Archive | March 2014

How to eat and live healthier with still occasionally eating processed or high in sugar foods!

If you have been trying to lose weight or just want to live healthier to decrease the chance of suffering certain diseases or illnesses that have happened already in America to some people through poor diet and unhealthy habits, than you have come to the right blog.  Today’s article is on knowing what foods to avoid to prevent slowing your metabolism down.   For starters let’s discuss why foods in high sugar content are bad for you.  Understand how the body works.  If you buy and eat foods with the following, especially in large portions=starches, carbohydrates (CHOs), sugars, calories and even some fats depending on what is in the fat (THAT’S WHY YOU READ THE INGREDIENTS) you will cause through digestion a high peak in your blood glucose level.  Even though we see on the label a section called sugars you must understand that starches, CHOs, fats, including calories and sugars breakdown to further simple and complex sugars in the body as a ending result.  When we eat the food it gets into the stomach, the food than through digestive juices/acids cause break down the ingredients into complex or simple sugars which get transferred into the blood stream (fructose and glucose).  Glucose is the prime fuel for the body.  Fuel meaning giving energy to the body so we can function in doing our daily exercises (as simple as range of motion of extremities).  Remember when digestion takes place it utilizes the glucose it needs at that time throughout the body.  If you have a large meal or a small meal high in starch or carbohydrates or sugars or calories the body won’t need to utilize all the break down of these foods which is broken into simpler sugars which gets broken down in the stomach.  So you’ll have extra sugar in the blood.  If the human body was able to dispose of this extra sugar by getting it out of the body naturally we wouldn’t have any obesity.  So when we have bagels with cream cheese, or a Mc muffin or some fast processed food for breakfast than start work followed with going out to eat for lunch at a restaurant nearby work than stop off at a pizzeria to pick up dinner for a pizza with chicken wings and blue cheese dressing followed with ice cream we are dealing with high percentages of sugars (as the ending product from digestion=fat storage=weight gain).   How this works is first the body utilizes the sugar that it needs than the extra sugar still in the bloodstream when it reaches the liver fills up that organ with glucose (active sugar) that is transferred into glycogen (inactive sugar) but remember the liver is like a gas tank where it can only fill up with so much sugar and when it reaches full the sugar left in the blood stream has to go somewhere.  It goes to our fat tissue where it is absorbed=weight gain.  We have to be more disciplined in our eating habits.  Society needs to speak up or just not go to some of these fast food joints since ending line the food is not good for you.  Burger King just came out with a burger topped with fries (what the heck is this going to do for someone’s health).  America wake up to the restaurant industry and know to eat out 2 times or less a week or you will be at a high probability of  putting weight on.  When you eat 3 large meals a day these meals take 6 to 8 hours to digest.  The trick is when you are in body mass index range for your height still eat 6 small meals a day with vegetables/fruits and healthy fiber with one of the 6 meals a day being highest in protein with vegetables/fruit (being 50% of the meal on a 9″ plate, no larger and no second helpings).  The 5 other meals are smaller and low in calories (80-100), carbohydrates (10-12 grams), sugar (4 or less grams) and the protein (about 6 grams).  In between the meals if you feel hungry drink water or have a snack like celery or something similar to it.  What you cause is your sugar intake with your metabolism of the body to stay more at a steady rate (including your sugar level 80-110) if you eat 6 healthy small meals a day.  When you eat a donut, or processed cereal it will cause the sugar to spike up high and cause the metabolism to slow down (Ex. frosted flakes, grape nuts, and I could go on—again read what the ingredients are and what the products version of a serving is).  You feel tired an hour or two after a large meal of unhealthy/processed food or even a healthy but large meal.  Why do you have no problem in the AM with getting to work and getting started for the day?  Well with drinking coffee in AM it takes care of the fatigue due to the caffeine, so you may not realize the impact of how low your metabolism is.   Trust me, I was there once too.  I am still trying to lose but I am getting there.  So what the body actually does is this:  When glucose gets transferred into the bloodstream from the stomach, following the digestion process, and reaches the pancreas which senses the free floating glucose in the bloodstream it then releases insulin into the bloodstream.  Doing this the insulin now allows glucose to transfer into tissues and cells that need it at that time (fuel for energy of the cells and tissues to do their function) and if not needed we end up with extra glucose in the bloodstream.  