The Black Health Zone

08/11/2014

August 11, 2014 – BHZ Staff

Herbs and spices have long been used to enhance the taste of foods. It is only within the past few years that researchers have discovered that these popular components of everyday life can also aid in the weight loss battle that so many people wage. Below are six of the most potent herbs and spices that have been shown to have positive effects on weight loss.
Cinnamon
In addition to boosting the metabolism – an important step in helping to lose weight as well as maintain a healthy weight – cinnamon has also been shown to be an effective regulator of blood sugar. Other benefits that have been noted in people with type 2 diabetes including a reduction in triglycerides, LDL – or bad – cholesterol and the total cholesterol levels. Additionally, the metabolism of glucose is increased by about 20 percent when cinnamon is consumed.
Turmeric
A mainstay in the cuisines of India, turmeric is the base from which a good curry is built. This yellow-orange spice contains curcumin which is one of its most studied components. Curcumin has been shown to suppress the blood vessels necessary to form fat tissue. This, in turn, may lower both weight gain and body fat.
Cumin
Useful for both energy production and digestion, cumin is also helpful for improving glycemic control when it comes to people who have type 2 diabetes. Along with its long history of medicinal uses, cumin has also been shown to provide anti-stress benefits as well as enhance memory.
Ginger
A warming spice, ginger has been shown to relax and smooth the intestinal tract. In addition, this popular spice has anti-inflammatory properties. Studies have pointed to ginger’s ability to both boost the body’s metabolism as well as suppress the appetite.
Dandelions
A plant in which every part is edible, dandelions are packed full of health benefits. They help to slow the digestive system which helps a person to feel fuller for a longer period of time. In addition to its antioxidant properties, dandelions also contain crystalline compounds that are bitter. These include taracerin, inulin, taraxacin and levulin, and are thought to be behind many of the plant’s therapeutic benefits. Dandelions contain fiber, beta carotene and vitamin K1 as well as other vitamins and minerals.
Mustard
A member of the cruciferous family of plants that also includes Brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli, mustard can bump a person’s metabolic rate up by 25 percent. By eating 3/5 of a teaspoon of mustard seeds on a daily basis, the body could burn 45 additional calories per hour.
The type of herbs and spices that are purchased matters a great deal. Buying organic whenever possible helps ensure that there are no harmful chemicals intermingled with them as well as ensuring the highest quality.

08/06/2014

August 5, 2014 – BHZ Staff
LeBron James on Monday posted a photo to Instagram in which he looks skinnier than usual.
One poorly lit photo is not exactly firm evidence that an athlete has or has not lost weight. But there seems to be something to this.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN said on Twitter that LeBron had lost “significant weight” since he reduced his carbohydrate intake earlier this summer. Windhorst has been covering LeBron since high school, and he probably has more access to the Cavs star than any other reporter in the world.
LeBron was listed at 250 pounds last season. He confirmed that he was on diet in a different Instagram photo.
Here’s a before and after of LeBron below (Aug. 4):
LeBron is still only 29, but we could be watching him prepare for his post-prime years. Kobe Bryant transformed his body as he entered his 30s as well, and it has significantly extended his career.

