9 Unhealthy Takeout Foods

by Divya Gugnani 

Think sushi or soup are safe options? From Japanese to Indian to the salad bar, takeout is a minefield of unhealthy choices. Divya Gugnani on portable food’s biggest pitfalls.

In his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan reported that in today’s ever-in-motion America, one out of five meals are consumed in a moving vehicle. It’s the type of food that’s most apt to be junk—when you’re on the go, what you’re eating isn’t your primary focus, so your vigilance about keeping a healthy diet goes right out the driver’s-side window. What’s worse, buzzwords like “grilled,” “antioxidants,” and “freshly made” have become staples of America’s takeout cuisine. But many portable meals that seem healthy are anything but. Here are nine meals you’ve probably grabbed on the fly, mistakenly thinking you were doing right by your body.

• Japanese: California Rolls

Sushi is generally a pretty healthy option, with one exception: If you’re ordering California rolls made with artificial crab and white rice, then smothering the whole thing in soy sauce, what you’re eating is sub-par McSushi. Instead of ingesting beneficial omega-3’s from fresh fish, you’re only taking in empty calories. Not only is artificial crab meat highly processed with added starches, vegetable oil, and MSG, it also contains high amounts of sodium. Whenever possible, opt for real fish, and sneak some extra fiber into the roll by swapping in brown rice instead of plain.

• Indian: Chicken Curry

Chicken can be a lean source of protein and, when not in fried form, a great healthy choice. But the culprit here is the curry itself. Curry sauces often include large amounts of cream, coconut milk, or ground cashews to thicken the sauce. Instead, choose anything prepared tandoori-style, especially if that dish includes turmeric, which many doctors say helps prevent cancers by blocking a biological pathway needed for the development of melanoma and other cancers.

• Soup: Broccoli Cheddar Soup

We’ve all read the studies about how people who eat soup before a meal are thinner. This is not always the case, and not all soups that are stocked with vegetables are good for you. Among the worst offenders is the takeout favorite, broccoli cheddar. It has a base of cheese and cream, and sky-high amounts of sodium. One 12 oz. serving of broccoli cheddar soup at Au Bon Pain will set you back 21 grams of fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, and nearly 1000 mg of sodium—nearly half your entire recommended daily allowance. If you can find it, opt for a soup with a legume base like lentil or black bean. If you’re still not sure, stick to soups that have a clear broth rather than ones with thick and creamy bases.

• Chinese: Tofu and Mixed Vegetables

Navigating a Chinese menu can be the trickiest takeout feat of all. If you think you did the right thing by choosing sweet and sour tofu, think again. On average, this dish packs up to 900 calories and 2,200mg of sodium. You can thank the deep-fried soy product and a generous dose of sauce for this. Do yourself a favor and ask for this dish stir-fried instead. Or opt for Moo Goo Gai Pan and brown rice. At only 600 calories and 4 grams of saturated fat, it’s a much lighter option.

• Salad Bar: Grilled Chicken With Creamy Dressing

Amid all those fresh veggies at the salad bar lie nutritional landmines like bacon bits, croutons, and vats of dressing that are easy to go overboard on when you’re serving yourself. When it comes to pre-made salads, steer clear of toppings: Cheese, meats, salted nuts, and creamy dressings can counter all the nutrients those veggies are adding to your diet. Case in point: Chili’s Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken. But salad with grilled chicken is healthy, right? Wrong. This salad comes with a 1,010-calorie price tag and 76 grams of fat (blame it on fried croutons, gloppy dressing, and cheese). When in doubt, make sure that dressing comes on the side, and only choose salads that include one additional non-fruit or veggie topping.

• Liquid Lunch: Smoothies

Smoothies may seem like perfectly healthy post-workout pick-me-ups, but they’re often loaded with sweetened syrups and fat. Don’t even think about downing one of these drinks as a protein boost. Smoothie King’s “The Hulk” smoothie will set you back 1,030 calories (which, unless you ran a half marathon, is likely more than you burned during your workout.) It also contains 32 grams of fat—an insane way to round out an exercise routine. It’s time to stop thinking of smoothies as meal substitutions and choose lighter versions that include only fruit and low-fat yogurt.

• Snack Time: Yogurt

But it’s yogurt. And yogurt has calcium. And, um… active cultures? While it’s true that there’s nothing wrong with yogurt itself, the extra helping of high-fructose sweetener at the bottom of those single-serve cups adds an extra 100 calories. And don’t think it’s better just because it’s organic: Stonyfield Farm is one of the worst offenders, notorious for its heavy hand when it comes to added sugars. A 6 oz. container of their Chocolate Underground yogurt has 220 calories, 36 grams of sugar, and 20 mg. of cholesterol. Instead, take control of how much sugar goes into your snack and go for plain Greek yogurt with fruit, which contains only 90 calories per 6 oz. serving, and the added bonus of extra protein.

• Outdoor Eating: Trail Mix

It’s associated with hiking, camping, and other vigorous activities, but “trail chips” is probably a more appropriate name for this snack. These days, store-bought trail mixes are often loaded with banana chips, chocolate chips, and apple chips — none of which do your body any favors. One oz. of banana chips packs in 150 calories, 9.5 grams of fat (8 of them saturated), and 20 grams of carbohydrates. As a reference point, the same amount of potato chips contains the same amount of calories and fat (with only 3 of them saturated.) If you’re craving a crunchy snack, go for lightly salted almonds or cashews, which at least deliver high amounts of protein, potassium, and iron along with their higher calorie counts.

