November 23, 2010
It’s been a while
It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been slaking off so to speak so I’ll give you a little insight on my next post. Or should I say next posts? Whatever. The topic will be : ANTIAGING. I’ll post some well known drugs, substances , scientific reviews about anti-aging in general, without leaving out some substances and drugs that are not particularly known to the general public. They should be, but I’m guessing not all of us are so well versed in medicine, biology and other related fields.
I’m not going to post but what is available to all people, be it via internet, books or wellness or general fitness know-how.
What I am going to do is try to synthesize massive amounts of information , scientific terms and articles into several “small” articles and finally into one big one, that will be my degree paper in biochemistry.
I’m also hoping that all will be able to understand the base line of the articles even if they will be mostly scientific and full of statistics, scientific terms and researches into this vast field , biology, and , particularly, into anti-aging in general.
I should also specify that I’m not going to write about pseudo-anti-aging products like lotions and other stuff that do not interest me whatsoever. I’m only going to talk about things and methods that will , or should, based on the latest scientific studies ,increase the life-span of the individual.
As a disclaimer, I MUST SPECIFY that I’m not a medical professional. These are mainly experiments conducted on lab-rats and other kinds of animals and are not approved in any way for human consumption or use. When they will be approved, and some of them are, they will probably be marketed to the general public as a drug or as a food supplement.
That being said ,you will get the general idea as I progress with my articles .
March 16, 2010
Welcome to PUBMED
I’m going to tell you were I get the majority of my articles. PubMed is an extremely useful site that lets you search tons of articles and researches regarding almost anything that has to do with medicine.
“PubMed lets you search millions of journal citations and abstracts in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical sciences. It includes access to Medline and to citations for selected articles in life science journals not included in MEDLINE. PubMed also provides access to additional relevant Web sites and links to the other NCBI molecular biology resources.”
Many of these articles are not free, meaning that you have to be a scientist to have access to many of the full articles with a subscription to some kind of library but many of them are free. I’m going to write here the basics on how to search this database. For those not lazy and well versed in the Internet a useful tool might be the HELP button that provides basically everything you need to know about PUBMED .
For everyone else I’ll try to write a short tutorial with examples on how to search for free articles in the database.
For example : I want to search free articles in researches and studies regarding obesity . I’ll go to the search tab and write “Obesity” :
The search results will appear . Numerous articles regarding obesity and containing the “obesity” tag . The articles that appear here are not all free articles. You can see a number of 130851 articles containing the “obesity” tags.The articles are organized in pages of 20 articles. You can set the number of articles shown per page. To get the “free full articles” you’ll have to press the Free Full Articles button in the top-right of the page here :
After selecting “Free Full Text” the page containing the free articles containing the “obesity” tags will appear.
Before I show you how to get the full articles I’ll tell you how to search articles by one or several tags. In the search box type for example, if you want articles about Obesity and Sleep, obesity AND sleep. You also have the OR and NOT functions available. When searching for Obesity AND Sleep the articles will appear on the page. Press the Free Full Articles page and the free articles will be shown. Scroll up and down the page or search other pages the article of interest to you and click the highlighted title. After doing this in the top right corner of the page a link to the free article will appear. You can usually downloaded in PDF format to your computer or read it online.
I hope this will help!
March 12, 2010
Good cholesterol ; Bad cholesterol
Ok..I heard this numerous times. You should increase your good cholesterol and decrease your bad cholesterol for a healthier lifestyle. Ok…HOW do I do that? And while we are on the topic what the hell is good or bad cholesterol and what the heck is cholesterol anyway. Point well taken. What are these people talking about?
In this article I’ll try not only to give a few pieces of advice on how to live a healthier lifestyle but to explain to you what exactly is cholesterol, what does it do and why should you be interested in such “non-sense” anyway. 
This article is written more like a college class on the topic than a simple blog article with pretty images and words hat you probably never heard of in your entire lives. But..that’s like a price that has been given to us. We live and we learn. I must state another important thing . This article , as all my other articles for that matter 
, contains information that is a SCIENCE FACT. I’m using as reference some of my college class of Metabolism as well as articles on the topic written by scientists. You’ll have the references belooooooooooow.
Cholesterol :
It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes, where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity. In addition, cholesterol is an important component for the manufacture of bile acids,steroid hormones , and several fat-soluble vitamins.
Good cholesterol or bad cholesterol I think are improperly named that way. Good cholesterol ( HDL ) and bad cholesterol (LDL) are actually not Cholesterol per-say. Rather HDL and LDL are carriers for cholesterol.
Good or Bad cholesterols are Lipoproteins.
