October 22, 2007

WHAT'S THE BEST AB EXERCISE EVER?
The bicycle maneuver is number one. Biomechanics researchers at San Diego State University hooked up exercisers to an electromyograph machine and determined that the bicycle maneuver worked the rectus abdominis muscles 150 percent harder than a crunch. Lie on your back, hands behind your head, and crunch your left knee to your right elbow; using a pedaling motion, alternate sides. If your abs are covered by a layer of fat, cut 250 to 500 calories a day from your diet (or 10 to 20 percent of the calories it takes to maintain your current weight). Focus on eliminating refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and pasta. Don't bother working your abs more often. It takes 250,000 crunches to burn 1 pound of fat -- that's about 100 crunches a day for 7 years. (Men's Health)

DID YOU KNOW that a glass of fresh pomegranate juice a day may help slow the growth of prostate tumors in men? A new study, conducted by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center suggests that. The study was published in a recent issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research. According to the authors, prostate cancer patients who drank an eight-ounce serving of daily pomegranate juice experienced significantly reduced growth of tumor cells. While researchers were not yet prepared to issue a blanket endorsement of pomegranate juice for prostate cancer sufferers, the study's authors did suggest that slowing metastasis of cancer cells can delay the need for more invasive and costly therapies. (LifeScript)

DID YOU KNOW how many people in the world died from smoking in the year 2000? You might be surprised to find that during that year, almost 5 million smokers died – most of which were men. Smoking leads to cardiovascular disease, pulmonary diseases, and lung cancer – 3 very good reasons to kick the habit. And another study also found that more than 50% of all the deaths (that’s over 2.5 million people) were in smokers aged 30-69. Still think you’re invisible to the deadly effects of smoking, think again! And don't forget about the second-hand smoke that makes victims of those around you.

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