• Baked Goods: Banana Bread

This seemingly innocent grab-and-go breakfast may come off as a healthy option first thing in the morning, but just because bananas are involved doesn’t mean it’s good for you. One slice of banana bread at Starbucks packs a whopping 490 calories, 19 grams of fat, and 46 grams of sugar–three components that, together, are otherwise known as the holy trinity of weight gain. Instead, lose the bread and just eat an actual banana.

Divya Gugnani is the CEO and founder of BehindtheBurner.com, an emerging culinary media brand that creates expert-based content about food, wine, mixology, and nutrition. She is the author of Sexy Women Eat: Secrets to Eating What You Want and Still Looking Fabulous.

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Stroke Risk Nearly Doubles with Standard Ibuprofen Dose

No one wanted to kill the NSAID cash cow, so millions of people have suffered from strokes.

by Heidi Stevenson

9 September 2010

NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) use is closely associated with increased risk of strokes, nearly doubling for ibuprofen doses of more than 200 milligrams, which is the standard amount found in a single over the counter pill. The study, presented at the 2010 Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, documented that even low-dose usage of NSAIDs increased the risk of strokes by 28-86%, depending on the particular drug.⁽¹⁾

Not a Surprise

The first NSAID was ibuprofen, which was approved by the FDA in 1974. It was known to increase blood flow to the brain after strokes by 1987⁽²⁾ It should have been expected that effects on strokes would be found, but it’s only now—23 years later—that a definitive study has been done to address that concern.

The Study

The study addressed the entire population of Denmark over age ten, eliminated anyone who’d been in a hospital during the previous five years and anyone taking chronic medications for two years or more. The rest of the population, about half a million people, according to theHeart.org,⁽²⁾ or a million people, according to MedConnect.com⁽³⁾, were included. The study was a review of these people from 1997-2005. All NSAIDs, except aspirin and low-dose ibuprofren, are available only by prescription in Denmark.

In January 1997, the median age of the subjects was 39 and 58% were male. During the nine year course of the study, 17% filled one prescription for NSAIDs, 14% filled two or three, and 14% filled four or more. 55% filled no prescriptions for NSAIDs. The average length of use was between 13 days (for rofecoxib) and 24 days (for naproxen).

The risk of stroke increased with amount of NSAID use. theHeart.org reported the following increased risks of stroke:

When stroke risk was calculated for higher doses of NSAIDS, a clear connection with more strokes was made. When the dose of ibuprofen was greater than 200 milligrams—which is merely a single pill in most US and UK over the counter packaging—the stroke risk increased to an astonishing 90 percent—nearly double the risk of those who didn’t take NSAIDs! Diclofenac doses greater than 100 milligrams resulted in a full doubling of stroke risk.

The Implications

The report by Sue Hughes of theHeart.org noted that the author of the study, Dr. Gunnar Gislason, of Gentofte University Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark stated:

First we found an increased risk of MI with NSAIDs. Now we are finding the same thing for stroke. This is very serious, as these drugs are very widely used, with many available over the counter. We need to get the message out to healthcare authorities that these drugs need to be regulated more carefully.

Presenting a somewhat different angle, Mitchel Zoler of MedConnect quoted Gislason as saying that the public needs:

…increased awareness about the cardiovascular risk of NSAIDs, even in healthy people.

Though both of these points are, of course, significant, the most important of all wasn’t mentioned: Why wasn’t this study done long ago? The results shouldn’t be surprising in light of what’s already known about NSAIDs:

• NSAIDs are known to increase heart attacks.
• NSAIDs are known to kill people by causing gastrointestinal bleeding.
• NSAIDs are known to increase blood flow to the brain after strokes.

That NSAIDs cause strokes should have been presumed. The calls for double blind placebo controlled studies to prove something that should have been assumed on the basis of what’s already known before taking steps to save people’s lives is a travesty. Nothing can better demonstrate the fallacy in such thinking. As Gislason stated:

If half the population takes these drugs, even on an occasional basis, then this could be responsible for a 50% to 100% increase in stroke risk. It is an enormous effect.

How many millions of people have succombed early or suffered diminished lives from strokes because of the refusal to address such an obvious risk?

There can only be one reason for such dereliction of modern medicine and its cohorts. There was no interest in killing the NSAID cash cow.

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The healing power of one of my favorite herbs for cooking. Cilantro. in Trinidad and Tobago we call it Chandon Beni:

Cilantro’s Edgy Power

Eat to Heal: Cilantro leaves and coriander seeds are rich in disease-fighting antioxidants.