Lipoproteins are associations of proteins and lipids (fats) , almost spherical in shape that act as a carrier for different fats in the blood plasma.
This lipoproteins are classified by density into 5 major groups :
- Chylomicrons carry triglycerides (fat) from the intestines to the liver, skeletal muscle, and to the adipose tissue
- Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) carry (newly synthesised) triacilglycerol from the liver to adipose tissue.
- Itermediate density lipoproteins (IDL) are intermediate between VLDL and LDL. They are not usually detectable in the blood
- Low densitylipoproteins (LDL) carry cholesterol from the liver to cells of the body. LDLs are sometimes referred to as the ” BAD CHOLESTEROL” lipoprotein.
- High density liporoteins (HDL) collect cholesterol from the body’s tissues, and bring it back to the liver. HDLs are sometimes referred to as the “GOOD CHOLESTEROL” lipoprotein.
LDL (Bad) Cholesterol
When too much LDL (bad) cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances, it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, heart attack or stroke can result.
HDL (good) Cholesterol
About one-fourth to one-third of blood cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL cholesterol is known as “good” cholesterol, because high levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack. Low levels of HDL (less than 40 mg/dL) also increase the risk of heart disease. Medical experts think that HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it’s passed from the body. Some experts believe that HDL removes excess cholesterol from arterial plaque, slowing its buildup.
Here is how it works :
So basically LDL puts fat on your arteries and body HDL takes it from the tissues to the liver to metabolize it .
What can you do to lower LDL and to increase HDL?
Aerobic exercise. Many people don’t like to hear it, but regular aerobic exercise (any exercise, such as walking, jogging or bike riding, that raises your heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes at a time) may be the most effective way to increase HDL levels.
Lose weight. Obesity results not only in increased LDL cholesterol, but also in reduced HDL cholesterol. If you are overweight, reducing your weight should increase your HDL levels.
Stop smoking. If you smoke, giving up tobacco will result in an increase in HDL levels.
Cut out the trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are currently present in many of your favorite prepared foods — anything in which the nutrition label reads “partially hydrogenated vegetable oils” — so eliminating them from the diet is not a trivial task. But trans fatty acids not only increase LDL cholesterol levels, they also reduce HDL cholesterol levels. Removing them from your diet will almost certainly result in a measurable increase in HDL levels.
Alcohol. With apologies to the American Heart Association, which discourages doctors from telling their patients about the advantages of alcohol: one or two drinks per day can significantly increase HDL levels. More than one or two drinks per day, one hastens to add, can lead to substantial health problems including heart failure — and there are individuals who will develop such problems even when limiting their alcohol intake to one or two drinks per day.
Increase the monounsaturated fats in your diet. Monounsaturated fats such as canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil and in the fats found in peanut butter can increase HDL cholesterol levels without increasing the total cholesterol.
Add soluble fiber to your diet. Soluble fibers are found in oats, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and result in both a reduction in LDL cholesterol and an increase HDL cholesterol. For best results, at least two servings a day should be used.
Dietary means to increasing HDL :
- Eat more curry (Curcumin is the effective agent). One study noted a 29% increase in cholesterol. Studies have shown that curcumin also helps prevent against Alzheimer’ disease.
- Eat foods high in vitamin B-3 ( niacin) (A recent study in the American Journal of Cardiology shows it can raise HDL by almost 8% in 3 months) . Niacin foods include all lean red meat, fish, organ meats (kidney, liver), prawns, pork, as well as milk and other dairy products. Other niacin rich foods include almonds and seeds, wheat products, beans, rice bran, green leafy vegetables, carrots, turnips and celery. (If you are thinking of white bread don’t. It has tons of sugar in it)
- Eat more oranges. A study out of the University of Western Ontario showed a 21% increase in HDL
- Eat more raw yellow or white onions. Dr. Victor Gurewich of Tufts University found that a raw onion per day can raise HDL as much as 30%
- Macadamia nuts. One study out of the University of Newcastle showed an HDL increase of 8%.
- Cranberries may increase HDL. A recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that cranberry juice significantly boosts HDL levels.
- Polyphenols in Olive oil . Green Tea also contains polyphenols.
- Eat more fish. Fish oil supplementation has also shown to work
I hope this helped in sorting out some issues for all that are interested and I hope this will provide helpful information for you. Please leave feedback and rate.
References :
- http://www.americanheart.org
- http://en.wikipedia.org/
- Pf. Dr Dana Iordachescu, Metabolism, Biochimie Metabolica
- http://www.papermag.com/blogs
- http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/oxford/Oxford_Food_Fitness/
- http://heartdisease.about.com/
- http://www.smart-kit.com/
- http://www.nutritional-supplements-health-guide.com/
January 15, 2010
5 Good ways to loose weight and get in shape
1) Do daily cardio!!! .
