Fruit juice – Stay away from it!

Too much of a good thing will cause imbalance in the body

Too often, we forget that juice is a processed food which contains ingredients beyond rich nutrients. There are many additives and sugars in juice which are quickly released into the blood stream. Therefore, too much is not a good thing and can lead to health problems such as obesity and diabetes.

Excessive juice intake can cause dental cavities to develop from the high sugar levels. It can also cause weight gain, diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal issues like bloating, abdominal pain and excessive gas.

This is why a recent British study at Bangor University in North Wales recommended that fruit juice should not be counted as one of the five pieces of fruit services per day, since it contains too much sugar. Instead, dried fruit should be included in your diet guidelines.

In one particular study, the researchers found that freshly squeezed juice can contain up to five teaspoons of sugar per glass. This is because the squeezing process further concentrates their sweetness. This is a problem when people substitute juice for real fruit and it’s a real mistake. Fruit juice is significantly higher in sugar.

Unfortunately, fruit juices do not always have many vitamins and nutrients, despite having vitamin C. A major issue with drinking too much is that it only fills up your stomach and leaves you feeling content. It’s worry because your appetite is satisfied by sugars and not by a nutritious meal. And although you will consume needed daily calories, it won’t be from good fats or protein, but rather high amounts of carbohydrates and sugars. This can lead to a poor, unbalanced diet and future health problems.

Clearly, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. People often opt for juice as a healthier alternative to fizzy drinks, energy drinks and flavoured milk. While one standard serving of juice may contain nutrients, you can get then from the whole fruit without the extra energy. Stick to water!

The sugars found is juice are known to affect your weight and hormones when consumed excessively, since the human body stores unnecessary sugar as fat. Eating sugar also increases the insulin in your blood which can be a danger for diabetics. Insulin also causes the body to store fat which can potentially damage artery walls; a catalyst of heart disease. High sugar levels can even cause your immune system trouble by hindering white blood cells from functioning correctly. So the next time you’re craving juice, think!

Weight Training is mandatory for Weight Loss

If your goal is to lose weight, look more toned and improve your health, then weight lifting should be incorporated into your exercise regime. The funny thing is people, mainly women, fear doing weights because they have an assumption that they are going to bulk up and look bigger than they are. They couldn’t be any more wrong!

Weight training is an essential for cutting down on body fat and keeping it off. By doing weights, your body’s metabolism increases throughout the day, so you’re actually continuing to burn off more calories and unwanted fat. It’s also one of the best exercise methods to strengthen ligaments, joints, muscles, tendons and also increase bone density.

Not only will you have a body with low fat composition, but your heart will work efficiently for many years. You will feel healthier, look better and be in a better mood because weights release endorphins. You will even experience stronger sleeping patterns and develop more confidence.

Sure, many of us spend hours a day in front of our computers, driving to work or doing other activities which promote a sedentary lifestyle. We’re feeling overworked, underpaid and ultimately too tired by the time clock off arrives. The thing is, doing weights will give you more energy and prevent you from feeling like this.

If you refrain from moving around, you’re only increasing the risk of heart defects, sexual problems, getting exerted after a little bit of physical activity like walking and you will also exhibit muscle development that is anything but proportioned.

You don’t have to be a professional athlete, bodybuilder or gym junkie to reap the benefits of a weight workout because the average person can do it. It’s important that you are educated, have great form and technique so you don’t do damage to your body with an injury.

Lifting weights incorrectly can lead to fractures, sprains, strains, tears and other painful injuries that can hinder your exercising endeavours. So if you’re not sure about how to get started or what you should be doing, then seek the advice of a personal trainer or fitness specialist who can demonstrate the correct technique and make any adjustments to your work out.

At the end of the day, the most effective way to lose weight is to combine cardio exercise and a balanced diet with weight training. The three disciplines when implemented will work together to achieve optimal results. And unless you eat a certain diet and take a different weight training approach, than you won’t bulk up! Muscle building is an intense process that’s slow for men and even slower for women.

What eggs are best and what’s the healthiest way to eat them?

Small, large, extra large; buying eggs use to be such an easy process. All you needed to decide on was the size you were after. Now, with so many egg varieties on the supermarket shelf, how do you know what the healthiest option is for you? 

