadesimple.wordpress.com) and my diet/nutrition site (http://dietsexplained.wordpress.com/) to my new blog:

http://healthhabits.wordpress.com/

I was getting a lot of questions on topics other than diet and fitness training. With a more general health blog, I can focus on topics not specifically exercise or diet.

I hope everyone enjoys

DR

According to Statistics Canada, Canadians are not as tall or thin as they think say they are.

This has caused Stats Can much consternation.

The data that Stats Can collects through it’s Canadian Community Health Survey and the National Population Health Survey rely on Canadians to provide their height and weight.

In 2005, 16% of Canadians were classified as obese; according to their self reported info.

But according to actual measurements, 8% of Canadians are not only fat, but big fat liars to boot.

Oh My God!

What could happen next?

Do you think Canadians lie about their age?

Their income?

Their penis size?

The Horror…..

On April 8, 2008, Canada’s federal government tabled bill Bill C-51.

Health Minister, Tony Clement says that Bill C-51 is designed to “modernize the Food and Drugs Act”.

Furthermore, the Bill “proposes to maintain a rigorous assessment of health products prior to making them available. In addition, we’re proposing to gain the ability to continuously monitor the safety of products even after they are approved”.

Sounds good.

Don’t want any tainted vitamins, herbs, etc, getting into the marketplace. And if they do, the government has taken the power and responsibility of recall from the manufacturers and given it to themselves.

So, essentially what the government is doing is asking the natural health product industry to prove that their products will do no harm. Once proven, manufacturers will be able to make claims of efficacy like the pharmaceutical industry.

This may even improve the business model for nutritional supplements in Canada. Vetted health claims might increase the legitimacy of the industry in the public’s eye. And yet, something doesn’t seem right with this piece of legislation.

Here is my problem with Bill C-51.

• What are they protecting us from?

• In 2006, the U.S. reported one death associated with the ingestion of vitamins. An unknown vitamin & it was reported that while the vitamin played a part, it was unlikely that it was the cause of death. How they would know that if the vitamin was unknown, I will never know.

• Compare that to the 2006 data for Pharmaceutical deaths. The full report is here.

• Pharmaceutical Categories associated with largest number of fatalities (Top 25)

• Deaths – Substance
  382- Sedative/hypnotics/antipsychotics
  307 – Opioids
  252 – Cardiovascular drugs
  214 – Acetaminophen in combination
  210 – Antidepressants
  203 – Stimulants and street drugs
  139 – Alcohols
  138 – Acetaminophen only
  98 – Muscle relaxants
  93 – Anticonvulsants
  75 – Cyclic antidepressants
  69 – Fumes/gases/vapors
  66 – Antihistamines
  61 – Aspirin alone
  55 – Other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
  49 – Unknown drug
  38 – Chemicals
  35 – Oral hypoglycemics
  27 – Miscellaneous drugs
  25 – Diuretics
  25 – Automotive/aircraft/boat products
  22 – Antihistamine/decongestant, without phenylpropanolamine
  20 – Hormones and hormone antagonists
  18- Anticoagulants

Vitamins – 1 death

Aspirin & Acetaminophen – 199 deaths

As far as I am concerned, that should be the end of the story. The government has no business creating a problem where none exists.

Fin

For those of you who want more, here are some interesting links.

video of an anti Bill C-51 rally

Health Minister, Tony Clement’s press conference to discuss Bill C-51

article in the Globe and Mail

article in the Vancouver Sun

The (CHFA) Canadian Health Food Association’s submission to the House of Commons.

article by Andre Picard, Globe and Mail

CHFA response to Picard article

my fitness site

Are you an Emotional Eater?

Do your feelings drive your appetite and your eating behavior?

Do you eat when you are not hungry?

Do you continue to eat when you are full?…stuffed?…about to explode?

Do you ever find yourself on the couch with your hand at the bottom of a LARGE bag of chips?

Do you eat like this while you are alone?

When you are bored?

When you are stressed?

To take your mind off of your problems?

Do you feel guilty about this behavior?

YES

Then you are an Emotional Eater.

You’re not alone.

Janet Jackson and Britney Spears are celebrity examples of Emotional Eaters

So What Do I Do?

If you think that your manner of eating may constitute a threat to your health, please contact your doctor.

And here is some solid reference info:

• Wikipedia lists 25 different types of eating disorders
• Medscape has a good Eating Disorder Resource Centre
• The Canadian National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) has lots of info & resources
• The Mayo Clinic

What Do I Do Right Now?!