Remember what cardio is? Check out my previous posts. Do at least 20-30 min of cardio each day for weight loss and well being. What cardio does for you? Well..
a) It burns calories – One of the benefits of cardiovascular exercise is that it is a good way to burn calories. To lose weight by cardio you need to do it for a large period of time combined with healthy nutrition.
b) Can raise your metabolic rate – Some studies have shown that with regular cardiovascular exercise your resting metabolic level will increase.Your decreased metabolic rate is the thing that keeps you fat and flabby
c) It lowers the risk of heart disease – Some research suggests that even just walking 20 minutes, three times a week and can lower your risk of heart diseases
d) It makes you feel better : – David Blumenthal and a team of researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that an aerobic exercise program decreased depression and improved the cognitive abilities of middle-aged and elderly men and women.They followed 156 patients between the ages of 50 and 77 who had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: exercise, medication, or a combination of medication and exercise. The exercise group spent 30 minutes either riding a stationary bicycle or walking, or jogging three times a week. To the surprise of the researchers, after 16 weeks, all three groups showed statistically significant and identical improvement in standard measurements of depression, implying that exercise was just as effective as medication in treating major depression.
e) It literally makes you SMARTER! – A trial experiment was held. Before enrolling in the trial, and four months later, the cognitive abilities of the participants were tested in four areas: memory, executive functioning, attention/concentration, and psychomotor speed.
Compared to the medication group, the exercisers showed significant improvements in the higher mental processes of memory and in “executive functions” that involve planning, organization, and the ability to mentally juggle different intellectual tasks at the same time.
d) It prevents helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease : Physical exercise has a protective effect on the brain and its mental processes, and may even help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Inactive individuals were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s, compared to those with the highest levels of activity (exercised vigorously at least three times a week). But even light or moderate exercisers cut their risk significantly for Alzheimer’s and mental decline according to a five year study at the Laval University in Sainte-Foy in Quebec
and the list can go on..
2) Eat many small , well balanced meals a day : (3 to 6)
A well balanced meal should contain 3 things – Proteins (dietary sources include : meats, eggs, nuts, grains and dairy products : milk and cheese).
- Fiber (dietary sources include : fruits,vegetables,whole grains)
- Carbohydrates (not simple sugars) ( breads, pastas,beans,potatoes,rice, cereals)
So..instead of eating 1 or 2 big meals a day eat many small meals. This will accelerate the metabolism and keep your body from entering starvation mode. Give your body what it needs = Energy. Eating many small meals a day also helps your body from dehydration. This will make you feel good and look good.
3) Drink lots of water :
How drinking water affects your weight loss is unclear. Scientist are having a hard time agreeing with each other. For example :
” Researchers in Germany report that water consumption increases the rate at which people burn calories.” ” In an effort to prove this, Michael Boschmann, MD, and colleagues from Berlin’s Franz-Volhard Clinical Research Center tracked energy expenditures among seven men and seven women who were healthy and not overweight. After drinking approximately 17 ounces of water, the subjects’ metabolic rates — or the rate at which calories are burned — increased by 30% for both men and women. The increases occurred within 10 minutes of water consumption and reached a maximum after about 30 to 40 minutes.The researchers estimate that over the course of a year, a person who increases his water consumption by 1.5 liters a day would burn an extra 17,400 calories, for a weight loss of approximately five pounds. They note that up to 40% of the increase in calorie burning is caused by the body’s attempt to heat the ingested water”
Some scientist state that this findings are inconclusive and that further studies on larger number of subjects are needed and that even if this studies are proven the impact of drinking water on weight loss has only a little affect.
Another study conducted by the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, California states that drinking water iis associated with weight loss in overweight dieting women independent of diet and exercise. The study was on 173 premenopausal overweight women (aged 25-50 years) who reported <1 l/day drinking water at baseline. Diet, physical activity, body weight, percent body fat (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), and waist circumference were assessed at baseline, 2, 6, and 12 months.
RESULTS: Absolute and relative increases in drinking water were associated with significant loss of body weight and fat over time, independent of covariates.
The previous study from Berlin’s Franz-Volhard Clinical Research Center shows that the effect of metabolic increase from drinking water is larger in men than in women .
Put two and two together and you can deduce that drinking lots of water has an effect in weight loss.
If you are still not convinced consider the pros and cons of drinking lots of water. Pros plenty, cons none!