Firstly, forget caged or free-range terms painted all over an egg carton. They’re not going to tell you any nutritional value whatsoever about an egg, but rather how the chicken was raised. And given that there is no standard for the terms, free-range doesn’t always mean a chicken will see the light of day. It just confirms that a chicken gets time out from being imprisoned in a barn cage.

We need to be clear that how a chicken lives doesn’t affect the nutritional value of their eggs. Sure it will impact their welfare and quality of life, but it does not improve an egg. The chicken’s diet is what determines an egg’s nutritional content.

One factor which improves the nutritional quality of eggs is giving a chicken access to pasture. This is where they can thrive on natural green plants and insects so omega-3 acids, vitamin D and beta-carotene properties in their eggs are increased.

Another great way is for farmers to incorporate added nutrients to their hen’s feed. For instance, including flaxseed in the mix will give any chicken (organic, pastured or caged) added nutrients such as vitamin E and omega-3 acids which are found in egg yolks.

This is why omega-3 eggs are an extremely nutritional option. The hens are fed a diet high in vitamin E and omega-3 fats to boost the content levels in each egg; regardless whether the hen is caged or free range.

Many people think vegetarian eggs are very healthy, but they’re not as nutritional as other eggs. This is because they are fed a strict animal-free diet that restricts them from roaming freely outdoors where they can access insects and worms. Therefore, they’re predominately a caged chicken.

At the end of the day, choose an egg where the hen’s laying them consume a highly nutritious diet. Eggs can be consumed raw, but are more popularly eaten cooked. All of the egg can be eaten or separated into the yolk or egg-whites only for optimum protein. Poaching an egg is a good cooking technique because you don’t have to add any fats. It’s also quite quick to prepare. Remember, when you add extra to your egg such as butter in scrambled eggs or cheese in an omelette, you are increasing fat properties.

Controlling your Caffeine Intake

Why too many coffees can even cause irregular heartbeats for healthy people.

Coffee. It’s a miracle drug when we need a burst of energy to pull us through an enduring day. But what are the negative impacts of having too much caffeine?

Caffeine is classified as a stimulant drug that increases blood sugar levels, elevates heart rate and blood flow and raises body temperature. It is a diuretic which lowers your water intake, causes you to urinate more frequently and can lead to dehydration. And although small doses can reduce fatigue and increase alertness, large consumptions can trigger not so beneficial side effects.

Rapid heartbeat, medically known as Tachycardia, is one of the most widespread complaints associated with the heart. Patients often seek medical attention for the symptom and find that it is caused by excessive amounts of caffeine; regardless of how healthy a person is. Even in small doses, caffeine can severely affect people who are prone to panic attacks. It can interfere with medications taken to calm down their system and even induce panic attacks and cause mood swings.

One of the worst, but overlooked side effects of coffee is caffeine addiction. Scarily enough, the smallest amounts of daily caffeine intake can form a physical dependence which can quickly turn into a vicious cycle. Most of the time regular coffee drinkers need a caffeine-packed beverage in the morning to get a kick start. If the person misses a daily hit of caffeine, they may even be subject to experiencing withdrawal symptoms such as excessive sleepiness, fatigue and headache. This is where it all begins and it may even be that coffee drinkers need a caffeine boost in the morning in the first place because they are already experiencing insufficient sleep which can lead to chronic insomnia.

But these side effects are considered to be quite moderate negative impacts of caffeine. There are more serious symptoms people in high risk medical categories, and even healthy people, may suffer from. People with certain physical conditions need to minimise their intake if they are known to experience high blood pressure and diabetes. It doesn’t end there, though because healthy people can experience problems such as stomach discomfort, anxiety and rapid heartbeats if they drink high levels of caffeine.

The recommended dosage of caffeine is 500mg per day. Think about how much caffeine you are consuming through coffee beverages, certain teas, soft drinks and other beverages. While one serving may be beneficial in the morning, consider reducing caffeine amounts in the evening to prevent over consumption, sleeping disorders, prolonged depression and rapid heartbeats.

Recommended Readings List for Personal Growth

As they say, Leaders are Readers. Many people ask me how I can still be so passionate and committed to my business. The simple answer is that I continue to strive for improvement through learning. Someone once said to me, if you start getting bored in your business either get a hobby or strive to be better. I chose the latter and as a result made a commitment to always learn. I have also been very passionate about then passing on my learnings with people who are interested. After all, successful people are generally those who continually add value to the lives of others.