By Sarah Khan |   Monday, 09 August 2010   |   08:02

Eat to Heal An ongoing series on the medicinal properties of herbs, spices and other foods. When I was a child, my mother chopped cilantro leaves right before adding them to a hot dish of dhaal or sprinkled a handful of piney-scented leaves over a simmering curry before she served it. The clean, bright aroma wafted on waves of steam and set our mouths watering. My father, the grilling man, blended cilantro leaves and stems, onions, tomatoes, chili peppers, salt and sugar to create a savory, sweet and piquant chutney for the lamb tikkas central to our ritual summer barbecues. So I love cilantro. But I have come across plenty of people who don’t. “Soapy,” says my sister-in-law, who has a strong aversion. She’s not far off. The cilantro aroma is apparently made up of aldehydes that are similar to substances found in soap. Jay Gottfried, a neuroscientist at Northwestern University and a former cilantrophobe, recently told  Harold McGee for an article in the New York Times that humans’ sense of smell and taste evolved to evoke strong emotions. So if we taste something that our brain identifies as soap-like, the immediate reaction is “danger,” “stop,” or just “yuck.” But those genetic memory patterns can be reprogrammed by eating cilantro more frequently, thereby creating a new mental blueprint of tasty food experiences. It might be worth the effort. The leaves, stems, seeds and roots of cilantro add not only a robust flavor to any dish but also provide valuable plant chemicals to protect and heal. Origins: Botanists speculate that coriander’s origins — Coriandrum sativum, a member of the parsley family — lie in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor. The leaf (called cilantro) and seed (called coriander), taste quite different, though neither is subtle in flavor. Culinary homes: Today, culinary cultures beyond the Mediterranean employ this love-it-or-hate-it spice. South Asians roast and grind the warm, lemony seeds with a number of other fresh and dried spices. McGee explains in his book “On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen,” that when coriander seeds are ground, the brittle and fibrous husks make a good water absorber and thickener for sauces (think of the liquid portion of a curry sauce). Thais use the entire coriander plant says David Thompson, author of “Thai Food” and the first chef to gain a Michelin star for a Thai restaurant in Europe. The leaves are added to salads and soups, the stems are simmered in stocks, and the roots are a common ingredient in sauces and curry pastes. The coriander root, adds Thompson, counters any strong or earthy tastes such as shrimp paste or freshwater fish. It can also mellow or counter raw garlic. He advises scraping the roots to remove the skin, and then soaking in water to dislodge any soil residues before pounding. Meanwhile in Latin America, Mexicans cut the leaves and mix them into guacamole or chilli piquin. Healing traditions: Cooks and healers have roasted and ground striated, husk-covered coriander seeds or steeped the leaves to make healing potions for a few thousand years. According to Ayurvedic classifications, cilantro is bitter and astringent and is considered cooling and cleansing. It can effectively help balance the three dominant constitutions (vata, pitta, kapha) and is particularly beneficial for balancing pitta and kapha. Cilantro improves digestion and helps strengthen liver function. In Chinese medicine, cilantro is classified as warming, although the Chinese cook with it to counteract the heating effects of strongly spiced foods. Research: This year, the journal Plant Foods for Human Nutrition noted that cilantro is a rich source of antioxidants, specifically the carotenoids. Also this year the journal Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry indicated the potential of coriander oil as a natural antimicrobial compound against C. jejuni in food — a pathogen that causes food-borne diseases worldwide. Another 2010 study in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture reported that alcoholic extracts of coriander leaves and stems showed strong anti-inflammatory activity in a test tube model. Finally, in a review of the available animal and clinical trials where spices and their extracts were examined, The International Journal on Food, Science, and Nutrition reported that a limited number of studies noted that cilantro is helpful in reducing blood sugar, perhaps helping those with diabetes. Cultivation: Coriander is a cool weather annual plant. According to Organic Gardening, the plant thrives in a sunny area with well-drained soil. The seeds should be sowed directly in the garden about ½-inch deep after the danger of frost has passed. After the seedlings appear, thin the plants every 4 inches. Pick the leaves/stems as needed. Because the seeds ripen and scatter quickly, cut the plant as soon as the leaves and flowers turn brown. Tie it in bundles and hang upside down with a paper bag tied around the flower heads to catch the seeds as they dry and fall. In the warmer climates, or in the peak of the summer heat, coriander bolts (goes to seed) quickly. The strong cilantro leaves and stems diminish in taste and can turn bitter as it produces flower and then seeds. To maintain a steady supply throughout the season, you can plant successive waves of cilantro, weekly or bimonthly. Lentil Salad with Olive Oil and Egyptian Spices (Coriander Seeds) Clifford A. Wright’s recipe has a pungent coriander flavor. It serves 6 and can be prepared in just 30 minutes. Ingredients ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped ½ teaspoon freshly ground cumin seeds ½ teaspoon freshly ground coriander seeds ¼ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom seeds ½ teaspoon ground fenugreek 1 cup dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed well Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Directions In a small saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat with the garlic. As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, remove from the burner, add the cumin, coriander, cardamom and fenugreek, stir, and set aside. Place the lentils in a medium-size saucepan of lightly salted cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until al dente, about 25 minutes from the time you turned the heat on. Drain lentils and toss with the garlic, olive oil and spices while still hot. Season with salt and pepper, toss, and arrange on a serving platter, drizzling the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top. Serve at room temperature. Khurshid’s Cilantro Chutney With Tamarind and Pomegranate My father’s chutney is great served as a condiment with grilled meats (chicken, beef, or lamb) or over pasta for a cool summer meal. Yields 1 to 1½ cups. Ingredients 1-2 medium firm tomatoes cut in quarters ½ small Vidalia or yellow onion 1 tablespoon concentrated tamarind paste (available in a South Asian market or you can substitute 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic must or concentrated cherry juice) 1-2 tablespoons dried pomegranate seeds (optional) 2 fresh small green chilies (more or less depending on how much spice you want) 1 bunch fresh cilantro ½-3 teaspoon sugar to taste salt to taste Directions In a blender add cut tomatoes, onion, tamarind paste, pomegranate seeds and green chilies. Blend until you get a smooth, watery mixture. Add half the cilantro leaves and stems and blend. Add the other half of cilantro and blend. Add sugar and salt to taste. Blend again. Sarah Khan, an assistant scientist at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, founded the nonprofit Tasting Cultures Foundation, which develops multimedia educational programming about the intersection of food and culture. source

How much sugar is in your soft drink? What are the health effects of drinking soft drinks?