When it reaches the liver and is sensed by the liver the liver stores it to the full maximal capacity that the organ can handle.  Keep in mind the liver is only so big, so when a individual has a large excess of glucose in the bloodstream from their meal that they just ate it only can store so much.  The liver actually converts the sugar from glucose (active sugar=active fuel) to glycogen (inactive sugar=non-active sugar).  Now if you still have extra glucose in the bloodstream after the liver does its storing the glucose has to go somewhere.  The extra sugar now gets stored into the human fat tissue=weight gain. Fat storage is simply putting weight gain on the person’s body.  If your sugar blood level isn’t kept between 80-110 throughout the day than your metabolism isn’t kept at a steady rate.  Eat 5 days or more a week with 6 small HEALTHY meals a day and treating yourself one or two days a week to treats (only one or two times each day of the one or two days your treating yourself).  In treating yourself 1 to 2 days with not as healthy foods you can do this ONLY if your body mass index is within normal range.  If not than you have to lose weight first. For if you still need to lose weight and you treat yourself to fattening foods or highier sugar content foods you will put your diet behind 3 days, which will prevent you from losing weight.  This is due to the food high in sugar as the ending result of digestion and you cause high fat storage with decreasing your metabolism.  The sacrifice for your body is worth it but during the weight loss period you will even shrink your stomach size naturally.  There are 4 food groups with each group having lean, leaner and the leanest type of foods in that group of the 4.  If you want to learn more about this than go to my website healthyusa.tsfl.com and peek at what we can offer you through Dr. Wayne Scott Anderson with his book “Dr A’s Habits of Health” and even foods to buy if you want them in the beginning of your diet loss which provides health bars to lunches and dinners to desserts of all kinds to all types of shakes/drinks and so much more foods (low in fat/calories/carbs).  Learn how to become healthier for yourself, even spreading the news to family or friends who may become interested and being a great mentor for your children in helping the next generation to be more healthy which would help our health care system to helping our health economy that includes insurance payments for bills at hospitals/doctor’s offices lessened.  Our society has become so unhealthy in diet causing so many increases in diseases/illnesses, including children, (Obesity, Diabetes II, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and more).  Take a look at facebook or UTube with pictures of people in America shopping at Walmart.  It may be funny to a slender individual but it is also outright scary with what’s happening to our country.  Our country has increased drastically in poor health habits that killed our economy with let alone what our health care system with insurance costs are for society.  We could, as a society, turn things around for the better regarding ourselves and others in our country for everyone’s health that would impact every American citizen of all ages in a positive way.  I hope I have impacted someone in this country in wanting to learn more about knowing how to become healthier with making a good change for our country as a diversified whole.  Society has a responsibility and impact on how things run in each of their respective countries but especially in America, since we live in a democracy.  Its common sense if we get better regarding our health overall it will put an impact on our health economy if we don’t our health care system will just get WORSE.  Do mom’s and dad’s want this for their children’s future or their children or even our own lives?  Society has to take a stand, don’t leave it up to our government but leave it up to our citizens in America’s homes with our schools (proper health teaching to the cafeteria food), our restaurant industry (get off of living with such processed and fast foods in our states and lastly our government to an extent.  What does any politician care really have as a top priority being health since their making high incomes to live life up (President Obama upon retirement will be the first President making 450,000 dollars a year).  I know I would be a happy camper too and I could go on with other politicians salaries but I started with the top.  So let’s make a move America and go for the healthier aspect of life.   Take a peek at no fee or charge, no prescription, no foods that you have to buy, no obligation, and no hacking, as well.  You make all the choices in what you want and when you want to stop.  No rip off or that you have to stay on our time frame, it’s all based on yours.  Again, you make all the choices and wouldn’t it be great if we could turn around back the way our health was, not so bad, that our insurance you pay a price that just keeps rising, and you have to go through so many hoops to see the type of doctor you want when onetime it was just a breeze.  Join me, and go to healthyusa.tsfl.com and just take a peek;)  Hope to hear from anyone who would like a doctor (Dr. Anderson) and free coach (myself) for guidance in making America a healthier country.  Please leave a comment; I would love to hear your opinion.