Following is a more extensive list of books that I have read that I would recommend to anyone wishing to further develop themselves. It is a list that I provide the leaders in the Vision Personal Training network. I have included the title, author, the type of book that it is and how I found the book to read (Easy, medium or hard).

Business

Title Author Type Level
Forbes Success Stories Allan Farnham Business Easy
Jacked Up: Story about Jack Welch Bill Lane Business Medium
Small Giants Bo Burlingham Business Easy
Business Owners Wisdom Brett Kelly Business Easy
Collective Wisdom Brett Kelly Business Easy
Universal Wisdom Brett Kelly Business Easy
John Ilhan – A crazy life Dabkowski and Reid Business Easy
Midas Touch Donald Trump & Kyosaki Business Easy
Why we want you to be rich Donald Trump & Kyosaki Business Easy
100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Them Emily Ross & Angus Holland Business Easy
500 Award- Winning Small Business Secrets Geoff Grist Business Easy
Onward – How Starbucks fought for its life Howard Schultz Business Easy
What Would Google do Jeff Jarvis Business Easy
Good to Great Jim Collins Business Hard
Built to Last Jim Collins Business Hard
How The Mighty Fall: & Why Some Companies Never Give In Jim Collins Business Hard
McDonald’s Behind the Arches John F Love Business Medium
The Invisible Partnership Louise Woodbury & William De Ora Business Easy
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Malcolm Gladwell Business Medium
The Tipping Point Malcolm Gladwell Business Medium
Outliers – The Story of Success Malcolm Gladwell Business Medium
Would you like Attitude with That? Justin Herald Business Easy
The Tao of Warren Buffett Mary Buffett and David Clark Business  Easy
Beyond E-Myth Michael Gerber Business Easy
The E-Myth Michael Gerber Business Easy
The E-Myth Enterprise Michael Gerber Business Easy
E Myth Mastery Michael Gerber Business Easy
The E Myth Manager Michael Gerber Business Easy
Toughen Up Michael Hill Business Easy
Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination Neal Gabler Business Medium
Carnegie Peter Krass Business Hard
No Ordinary Disruption Richard Dobbs et al Business Medium
Grinding it Out – The Making of McDonalds Robert Anderson Business Easy
Losing my Virginity Richard Branson Business Easy
Business Stripped Bare Richard Branson Business Easy
Sam Walton – Made in America Sam Walton with john Huey Business Easy
Firms of Endearment Sisodia, Wolfe and Sheth Business Hard
Delivering Happiness Tony Hsieh Business Easy
Scaling Up Verne Harnish Business Easy

 

 

Customer Service

Title Author Type Level
101 Ways to Really Satisfy your Customers Andrew Griffiths Customer Service Easy
Why men don’t listen & why women can’t read maps Barbara and Allan Pease Customer Service Easy
Why Men Lie and Women Cry Barbara and Allan Pease Customer Service Easy
The Ultimate Question Fred Reichheld Customer Service Hard
The 5 Love Languages Gary Chapman Customer Service Easy
The 5 Love Languages of Children Gary Chapman Customer Service Easy
Selling The Invisible Harry Beckwith Customer Service Easy
It’s not about the Coffee Howard Behar Customer Service Medium
The New Gold Standard – The Ritz Carlton Joseph A Michelli Customer Service Easy
The Simple Truths of Service Ken Blanchard & Barbara Glanz Customer Service Easy
Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles Customer Service Easy
Whale Done Kenneth H. Blanchard Customer Service Easy
Helping People Win at Work Kenneth H. Blanchard Customer Service Easy
Building The Happiness Centred Business Paddi Lund Customer Service Easy
Fish Stephen Lundin, et al Customer Service Easy
Fish for Life Stephen Lundin, et al Customer Service Easy
Fish Stick Stephen Lundin, et al Customer Service Easy
Fish Tales Stephen Lundin, et al Customer Service Easy
The Nordstrom Way Spector McCarthy Customer Service Easy

 

 

