Lose Belly Fat - Right Approach To A Flatter Stomach

How Do You Lose Belly Fat - Right Approach To A Flatter Stomach

All different kinds of secrets, hints, tips and techniques have been put forth; some by qualified medical professionals, and others by people who don't have any real understanding of the issue. 

In other words, it can be difficult to learn what the truth is about losing belly fat. Not to worry, we will take a look at what's true, and get you well on your way to a flatter tummy.

Let's face it, a flat, firm stomach is consider as a sure sign of sex appeal. However, medical

research has also shown that getting rid of abdominal fat is a strong indication of a longer,

healthier life. 

See, even though you are probably well aware that carrying too much fat on your body isn't good for you, where you carry it has an effect on your health. 

Those who have the most fat in their abdomen have increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and other conditions than those who have extra fat in their thighs, hips and buttock.

It's not going to shock anybody to hear that the best way to lose belly fat is through eating right and regular exercise. Plus, there is an ever- increasing amount of data pointing out that the fastest way to get rid of the fat around your tummy is by combining aerobic exercise and weight training.

A research has been made to prove this with overweight women.

What does this research mean for those that want to get rid of their belly fat?

It means they need to get moving. But exercising harder is only part of the bigger picture.

You also need to exercise smarter.In this case, that means alternating days of aerobic workouts with days where you focus on weight training. 

But the real key isn't just the exercise, it's burning more calories than you take in.

To lower your total amount of body fat, and thereby a flabby tummy, you need to eat right, too. 

The main thing you have to be able to do is maintain your muscle mass, this requires protein.

Then 20% to 30% should come from predominantly healthy fats. The rest of your diet can be rounded out with carbohydrates. Again, remembering to eat fewer calories than you're able to burn.

There are several substantive suggestions I have to the dilemma “I want to lose my belly fat.”

1. Do sit ups. Sit ups and crunches are the easiest and probably the most effective way to lose belly fat fast. You will achieve the desired results in no time. All fat is just stored energy. 

Therefore, in order to lose belly fat, you need to burn more calories than you consume. 

In order to get the best results, you need to do sit ups which are the single most effective  exercise. They work on almost all body types.

2. Next, cut out the fried stuff. In order to get washboard abs, you need to cut out some kinds of foods. Fried foods will put on belly fat faster than any other kind of caloric intake. 

Fried foods mostly contain empty calories which are poor in nutrient value. They only provide you with calories which add to your belly fat.

3. Don’t snack between meals. Snacking is one of the best (or worst) ways to stack up that belly fat.

And, late night eating is the worst kind of snacking. 

When you consume your calories during the day, you have a chance to burn them off. But, when you eat at night, you go to sleep and that food just sits in your stomach. 

Additionally, when you eat at night, you tend to engage in mindless snacking. You’ll start out with a whole bag of chips and after an hour of television, half is gone.

When you snack, you are not being mindful of your food which leads you to have to say “I want to lose my belly fat.”

4. Burn it off. As I mentioned earlier, belly fat is unused energy. 

It accumulates in the form of fat in the stomach area. If you want to get rid of belly fat, you have to burn off more calories than you take in. All kinds of aerobic exercise is good for burning belly fat. 

This can include walking, running, cycling, or working out on a cardio machine at the gym. But even working basic activities like taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work or parking in the furthest lot when going to the mall can help.

HOW DO I BEGIN OR HOW DO I GO ABOUT THE EXERCISES?

1. Lie flat with your back with your arms by your side and try to raise your both legs a little (just the height of a pillow) do this for about 5 to 10 mins. This often called Abdomina by athletes.

2. After doing the number above, try lifting your head a bit (without the support of your hands) and with your legs still up. This time only your waist should be touching the floor. Maintain for about 5 to 10 mins.