Tylenol tied to asthma and allergies

By REUTERS

A pair of studies suggests that the common painkiller acetaminophen — better known as Tylenol in the U.S. — may be fueling a worldwide increase in asthma.

According to one study out Thursday, acetaminophen could be responsible for as many as four in 10 cases of wheezing and severe asthma in teens.

While no one knows if the drug causes asthma by itself, another report — published along with the first study — shows for the first time that many toddlers took acetaminophen before they developed asthma symptoms such as wheezing.

“We have confirmed that acetaminophen use comes first, so a causal link is increasingly likely,” said Dr. Alemayehu Amberbir, of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and the University of Nottingham in the UK.

But large-scale clinical tests are necessary before anyone cleans out their medicine cabinet, stressed Amberbir, whose findings are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

His team followed more than 1,000 Ethiopian babies over three years. When the toddlers turned one, the researchers asked the mothers if their babies had breathing problems, and how much acetaminophen they had used.

About eight percent of the kids began to wheeze between ages one and three. Those who had been given acetaminophen during their first year — before they had breathing trouble — had up to seven times the odds of developing wheezing.

That increase held even after adjusting for fever and coughs, which in principle could have triggered both the wheezing and the use of painkillers.

“What we have is further information and a stronger association between the use of acetaminophen and asthma,” said Dr. Dipak Kanabar, who has written guidelines on painkillers, but wasn’t involved in the new studies.

But Kanabar, a consultant pediatrician at Evelina Children’s Hospital in London, cautioned that parents’ recall isn’t always accurate, which could have influenced the findings.

“We have to be careful when we give advice to parents to stress that these studies do not mean that giving acetaminophen will necessarily result in their child developing asthma,” he said.

But if the link turns out to be real, it could have a major impact on public health, according to another report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

In that study, based on more than 320,000 teens from 50 countries, 11 percent of the children had breathing trouble — only slightly more than the percentage of American children who have asthma.

Those teens who took acetaminophen at least once a month — one third overall, and more than four in 10 Americans — doubled their odds of wheezing.

They were also more likely to have allergic nasal congestion and the skin condition eczema, Dr. Richard W. Beasley, of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, and colleagues report.

The researchers estimate that acetaminophen could potentially be responsible for up to four in 10 of all asthma symptoms, including severe ones such as waking up gasping for air once a week or more.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary that sells Tylenol, said in a comment their product “has over 50 years of clinical history to support its safety and efficacy.”

“The well-documented safety profile for acetaminophen makes it the preferred pain reliever for asthma sufferers,” the company told Reuters Health in an e-mail. The company said there are no gold-standard clinical trials showing “a causal link between acetaminophen and asthma.”

However, Kanabar found in his review of the medical literature that ibuprofen — another painkiller, sometimes sold as Advil — seemed to trigger less wheezing than acetaminophen.

Ibuprofen, however, is not recommended in people with asthma, Kanabar said, and that most doctors favor Tylenol.

Aspirin, another common painkiller, is generally discouraged in children because it can cause short-term breathing problems and other rare side effects.

According to Kanabar, dropping painkillers entirely is probably a bad idea, and might cause a child to feel worse and drink less liquid, which could slow recovery.

So which painkiller should a parent choose if their child has a headache or a fever — Tylenol or ibuprofen?

At this point, said Kanabar, “you could go for either.”

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The Definitive Guide To Parkour For Beginners

This is a guest post from NF community member Dakao, who trains in all kinds of awesomely nerdy things like weapon making, martial arts, and parkour.  I’m fascinated with the concept of parkour but haven’t tried it yet, so I asked Dakao to put together a guide for people who want to get started but don’t know how.  Take it away Dakao!

It’s inevitable that someone would connect the dots between Nerd Fitness and parkour.

After all, parkour’s approach closely follows the precepts of the Nerd Fitness Rebellion:

• Train naturally: parkour is a stellar poster child for natural movement training.
• Train with conviction and intelligence: parkour’s emphasis on awareness of your environment and circumstances, as well as performance under pressure, requires as much of these qualities as you can muster, then challenges you to dig deep down and find even more.
• Train for fun: the playful and spontaneous nature of parkour encourages creativity in a way that I can only liken to improvisational jazz and dancing.

If you have NO idea what parkour is, watch this quick 4-minute video and get inspired:

Parkour Australian Team Video

What Is Parkour?

Parkour is natural, effective movement. That’s it. In French, we use the term passement for overcoming any obstacle. You pass or traverse a barrier in whatever way suits you and the moment; there’s no one prescribed method for anything.