08/05/2014

August 4, 2014 – BHZ Staff
Women who used certain types of birth control pills may have a higher risk of developing breast cancer within the following year, compared to women who have never used oral contraceptives or have not used them recently, according to a new study.
However, the study found no relationship between an increased cancer risk and the use of low-dose estrogen pills, which are currently the most commonly prescribed type of birth control pills in the U.S., according to experts not involved in the study.
In the study, the researchers concluded that the potential increase in the risk for breast cancer varied, depending on the types of birth control pills that the women used. The use of high-dose estrogen pills was related to a 2.7-fold increase in breast cancer risk, and the use of moderate-dose estrogen was linked to a 1.6-fold increase. Pills containing ethynodiol diacetate were related to a 2.6-fold higher risk. Triphasic combination pills containing an average of 0.75 milligrams of norethindrone increased the risk 3.1-fold.
The investigators did not find a link between the use of low-dose estrogen birth control pills and an increased breast cancer risk.
“Our results suggest that use of contemporary oral contraceptives [birth control pills] in the past year is associated with an increased breast cancer risk relative to never or former oral contraceptive use, and that this risk may vary by oral contraceptive formulation,” study author Elisabeth F. Beaber, a staff scientist in the Public Health Sciences Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, said in a statement.
However she also added that the results “require confirmation and should be interpreted cautiously.”
“Breast cancer is rare among young women and there are numerous established health benefits associated with oral contraceptive use that must be considered,” she said.
Previous research has suggested that the increased risk related to recent oral contraceptive use declines after a woman stops taking birth control pills, she said.
In the study, researchers examined health records and oral contraceptive use in 1,102 women ages 20 to 49 years diagnosed with breast cancer and 21,952 women without breast cancer in the same age group. Unlike some other studies on the safety of contraceptive use that relied on data depending on women’s self-report or recall, the new study was based on electronic pharmacy records that included the drug name, dosage and duration of medication use.
However, Dr. Holly Pederson, a staff physician at the Breast Services Department at the Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved in the study, expressed concern about the actual meaning of the data presented in the study. She noted that, of the 1,102 women in the study who had breast cancer, only 93 were on oral contraceptives for longer than six months. And only 30 of them took the types of oral contraceptives that were suggested to ‘increase the risk of breast cancer by 50 percent’ in the study, she said, referring to the pills with high doses of estrogen (50 micrograms), the ones containing the progestin ethynodiol dictate and triphasic pills containing a high dose of norethindrone acetate.
“Certainly no general conclusions can be drawn from these data and these small numbers, and these types of pills are not commonly used at the present time,” Pederson told BHZ. “And, in fact, low dose monophasic pills, which are the most commonly used type of pill in this country, were not associated with increased risk.”
Pederson also stressed that, even though breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, it is important to remember that the overall “risk of a woman developing breast cancer prior to the age of 50 is less than 2 percent.”
“This [the study] is a complicated analysis of a complicated problem,” Dr. Freya Schnabel, the director of breast surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, who was not involved in the study, told BHZ.
Considering a variety of factors such as a woman’s age and health background should be part of the conversation about what contraceptive pill to use at what age, Schnabel said.
Interestingly, another study called CARE (Women’s Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences), published in 2002 in the New England Journal of Medicine, found no link between the use of birth control pills and increased breast cancer risk, Pederson said. In the 2002 study, researchers compared 4,575 women with breast cancer with 4,682 women without breast cancer, ages 35 to 64, “according to age, race, presence or absence of a family history of breast cancer, and other factors,” she said, adding that the researchers did not find a breast cancer risk increase in women who took birth control pills with different doses of estrogen and types of progestins, even for long periods of time. It also did not matter whether a woman started taking pills at a young age or had a history of breast cancer, and the study results were similar in white and black women, Pederson said.
So, are most birth control pills that are currently prescribed generally safe for an average woman’s health?
“The low-dose monophasic pills are probably very safe for most women, although each individual woman has to have a discussion with her own doctor about oral contraceptives and different formulations, but I think this study reinforces that low-dose monophasic pills did not increase risk and was consistent with the CARE study,” Pederson said. “And, in the small numbers of women who took those three types of pills that are rarely used, I don’t think that generalizations can be made.”
The new findings were published today in the journal Cancer Research.

07/31/2014

Nations intensify efforts to quarantine ebola outbreak in West Africa...

The country, one of three battling the worst known outbreak of the disease, will deploy security forces to quarantine epicenters of infection.

07/31/2014

July 31, 2014 – BHZ Staff
Surprise! Alicia Keys is getting ready for baby No. 2.
The “Girl on Fire” singer, 33, made the announcement with an adorable photo on Instagram, posing in a flowing white dress next to husband Swizz Beatz and showing off quite the baby bump — and also noting that Thursday happens to be the couple’s wedding anniversary.
“Happy anniversary to the love of my life,” Keys wrote. “And to make it even sweeter we’ve been blessed with another angel on the way!! You make me happier than I have ever known! Here’s to many many more years of the best parts of life!”
Swizz Beatz (real name: Kasseem Dean), 35, posted another photo from the same shoot, and wrote: “Love is life & life is love and we’re so excited for another GIFT from up above Happy Anniversary my Goddess 4 years of greatness & cheers to 100 plus more inshallah.”
The couple married in 2010 and welcomed son Egypt Daoud Dean, now 3½, in October of that year. Dean is also father to three other children from previous relationships.
In 2012, Keys reflected on the eye-opening experience of motherhood.
“Being a parent has made me more open, more connected to myself, more happy and more creative,” she said. “I’m more discerning in what I do and how I do it. It’s just made me a better person all the way around.”
She added: “What’s been surprisingly easy is just how natural parenthood feels. I feel great about how easily I’ve fallen into the role. I love it!”
Before announcing her pregnancy, Keys told BHZ that having Egypt also inspired her to switch up her style, chopping offer her long locks.
“You just feel empowered,” she said. “You find there’s this whole empowered side to you and you’ll be like, ‘I’ll do whatever. Anything I want! I’ll do it!”