Part 2 What ingredients do we need in our diet for our EYES.

What ingredientsdo we need in our dieting that is so vital for the eyes to stay at their healthiest level?  Well Lutein and Zeaxanthin (Pronounced loo’teen and Zee’-a-zan-thin)-Powerful antioxidants naturally present in the macula (the part of the retina that is responsible for central vision).  Remember damage to the retina causes some degree of lack of vision to 100% blind.  Lutein and Zeaxanthin are critical for helping to filter out harmful blue light, which can damage the macula.  These vital antioxidants cannot be produced by our bodies on their own, so they must be obtained through diet and/or supplements (ex. Ocuvite Supplements in the store).                                               

Another ingredient we need in our diet is Omega 3 Fatty Acids which is a family of fatty acids that help protect our eyes by keeping them healthy.  Omega 3 is an important structural lipid in the retina and helps support proper function; and is vital for the health of your eyes as you age.  Lastly it helps promote healthy tear production necessary for healthy and comfortable eyes.                                                                                                                                              Other Nutrients Antioxidants Vitamins C and E, Zinc and beta carotene. They help protect eyes from oxidative stress (Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen speciesand a biological system’s ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage and oxidative stress can cause disruptions in normal mechanisms of cellular signaling.  It is thought to be involved in the development of many diseases.)

What Your Diet or Daily Health Habits May Be Missing:

Many dark leafy greens and brightly colored vegetables (including orange foods) are rich in Lutein and Zeaxanthin.  We all heard about carrots (to get Beta-carotene)                             

Oil-rich fish such as tuna and salmon along with nuts and fortified eggs are an excellent source of omega-3s.  Omega-3s:  A family of fatty acids that help protect the eye to keep it healthy, another important nutrient for your eyes

Unfortunately, many of us do not consume enough of these eye-healthy foods in our daily diets. What should you have in your diet to eat per day to equal the amount of Lutein and Zeaxanthin you should have daily:   5 cups of  broccoli, 6 cups of corn, 1 ounce of salmon or 4 ounces of tuna.  A lot of vegetables in cups but if you mix your foods in the 4 food groups that are healthy for the eye or just simply take supplements that your doctor recommends for eye health you won’t be eating cups and cups of vegetables if you don’t like the taste.

*Other foods high in omega 3 are halibut, spinach, collard and kale.

VITAL NUTRIENTS FOR GETTING THE EYES HEALTHY.                      

Many eye diseases can’t be avoided (like born blind) but there are many diseases that could have been avoided through prevention tactics in what you eat and in what you practice as your daily habits.  For example some that could be prevented if not slowed down or suppressed in the intensity of the disease can be Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Cataracts, Dry Eye Syndrome and more.

Factors that also influence how our eyes turn out are:

Being overweight or obese is a factor that increases your risk of developing diabetes and other systemic conditions which can lead to vision loss, such as diabetic eye disease (macular degeneration) or even glaucoma.  If  you’re having trouble maintaining a healthy weight, talk to your doctor or go to my website with Dr. Anderson available to help you understand how the body works with calories/sugars, carbohydrates, starches, fats, and sugars; with understanding how portions of meals work with digestion and how it can put weight on the body.