Parkour is a lens of efficiency applied to every aspect of your movement through life. At its broadest definition, it implies a low-impact and considerate attitude towards bosses, co-workers, family, friends, driving, consumer purchases, and the environment (natural or manmade). What is the least effort and stuff you need in order to live the most meaningful and happy life you can make for yourself? As with the Nerd Fitness Rebellion, it is an exuberant and responsible celebration of life.

What Is It Not?

Flips, tricks, aerial acrobatics, etc. These movements can be used to traverse certain obstacles more rapidly or aggressively, but their use in parkour is ultimately dictated by need.  Will your zombie pursuers be deterred by a double front tuck flip as you clear a 14′ gap? Or do you just need to leap and roll the gap? Or again, maybe a quadrupedal crawl across that fallen log bridge might be best.

Success is a must, and looking cool comes from success.

People who have never done parkour (or any other high-risk physical activity) tend to see only the sensational end results on youtube, and not the obsessive levels of meticulous and conservative training that underpin the visible final product. Safety is huge, but ultimately a part of “effective.” The speed and airborne moves you may have seen can be a part of parkour, but are far from necessary.

Parkour is for Everyone

Anyone can figure out a way to traverse an obstacle. Parkour is just a mindset to find your own best way through in each particular situation and moment.

From one week to the next, you could be looking at the same obstacle. Your developing traceur’s eye (a traceur is somebody who practices parkour, by the way) will see different ways over or around it depending on conditions. Is it wet, dry, hot, dark, cold, sunny, etc.? These are conditions over which you have no control. Ignore them at your peril, but become familiar with them and you may find ways to turn them to your advantage.

Conditions you CAN control relate to your mind and body: are you tired, fresh, fed, hungry, on or off balance, distracted, fit or out of shape? You can take care of these before training; you will likely not be able to control them if you are fleeing from bears, zombies, or the Pope (heckuva sprinter), so come prepared.

Start Taking Charge of Your Life)

Anything we do in life can be as easy or hard as we care to make it. Parkour just makes us realize it up front. Taking five or ten seconds to set and prepare for a standing jump is easy. Carefully climbing over a four-foot wall is easy.  But when preparation time is taken away, the pressure to perform makes the same task much harder. Any traverse or passement rapidly becomes challenging when you have to do it at a dead sprint.

The hardest and most beautiful thing about parkour and other challenging activities is that they unequivocally call shenanigans on us when no one else will. When you stand on top of a 6-foot wall and look down at the concrete or grass below, you can say whatever you like. “It’s easy!” “Man, that looks scary!”

But that knot in the pit of your stomach will tell you what you really feel.

Your mind will know whether you trained a hundred jumps and landings this past week, or whether you slacked off and played Xbox for three hours every day. If you trained up on your shorter jumps and landings, the knot will be smaller or not there. If you didn’t, the knot will be so large it’ll threaten to choke you with fear.

Good parkour is fairly easy.  Impressive, fast, and aggressive parkour is hard. If you want to perform YouTube or  District B13 movie quality parkour, your typical time per passement goes from five seconds to half a second, which is a tenfold increase in difficulty. Your methods, movements, and relative safety considerations must all adapt when your time changes.

Got it?  Good!  Let’s move onto some basic training on how to get started.

Beginner Training For Parkour

If you’ve done any of the workouts discussed on the Nerd Fitness forums or body weight circuits, you’ve already begun to train for parkour. Do not take my advice here as a requirements set in stone but instead learn your body, and you will be able to learn parkour.  Activities like yoga, lacrosse, boxing, swiming, and running (and so on) will keep your body in peak physical condition and ready for anything.

If you need more direction than that, here’s a basic Parkour training routine:

• 10  squats (building up to plyometric  box jumps)
• 10  push-ups
• 10  leg lifts on your back with both legs
• 10  pull-ups

Do two sets of this list, every other day. If some or all of this list is too hard, reduce your reps per set for the hard exercise(s) until you can do two sets. I started on pull-ups with 1.5 pull-ups per set. It’s OK to start with even half a pull-up or merely hanging and flexing. The important thing is to do 10% more next week than you can this week.

Here’s how to progress:

• Each week, add 1-2 reps to each exercise (2×12, 2×14, 2×15, etc.)
• After doubling the reps for each exercise (2×20), add another full set to your workout (3×20; you may have to temporarily reduce reps on that final set back down to 10 or less).
• When you can do 4×20, perform each rep a little faster, more explosively, to get in a more  plyometric and aerobic workout.

My own goal is a fairly arbitrary 5×20 b/c it’s a nice, round number. Once I achieve it for an exercise, I give myself the okay to tackle new and more difficult exercises.

On To the Good Stuff

Let’s start with our jumps.

Find some stairs or outdoor steps, and practice jumping with your whole body. Jump from the ground up to one step, then two, then three, etc. You should be relaxed, well-balanced with a relatively upright posture, and land softly on your toes 10 times in a row before you add another step to your jumps the next session or week:

• 1-2 steps is easy
• 3-4 is a moderate challenge
• 5-6 is difficult
• I’ve never seen anyone clear 7 steps.

Chug water after each set. You may pee a lot now, but it’s a good habit for later when you’re outside tearing it up for three hours in the sun.  Energy drinks and sodas are right out. However, I’ve heard some studies show that a small dose of caffeine prior to a workout helps you perform better.

