In the study performed by the US researchers and published in the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) in October 2008, a total of 3,234 overweight people participated in a three-year diabetes prevention program. The participants were segregated into three groups: The first group, called the lifestyle intervention group, received intensive training in diet, physical activity, and behavior modification. By eating less fat and fewer calories and exercising for a total of 150 minutes a week, they aimed to lose 7 percent of their body weight and maintain that loss. The second group took the popular anti-diabetic drug Metformin (850mg twice a day), and the third receiving a placebo (an inert sugar-type pill labeled exactly like the Metformin drug). The Metformin and placebo groups also received information about diet and exercise but no intensive motivational counseling. At the beginning there was also a fourth group receiving the drug Troglitazone (Rezulin). This group was discontinued when it was discovered that Rezulin has the potential to cause serious liver damage.

After concluding the three-year prevention program, all participants had access to ongoing lifestyle coaching and were frequently monitored regarding their glucose blood levels over a period of ten years.

Dieters gather the most benefit

The study clearly shows that overweight people reducing their weight by 7 percent, combined with a 30 minute daily exercise program, achieve a reduction of developing Type 2 diabetes by 58 percent compared with the people of the placebo group. Weight loss and physical activity improve the body’s ability to use insulin and process glucose and thus reduce the risk of developing diabetes. This finding was true for both men and women and across all participating ethnic groups. Weight reduction in particular was beneficial for participants over 60 years who achieved this way a diabetes risk reduction of 71 percent.

The group applying Metformin also showed a significant diabetes 2 risk reduction of 31 percent. Metformin was found to be most effective in men and women between 25 and 44 years and in those with a body mass index of 35 or higher (i.e. with at least 60 pounds overweight) and least effective in people over 45 years old.

Further analysis of the data also have added to the evidence that changes in diet and physical activity leading to weight loss not only reduce diabetes risk but also risk of cardiovascular diseases, including high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome. Participants in the lifestyle intervention group who did not have metabolic syndrome at the beginning of the study?about half of the participants?were less likely to develop it than those in the other groups.

This study is one more proof of the importance of weight control and physical exercises for personal wellness and good health. It clearly shows that lifestyle factors (obesity and sedentary lifestyle) are very important in triggering the genetic elements that cause Type 2 diabetes. People having somebody in the family suffering this disease should pay special attention to these results and considering them as a motivation for applying a rigorous weight control and routinely physical training program.

Is your body suffering the effects of inflammation?

Inflammation can be the cause of multiple health problems and is most easily described as “a fire within”. It is the body’s protective response to harmful agents such as allergens, different irritants, obesity, poor diet and lifestyle or disease due to bacteria or virus. Think of it as the body’s way of removing harmful agents. Inflammation is typically seen on the outside of the body as a red, swollen, hot area (where an injury or bite might have occurred). This redness, swelling and heat is an indication of the body’s defenses killing the invaders.

Is your pain sending you a message?

Inside the body inflammation is often experienced as pain. Like a smoke signal, pain is the body’s way of telling you have a problem or a “fire within”. Examples of inflammation that cause pain include rheumatoid arthritis, injuries, nerve damage, neuropathies or joint problems. Inflammation can also cause pain such as headaches/migraines or digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome.

So how do I safely extinguish inflammation and treat pain naturally?

It is an unfortunate fact that people rely heavily on pain medications, often with little relief. Sadly, these drugs can cause side effects which produce a whole range of other problems such as a bleeding gut. So what can you do to decrease your pain and how do you know which natural products really work? Without the time and energy to do extensive research and without trying multiple products to see what works best for you, finding a suitable, good quality, reliable product that actually works, can be difficult. Fortunately trained natural health practitioners, have easy access to this knowledge and can help you sort out what really works. Here are just a few herbs with remarkable healing properties (which have traditionally been used for years), which science has now proven to be effective for pain relief.

* Turmeric has strong anti-inflammatory properties and is particularly useful in treating arthritic and rheumatic symptoms such as pain and swelling.

* Boswellia is useful for all types of pain and boasts analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic effects. Pain from traumatic injuries and arthritic pain, responds particularly well to boswellia.

* Ginger is a a fabulous herb for arthritis and also heals the gut.

* High dose EPA found in fish oil, has powerful anti-inflammatory properties and is used for the treatment of not only pain but also the heart, skin and blood pressure.

What dietary changes will help me heal?

The latest research tells us that diet has an enormous impact on inflammation. Your first priority should be to reduce gluten containing foods. Gluten frequently bypasses the tight protective junctions of your small intestine, is reabsorbed back into the blood stream and starts the cascade of inflammation. Also don’t forget about reducing other inflammatory foods such as sugary and processed foods, bad fats, colourants and flavourings. Eat more nuts, fish, olive oil and don’t forget those fabulous spices.

Pain and inflammation can destroy your quality of life ? don’t let this happen to you! Safe, scientifically proven natural supplements and an anti-inflammatory diet will help you feel fabulous again.

Visit http://elitehealthclinic.com.au and http://www.recipetohealth.com for more health information as well as in depth food guides and recipes for specific health problems.

Building muscle is one of the most popular, satisfying and confidence building aspects of physical fitness. Unlike so much of the bull crap floating around today in the form of information, equipment, or drugs and supplements we prefer to show you the safest and most effective ways on how to gain muscle weight. It is much more simple than the supplement companies are telling you. When you have correct knowledge pointing you in the right direction, building muscle naturally is much more impressive than the 8 lbs per year so many are saying will be your maximum results. So get that bull crap out of your mind right now.