Finance

Title Author Type Level
Money – Master The Game Anthony Robbins Finance Medium
Flipping Burgers to Flipping Millions Bernard Kelly Finance Easy
How to make money out of thin air Brian Sher Finance Medium
Richest Man in Babylon George Calson Finance Medium
How to make one hell of a profit and still get into Heaven John Demartini Finance Medium
The One Minute Millionaire Mark Victor Hansen Finance Easy
Making Money Paul Clitheroe Finance Easy
Cash Flow Quadrant Robert Kyosaki Finance Medium
Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert Kyosaki Finance Easy

 

 

Leadership

Title Author Type Level
Instant Cash flow Brad Sugars Leadership Easy
Passionate Performance Charles Kovess Leadership Easy
Everyone can Win – How to Resolve Conflict Cornelius and Faire Leadership Medium
Fattitude Craig Harper Leadership Easy
How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie Leadership Hard
Made to Stick Dan and Chip Heath Leadership Easy
Guide to Wellness Coaching Fiona Cosgrove Leadership Easy
Hooked – How Leaders Connect Engage and Inspire Gabrielle Dolan Leadership Easy
What Clients Love Harry Beckwith Leadership Easy
Who Stole my Customer Harvey Thompson Leadership Medium
Hug Your People Jack Mitchell Leadership Medium
Extreme Ownership Jocko Willink and Leif Babin Leadership Easy
21 Irrefutable laws of leadership John Maxwell Leadership Easy
Developing the Leader Within You John Maxwell Leadership Easy
Developing the Leaders Around You John Maxwell Leadership Easy
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect John Maxwell Leadership Easy
From Good to Great John Maxwell Leadership Easy
Great Leaders are Great Teachers John Maxwell Leadership Easy
How Successful People Think John Maxwell Leadership Easy
Leadership Landmines John Maxwell Leadership Easy
Mistakes I have made, Lessons I have Learned John Maxwell Leadership Easy
Better People, Better Bottom Line Judeth Wilson Leadership Easy
The Heart of a Leader Kenneth H. Blanchard Leadership Easy
The Little Book of Coaching Kenneth H. Blanchard Leadership Easy
The One Minute Manager Kenneth H. Blanchard Leadership Easy
The One Minute Manager meets the Monkey Kenneth H. Blanchard Leadership Easy
Putting the One Minute Manager to Work Kenneth H. Blanchard Leadership Easy
Flow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Leadership Easy
Leadership Transformed Peter Fuda Leadership Easy
The Last Season : A Team in Search of Its Soul Phil Jackson Leadership Easy
Firms of Endearment Rajendra S. Sisodia, et al Leadership Easy
The 80-20 Principle Richard Koch Leadership Medium
Influence Science and Practice Robert B Cialdini Leadership Medium
Influence Robert Cialdini Leadership Medium
Jack Welsh on Leadership Robert Slater Leadership Easy
The Heart of Leadership Sabina Spencer Leadership Medium
Leaders Eat Last Simon Sinek Leadership Easy
Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson Leadership Easy
HBR’s 10 must Reads – On Change Management Miscellaneous Leadership Medium
HBR’s 10 must Reads – On Emotional Intelligence Miscellaneous Leadership Medium
HBR’s 10 must Reads – On Leadership Miscellaneous Leadership Medium
HBR’s 10 must Reads – On Managing People Miscellaneous Leadership Medium
HBR’s 10 must Reads – On Managing Yourself Miscellaneous Leadership Medium
HBR’s 10 must Reads – On the Essentials Miscellaneous Leadership Medium

 