You may notice I never mentioned running. I hate running, and only work out as I’ve described above and below in this article. Yet I can sprint or run nearly 300 yards at a stretch because of the (an)aerobic aspects of these exercises.  You’ll run 3-10 steps for every vault or jump you do, which translates to about 1-2 miles of running for a two hour session. And it’s the appropriate kind of running for parkour – brutally short sprints, take-offs, and landings.

Your exercise and jumps should be hard, but not crippling. Talk to, work out with, and learn from other people who work out. Remember that there’s a lot of bad advice out there. My own advice to you is only based on three years of being a self-taught traceur (and nine years of martial arts), for all that I know a lot and I know what works for me and the people I help train.

Here are some videos of basic movements that you can start to practice safely.  These videos are all courtesy of  American Parkour:

• Landing Properly
• Two Handed Vault
• Muscle Up
• Precision Jump

Moving on Up In Difficulty

Here’s a great video showcasing solid parkour skills without being too flashy:

Parkour, Literally Video

Brilliant. This is what parkour should look like. No flips, no huge gap-clearing launches into empty space, just a lot of little things that add up to efficient zombie-fleeing movement…after all, you never know when that zombie apocalypse may strike

Keep using the format of 5×20 sets and reps for the exercise routine above as gateway goal before you move on to new and more difficult techniques or exercises. Why? Because most of us are unevenly fit or unfit. Don’t tackle Mount Everest before you’ve hiked the Appalachians. Hundreds of reps of full body exercises will help strengthen all your minor stabilizer and oblique muscles that you don’t think about.  All it takes is one weak muscle getting pulled to ruin your day.  For you to stay safe and minimize the damage and injury from stumbles and falls, you need to be as fit as you can afford to be (in terms of time and willingness).

You will be the best judge of doing only what is within your ability. If you want to flip and vault off monkey bars, be prepared to spend many hours at a gymnastics gym. If you want to kong vault over a picnic table, be prepared for thousands of clapping push-ups. This trains not only the strength, but the reflexes to use those muscle motions in the 0.1 second when you trip on a wall or rail in mid-air and come tumbling down.

I have seen people get a couple bone breaks, sprains, and one concussion. Every time, it was because someone got a little overconfident and pushed beyond their current training and ability. Traceurs like me may not be flashy, but I have yet to break anything in years of training.  I’ll take that win every single day.

Before I bring up some advanced techniques, you should be able to regularly perform these exercises with ease:

• Jump up at least 24” and grab an overhead rail or ledge for a casual pull-up
• Jump and tuck your knees to land gently on a bench or a picnic table
• Broad jump 4-6’ with good balance on landing
• A set of  plypometric push ups

You got that down no problem?  Awesome…now let’s do some fun stuff.

Advanced Training Techniques

Shoulder rolls are your absolute top face saver and pain-preventer. Choosing to do them well isn’t important. Falling and rolling when completely surprised and off-balance is what’s important. Tuck your head and hands in, relax your body, arc your arms and one shoulder forward in a hula hoop shape around your head, and roll your butt over your head.

How to learn How to Roll PROPERLY AND SAFELY.

Here’s the rest of the APK parkour tutorial channel, with videos covering these foundation parkour movements (listed in approximate order of increasing difficulty and greatest to least utility):

• Wall run
• Cat leap
• Cat balance
• Monkey vault
• (Kong) vault
• Tic tac

New traceurs who can do three sets of 10 push-ups and pull-ups can work through  Demon Drills’ Body category of videos. Try everything once slowly. Skip anything that’s too challenging, and come back to it in a week. Parkour is a highly personal form of self-expression and choice and it demands a fine sense of body awareness.  Your body can only be as strong as it’s weakest muscle when it comes to Parkour, so make sure you are well balanced.

Get Motivated, Get After It

Ready to get started?  Good, now watch a few more videos for motivation and inspiration:

• Damien Walters
• Oleg Vorslav
• Daniel Ilabaca
• Ryan Doyle
• Chase Armitage

After that, head outside, start practicing your movements, and look for other traceurs in your area.  A simple google search for “parkour” or “free running” plus your town name will generally turn up a group that practices in your area.  Okay, enough reading, go start practicing!

Viva la Rebellion!

-Dakao

Thanks Dakao!  I definitely tried practicing my Parkour rolls last night, and managed to roll right into my closet door.  Woops.  Speaking of parkour and awesomeness, there’s an all new marathon of Ninja Warrior this Saturday at 6PM Eastern on G4TV!  Ninja Warrior is my favorite show of all time, and I guarantee you’ll be mesmerized within just a few minutes of watching – some of the craziest feats of strength and athleticism I have ever seen.

Set your DVRs NOW!

source: Nerd Fitness

FDA approves ella as 5-day-after emergency contraceptive

By Rob Stein
Saturday, August 14, 2010; A01

The Food and Drug Administration approved a controversial new form of emergency contraception Friday that can prevent a pregnancy as many as five days after sex.

The decision to allow the sale of the pill, which will be marketed under the brand name “ella,” was welcomed by family-planning proponents as a crucial new option to prevent unwanted pregnancies. But critics condemned the decision, arguing that it was misleading to approve ella as a contraceptive because the drug could also be used to induce an abortion.