3. Try lift some weights while lying with your back.

There are so many of them just begin and don't worry at how insignificant it will look from the start but with time you will see the difference.

http://www.nairawall.com/rivers/port-harcourt/news/viewpoint/500

Google Reveals Gigantic Ambitions To Fight Cancer, Diabetes, Parkinson's, Heart Problems

Google is pumping vast amounts of cash into its cutting-edge life sciences plans , turning a secretive unit based on smart contact lenses into a high powered, expert company.

The newly announced business will be entirely focused on the billions of dollars of annual revenues on offer from helping patients with a range of major health issues, from diabetes, Parkinson’s, cancer and heart disease to the general quest to increase comfortable life span.

The split is part of Google’s Alphabet reshuffle that has seen the clearer separation of activities such as advertising and self driving cars.

At the head of the new health unit is Andy Conrad, who has an extensive nanotechnology and molecular biology background, and who was head of life sciences at the former Google X research division.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, never one to miss out on a big business opportunity, is determined for the company to position itself at the forefront of the immensely lucrative health tech market in several key areas.

Some 387 million people globally live with diabetes and 10 million live with Parkinson’s . Around 14 million new cancer cases are diagnosed each year, and over 17 million people die annually from heart disease. Supplying the technology to help patients in these areas is seen as both important for society and as a big potential market.

Nothing Google ever does is by halves – even its step away from smart glasses (known as Google Glass) is temporary until they can be commercialized more successfully – so a move into healthcare will be aimed at eventual market leadership. 

It’s also personal for Brin, who is particularly interested in treating Parkinson’s after his mother developed the condition. 

Co-founder Larry Page has a rare vocal cord condition and is a strong drive to improve healthcare tech.

Google Relies On Health Collaborators

Brin knows the company cannot simply step into healthcare devices and run the show . Its smart contact lenses are being developed in collaboration with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, and Brin expects the company’s other endeavors to be collaborative. Google may have the tech nous, but it doesn’t have the depth and breadth of medical expertise of the established pharma giants. Not yet, anyway.

Google will work with companies ranging from research and development startups to advanced clinical firms similar to Novartis.

Of course, Google is far from alone in this market. Apple, Microsoft Fitbit and Samsung are among those increasingly active in fitness and health tracking. Intel, which is making serious steps in managing both Parkinson’s and cancer, just last weekreleased the communication system used by Stephen Hawking to the tens of thousands of ALS sufferers in the US and beyond (even if that was open sourced, we can expect Intel to be offering paid for systems in other areas).

Transforming Disease Detection, Prevention And Management

Google’s new health unit was born directly from the company’s ongoing work on smart contact lenses, which was described by Brin in a recent Google+ post as an “immensely challenging technical problem with an important application to health”.

The work, which has been ongoing for three years with no product yet available, is aimed at creating a smart contact lens that contains a low power microchip and an almost invisible, hair-thin electronic circuit. The lens can measure diabetics’ blood sugar levels directly from tear fluid on the surface of the eyeball, sending data to their mobile device.

It is just the start of Google’s vision to transform the way scientists detect, prevent and manage disease, including heart health, and potentially attempt to increase the length and quality of people’s lives with its Calico business.

Brin said he was “delighted” at the smart contact lens project’s progress, but added that he “could not have imagined the potential of the initiative it has grown into: a life sciences team with the mission to develop new technologies to make healthcare more proactive.”

The tech being produced includes a nanodiagnostics platform for detecting disease right down to the molecular level, a technique expected to find particular use in areas such as cancer and even Alzheimer’s. Indeed, evidence of Google’s interest in tackling cancer comes in the form of numerous talented oncologists being appointed to its founding life sciences team.

Meanwhile, Google is developing a cardiac and activity monitor, and making progress on its ‘Baseline Study’ genomic efforts to map a healthy human body and predict illness before it takes hold. And one year ago it acquired Lift Labs, a fast growing Parkinson’s startup.