Personal Development

Title Author Type Level
Be A.C Ping Personal Development Easy
The Third Space Adam Fraser Personal Development Easy
Switch on your Brain Allan Parker Personal Development Medium
Awaken The Giant Within Anthony Robbins Personal Development Medium
Giant Steps Anthony Robbins Personal Development Easy
Notes from a Friend Anthony Robbins Personal Development Easy
Unleash the Power Within Anthony Robbins Personal Development Easy
Unlimited Power Anthony Robbins Personal Development Medium
You were Born Rich Bob Proctor Personal Development Easy
It’s not about the money Bob Proctor Personal Development Easy
Psychology of Success Brian Tracy Personal Development Easy
Eat that Frog Brian Tracy Personal Development Easy
Focal Point Brian Tracy Personal Development Easy
Goals Brian Tracy Personal Development Easy
The Science of Self Confidence Brian Tracy Personal Development Easy
Master Strategies for Higher Achievement Brian Tracy Personal Development Easy
The Psychology of Achievement Brian Tracy Personal Development Easy
Breaking the Success Barriers Brian Tracy Personal Development Easy
Performance Revolution Chris Howard Personal Development Easy
Master NLP Chris Howard Personal Development Easy
Drive Dan Pink Personal Development Easy
A Whole New Mind Dan Pink Personal Development Easy
Focus Daniel Goleman Personal Development Easy
The Magic of Thinking Big David J Schwartz Personal Development Medium
Think like a Champion Donald Trump Personal Development Easy
Think Big and Kick Arse Donald Trump Personal Development Easy
Why We Do What We Do Edward DeCi Personal Development Easy
To Be or Not to Be F.R Schnackenberg Personal Development Easy
Personality Plus Florence Littauer Personal Development Easy
The Success Principles Jack Canfield Personal Development Easy
Day By Day James Allen Personal Development Easy
Stress for Success James Leohr Personal Development Easy
Getting Everything you Can out of All You’ve Got Jay Abraham Personal Development Medium
Leading an Inspired Life Jim Rohn Personal Development Easy
Your Best Year Yet Jinny Ditzler Personal Development Easy
The Breakthrough Experience John Demartini Personal Development Hard
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus John Gray Personal Development Medium
U Inc John McGrath Personal Development Easy
You don’t have to be born brilliant John McGrath Personal Development Easy
Coaching for Performance John Whitmore Personal Development Easy
How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People Jonar Nader Personal Development Hard
How would love respond Kurek Ashley Personal Development Easy
It’s not about the Bike Lance Armstrong Personal Development Easy
Every Second Counts Lance Armstrong Personal Development Easy
Execution -The Discipline of Getting things Done Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan Personal Development Medium
It’s called Work for a Reason Larry Winget Personal Development Easy
People are Idiots and I Can Prove It Larry Winget Personal Development Easy
Shut Up, Stop Whining and Get a Life Larry Winget Personal Development Easy
Life in half a second Matthew Michalwicz Personal Development Easy
Now, Go Put Your Strengths to Work Marcus Buckingham Personal Development Easy
First Break All the Rules Marcus Buckingham Personal Development Easy
Now, Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton Personal Development Easy
What they didn’t teach you at Harvard Business School Mark McCormack Personal Development  Medium
Psycho Cybernetics Maxwell Maltz Personal Development  Medium
The 10 Rules of Sam Walton Michael Bergdahl Personal Development Easy
Think & Grow Rich Napoleon Hill Personal Development Hard
Time to Think Nancy Kline Personal Development Medium
The University of Success Og Mandino Personal Development Medium
The Greatest Salesman in the World Og Mandino Personal Development Easy
It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be Paul Arden Personal Development Easy
The Alchemist Paulo Coalho Personal Development Hard
18 Minutes to Find your Focus… Peter Bregman Personal Development Easy
NLP For Dummies Ready / Burton Personal Development Easy
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – it is all about small stuff Richard Carlson Personal Development Easy
You can be happy no matter what Richard Carlson Personal Development Easy
If you Want to be Rich and Happy, Don’t go to School Robert Kyosaki Personal Development Medium
The Monk who Sold his Ferrari Robin S Sharma Personal Development Easy
The Greatness Guide: 101 Lessons Robin S Sharma Personal Development Easy
Find your Why Simon Sinek Personal Development Easy
Start with Why Simon Sinek Personal Development Easy
The Speed of Trust Steven Covey Personal Development Medium
7 Habits Insights & Story’s of Courage Steven Covey Personal Development Medium
The 8th Habit Steven Covey Personal Development Hard
First Thing First Steven Covey Personal Development Hard
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Steven Covey Personal Development Hard
There are Two Times in Life – Now or Too Late Terry Hawkins Personal Development Easy
I’m OK Your OK Thomas Harris Personal Development Medium
The 4-Hour Workweek Timothy Ferris Personal Development Easy
Don’t Die with the Music in You Wayne Bennett Personal Development Easy
Don’t Oil a Squeaky Wheel Wolf J Rinke Personal Development Easy
How to Get What you Want Zig Ziglar Personal Development Easy
Over the Top Zig Ziglar Personal Development Easy
See You at the Top Zig Ziglar Personal Development Easy