07/31/2014

July 31, 2014 – BHZ Staff
Mothers who suffer morning sickness may have a healthier pregnancy with a lower chance of miscarrying, according to a study that also suggests the baby may also be more intelligent.
An analysis of research studies has found a host of benefits associated with vomiting and nausea in pregnancy.
It is thought that the sickness may be triggered by higher levels of hormones indicating a healthier pregnancy.
The Duchess of Cambridge suffered a severe form of morning sickness while pregnant with Prince George, called hyperemesis gravidarum which requires treatment in hospital.
However the researchers cautioned that the beneficial side effects of morning sickness may not extend to hyperemesis.
Canadian researchers found that women not suffering from nausea and vomiting in pregnancy were between three and ten times more likely to miscarry in the first three months of pregnancy compared with women who had sickness symptoms.
Babies born to mothers who had morning sickness were also less likely to have birth defects, be born prematurely, or be small or have a low birthweight.
They also scored higher on IQ tests when aged between three and seven years.

More details below -
http://www.blackhealthzone.com/morn-sickness-healthy-baby

07/29/2014

July 29, 2014 – BHZ Staff
A Central California company has issued a voluntary nationwide recall of specific lots of its fresh peaches, plums, nectarines and pluots over concerns of possible listeria contamination.
Wawona Packing says on its website that no illnesses have been reported and the recall is a precautionary measure.
The company said the recalled fruit was packed and shipped to retailers from June 1 through July 12.
Retailers that received the fruit include Costco and Trader Joe’s.
The recall came after internal testing at the packing house in Tulare County.
Officials say they shut down the lines, retrofitted some equipment and sanitized the facility. Subsequent tests have been negative.
Clovis-based Wawona Frozen Foods is a separate company and is not involved in the voluntary recall.
Listeria bacteria can cause a dangerous flu-like illness.

07/29/2014

July 24, 2014 – NPR.org
For many years, high medical bills have been a leading cause of financial distress and bankruptcy in America. That pressure may be easing ever so slightly, according to a survey released earlier this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But 1 in 5 Americans still face hardships due to medical costs — and African-Americans continue to be the hardest hit.
A poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health found that 24 percent of African-American families say they’ve had problems paying for needed prescription drugs. The poll is part of NPR’s ongoing series, The View From Black America.
Mike Jackson is one of those people. Jackson, 52, lives in Oklahoma City and works for a major insurance company. He has high blood pressure and hypertension, and has been diabetic for 15 years.
Treating these chronic health problems isn’t cheap. Jackson’s medical bills add up to nearly $500 a month. Jackson says: “Diabetes alone — just the two medications alone for diabetes would have run $325 a month.”
That’s “would have,” because Jackson couldn’t pay. This time last year, he was laid off, got divorced and lost his health benefits.
He worried that he wouldn’t be able to afford the insulin he needs to control his diabetes, so he started cutting back.
“Instead of taking 60 units twice a day, I was taking 30 units twice a day,” Jackson told NPR. “The idea behind that was if I watched what I would eat and then stay with the 30 units — I would keep my blood sugar down enough that hopefully it would not be much of a problem.”
But cutting back on insulin for eight months did cause problems. Jackson developed numbness in his foot and toes, and nerve damage in his eye — all complications of uncontrolled diabetes. “My left eye actually shut; wouldn’t open,” Jackson says. “The muscle for my eyelid won’t open.”
An ophthalmologist gave Jackson a discount, but Jackson is still struggling to make payments.
In response to an NPR Facebook callout, 30-year-old Ashley Liggins of Fort Worth, Texas, wrote that she’ll never forget being without health insurance and having to decide between medication for high blood pressure, gas for her car, or food for the week.
Like Jackson, Liggins also tried to stretch out the medication she had by reducing the dose and even borrowing pills from her mother. “I was really worried,” says Liggins, who now works in the financial services industry. “High blood pressure runs in my family.”
A single mother of two wrote to us about being sued for unpaid medical bills totaling nearly $5,000. She has no idea how she’ll pay. She, too, has high blood pressure, a common worry among African-Americans in our poll.
One in 3 African-Americans surveyed said they, too, had serious problems paying bills from doctors or hospitals in the past year.
“We specifically asked African-American families what were the top concerns they had for health in their own families,” says Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, who partnered with NPR for this survey. “And we ended up with high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes as being the top.”
That’s in contrast with other national surveys, where cancer and other types of illnesses are often raised as the biggest concerns.
And even though most of the people in this poll did have health insurance, nearly half still worried that if they suffered a major illness in the future, they wouldn’t be able to pay for medical care.
“We found general economic insecurity among families who generally were doing well,” says Blendon, “and this fear of paying a larger medical bill was just one of the top problems they had.”
For Mike Jackson, covering the cost of caring for a chronic health problem became impossible. He’s now working, but it’s a temporary job that doesn’t offer health benefits. And Jackson worries every day about the future.
“It’s one of those things where, if something happens to my car or to me healthwise, I’m in trouble. If anything goes wrong, I’m one step away from disaster.”