If you do a lot of work daily on a computer or on any one thing, your eyes may forget to blink or get very fatigued, so attempt to do every 20 minutes looking away from the computer or one thing your focused on for hours (like at work) for 20 seconds.  This helps your eyes in reducing eyestrain (it is an actually an exercise for the eye).                                                                          

Clean your hands and your contact lenses properly.  This is to avoid local infection in the eye.  Always wash your hands before putting in and taking out the contact lenses.  Follow your doctors and contact lenses website in keeping your eyes healthy and safe with using their service for your lenses.                                                                                                                                      Practice workplace eye safety as their organization policy and procedure states but also use common sense with wearing eye goggles when doing work around the house that puts you at risk for eye damage (like weed whacking, painting, using saws etc…)

How do you go about this if you need help in knowing what good foods of all the 4 food groups are, with knowing how to lose weight permanently without going on diets for 3 or 6 or 24 months than gaining it all back again including knowing how the body works with 3 meals a day as opposed to 6 small meals a day (one of them being a meat and vegetable meal that is lean in fat and green in vegetables with other colorful veggies added to it if you want) and understanding how the average American eats (especially with fast foods on a regular basis) with disease?  Did you know you get a physician (Dr. Anderson) and a health coach (me a RN 25 years plus) for FREE?

Go to healthyusa.tsfl.com and there you will learn the answers to all these questions you have and if you decide to become a member after viewing over what we have to offer to you with the viewing for no charge, no prescription, no obligation, and no hacking site!  Our country needs to live healthier and you can get started through this site and eventually become independent or even stay with us but you make all the choices, no one else.  You might be so happy with what you see you’ll even spread the good cheer and pass on the knowledge to family and friends making our country healthier.  We have to start somewhere.  Our health care system is in a disaster but gradually improving and lets add to improving it for us now and ten years from now and for future generations to decrease the amount of disease and illness in our country with giving our government a reason to decrease the price in our health care system (including insurances).  I hope you take a peek at healthyusa.tsfl.com and come aboard with me and so many others in trying to get healthier for themselves including helping others in America and far.  By the way I have lost 22 pounds and love the food.  Take a look, it doesn’t cost you anything. Why not?  Please if you have any diseases or illnesses on your mind with questions that you have let me know in my comment section and I will personally try to make it the next article if not sometime that week.  Thank you for reading my post.

Let’s get healthier in America!  We need to decrease disease and illness with decreasing our expenditure in the health care system (including insurance prices).  One way in doing that is getting healthy, if we all took part it would decrease or lower our disease and illness percentage more in America.  To do that we have to become better in our diets and health habits for us now, our children later and future generations who will have a harder economy to live in then.  Let us all learn about diseases and illnesses and how to prevent them.  Go to my blog striveforgoodhealth.com and for free learn each day about the ones I discuss.  Today’s article is on the EYES.  Take a peek;)

QUOTE FOR WEDNESDAY

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”


Gail Devers(born November 19, 1966 & is a retired three-time Olympic champion in track and field for the US Olympic Team.

EYES and how our health is vital in keeping this organ working.

Like all organs if your diet is not healthy you’ll effect their functioning, including your eyes.  Take for example the ingredients you include in the foods & fluids you eat.  Just like how some drink from one up to three thousand cc’s of water a day to help prevent dehydration in their tissues if they work out daily from a gym to running miles outside OR take someone who simply includes calcium in their diet for their bones.  Well what is good for the eyes and what can you do to help both your eyes?

Get an annual comprehensive dilated eye exam, know your families eye history since many eye diseases are through heredity, eat an eye healthy & well-balanced diet rich in salmon, tuna, dark leafy greens, colored vegetables and fruits, wear sunglasses with UV protection and avoid smoking (which effects the body everywhere, including the eyes).