 

Sales and Marketing

Title Author Type Level
22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Al Reis Sales & Marketing Easy
Questions are the Answers Alan Pease Sales & Marketing Easy
Write Language Alan Pease Sales & Marketing Easy
The Negotiator’s Tool Kit Allan Parker & Margaret Stuart Sales & Marketing Medium
The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracy Sales & Marketing Easy
No B.S. Sales Success Dan Kennedy Sales & Marketing Medium
The Ultimate Marketing Plan Dan Kennedy Sales & Marketing Medium
The Ultimate Sales Letter Dan Kennedy Sales & Marketing Medium
Magnetic Marketing Dan Kennedy Sales & Marketing Medium
How I raised myself from Failure to Success in Selling Frank Bettger Sales & Marketing Easy
Who Killed Creativity Grant and Grant Sales & Marketing Medium
The Great Sales Book Jack Collis Sales & Marketing Medium
The Sticking Point Solution Jay Abraham Sales & Marketing Medium
The Sales Bible Jeffrey Gitomer Sales & Marketing Medium
Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days Levinson & Al Lautenslager Sales & Marketing Medium
Purple Cow and the Big Moo Seth Godin Sales & Marketing Medium
Tribes Seth Godin Sales & Marketing Medium
The One Minute Sales Person Spencer Johnson Sales & Marketing Easy
Sell it Now Sell it Today Tom Hopkins Sales & Marketing Medium
The Art of Selling Tom Hopkins Sales & Marketing Medium
Blue Ocean Strategy W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne Sales & Marketing Hard

 

 

 

 

Parents need to take responsibility for childhood obesity

Parents of overweight or obese children should really be doing more in western society’s obesity epidemic.

Everybody is familiar with the saying: You are what you eat. And when it comes to children, they’re innocence overshadows them. They are what their parents eat. They’re not old enough to go shopping and opt to put healthy food in the trolley. They can’t choose what fruit or how much chocolate goes into their cupboards and fridge; let alone their school lunch boxes. More so, they shouldn’t choose what goes in the pantry because they aren’t mentally sound to choose healthy food over junk, and would probably opt for sugar-ridden sweets anyway. It’s fair to say that parents of overweight and obese kids need to be held partially accountable for their children’s corpulent diet and exercise regime.

Although bullying and low self-esteem leads to comfort eating in young children, the problem again reverts back to food in the house hold and parents being bad role models. Why are so many cupboards stocked up on junk food? Clearly parents are major culprits when kids have access to calorie saturated, pound stacking on food.

It’s a great thing that the Australian Government has brought in lunchbox regulations to lower the amount of inappropriate food packed by parents. But there’s a lot more to be done to alleviate this international obesity epidemic.

In 2009, Californian researchers found that adolescents are more probable to eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruit per day if their parents do. Furthermore, teenagers were more likely to drink soft drink and eat takeaway food if their parents did.

So really, it does come down to parents being role models and shot callers when it comes to diet. Why not invest in healthy, appropriate, low calorie foods for your children and promote exercising. Walk your children to school instead of catching the bus or dropping them off by car where possible. Walk to the shops if it’s close enough. It all begins with the home.

Brain and gene influence on obesity

A gene variation has proven to affect brain tissue reduction and added fat storage.

The body and the brain operate in extraordinary ways. Add science into the mix and we’re able to discover how obesity can affect this coexistence.

A recent study in Pittsburgh has discovered a link between brain and genes as influencers of obesity. They found that obesity directly affects the size of a person’s brain. Obese people have 8% less brain tissue compared to people of normal weight. The results for overweight people followed trend with 4% less brain tissue than people of normal weight.

It is believed the main cause is a gene variation in the FTO and hypothalamus. This part of the brain controls many basic functions including fluid balance, body temperature and hunger. The study had proven that genetic variations in obese people can affect behaviour, as opposed to the chemical processes of fat and energy metabolism.

Brain degeneration in obese people may also be due to lack of exercise, which could explain why somebody is overweight to begin with. Research already suggests that exercise preserves brain mass by releasing chemicals that restore neurons. Overweight people also are prone to having higher levels of insulin hormone, known as a compelling fat storage hormone. So by not exercising, there is a significant chance of increasing brain tissue loss.