07/29/2014

July 22, 2014 – BHZ Staff
Most exercises divide loosely into low-impact or high-impact. Knowing the differences between the two types is critical because each poses its own risks and benefits.
Defining Low-Impact and High-Impact Exercise
Very generally, low-impact exercise is any physical activity in which you keep at least one foot on the ground as you work. Good examples are cross-country skiing, rollerblading and Zumba. Many people include activities such as cycling and spinning as low-impact, but technically, they’re more properly classified as no-impact, because you are either suspended or have both feet grounded. Usually, low-impact exercises are cardiovascular, as well, so although things like weightlifting or Pilates could meet the one-foot rule, they still don’t fall into this category.
High-impact exercise is physical activity in which both feet may leave the ground. Jumping rope, gymnastics and plyometrics are good examples. These exercises typically are harder in terms of intensity. They tend to elevate the heart rate quickly and are excellent for burning calories. They also can improve bone density–the body naturally will strengthen the bones over time as a protective measure against the force put on them.

More after the jump... http://www.blackhealthzone.com/low-impact-versus-high-impact

06/26/2014

Have you seen Rick Ross lately?
The hip-hop star has been losing weight gradually since last year and has dropped an estimated 100 pounds at least, according to reports. Ross, who has continuously touted Reebok’s CrossFit program when asked about his slimmer figure, and his rep have not confirmed an actual number.
Fans started to notice Ross’ weight loss last fall. He appeared slimmer than ever at Hot 107.9 FM’s Birthday Bash 19 in Atlanta on June 14.
The rapper had for years struggled with his weight and had also been ridiculed for it.
Ross has talked about his weight loss several times over the past few months, saying he has been training with the CrossFit program, which combines a slew of high-intensity workouts.
“It’s a different type of little workout,” he said on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show last September, adding, “I feel good.”
In April of this year, Ross told 93.9 WKYS FM, “It was just time for me to tighten up a little bit, you know what I’m saying. As far as, you know, me working out…I have no destination, no specific weight.”
“And also, you know, I’ve been doing this CrossFit thing, you know, shout-out to Reebok, we had started doing that, you know, last year, sometime and you know, it’s just catching up a little bit.”
In May, Ross, appearing shirtless, talked about his weight loss in an on-camera interview with British DJ Tim Westwood.
“You know, I ain’t really keeping up on, you know, the amount, you know, of weight,” he said. “I just, I just wanted to, you know, get in some better shape, you know what I’m saying, put myself in a better position. So I just, I still eat the way I want to eat…I just go to the gym. I do this s–t called, uh, CrossFit. I call it ‘RossFit.’ Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s called ‘RossFit’ now.”
Ross said that via Reebok, he had obtained a trainer who introduced him to the method, which has been touted by the likes of auto racing star Danica Patrick and Bob Harper of The Biggest Loser.
“Let’s say, for instance, if you got on a treadmill and you did that s–t for 30 minutes, yeah you’re burning calories but you could be doing something that’s burning calories and building muscle at the same time. So it’s like, you’re working out a shorter time. I could go out and do some s–t for 20 minutes and you could be looking like this, you heard me?” he said, looking at the camera and flexing his bicep and later, his pecs.
“You know, the most I used to do for exercise was stand up to count the money, you know what I’m saying?” he joked. “But now, they, they, you know, they give me fruit to eat. I forgot what fruit, you know, tasted like. I eat pears now and s–t like that.”

06/14/2014

It happens every day. A young mother tenderly kisses her baby on the mouth or gently wipes her baby’s face with a cloth moistened with her own saliva. She caringly tests the temperature of the baby food by tasting it first before serving it to her baby on the same spoon or lets her baby playfully put its fingers in her mouth and then into its own mouth. Don’t!
The bacteria that cause tooth decay and periodontal disease are not found in the mouths of newborn babies and can be passed on by even a simple kiss on the lips. A baby’s mouth must be colonised with infected saliva which can be transmitted in a number of different ways according to the American Academy of Periodontology. Once the bacteria are in the baby’s mouth, they convert sugars from food and beverages into acids that destroy tooth enamel.
Women with periodontal disease are already at risk for premature births and low-weight babies, so it is easy to see how this disease might easily infect a vulnerable newborn through the seemingly innocent affections of a loving parent.
The AAP recommends that if even one family member has periodontal disease, all of the other family members living in the same household should be screened as well because the incidence of saliva contact in families is commonplace through kissing, sharing utensils, coughing, sneezing, and other family behaviors.
Think you don’t have periodontal disease? Think again. An estimated 80 percent of American adults already have some form of periodontal disease and millions don’t even know it.
According to the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), kissing can transmit up to 500 different kinds of germs – including those that cause gum disease. Just one kiss can pass gum disease between a parent and child. Yes, kissing on the lips can transmit germs between adults too, but the children are more vulnerable and haven’t developed their immune system yet.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding saliva-sharing behaviors of any kind around babies and young children – including kisses on the mouth. The alternative? Kiss them on the cheek instead and give them a big hug. You don’t have to share spit with them to show them that you love them.