Ella can cut the chances of becoming pregnant by about two-thirds for at least 120 hours after a contraceptive failure or unprotected sex, studies have shown. The only other emergency contraceptive on the market, the so-called morning-after pill sold as Plan B, is significantly less effective, becomes less effectual with each passing day and will not work after 72 hours.

Supporters and opponents both said the decision marked the clearest evidence of a shift in the influence of political ideology at the FDA. The last time the FDA considered an emergency contraceptive — making Plan B available without a prescription — the decision was mired in controversy amid similar concerns voiced by antiabortion activists. After repeated delays, Plan B was approved for sale to women 17 and older without a prescription.

Ella, which was approved in Europe last year and is available in at least 22 countries, was unanimously endorsed by an FDA advisory committee less than two months ago. Women will need a prescription but could keep a supply at home.

“Women’s health advocates appreciate that the review process for ella was consistent with standard FDA procedure and based on scientific evidence, not politics,” said Kirsten Moore, president of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project. “Approval of ella is further evidence that the FDA is committed to restoring scientific integrity in its decisions.”

For their part, critics said the decision reflected the abortion-rights stance of the Obama administration.

“They are choosing political ideology and the abortion industry’s radical agenda over women’s health and the safety of their children,” said David Bereit, director of the Fredericksburg-based antiabortion group 40 Days for Life.

If the history of Plan B is any indication, ella’s approval is likely to mark the beginning of many years of political and regulatory battles over the drug.

Critics are already concerned that ella’s approval as a contraceptive will make it eligible to receive federal tax subsidies, which are banned for the abortion pill RU-486,. They also are concerned that ella will be included in the services that health plans will have to pay for under the new health-care overhaul law.

“By misclassifying ella as emergency contraception, this administration has paved the way to covertly allow federal funding for abortion,” said Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.), who called on Obama to issue an executive order prohibiting federal funds from paying for ella.

Ella is also likely to exacerbate a long-running debate over whether doctors have an obligation to write prescriptions for medication they oppose on moral grounds and whether pharmacists have an obligation to fill them. Many doctors and pharmacists refuse to write or fill prescriptions for Plan B or refer patients elsewhere for it.

“I am certain that pharmacists will refuse to fill prescriptions for” ella, said Karen L. Brauer of the group Pharmacists for Life International.

Plan B prevents a pregnancy by administering high doses of a hormone that mimics progesterone. It works primarily by inhibiting the ovaries from producing eggs. Critics argue that it can also prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb, which some consider equivalent to abortion.

Ella, known generically as ulipristal acetate, works as a contraceptive by blocking progesterone’s activity, delaying the ovaries from producing an egg. But progesterone is also needed to prepare the womb to accept a fertilized egg and to nurture a developing embryo. That’s how RU-486 prevents a fertilized egg from implanting and dislodges growing embryos. Ella’s chemical similarity to RU-486 raises the possibility that it might do the same thing, perhaps if taken at elevated doses. But no one knows for sure whether the drug would induce an abortion, because the drug has never been tested that way.

Critics, however, are convinced it will and fear that a woman who does not realize she is pregnant will use the drug, unwittingly giving herself an abortion. They also worry that men will slip ella to unsuspecting women. And, the critics say, a woman might knowingly use ella to try to abort a fetus, putting herself at risk for potentially serious complications that have been reported among a small number of women using RU-486 and possibly damaging her developing child if it doesn’t work.

The Family Research Council and several other groups announced plans Friday to launch a campaign publicizing ella’s possible abortion potential.

“Ella is an abortion drug,” said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America. “It operates the same way as RU-486, the abortion drug. Many women may be comfortable taking a contraceptive but would object to taking an abortion drug.”

Proponents dismiss the concerns, saying that ella has been tested only within five days of unprotected sex and there is no evidence that it works as anything other than a contraceptive. HRA Pharma of Paris, which makes ella, has no plans to test it as an abortion drug, but it did not appear to cause any problems for the handful of women who became pregnant after taking the drug, according to company officials. Studies involving more than 4,500 women in the United States show ella is safe, causing only minor side effects, such as headaches, nausea, abdominal pain and dizziness, the FDA said.

“Ella will become an important option for women,” said Vanessa Cullins of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, which will market the drug in the United States, hopes to make ella available by the end of the year. The price has not yet been announced.

 source

List of Alkaline Foods

Are You Getting Enough Alkaline Foods in Your Diet?

Maintaining an Acid Alkaline Balance is vital to our health:

‘Your health depends on the balance of an alkaline environment, created by eating foods such as tomatoes, avocados and green vegetables…striking the optimum 80/20 balance and regulating your body’s acid/alkaline chemistry through simple changes in diet can result in weight loss, increased stamina and strength,a stronger immune system and a greater sense of wellbeing.’

Dr Robert O. Young, Pioneering scientist and author of The pH Miracle (click here for Dr Young’s Supplements)

How did we become so out of balance?

After years of societal changes, millions of pounds of marketing spend and technological advances we, as a race, are now facing more dietary based health challenges than ever before.  It is no coincidence that the rapidly growing numbers of cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes correlate almost exactly with the rise in consumption of acid forming foods such as sugars, saturated fats, and white breads. At the same time our consumption of fresh alkaline vegetables and essential fatty acids has decreased dramatically, making way for convenience and a generation hooked on sugary treats.