The work, Brin admits, is a “huge undertaking” . But Google is known for relentlessly pushing its vision. The results over the next few decades are likely to have an equally resounding impact, of course, on both public health and Google’s own financial position.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/leoking/2015/08/24/google-sergey-brin-cancer-diabetes-parkinsons-heart-disease

New Ways For Patients To Get A Second Opinion

For many patients, it has become a routine part of the medical process: Get a diagnosis or treatment plan and then seek a second opinion.

A growing number of online services are offering second opinions and some are seeing increasing patient demand for a second set of eyes.

Some of the services are sponsored by established medical centers, including Massachusetts General Hospital and Cleveland Clinic. Others are independent businesses that work with specialists on a consulting basis. Employers increasingly are contracting with such services, and insurance companies at times require patients to get a second opinion, such as for surgery.

Studies show as much as 20% of patients seek second medical opinions; in specialties such as oncology, the rate is more than 50%. And recent research has found that second opinions often result in different diagnoses or treatments.

Second-opinion services are “one of those areas that is growing fairly quickly,” saidGregory Pauly, chief operating officer of the Massachusetts General Physician Organization at Massachusetts General Hospital. The hospital’s online second-opinion service, which started about eight years ago, handled about 10,000 cases last year compared with fewer than 1,000 five years ago, he estimated. The growing demand for second opinions, which cost between $500 and $5,000 depending on the case, has come from patients, including people from overseas, and companies that are including the service as part of employee benefits, he said.

Dr. Pauly said opinions are most often requested in areas such as cancer, neurosurgery, cardiology and orthopedics.

Patients can request their medical records be sent to an online second-opinion service, which might order additional tests if needed. The services are especially helpful for people who live far from major academic centers that cover a range of physician specialties. Many insurance policies cover in-person second opinions but don’t pay for online services unless they are offered as part of an employee’s health plan.

Some experts say patients should seek a second opinion outside of their normal institution or health-care network. “There are sometimes internal cultural approaches to treatment and it’s probably necessary for patients to go outside to get a new approach,” said F. Marc Stewart, president of the Patient Advocate Foundation, a nonprofit that helps patients access medical care. However, transferring care to another doctor can be challenging if the doctor is out of a patient’s insurance network, said Dr. Stewart, a medical oncologist and medical director of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

For patients faced with a serious or life-threatening illness, second opinions might steer them to different treatment opportunities that are less invasive, have fewer side effects or are more targeted to their particular circumstance, said Beth Moore,executive vice president of program strategy for the Patient Advocate Foundation, “You don’t always know what’s available unless you seek a second opinion,” she said.

Ms. Moore said in-person second opinions are better in cases that may require sophisticated tests, such as with rare diseases. When two doctors have divergent recommendations, she recommends getting a third or even fourth opinion.

“Patients are often fearful that their physician will be offended” when seeking a second opinion, said Ms. Moore. “We’ve found that not to be the case. You’re going to want the experts to discuss your case in an open way once the second opinion has been issued.”

Easily diagnosed conditions, such as sinusitis or shingles, don’t call for a second opinion. But second opinions can be important when symptoms don’t go away despite treatment; when diagnosis is unclear or appears to involve a serious or rare condition; or when treatment options are risky or harmful, said Hardeep Singh, a patient safety researcher at Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

A recent study Dr. Singh co-authored looked at data from Best Doctors Inc., an independent service that offers second opinions online to companies and insurance carriers that offer them as a benefit. The researchers reviewed 6,791 second opinions; there were changes in diagnosis 14.8% of the time and changes in treatment 37.4% of the time.

About 60% of the patients ended up following the recommendations from the second opinion, according to the study, published in April in the American Journal of Medicine. However, Dr. Singh said, “we don’t know whether the ultimate diagnosis for these patients ended up being the correct one.”

SecondOpinionExpert Inc., a website based in Dana Point, Calif., that launched this spring, says it provides second opinions for $300 and the option for a video conference consultation for an additional $200. The fees generally aren’t covered by insurance plans.

