| Don't Let Tricky Food Label Claims Fool You! | |
Food manufacturers like to entice you to buy their product so they use bright colors on the packages, inviting photosof the products and they make some sort of nutritional or health claim on the label. If a product is reduced in fat or made with natural ingredients, for example, it's got to be a healthy food right? Maybe of maybe not. While the claims made on food labels are regulated, they can be a little deceiving. so you need to do a little detective work before you buy any food product with a nutrition or health claim on the label.
TRANS-FAT FREE
Trans-fats are bad for you so you want to avoid them, but the words "trans-fat free" can be stated on any product that has less than 0.5 grams of trans-fat per serving. To be sure your product is truly trans-fat free, check out the ingredients list to look for partially hydrogenated oils. If they're on the ingredient list, there probably is some trans-fat in your product. And not to mention that the product still may contain loads of fats and calories as well.
REDUCED OR LOWERED FAT, SUGAR OR SODIUM
When a label states the above, it means the product has at least 25% less of that ingredient than that company's regular version of the same product. But the reduction may not always be that significant. Now if the label says "low-fat" or "low- sodium" (instead of reduced fat or sodium), the claim is a bit more specific. Low-fat foods must have less than 3gm total fat per serving and low-sodium fods must contain less than 140gm sodium per serving.
LIGHT OR LITE
For a food to be considered "light" it has to have 1/3 fewer calories, fat or sodium of the regular version of that same product.
NATURAL
Foods that use this claim can't have any synthetic ingredients or additives in the food product. However that doesn't mean the food product is naturally healthy because it may still be high in fats, sodium, sugars and calories. And don't let words like "made with natural sugar" fool you into thinking the product is better for you because it is made with regular refined sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup - they are both bad if consumed in large amounts.
"MADE WITH - "
This claim makes it appear the food has more of the specific ingredient than it really does. For example, if something is labeled as 'made with organic ingredients' - only 70% of the ingredients need to be organic; the remaining 30% don't have to be organic at all. Fully organic foods will state they're '100% Organic'.
Some food labels might carry the claim 'made with whole grains' but that doesn't mean they're 100% whole grain - they may only contain a small amount of whole grain and a substantial amount of refined flours. Look at the ingredient list - if you don't see '100% whole grain" (or 100% whole wheat), find a different product.
LEARN MORE HERE
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Acupuncture & Infertility 
Current statistics state that one in five couples over the age of 30 have difficulty conceiving after one year of trying. Many of these couples are turning to acupuncture and Oriental medicine for a safe, effective and natural solution to have a healthy baby.
Oriental medicine has a long history when it comes to enhancing fertility for both men and women. In fact, evidence that acupuncture and herbal medicine have been used to aid fertility can be found in early medical literature dating back to 3AD.
Fertility treatments were first recorded by Zhang Zhong Jing, a famous physician from the Han Dynasty, in his discussion of diseases in women in the Jin Gui Yao Lue or Essentials of the Golden Cabinet.
How Acupuncture Can Enhance Fertility
According to the principles of Oriental medicine, a person's health is determined by the quality of Qi, the vital life energy, and blood circulating through the body. When Qi and blood are circulating properly, the body is properly nourished and functioning optimally which, in turn, enhances fertility.
Researchers have confirmed its benefit in the following areas:
- Regulate menstrual cycle.
- Improve sperm count and motility.
- Reduce stress and anxiety associated with infertility.
- Normalize hormone and endocrine systems.
- Improve blood flow in the uterus.
- Decrease chance of miscarriage.
- Increase the chance of pregnancy for women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Fertility treatments vary from person to person, but are usually scheduled for at least three consecutive cycles (twelve weeks). Treatments can include acupuncture, customized herbal therapy, stress reduction and dietary counseling. Treatments work alone but are an excellent addition to any Western intervention.
If you have any questions, feel free to call us at either office.
Courtesy of www.acufinder.com
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Yoga, stretching may ease chronic back pain
(Health.com) --People who suffer from chronic back pain may find some relief in yoga or intensive stretching, but neither form of exercise appears to be more effective than the other, a new study suggests.
Roughly 80% of adults experience low back pain at some point in their lives, and as many as 8% will experience chronic symptoms that last three months or longer. Primary care physicians regularly prescribe painkillers and muscle relaxants to these patients with varying degrees of success, or refer patients to physical therapists, chiropractors or other specialists. Many doctors recommend exercise and stretching , but few studies have explored whether certian physical activities are especially effective for back pain patients.
The new study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is a follow-up to a small 2005 trial that found that yoga was slightly better for back pain than a comprehensive exercise program including strength training, aerobics and stretching. The researchers suspected this might have been due to the meditation-like "mental component" of yoga , and they expected to get a similar result this time around.
The study included 228 mentally healthy adults with moderate chronic back pain, most of whom were fairly active in sprite of their pain. The researchers randomly assigned then to one of three groups: One group took weekly 75-minute yoga classes, another too weekly stretching and strength classes, and a control group received a book on coping with back pain. The yoga and stretching groups also received instructional videos and were encouraged to practice at home for 20 min a day between classes.
Three months later, the stretching and yoga participants were far more likely than the people in the control group to report improvement on their back pain. Twice as many participants in these 2 groups (about 40%, versus 20% of in the control group) said they'd decreased their medication use, a trend that persisted 3 months after yoga and stretching classes ended.
But not just any yoga or stretching lcass will do the trick. You will want to avoid vinyasa or "power" yoga classes and should seek out therapeutic and restorative styles instead.
CHECK OUR SCHEDULE FOR CURRENT YOGA CLASSES BEING HELD AT THE TOWSON OFFICE!
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