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Dedicated Insurance Professionals you know and trust...like Family |
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Issue No. 2 | February 14, 2012 |
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Greetings!
Red is a vibrant color. It is guaranteed to brighten your complexion, add zip to your walk, and focus all eyes on you. The month of February is Red Hot for more than one reason. February is the month for celebrating love. February is also American Heart Month.
American Heart Month is about choosing a healthy lifestyle to keep heart disease away. Heart Disease is one of the leading causes of death for both men and women in the United States. Diseases and conditions can put your heart at a greater risk from death and disability. 
It has been the goal of TACT, this month in particular, to help you make a commitment to reduce or control the factors that you can change:
.Increase your physical activity
.Manage stress
.Watch your weight
.Know your cholesterol numbers
.Control your blood pressure
.Quit tobacco use
.Drink, eat in moderation
.Control your diabetes
Check out our featured articles! Visit us!
TACT - Dedicated Insurance Professionals you know and trust...like Family.
Sincerely,
Stoney Jackson
Executive Director
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To Your Health...
Less Discussed Risk Factors
Don't be misled by believing that only smokers, the obese, or those over 50 are at risk for heart attacks.
Women of any age that have had their uterus removed have a 3 times greater risk of heart attack or stroke than those whose reproductive organs are intact. If the ovaries were also removed, the risk increases to 5.5 times that of a healthy woman of the same age.
Up to 10% of all heart attacks happen to men younger than 45. The same coronary artery disease (CAD) that causes the devastation in older adults causes most of the heart attacks in young men. However, some premature heart attack victims have defects in an artery, clotting anomalies, artery spasms or inflammation. And many of them may have anger management issues.
Anger Can Break Your Heart
Research indicates that stress, anger, and a short fuse are as much a risk factor for a heart attack as obesity, smoking, or a sedentary lifestyle. We have known that a high stress life can help lead to a heart attack, but long term studies indicate that high levels of anger and cynicism take that risk to a much higher level in men 20-45.
Hostile feelings cause the liver to dump cholesterol into the bloodstream. Anger also causes your liver to release a chemical called catecholamine. This chemical cause fat deposits to build up faster in the heart and arteries.
Learning to live without anger may decrease your chances of a heart attack by decreasing the amount of cholesterol your liver releases. A side effect of this potential increase in longevity is that you will be happier, and so will those around you. Courtesy Healthstatus.com
Health Note: An in depth interactive Heart Attack Risk Assessment Calculator can be found online at www.heart.org. The tool is designed to help one assess the risk of having a heart attack or dying from coronary heart disease in the next 10 years.
TACT urges you to contact your local physician for cardiac and health assessments.
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Heart Healthy agriculture
Beef's Role in a Heart Healthy
Diet Confirmed
The following is a press release from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association December 2011
WASHINGTON - In a first of its kind study, researchers at The Pennsylvania State University demonstrated that eating beef everyday as part of a heart-healthy diet can improve cholesterol levels. Texas medical doctor and cattleman Richard Thorpe said the Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet (BOLD) study proves what he has known for years - lean beef not only tastes great but it also plays an important role in a heart-healthy diet.
"As a father, medical doctor and beef producer, I have proudly and confidently served my family beef and have recommended it to my patients for years," Thorpe said on behalf of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). "The BOLD study is further proof that Americans should feel good knowing the beef they enjoy eating and serving their loved ones is not only a nutrient-rich, satisfying food that provides 10 essential nutrients in about 150 calories but is good for their heart health as well."
The BOLD study, which was funded by the Beef Checkoff, will appear in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in January. The study followed 36 men and women with moderately elevated cholesterol levels who consumed four diets for five weeks each to measure the impact of each diet on heart health risk factors, such as LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. The four diets evaluated were BOLD, which included an average of 4 ounces of beef per day; BOLD-PLUS, which included an average of 5.4 ounces of beef per day; the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, which included an average of an ounce of beef per day; and the Healthy American Diet (HAD), which included an average of 0.7 ounces of beef per day.
Subjects following the BOLD and BOLD-PLUS diets experienced a 10 percent decrease in LDL cholesterol from the start of the study. Further, according to the study's outcomes, after five weeks, there were significant reductions in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in the BOLD, BOLD-PLUS and DASH diets compared to the HAD.
"This research adds to the body of evidence concluding that there are heart-health benefits to including lean beef in your daily diet," said Shalene McNeill, PhD, RD, and executive director, human nutrition research for NCBA, which is a contractor for the Beef Checkoff. "The BOLD study provides strong evidence that including daily lean beef in the gold-standard DASH diet has heart health benefits."