Some patients can take the process to extremes, said Mark Urman, the company’s vice president of physician relations and quality assurance. “You have to be careful, you can sometimes get too many opinions and all it does is confuse you more and then you don’t know what to do,” said Dr. Urman, who is an attending cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles.

Dr. Urman said most of his patients who seek second opinions are those for whom he has recommended a procedure or surgery that is elective. When a patient comes to him for a second opinion, about 75% of the time his opinion will be similar to the previous doctor, he said.

Cleveland Clinic set up an online second-opinion service, MyConsult, more than a decade ago. In recent years, the number of patients served has grown 15% to 25% a year, boosted especially with patients who live far from the clinic and with corporate clients. MyConsult charges $565 for a consultation and $745 if it includes a pathology review.

Cleveland Clinic doctors who review cases disagree with the original diagnosis about 11% of the time, said Jonathan Schaffer, managing director of MyConsult and an orthopedic surgeon. They make moderate changes to treatment in 24% of cases and major changes in 16% of cases. “These numbers can have some pretty significant health-care implications,” said Dr. Schaffer.

Linda Smith, a 67-year-old in New Albany, Ohio, was diagnosed last year with a precancerous lump in her breast. She had it surgically removed and underwent five weeks of radiology treatments. When her doctor then recommended she take a chemotherapy pill, Ms. Smith sought a second opinion through Cleveland Clinic’s MyConsult, which was included in her employee health insurance.

The MyConsult pathologists determined Ms. Smith had had a different type of precancerous lump than was originally diagnosed, she said. They told her she hadn’t needed the five weeks of radiology treatments.

To resolve the conflicting viewpoints, Ms. Smith sought a third opinion, not covered by her insurance, that concurred with the MyConsult diagnosis. “I missed all this work and I missed this key training,” said Ms. Smith, a design engineer for a telecommunications company.

Ms. Smith said in the future she will always seek additional medical opinions, even if she has to pay for it. “Doctors make mistakes and medicine is always changing,” she said

HOW TO GET A SECOND OPINION

• Second opinions generally aren’t needed for easy-to-diagnose cases, such as sinusitis or shingles, experts say. Save second opinions for conditions where a diagnosis is unclear, involves a serious or rare condition or when treatment options are risky.
• Most doctors expect and encourage second opinions. Being open and honest with your primary physician that you want another viewpoint will help should you later need the experts to discuss your case together.
• If possible seek a second opinion from a doctor or specialist in a different institution or network. Institutional cultures are real so it’s good to get an outside and different perspective.
• Getting a second opinion that confirms the first opinion can be reassuring to patients.
• If your first and second opinions differ, consider getting a third or even fourth opinion. But getting more than that may just end up causing confusion.
• In many cases an online second opinion will suffice, although insurers generally don’t cover them unless they are included in your employee benefits. For some conditions, especially rare ones, an in-person visit is best.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-ways-to-get-a-second-opinion-1440437584

The Simple Habit That Can Reduce Men's Risk Of Heart Attack

Nearly every day, 57-year-old Juan Bohorquez can be found exercising at his local track.

"I walk and I run one lap, which is about 1.6 miles," he told CBS News' Chris Martinez.

This type of moderate physical activity may help lower a man's risk of developing heart failure, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure. And it only takes about 20 minutes a day to reap the greatest benefits.

"Whether it's for diabetes management, hypertension, preventing heart disease, certain cancers, this is another indication for exercise at a moderate level," said Dr. Steven J. Keteyian, Director of Preventive Cardiology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

Heart failure occurs when the heart is no longer able to pump as much blood as the body needs to support other organs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 5.1 million people in the United States suffer from heart failure.

For the study, researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm followed over 33,000 Swedish men from 1998 until 2012 - or their first event of heart failure - to determine if physical activity was associated with heart failure risk. The results showed that both low and very high levels of exercise could increase risk of heart failure.