Clearly, it can be seen that being obese, or even overweight, reduces a person’s quality of life.  It doesn’t just lead to diseases, but also decreases cognitive capabilities. Professor Thompson who led the study said any loss of brain tissue puts a person at greater risk of functional decline. That is why the most crucial way to resist both obesity and brain decline is to exercise, sustain high fitness levels and eat healthy.

Losing weight is a science. Keeping it off is a psychology.

Combine the science of eating water rich foods with the psychology of choosing to eat appropriate foods, and you are on the road to maintaining your weight.

For many people, losing weight seems to be a life-long process. Dieting and following new fads on television and in magazines is a lifestyle for some people, rather than a short means-to-an-end. This is because many don’t understand the science behind losing weight.

Think of your body as a machine and the process of losing-weight will become a lot easier to understand. It is a game of science and maths. Here’s the good news – you naturally burn energy by simply existing. A day spent sat at a desk still requires energy – not as much of course, but you still burn a set amount of calories.

Eating smart, not eating less is the key to losing weight and keeping it off. It’s all in your head. Being motivated to stick to a healthy diet is what drives results. Eating low in calorie density foods that are rich in water, such as vegetables and fruit, promotes healthy weight loss and prevents chronic illnesses. It also helps people control their hunger. They’re eating more, but actually less in terms of calories. What they learn is to make appropriate food choices for a low in calorie density diet.

So really, by simply knowing and controlling what you put into your mouth is going to make losing weight an achievable task. The science is eating low in calorie density foods. The psychology is choosing to make smart food choices and sticking to it. And that’s it! Combine the two rules and you’re set for a healthy diet.

Should we push for nutrition to be on the school syllabus?

Some health and nutrition experts have began to argue that the syllabus should now incorporate health classes – and that if there’s not enough time to fit this into the timetable then sports and games should incorporate nutritional education as part of their classes.

One school in Sydney has actually already started doing this and has earned itself top marks when it comes to pleasing both parents and education authorities. Even the children are enjoying the classes!

The idea is that by teaching children about food, they are taking life-lessons away with them and helping to keep their weight healthy for the rest of their lives. The school, Coogee Public School, has introduced a Healthy Active Kids program, which aims to improve diets and increase exercise levels.

The idea is that if kids learn how to be healthy at an early age it will lower the risk of becoming overweight in adulthood and be a lesson that is taken away with them for the rest of their lives, having a continuous beneficial impact. As part of the initiative, the school gave out journals to almost all of its 560 students. They used these to record how active they are and what they are eating. In class they then focused on nutrition, physical activity and exercising the mind. Deputy principal Stewart Crawford said: ‘We have had such a positive response that we are looking to run it again. There’s been a 15 per cent increase in the number of children who say their diet is excellent.’

Ley us know what you think of this initiative….

Second-hand smoke linked to diabetes

We all know the risks of smoking when it comes to lung cancer and other forms of respiratory associated disease. And we all know the health risks associated with a poor diet – obesity, diabetes and cardio-vascular problems, just to name a few. But now scientists have revealed that smoking, and even second-hand smoke, are linked quite significantly to diabetes.

There has never been a better time to get healthy – and we don’t just mean by exercising and maintaining a healthy diet – but by cleansing every single part of your lifestyle, from smoking and alcohol intake, to the amount of time you spend with those who smoke.

Diabetes Care has revealed that the longer a person spends taking in second-hand smoke, the greater the risk of type two diabetes. This research has come from the Diabetes Research Centre at Harvard University, which revealed that this discovery is completely unexpected but confirms the all-round detrimental effects of smoking.

Dr. David Nathan, head of the department has commented that:

“This just reinforces the lesson from a public health point of view that we’ve been stressing for decades”

His point being that people should avoid being near cigarette smoke, as the full dangers to health are still not completely known and constantly surprising us.

This is a study that spanned over two decades and captured data from over 100,000 women. The women were all nurses participating in a national study that would provide information about how much time they spent around cigarette smoke. During the next 24 years, about one in 18 women were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

The message to be taken away from the results of this research is that cigarette smoke is to be avoided at all costs – even when breathed in passively it is seriously harmful to your health. If you live with a smoker, take time to help and support them to stop.