By learning how to build muscle through training and learning the foundational elements of a proper “gain weight diet”, there will be no stopping you from reaching your size goals. The third vitally important element in your muscle building efforts is proper rest. Let’s take some time to briefly lay some ground work for each of these three key areas of muscle building.

We’ll start with diet. This is easily the area where most people’s ignorance lays and where most people give up. Your eating schedule for muscle building will be much more consuming than your training schedule.

You should start by multiplying your current body weight by 16 to come up with your beginning daily calorie numbers (eg. 200lbs x 16 = 3200 calories per day). You should measure your body weight every week. After the second week begin making adjustments to your daily calorie numbers. Your target should be 1 – 2 lbs of increase per week. If your number is above or below this adjust your calories accordingly by 200 – 250 calories per day (eg. less than 1 = increase calories by 200 – 250 per day / more than 2 decrease calories by 200 – 250 per day).

Any more than 2lbs per week and you are going to gain weight in fat too.

Other important numbers for you to pay attention to are these:

3 – 4 grams of carbohydrates per day per pound of body weight. Skinny guys start with the higher numbers and guys with higher percentages of body fat start with the lower. Carbs will provide your body with the energy it needs to train hard and will increase the bodies ability to break down and utilize proteins.

1 gram of protein per day per pound of body weight. Proteins get broken down into amino acids which are the building blocks of muscle.

You should consume a good amount of essential fats every day too. Extra virgin cold pressed olive and coconut oils, flax oil, fish oil, hemp oil, nuts, beans, avocados etc. are great sources of essential fats. You need these fats to boost your bodies testosterone production to maximize muscle growth potential.

Lastly, be sure to eat often. As soon as you get up enjoy a big breakfast everyday and then never go more than 3 hours without eating again right up until bed time. You should be able to eat at least 6 meals per day at that rate.

Next, let’s go over some important tips on building muscle through training. This will be a much simpler part of your efforts in comparison to diet. First of all, unlike having to eat 6 times per day every day your training should only be done 1 time per day 3 days per week with at least one day of rest between training days.

Your goal for the gym should be to get in, get done, and get out. We recommend you design routines that take no longer than 30 – 45 minutes to finish. To help do this here are some simple recommendations:

You should use super sets. This not only gets your workout done quicker it keeps you heart rate elevated and blood pressure up forcing more blood into your muscle as you work them.

You should use multi-muscle group exercises to train several of your bodies muscles at the same time. Exercises like squats, dead lifts, clean and presses, rows, bench and military presses, dips, chin and pull ups etc. all work lots of muscle groups. This not only cuts down on training time it also builds a more functional benefit from your training. That is, a benefit that increases your ability to control, manipulate and use your body to perform life’s tasks outside of the gym.

Keep your weight high and your reps low. For muscle mass building you should keep your weight at approximately 80% of your maximum lift ability for that exercise. You should only be able to do 4 – 6 reps of each exercise per set. Do just three sets of each exercise and as mentioned above this is best done in super sets.

Training like this maximizes the benefit of your muscle building efforts and decreases the amount of time you have to spend at the gym. The best of both worlds!

Finally, how to get bigger muscles by doing nothing. One of the biggest mistakes people make when they are trying to build muscle is over train, under eat, and leave no time for recovery. Your actual muscle mass doesn’t increase until you are resting and your body begins to repair the tiny tears that you make in your muscles when you train them.

There is no point in training to build muscle and then missing out on the benefits of your hard work because you failed to give your body adequate time to recover.

Those are the three keys to making massive gains. Simple, but proven.

We all know how great we feel after a massage, it always feels like a special treat. So it’s good to know that as well as making you feel great there are also many other benefits worth indulging for. Everybody can benefit from regular massage, babies to the elderly, office workers, athletes, laborers. Living in modern day life, it seems we forget about ourselves and our health. Today, where most everyone has a busy schedule and even if we have some time spare, something else is squeezed in. When do we find the time for ourselves? Maybe treating yourself to a massage is just what you need? Not only will it make you feel great, having regular massage is an investment to your health in many ways.

How it works

Massage therapy stretches muscles releasing muscle tension and alleviating muscle soreness from repetitive strain injuries. You may be experiencing this in your neck and shoulders as a result from poor posture or sitting for extended periods of time (this is especially exacerbated by slumping the shoulders over a keyboard all day).

Massage works by improving circulation to an area and relieving congestion in the tissues. It assists muscles clear lactic acid and uric acid that build up during exercise or hyper tonicity. Deep tissue massage can separate fascial fibres, preventing adhesions from forming, helping muscles become more flexible and elastic (the way they should be). Having muscles flexible and smooth ensures everything runs efficiently and prevents injury. It won’t happen overnight but regular massage can have these effects.

How massage can benefit your overall health

Remedial massage can add to your health in a variety of ways including stress relief. Stress may be a major contributor to disease and high stress levels can put us on the highway to aging, internally and externally. Managing stress with massage can help you tackle those pressures in a number of ways. Other than immediate relaxation others have also experienced better quality of sleep, more energy and improved concentration.

Massage has a multitude of benefits for the entire body not just muscles! It has also been shown to:
- Reduce swelling and odema in joints and soft tissue
- Lower heart rate and blood pressure
- Reduce stress, anxiety and depression
- Boost the immune system through cellular waste elimination and stimulating lymph flow
- Reduce inflammation in joints and soft tissue
- Alleviate pain, stiffness and improve flexibility
- Improve delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all body cells
- Stimulates blood cell production and lymph flow
- Promote tissue regeneration, reducing scar tissue and stretch marks

WOW!! And it makes you feel amazing!!