"There was a slight uptick in risk for those people that were highly active, heavy exercisers, and did an awful lot of activity throughout the day," Keteyian said. "I think the caution would be is if you engage in that level of exertion, make sure your doctor is aware."

The researchers also asked the participants, who were an average age of 60 years old, to report their exercise habits both in the prior year and retrospectively to when they were 30 years old. After analyzing the data, they found that men who were physically active at age 30, but not at the time of the study, did not have a decreased risk of heart failure. In other words, someone who used to exercise but let it slide eventually lost the benefit.

"Because participants in the study cohort had also provided information about their physical activity at age 30, as well as at the time of enrollment around age 60, we were able to examine the long-term impacts of physical activity on heart failure," study author Andrea Bellavia said in a statement. "We found that recent activity may be more important for heart failure protection than past physical activity levels."

Certain types of moderate physical activity, such as walking and bicycling for 20 minutes per day, were associated with the largest reduction in heart failure risk, the study authors said.

For his part, Bohorquez encourages other men to get active. "Definitely get off the couch and run or walk a half hour a day, every day," he said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/simple-habit-reduce-heart-failure-risk-in-men/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17

What Eating 40 Teaspoons Of Sugar A Day Can Do To You

Soda has been a major target in the debate over sugar and its role in the obesity crisis. But high levels of added sugars can be found in many seemingly healthful foods, from yogurts to energy bars and even whole-grain bread.

A new movie called “That Sugar Film” seeks to educate consumers about the hazards of consuming too much added sugar, which can be found in an estimated 80 percent of all supermarket foods.

The new documentary stars an Australian actor-director, Damon Gameau, who modeled his movie after “Super Size Me,” the 2004 film that followed Morgan Spurlock as he consumed an all-McDonald’s diet for 30 days.

In “That Sugar Film,” which first had its debut in Australia this year, Mr. Gameau gives up his normal diet of fresh foods for two months to see what happens when he shifts to eating a diet containing 40 teaspoons of sugar daily, the amount consumed by the average Australian (and an amount not far from the 28 teaspoons consumed daily by the average American teenager). 

The twist is that Mr. Gameau avoids soda, ice cream, candy and other obvious sources of sugar. Instead, he consumes foods commonly perceived as “healthy” that are frequently loaded with added sugars, like low-fat yogurt, fruit juice, health bars and cereal.

Mr. Gameau finds that his health and waistline quickly spiral out of control. While the film is mostly entertainment, it tries to present the science of sugar in a consumer-friendly way, with helpful cameos from Hugh Jackman, Stephen Fry and others. 

It is also timely. Just last month, the federal government proposed a new rule that would require nutrition labels to carry details about added sugars, a measure that has faced resistance from the food industry.

Recently, we caught up with Mr. Gameau to talk about why he made the film (which has also been turned into a book), what he learned along the way, and why he believes that sugar – despite his criticism of it – should not be vilified.

Q.

So why did you make this film?

A.

It came about because I was noticing how much conflicting press there was about sugar. I’d read one article one day saying it’s toxic and poisonous. Then, the next day, I’d see an article saying it’s fine and we need it for energy. I thought the only way to find out the truth was to do an experiment and assemble a team of doctors and scientists. Despite some of the doctors telling me I was crazy, I thought consuming a lot of foods like low-fat yogurt and orange juice would be just fine.

Q.

Was it?

A.

Very quickly things started to change. I put on a lot of weight very quickly. After 18 days, I developed signs of fatty liver. That was a huge turning point for the film. That’s when we started exploring a lot more of the science and then looking for people to interview and stories to tell in the film.

Q.

You were focusing on foods perceived as healthy. Can you talk about that?

A.

Yes. These are the foods with flowers and bees and sunsets on their labels. That’s the whole point of the film. If I had been eating chocolate doughnuts and soft drinks, we know what would have happened to me. But the fact that this happened when I was following the low-fat diet that we’ve all been prescribed for 35 years – that was surprising.