McNeill said the BOLD and BOLD-PLUS diets are easy to follow as many recipes used in the BOLD study were from The Healthy Beef Cookbook, which includes a collection of healthy beef recipes.
"As families across the country prepare their holiday meals this month, lean beef is a perfect fit," McNeill said. "Americans should feel confident putting beef on their dinner table knowing that it is part of the solution to building a nutrient-rich, well-balanced and heart-healthy diet."
Click here to read why women need fat. View this and more on our Facebook Page! 
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Healthcare Updates -
news affecting you...
Legal Battles Continue Over the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act
February 6 - Two more key deadlines in the legal battle over the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
The 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) who are suing the federal government over the law, and the Justice Department had until 5:00 p.m. EST to file briefs about the central question of the their lawsuit-whether or not Congress overstepped its constitutional authority with the individual mandate provisions of the law.
As of February 6, they were likely to argue that Congress does not have the constitutional authority to make the purchase of any product (like health insurance) a requirement of citizenship, and that if the individual mandate in PPACA is upheld, it could trigger countless other mandates and lead to unprecedented government intervention in the lives of individual citizens.
The states and NFIB also required to file their briefs concerning the applicability, or lack thereof, of the Anti-Injunction Act in this case. The Anti-Injunction Act is a relatively obscure federal law that specifies entities may not sue over a tax until it has actually been levied. If the individual mandate's penalty requirements are deemed an applicable tax in this case, then it could prevent the Supreme Court from reaching a decision on the mandate's constitutionality until it goes into effect in 2014.
All parties in the case (the states, the NFIB and the Obama administration) have stipulated that they believe the Anti-Injunction Act is not relevant to this matter. However, a lower court ruled in a separate PPACA challenge that the Anti-Injunction Act did apply, and so the Supreme Court has called for arguments about its potential applicability in this case and has appointed independent counsel to argue in its favor.
States, Business Group Urge Supreme Court To Strike Down Healthcare Mandate
February 7 - The Hill (Baker) reports in its "Healthwatch" blog, "The opponents of President Obama's healthcare law told the Supreme Court on Monday that upholding the law's individual mandate would mark a 'revolution' in government power." The Hill continues, "Twenty-six state attorneys general and the National Federation of Independent Business filed briefs with the high court Monday on the central question of whether the mandate is constitutional. The Obama administration filed its merits brief on the mandate last month."
February 7 - The Washington Times (Cunningham) reports, "In a brief filed with the court, the National Federation of Independent Businesses charged that the law essentially forces citizens to subsidize insurance companies that must provide far-broader coverage than under previous rules. 'The mandate is an unprecedented and draconian regulation that fails to accommodate the states' traditional regulatory role and compels individuals to subsidize legal strangers through economically disadvantageous contracts,' the business federation said in its brief."
Also covering the story are Reuters (2/7), CQ (2/7, Norman, Subscription Publication), and another CQ (2/7, Norman, Subscription Publication) article.
PPACA Relative to Texas
Although Governor Perry has indicated that the state will take no steps towards PPACA implementation until after the Supreme Court rules this summer and the results of the November presidential election are known, the House Insurance and Public Health Committees will hold a joint hearing on February 27 to discuss costs and other impacts on the state relative to PPACA implementation. The hearing will also address any potential changes to the state due to pending PPACA litigation or the potential for federal legislative modification or repeal.
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Facebook 
Feature Articles
to view and read more!
Like it or not, healthcare reform is coming to Texas, and it's dragging health insurance into the modern age.
In this state, lawmakers and businesses embrace the mantra of free markets and low regulation. Regulators don't have the authority to reject increases in health insurance premiums. They didn't even bother with a rate review unless an increase topped 50 percent a year -- a threshold that speaks volumes about the role of limited government here.
Under the new federal healthcare law, a 10 percent increase triggers a rate review. Last week, Aetna disclosed that premiums for four small group plans in Texas would rise 12.5 to 13.1 percent, effective April 1. Together, the plans cover 95,000 people.
Some states publish such information regularly, but not Texas. Now the healthcare law requires that the reviews be posted on a federal website, healthcare.gov. The entries include the insurers' explanation for the increase, a breakdown of how the extra money will be spent (19 percent is slated for doctors, Aetna writes), and the rate changes in the previous three years.
Eventually, Texas regulators will weigh in on whether the increase is reasonable. That may put more heat on insurers, but in this state, none has to reduce the amount.