This is not as difficult or as technical as it sounds.  When we talk about eating alkaline foods or starting an alkaline diet we are referring to consuming those foods and drink which have an alkaline effect on the body.  This effect is based upon the mineral content of the food and therefore the ash residue that remains after our foods are consumed.  Some foods leave an acid ash, whereas others leave an alkaline ash. Conveniently for us, it just so happens that the foods that contain alkaline minerals (and leave an alkaline ash) are all the foods we already know are good for us: low sugar foods, fresh alkaline vegetables etc. And the foods that contain minerals that leave an acid ash? You guessed it, sweets, alcohol, saturated fats, meats, dairy etc.

Of course, everybody is different – but most of us should aim to eat 70-80% alkaline foods and a maximum of 20-30% acid forming foods.

This does not have to be measured in calories, grams or anything technical, just look at your plate! Is 70% of the food on it alkalising? And for the other 30%? You can do with this what you like (how acid is up to you – dependent upon the results you want), but feel free to go for some oily fish, wholemeal pasta or wild rice for example.

The following list is not exhaustive and is taken from the energiseforlife.com 12-week Alkaline Lifestyle Course. This 12-week course guides you through the process of becoming alkaline day-by-day and step-by-step, with hundreds of recipes, meals scheduled for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day (plus snacks) and weekly shopping lists to make sure you have all of the foods you need each and every day.

Click here for more information on the alkaline diet course and to get started right away

source

Mans incredible carelessness and apathy towards keeping our planet pristine and healthy is going to cost us our very existence. – Ras~

First Established Populations of Genetically Modified Plants Found in the Wild

Canola Field Wikimedia Commons

Franken-canola has been found growing along roadsides in North Dakota, in one of the first known cases of genetically modified crops taking hold in the wild. The finding shows that genetically modified canola plants can survive and thrive in the wild perhaps for decades, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America.

Meredith G. Schafer, a graduate student from the University of Arkansas, and colleagues traveled along 3,000 miles of interstate, state and county roads in North Dakota and stopped every five miles to take a sample of a canola plant. Of the 406 plants collected, 80 percent of them had at least one transgene. And in at least two plants, the herbicide-resistant strains had cross-pollinated, resulting in canola resistant to both Roundup and LibertyLink (known chemically as glyphosate and glufosinate).

It’s not that surprising, because most canola plants grown in North Dakota have been genetically modified to resist herbicides, especially Roundup, made by Monsanto, and LibertyLink, made by Bayer. Genetically engineered seeds en route to farmers’ fields might blow off a truck and into roadside fields, where the plants take root. In some spots, the plants were as tightly packed as they would be on farms.

What was surprising was the plants’ prevalence, however — they were found along busy roadsides but also in the middle of nowhere, researcher Cindy Sagers told BBC News.

Genetically modified canola had already been found growing in the wild in Canada, and a canola relative was found in Japan, BBC reported.

St. Louis-based Monsanto said in a statement that the finding should neither be surprising nor alarming, however. Tom Nickson, the environmental policy leader at Monsanto, noted that canola is usually found near roadsides, because the seeds are small and easily carry on the wind.

“Because about 90 percent of the U.S. and Canadian canola crop is biotech, it is reasonable to expect a survey of roadside canola to show similar levels of biotech plants,” he said.

Researchers from North Dakota State University, California State University-Fresno and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also participated in the study.

source

Cancer Cells Use Fructose to Grow: Don’t Blame Us, Says Corn Lobby

Posted by David W Freeman

(CBS) Afraid of fructose? You may have good reason to be, as an alarming new study shows that the popular sweetener can fuel the growth of cancer.

The study, conducted by scientists at UCLA, found that pancreatic cancer cells grew faster when “fed” with fructose. Study author Dr. Anthony Heaney, associate professor of medicine and neurosurgery at the university’s cancer center, said it was likely that fructose would also speed the growth of other cancers as well.

“The bottom line is the modern diet contains a lot of refined sugar including fructose and it’s a hidden danger implicated in a lot of modern diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and fatty liver,” Heaney said in a written statement.

The study was published in the August 1 issue of the journal “Cancer Research.”

Heaney called for government action to reduce American’s consumption of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a leading source of fructose in the Western diet. Fructose also comes from sources such as fruit, vegetables and old fashioned table sugar.

“I think this paper has a lot of public health implications,” Heaney said. “Hopefully, at the federal level there will be some effort to step back on the amount of HFCS in our diets.”

But the corn lobby (high-fructose is made from corn) felt the research left a bitter taste in its mouth.

“This study does not look at the way fructose is actually consumed by humans, as it was conducted in a laboratory, not inside the human body,” the Corn Refiners Association said in a statement, concluding that the root causes of pancreatic cancer are complicated and poorly understood.

Between 1970 and 1990, consumption of high-fructose corn syrup rose 1,000 percent, according to the cancer researchers. The sweetener – a blend of fructose and another sugar called glucose – is found in all sorts of foods and beverages and is the most common sweetener used in American soft drinks.

The association said that overall, sugar is still the most common form of fructose in the American diet.

And don’t be fooled by products which replace high-fructose corn syrup with sugar. They also contain high levels of fructose.

Read the full research here.

Source