One tool you should look into right away is Mindful Eating.

Here are some links to mindful eating sites. TCME CAMP System Dr.Susan Albers Amazon book list

In the past few years, the practice of mindful eating has grown out of the more generalized psychiatric practice of Mindfulness Meditation, made popular by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

It finds it’s origin in Buddhist teachings. The Buddhist practice of Mindfulness can be defined as “awareness of one’s thoughts, actions or motivations”.

A similar practice is currently being espoused by Oprah’s protege, Mr. Eckhart Tolle.

TLC’s – I Can Make You Thin with Paul McKenna employed mindful eating in it’s weight loss plan.

In the 1920’s, Horace Fletcher was the diet guru of the day with his theory of Fletcherizing.

Mindful Eating – The Basics

Eat consciously. By this I mean:

• Take a bite of food
• Put down your implements/sandwich/glass/etc…
• Chew your food
• Taste your food
• Enjoy your food
• Repeat until you ‘think’ you are starting to feel full
• Stop Eating
• Eat again when you are hungry – not bored or nervous – listen for a ‘grumbly tummy’

That’s It.

my fitness site

Warning: Prepare to be Manipulated

Just to show how much they care about you and your health, the Fox News Health Blog is headlining these stories:

Girl Is One of 500 Suffering From Rare Genetic Disorder

This poor little girl, Emily Joost suffers from Aicardi syndrome. “Aicardi syndrome is an uncommon malformation syndrome characterized by absence of a key structure in the brain called the corpus callosum, the presence of retinal abnormalities, and seizures in the form of infantile spasms. It is inherited as an X-linked dominant trait and is lethal in males”.

Only 500 people in the entire world has this condition.

Fox News, in their inimitable style, have latched onto this highly emotional story in their quest for eyeballs.

If you, like me, were touched by this story, donations to the Aicardi Syndrome Foundation are being accepted here. I am sure that Fox News made a big donation.

10 Mistakes Women Make in Bed

Now we move from sorrow to sex.

Written by Fox Sex-pert, Dr. Yvonne Fulbright, Fox News as always, tackles the most serious subjects.

And Here’s the Top 10 Mistakes Women make in the Sack

1. Trading in Marilyn for Mommy.

2. Being unresponsive in the sack.

3. Forgetting to stay feminine.

4. Judging his porn pleasuring.

5. Being afraid to talk dirty.

6. Being unable to own your body.

7. Trash-talking other women.

8. Assuming you’ll be monogamous.

9. Ignoring his nipples.

10. Using too much teeth.

Miley Cyrus’ Offer From Playboy: Is the Age of Sexual Consent Being Challenged?

Staying with the SEX stories…

Fox reports that, “Hugh Hefner has said that he would like to see Miley Cyrus pose naked for Playboy—when she turns 18″.

Is this surprising?

Hugh Hefner, at 82 years old, can still freak people out.

One of those freakees was Fox columnist, Dr. Keith Ablow. Dr. Ablow had this to say:

“I believe Hefner’s offer, albeit cloaked in the disclaimer that Miley has to be legal to strip for him, may herald a challenge to the current age of sexual consent—which is between 16 and 18 in almost all states, lower only in South Carolina (and only when the sexual partners are both young)”.

“What Hefner chose to do was to express being sexually attracted to an underage girl. He knows that he is perceived as freeing American men to express their sexuality. In this case, he is presumably leading the way in suggesting that men ought to feel free to direct their sexual fantasies toward 15-year-olds—bemoaning, perhaps, the fact that they will have to impatiently wait to get them out of their clothes”.

It seems that along with medicine, Dr. Ablow has also been trained in the doctoring of SPIN.

Fox doesn’t mind cashing in on the celebrity of Miley Cyrus. They also don’t mind taking a story that MOST people found disturbing and a little bit creepy, and then spoon feeding us back our own opinions.

How do these Stories Impact your Health?

The answer is: They Don’t

Unbelievably, the Fox News Health Blog is the sixth fastest growing blog on WordPress.

Fastest Growing WordPress.com blogs

1. Tennis Planet
2. CNN Political Ticker
3. FOX Embeds
4. Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures – I Can Has Cheezburger?
5. The Page
6. FOX News Health Blog
7. Ask the Expert – Money Magazine

Seriously…people…Fox..News..Health..Blog

One story to make you cry and then two stories designed to get you in the mood for McLovin.

Next time, just pick up the Enquirer.

my fitness site