4) Drink green tea ( I will post more data about Green Tea in another article)
Health benefits of drinking green tea :
-reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer
-beneficially impacts bone density, cognitive function, dental cavities, and kidney stones
-has a potent antioxidant effect (it carotenoids, tocopherols, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), minerals such as chromium, manganese, selenium or zinc, and certain phytochemical compounds)
-It contains ECGC a tochopherol wich is believed to burn fat, prevent neurodegenerative diseases
-It contains caffeine wich also boosts your meabolism.
However green tea has a diuretic effect so do not over do it . It can affect your liver and your kidneys especially in taking green tea extract or concentrates on an empty stomach.
5) Get enought sleep
How much is enough? Well..for an adult the average is 8 hours/day. Many studies have shown that people that sleep less usually weight more. Sleep depravation can seriously impact your metabolism, can lead to hormone disorders and a general state of sickness. Do not sabotage yourself by depriving yourself of sleep. During sleep your body recuperates , regenerates and so on.
A healthy sleep pattern is directly linked to weight loss.
How much sleep do you need?
Well..most people need between seven and nine hours of sleep a night. Some more, some less. Very few of us actually get the minimum of seven. How do you know how much sleep you really need? Experts say to sleep as long as you want for several days (best done on vacation). Then, your sleep should stabilize and you’ll find yourself waking up after the same number of hours daily, within 15 minutes or so. Once you know about how much sleep you need, start getting into a steady routine. Set a regular time for sleep. Start getting ready ahead of time.
January 14, 2010
Karate
It seems normal to me to at least mention and give a few details here about the martial art that I practice . As i have stated in my previous post that is Karate. The style of karate that I practice is shotokan. I’m not saying that this is the best style. We will discuss about other styles. But first. What is karate?
Well…Karate is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Island of Okinawa. this is a mix of a indigenous martial art called TE (hand) and chinese kempo. Karate is mainly a striking martial art using punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, head strikes open hand strikes and some grappling technique, throwing techniques and vital point strikes . Basicaally, anything goes as long as it puts down your enemy fast.
The name Karate means Empty hand , Open hand or Chinese hand, depending on the Kanji used.
Over the years many styles of karate developed. The founder is hard to pin point. Karate derives from Chinese martial arts and has evolved with time so it’s hard to say when Karate was born. I can tell you that some Shotokan kata are thought to have their origins in chinese kung fu. For example the Tekki katas are thought to be derived from Praying Mantice style kung fu, while the katas Jion, Jitte and Ji’in are thought to have their origins in Tiger style. I know. Too bad no one kept records 
.
The styles of karate recognized by the World Union of Karate -do Organizations recognizes the following styles of karate :
-Goju-ryu
-Shito-ryu
-Shotokan-ryu
-Wado-ryu
-Shorin-ryu
-Uechi-ryu
-Kyokushinkay
-Budokan
Still, there are many more styles of karate spread out. Think of it this way. For example , the shook founder had 12 students. Some of them broke away from the organization and created their one styles to better adapt to their own vision of karate really is. And karate is : Self defense. That’s why this martial art was created. For one to defend himself.
Karate is present in pop. culture, movies , video games and so one. For example :
In video games :
Ryu from the Street Fighter series uses Kyokushin karate
Jin Kazama from Tekken uses Kyokushin
Chuck Norris, Jean Claude van Damme , Wesley Snipes and Michael Jai White are Shotokan practitioners.
Sonny Chiba, Richard Norton , Cynthia Luster are Goju-ryu practitioners.
Dolph Lundgren , Sean Connery, Glen Murphy practice Kyokushin,
Fumio Demura : Shito-ryu
Exercise
Ok…Exercise for loss gain and a healthier life. I think you’ve heard that like a gazillion times by now. But what exactly does EXERCISE mean. Well..almost anything . Walking, running, sports, gymnastics anything that gets you moving and your heart rate up. Choose one.
Let’s say : You are an average person that works from 9 to 5 standing at his computer all day. You get up in the morning, make yourself a coffee , you don’t have any breakfast because you’re not hungry, go to work, sit in front of your computer or at your office doing paperwork all day,eat at your lunch brake, get in the car (public transportation or w/e), you get home, turn on the TV, you watch a little TV,surf the net, have dinner, watch TV again and go to sleep.
I’m not the one to tell what’s good living or what’s not. But I can tell you one thing. If you want to loose weight and get in shape : THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG!!!!
