Posted on November 3, 2007 in:
Health
The Internet has been flooded with false email warnings to avoid freezing water in plastic bottles so as not to get exposed to carcinogenic dioxins. One hoax email has been erroneously attributed to Johns Hopkins University since the spring of 2004. The Office of Communications and Public Affairs discussed the issue with Rolf Halden, PhD, PE, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and the Center for Water and Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Halden received his masters and doctoral degrees researching dioxin contamination in the environment. We sat down with him to set the record straight on dioxins in the food supply and the risks associated with drinking water from plastic bottles and cooking with plastics.
Question: What are dioxins?
Answer: Dioxins are organic environmental pollutants sometimes referred to as the most toxic compounds made by mankind. They are a group of chemicals, which include 75 different chlorinated molecules of dibenzo-p-dioxin and 135 chlorinated dibenzofurans. Some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) also are referred to as dioxin-like compounds. Exposure to dioxins can cause chloracne, a severe form of skin disease, as well as reproductive and developmental effects, and more importantly, liver damage and cancer.
Question: Where do dioxins come from?
Answer: We always thought dioxins were man-made compounds produced inadvertently during the bleaching of pulp and manufacturing of pesticides like Agent Orange and other chlorinated aromatics. But dioxins in sediments from lakes and oceans predate these human activities. It is now generally accepted that a principal source of dioxins are various combustion processes, including natural events such as wild fires and even volcanic eruptions.
Today, the critical issue is the incineration of waste, particularly the incineration of hospital waste, which contains a great deal of polyvinyl chloride and aromatic compounds that can serve as dioxin precursors. One study examined the burning of household trash in drums in the backyard. It turns out that these small burnings of debris can put out as much or more dioxins as a full-sized incinerator burning hundreds of tons of refuse per day. The incinerators are equipped with state-of-the-art emission controls that limit dioxin formation and their release into the environment, but the backyard trash burning does not. You set it ablaze and chemistry takes over. What happens next is that the dioxins are sent into the atmosphere where they become attached to particles and fall back to earth. Then they bind to, or are taken up, by fish and other animals, where they get concentrated and stored in fat before eventually ending up on our lunch and dinner plates. People are exposed to them mostly from eating meat and fish rich in fat.
Question: What do you make of this recent email warning that claims dioxins can be released by freezing water in plastic bottles?
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Posted on October 15, 2007 in:
Health
These type of Exercises generally makes your body strong and firm. No matter, you are Exercising or Muscle Building or Body Building, these exercises are quite handy and help a lot.
Here are few Anytime and Anywhere Exercises:-
a) Crunch
Lie down on the floor on your back with your feet up on the couch or something. Give support to your neck with the help of cushion. Place your buttocks as near as possible to the couch. Lock your elbows. Now slowly raise your head off the ground just a few inches. Hold on to the raised position for 2 secs and then slowly come down.
Repeat this exercise 20 times to make one set.It will really build your abs and you will feel it.
b) Raising your Toes and then coming down.
Stand on a floor flatfooted with toes pointing straight.Hold onto something to balance yourself. Now VERY SLOWLY, raise your toes as high as possible. Hold on for 2 secs and come down very gently and slowly. Repeat it 20 times to make one set.
c) Push ups
Lie down on the floor facing towards the floor with your body weight on your palms.Now slowly , push your body up keeping your back straight and facing right ahead. Hold onto 2 secs and then slowly bring your body back to the starting position.
Repeat it 5-10 times in the beginning and then try to practice this exercise 20 times per set.
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Posted on October 9, 2007 in:
Health
Who among us can truly say that they are as lean and toned as they ever want to be? Most people, even the fitness buffs, are in a constant fluctuation between their ideal body and a body that is not quite ideal. So how do we sway this struggle in our favor? Quite often the difference between the body that you have today and the body that you wish you had is made up of simple daily decisions. Read on for simple fitness and weight loss pointers that could very well turn the body you have today into a masterpiece tomorrow!
· Eating small meals every 2-3 waking hours will increase your metabolism and reduce fat storage. Make sure that these are healthy meals containing protein, carbohydrates and fat.
· The easiest way to effortlessly lose weight is to not eat three hours before bed. It has been proven that not eating three hours before bed reduces fat storage throughout the night.
· Eating a balanced diet is key in maintaining a healthy body weight. The American Council on Exercise suggests that this balance break down into 12-20% protein, 55-65% carbohydrates, and 25-30% fat.
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Posted on October 8, 2007 in:
Health
You can make great strides in your sport performance in the weight room. Because strength training can break down a lot of muscle tissue I recommend weight work be done in the foundation or base period. This does not mean you will not continue to build strength throughout the season. Hill running, slow cadence cycling work outs, and resisted swim work outs are all forms of strength training that are specific to disciplines. Weight training should smoothly transition into strength training in your disciplines.
As your season progresses, and your intensity increases, weight work can be detrimental to your more specific work outs and events. Your legs may need up to 72 hours to fully recover from a weight work out. This is a big block of the week to give up performance in other areas. Just like your training plan your strength plan will go through specific phases. Endurance athletes should not use body building plans that are focused on muscle mass gains. This can actually be counter productive for a distance athlete. Each phase will have a specific purpose such as acclimation, hypertrophy, muscular endurance and power. If you are weak on sprints and jumps, you may want to emphasize more power training. If you are weak on climbs, muscular endurance is a good focus. If you are generally weak, or new to strength training, I recommend a slightly longer period with the weights. Shorter distance athletes may want to emphasize more strength work for speed, while longer distance athletes, that are more slow twitch, will not need as much weight work.
Listen to your body and avoid overreaching yourself with the weights. This is especially important in the very beginning of your plan. You may feel the need to push yourself, but you may also not be walking well the next day. This is due to micro trauma in the muscles or small muscle tears. These tears have to heal up before you get stronger, so take it easy. You may also find yourself more tired, and you may need more sleep during the initial acclimation period. Make sure you refuel after a strength work out just like you would any other.
Core strength is crucial to protecting your back during lifting. I recommend using a variety of exercises to strengthen all core muscles every other day. Core strength also will help with your running, biking, and swimming ability. If your muscles are very sore, do not overstretch them. This may re-injure the micro trauma that occurred during training and slow the healing process. Light stretching and recovery work is recommended. I do not use a weight belt. These belts are for power lifter who wants to increase inter-abdominal pressure for max lifts. They may actually make your back weaker. Do not use a belt to exceed your limits. In fact you should be no where near this type of lifting. I like to perform my core strength at the end of my work out. Performing core exercises first may leave them too fatigued to properly support you.
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