What ingredients do we need in our dieting that is so vital for the eyes to stay at their healthiest level?  Well Lutein and Zeaxanthin (Pronounced loo’teen and Zee’-a-zan-thin)-Powerful antioxidants naturally present in the macula (the part of the retina that is responsible for central vision).  Remember damage to the retina causes some degree of lack of vision to 100% blind.  Lutein and Zeaxanthin are critical for helping to filter out harmful blue light, which can damage the macula.  These vital antioxidants cannot be produced by our bodies on their own, so they must be obtained through diet and/or supplements (ex. Ocuvite Supplements in the store).                                               

Another ingredient we need in our diet is Omega 3 Fatty Acids which is a family of fatty acids that help protect our eyes by keeping them healthy.  Omega 3 is an important structural lipid in the retina and helps support proper function; and is vital for the health of your eyes as you age.  Lastly it helps promote healthy tear production necessary for healthy and comfortable eyes.  *                                                                                                                                             Other Nutrients Antioxidants Vitamins C and E, Zinc and beta carotene. They help protect eyes from oxidative stress (Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen speciesand a biological system’s ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage and oxidative stress can cause disruptions in normal mechanisms of cellular signaling.  It is thought to be involved in the development of many diseases.)

Part 2 A healthy heart expands the life, by far.

There is many of us in this world with knowing how our activity/exercise, eating, and habits could be better for health but do little action if any on our own to change it, which is a large part for certain diseases being so high in America (diabetes, stroke, cardiac diseases=high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis to CHF and more).  If people were more healthier and more active regarding these diseases alone it would decrease in population creating a positive impact on how our health system with insurance presently (a disaster) with our economy for many could get better.  A healthy heart can pump to all parts of the body in a few seconds which is good cardiac output from the organ but when it gets hard for the heart to keep up with its regular routine it first compensates to eventually it decompensates causing ischemia (lack of oxygen to the heart tissue).  It’s like any tissue in the body, lack of oxygen=lack of nutrients to the body tissue=STARVATION and with lack of oxygen will come PAIN eventually to death if not treated.  Take the heart, if it isn’t getting enough oxygen it can go into angina.  That is reversible since it is heart pain due to not enough oxygen to the heart tissue=no damage but if left untreated what will occur is a heart attack=myocardial infarction (MI) and is permanent damage because scarring to the heart tissue takes place.                                                                              Let’s understand what the heart can develop over time with an unhealthy heart due to bad health habits.  If you are eating too much for too long foods high in sodium your vessels will narrow in size.  By allowing this you increase the pressure in the vessels that increases your blood pressure called hypertension.  If you are also inactive you are at risk of obesity which puts stress on the heart and in time causing high B/P.  Constantly be in a high B/P and this could cause the vessel to rupture (at the heart=possible heart attack, at the brain=possible stroke, also called CVA with both on high occurrences in our population of the US.).   With bad habits (especially poor diet, inactive, and smoking) you can cause over time atherosclerosis=a blockage in the artery with the resolution surgery (from a cardiac catheterization up your groin or having difficulty in the arm to the heart where an angiogram to an angioplasty with possibly a stent is performed or if the blockage to blockages is so bad a CABG=coronary artery bypass=a 6hr plus operation where diversion of a vein from your leg (donor graft site) around the blockage is done.  Smoking can lead to this but it also can cause your vessels to become brittle=arteriosclerosis.  Healthy Habits would impact a positive result for all people who have had this diagnosis before but most important be a great PREVENTATIVE measure for people not diagnosed with cardiac disease.    There are 4 things you have no control over heredity, age, sex, and race but healthy habits are sure to benefit you by keeping the odds down of you inheriting, help your age factor, and race a lot can be associated with eating cultural habits.                                                                                                                                                          If you make the decision to live a life that’s healthy for your heart through proper eating, doing healthy habits and doing some exercise or activity with balancing rest in your busy schedule and would like direction or want to expand your diet/exercise/healthy habits then you came to the right blog.  Go to my website for no fee, no charge, no hacking, just letting you check us out to look further in understanding how to take a healthier shape for your life with Dr. Anderson and even myself as your health coach in helping you learn what healthier habits or changes you feel you need and want for a healthier way of living. It allows you to make all the decisions in what you want to do regarding your health.  Includes what to eat (diet), what exercise/activity, and what healthy habits you want to add in your life.  We just provide the information and healthy foods in your diet through information to broaden your knowledge even a catalog on diet foods, if you so choose to do so.  You make all the choices.  Wouldn’t you want less heart disease or obesity or diabetes for yourself and for others throughout the nation including the future generations?  Than join me and others.  Thank you for taking the time to read my article in how we can help you with others gets healthier you including a healthier USA.  Click onto heathyusa.tsfl.com and I hope to hear from you soon.  If you like what you see spread the good cheer.   Let’s build a stronger foundation regarding HEALTH in America.