Try this instead :
You get up in the morning, drink some water, make yourself a cup of coffee (the coffee part is not an advice but I know some of us will not have it any other way ) , eat breakfast, do a couple of pushups , pullups , crunches, gymnastics or something like that, pack yourself some healthy food , go to work , after work do some exercise (gym membership, playing sports, running ,skating,roller bladeing anything) , get home, have a shower, spend some time with you’re spouse, girlfriend, children and you’ll find yourself loosing weight and feeling better about yourself in no time.
I make it my business to exercise 4 times/ week at least 2-3 hours per session. It really makes me feel good. Exercise to feel better. Study after study have shown that exercise combats depression drastically.
But anyway. What one does with his own time is his/hers own business and no one elses. I’m just going to give you a small list of exercises you can do. No big deal. You can do them after work a few times a week or several times a week. First I’m going to tell you what I have chosen as my exercise program. You can choose anything.
4 times a week I go to a local gym to practice…Karate. Actually it’s not called a GYM, it’ s called a DOJO. Karate in my opinion is good training for loosing weight and getting in shape. It is good CARDIO , good interval training, very useful and highly enjoyable. I practice Shotokan karate mixed with some Kempo and kickboxing.
The session starts with a warmup (stretching basically and some running). Then one hour we practice kata (in Japanese this means FORM) . The katas are choreographed patterns of movements and techniques which are practiced usually solo,without a partner. Then we start sparring , or Kumite, practiced with a partner (opponent). I’ll get in the details later in some other post. Well..this is what I do. But there are many other Martial Arts out there. Just find yourself a gym with an instructor that teaches martial arts. Anything works.
Something else you can do after work is JOGGING. That’s good cardio. There are plenty of places where one can jog. Be sure you do it for more than 20 minutes. Don’t slack off now.
CYCLING is also a good way to loose weight and exercise. But do it with intensity. Don’t just sit on your bike. I remember as a kid I used to go for very long bike trips. There’s nothing like mountain biking I can tell you that .
SKATING, ROLLER BLADEING can be a very fun activity also. SWIMMING , playing SOCCER, BASKETBALL, TENNIS ,JUMPROPE, whatever you like, just get up from your chair and do it.
To loose weight you need a good cardiovascular exercise. What cardio does is lift your heart rate up and keeps it there for sometime. You need to do cardio for at least 20 -30 minutes for it to be effective but once you get the hang of it numbers and statistics and studies on the subject count less. All that matters is HAVING FUN doing it. The minutes will fly by so quickly believe me
Oh..but..what is a good cardio exercise? All of those i mentioned above : martial arts, jogging, sports etc… Here’s a video you can watch on what is or what isn’t good cardio :
If you are wondering who the guy in the video is check out this free website on bodybuilding and fitness : SCOOBY. In my opinion this is a Non – bullshit site full with good information and advice.
Hey
Of course is free . I’m just going to point you in the right way, state my opinions and if any of you want you can leave feedback in the comments section. I actually urge you to do that : Leave feedback.
What qualifies me to do that you may ask yourselves. What qualify me to give advice? Well…I’m not a doctor nor am I a fitness instructor. I don’t have any degrees in wellness or fitness. But think of it this way : I used to weight 104 kg (229,3 pounds) at a height of 1.83 (6 feet). Now I’m 78 kg ( 171 pounds) . I lost all that weight the old fashion way : healthy food and exercise. No starvation , no DIET,no magic pills. I exercise regularly , I eat RIGHT . That was not the case a year ago. I was overweight, depressed, no girlfriend and plenty of time to loose. One day I said : THIS HAS TO STOP. And it did. Like magic. All things started to fall into place. I found myself to be more confident and feeling much better both physically and mentally. Watching TV and playing computer games all day was NOT the way to go. I started surfing the web for ways to loose weight, I gathered many information on how to do that the healthy way, longterm solutions for longterm problems not some LOOSE WEIGHT FAST PILL ON STARVATION MODE diet . Plently of info out there. Reliable info, not some magic crap program or device that you overpay for and can cause more harm than good.
I’m also a student, terminal year studying Biochemistry. I would like to major in genetic therapy but I’m not sure yet. We will see how it goes . Maybe I will take my masters degree in Molecular genetics . Pretty interesting stuff there, believe me.
But anyway, let’s go back to to subject of interest : Loosing weight. You will achieve that by : Eating right and Exercising.
I’m going to write in this blog about numerous ways to exercise , foods that are right or wrong, what you should eat and what you shouldn’t eat etc.
Some people will say that loosing weight is hard work. It is and it isn’t. That depends how you look at it. You can look at the exercises you do as a chore, or you can look at them as a fun way to spent your time. That depends on you. Make them a hobby and you will look forward to those activities. They will become part of you and you’ll soon find yourself hooked.