Click on the above, Facebook Link to access this article in its entirety and to share your concerns or comments with TACT. To read more, you may also click here.
As part of a plan to improve the nutritional quality of the food it sells, Walmart said that it would begin placing a label with the words Great for You on its Great Value and Marketside food items.
Do you shop at Wal-Mart? What are your thoughts? Like Us on Facebook to read the entire article, then share your thoughts! We would love to hear from you!
Keeping up with Stoney's weightloss journey?
For those that are following Stoney's Challenge to step up and lose weight and get better fit and improve his lifestyle we submit the following:
Two weeks ago today you will remember that he weighed in at 252 pounds. We are happy to report that last week he weighed in at 236.2 pounds. That is just shy of 16 pounds in the last two weeks.
In addition to losing weight he has also lost inches. He has been wearing....... XL and XXL shirts for a long time. Today he is wearing a size "Large" for the first time in a very long time. Yes he is going to need to change his wardrobe!
His pant size has not shrunk much but for those that know Stoney he didn't have much to lose in that area it was his core, gut, that he needed to lose.
Additional Information. Stoney's Edge: On January 24, 2012 he started drinking two shakes a day of a product from Visalus Sciences to replace two meals per day. He reports it taste good, gives him more energy and he is never huingry and its affordable. Want to know more give Stoney a call or visit his personal website http://sjackson@txagcoop.com.bodybyvi.com
and see if this isn't the edge that you need as well!
Stay tuned he isn't done with this Challenge. It is a 90 day Challenge so who knows what will happen. But for now everything is looking good! Stoney would love to visit with you about the new and exciting product he is using. Visit Stoney's webiste, communicate and keep up with his progress on Facebook! Here's to your good health!!
Healthful Hints:
Need Energy? It's three o'clock in the afternoon and your body is telling you it's naptime. Time to reach for the coffee or chocolate, right? WAIT! Caffeine and candy will just exacerbate the problem. Instead, try these natural energy boosters: Get moving! Just ten minutes of activity-especially outdoors-can do the trick. Stretch! Gentle stretching revitalizes the whole body. Dehydration is a major cause of low energy - continue to sip on water throughout the day. Potassium and magnesium are important minerals that the body needs in order to provide an energy boost. Fruits, especially bananas, beans, nuts and most vegetables, have potassium and magnesium that will help boost energy and increase energy. Keep fruits and nuts handy to battle the mid-day energy slump and see the difference.
Sleep Keeps Your Heart Healthy. Heart attacks and strokes are more common during the early morning hours. This fact may be explained by the way sleep interacts with the blood vessels. Lack of sleep has been associated with worsening of blood pressure and cholesterol, all risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Your heart will be healthier if you get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night.
Visit www.healthyheartsleep.com and www.sleeptracks.com
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Texas Ag Coop Trust
1802 East 50th St., Ste. 107
Lubbock, TX 79404 806-747-7894
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Texas Ag Coop Trust
Officers, Board of Trustees
George Reed, Chairman United Farm Industries Plainview, TX
Gregg Allen, Secretary Olton Grain Coop Olton, TX
Jim Turner Dalhart Consumers Fuel Association Dalhart, TX
Paul Wilson United Cotton Growers Levelland, TX
Cary Eubanks Slaton Coop Gin Slaton, TX
Dean Sasser Farmers Coop Elevator Levelland, TX
Bret Brown Sunray Coop Sunray, TX
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Texas Ag Coop Trust
is endorsed by:
Texas Grain & Feed
Association
Texas Cotton Ginners Association
Texas Coop Marketing Exchange |
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 Knowledge is Power
Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the United States. Each year more women die from cardiovascular disease (including stroke) than the next six causes of death combined, including breast cancer. For twenty years, the rate of men dying from heart disease has been declining, but the rate is not meant to decieve. It is important to take action now and to assess individual risk factors. Both men and women need to pay attention to weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure, and above all, the need to quit smoking. Becoming active, having a healthy diet, and following doctors' advice for medications can treat most risks. It is important to pay attention to these factors at any age. Knowledge is power. Know your family history and know your personal risk factors. You are the only one who has the power to improve your heart health.
Newsletter Archives will be available with the next issue of InTACT. Should you have comments and/or suggestions, we welcome them! Again, YOU ARE OUR BUSINESS.
TACT - Dedicated Insurance Professionals you know and trust...like Family. Welcome!
Sincerely,
Stoney Jackson
Executive Director
Texas Ag Co-op TrustNext Issue: February 28, 2012 |
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