QUOTE FOR MONDAY

“We’ve all seen chicken portrayed as the low-fat, heart-healthy alternative to red meat for years, but it no longer adds up. You might want to lean away from eating birds and lean toward more plant-based options of protein like black beans, lentils, tofu, chickpeas and whole grains.”

Kathy  Freston  ( is an American  self-help  author of vegan  books and contributor to The Huffington Post).

Part 1 A healthy heart expands the life, by far.

A Healty heart expands the life, by far.

The heart is like the engine to a car but for us it’s the “pump” for the human body; without the engine the car won’t run and without the pump we won’t live.  The normal size of the heart is about the size of your fist, maybe a little bigger.  It pumps blood continuously through your entire circulatory system.  The heart consists of four chambers, 2 on the right and 2 on the left.  The right side only pumps high carbon dioxide levels of blood, after all the oxygen was used by the tissues and returns to the heart in the right upper chamber and leaves to the lung from the right lower chamber.  From the lungs it than goes to the left side of the heart now, which is a very short distance as opposed to where the left side pumps the blood.  The L side of the heart pumps blood to the feet, brain and all tissues in between with high oxygen levels of blood.   This is why the L side of the heart does more work than the R side since the blood leaving the L side has a longer distance in distributing oxygen.  The heart pumps the blood with high oxygen blood levels to reach all your tissues and cells, going to the feet, brain, and to all other tissues in between returning home again to the right side of the heart (upper chamber) to get sent to the lungs again for more oxygen.  This is why the muscle on the L side of the heart is larger than the right, it works harder.  Every time your heart beats (the sound we call lub dub) the organ is sending out a cardiac output of blood either to the lungs for more oxygen or to the body tissues through the aorta to give oxygenated blood to your tissues and cells.  This is the mechanics of how the heart works in our body.                                                                                                                            Let’s see what can occur if the heart doesn’t function properly.  If your heart is not pumping out a sufficient amount in your cardiac output to either the lungs (from rt. Side) or to the tissues (from the lt. side) than it tries to work harder where it does ok at first but over time weakens.  As this weak heart struggles to pump blood the muscle fibers of the heart stretch.  Over time, this stretching leaves the heart with larger, weaker chambers.  The heart enlarges (cardiomegaly).   If this continues to go on this could go into R or L sided heart failure.  When this happens, blood that should be pumped out of the heart backs up in the lungs (L sided failure) or in the tissues (R sided failure).  The side the failure is on doesn’t allow proper filling of the chambers on that side and back up happens; so if on the L the fluids back up in the lungs or the R the fluids first back up in the veins which can expand to hold extra blood but at some point dump the extra fluids in your tissues (This is edema in feet first due to gravity).   This is all due to overloading of the blood not filling up in the chambers of the heart to make a good cardiac output of blood and in time the fluid backs up (bad pumping=backup of blood=fluid overload in the lungs (pulmonary congestion) to fluid staying in the skin (first the lower extremities due to gravity=feet which we call edema working its way up the legs.).  This condition in time with no treatment will go into congestive heart failure (CHF) to the other side of the heart if not controlled.  CHF can range from mild to severe.   There is 670,000 cases are diagnosed with this every year and is the leading cause of hospitalization in people over 65 y/o.  Causes of CHF are: heart attack, CAD (coronary artery disease), cardiomyopathy, conditions that overwork the heart like high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity (These diseases can be completely preventable or at least well controlled).