Q.

Do you think people put too much faith in food labels and claims?

A.

Yes. There was a study done in Australia that found that 55 percent of people get their nutrition advice from food labels, compared with only 25 percent who get their advice from a nutritional advocate. That’s where we need integrity. People are taking at face value what these products tell them. We’re encouraging people to turn that label around, look at the sugar content, see through the marketing hype and the slogans and actually take control of what they’re putting in their bodies.

Q.

What was your diet like before the start of the film?

A.

I kept away from processed foods as much as I could. I’d have eggs for breakfast. I’d eat healthy fats like avocado, and I’d snack on nuts and a little cheese. I’d have lots of fruits and vegetables and protein sources like fish. I just tried to eat real foods, and I kept it really simple.

Q.

How did it change during the film?

A.

I swapped all that for the refined carbohydrates. Cereals, low-fat yogurts and apple juice would be my breakfast instead of eggs and avocado. And lunch would be pasta with pasta sauce, or some vegetables or fish with a teriyaki sauce or some kind of dressing that had added sugars in it.

Q.

What was the most surprising change you noticed?

A.

My calorie intake didn’t change. What I was eating before – the avocados and nuts and other foods – are high in calories. So I kept a similar calorie intake. But on the diet with all the added sugars, I was snacking a lot more. I just never felt full, and it was affecting my moods. What I learned was that I was triggering insulin and all sorts of hormones that were trapping fat in my body.

Q.

The film first launched in Australia. What was the response like?

A.

I didn’t get a lot of the abusive letters that I thought I would get. Instead, it’s been mostly very large companies that rely on sugar, saying: “Can we do a screening of your film for our staff? We want to talk about ways to move forward.” They know this is coming. The science is irrefutable now. They know there is a movement. So they are scrambling for sugar replacements, for healthier products. It’s capitalism. They want to give the public what it wants. They want to survive, and so they’ll have to adapt. I guess we just need to be careful about what they replace the sugar with.

Q.

What have critics said?

A.

It hasn’t been everyone’s cup of tea. Some critics have completely hated it because it’s not a typical film. But we didn’t make it for them. We made this for the general public because the people need this message.

Q.

There are some who say sugar is the latest dietary scapegoat, like fat and cholesterol before it. Your thoughts?

A.

I think they’re right. I don’t think we should ever demonize one nutrient. But when that one single nutrient is now in 80 percent of all foods, we do need to look at it. This is not just about putting sugar in your tea or coffee. It’s pervaded our entire food supply, and people are having far too much of it. And I think most of those people don’t realize how much they’re having.

We’re not demonizing sugar, we’re just showing people where it’s hiding. There are people having their chocolate bar or ice cream at the end of the day without realizing they’ve had 30 teaspoons in other foods throughout the day. I say enjoy your chocolate and your ice cream, but just know where most of the sugar in your diet is hiding.

Q.

Do you think that message comes across in the film?

A.

We say at the end of the film that sugar is not solely to blame for obesity. There is a host of other factors. But the science is now saying that it is a major player. So there’s no possible risk in lowering sugar intake. That’s all we’re saying. You don’t have to quit it. You don’t have to ban it. It’s just that the excessive amount we’re having is not working.

Q.

What happened after you gave up all the processed foods?

A.

When I went back to just drinking water and eating food again, the weight dropped, and all my symptoms went away. I think we just need to simplify things. Stick to the perimeter of the supermarket where all the fresh foods are. Buy real foods as much as you can. We all know it. But we’ve been bombarded with food industry marketing for so long.

Q.

What kind of impact has the film had so far?

A.

I have hundreds of people who write to me and say the film has changed their families or their kids’ attitudes toward food, which is very heartening.

We’ve developed a school study guide from Grade 5 through 11 that’s been rolled out to 1,000 schools in Australia. There’s a group in the United Kingdom that is looking to put it into 12,000 schools. There’s a full parliamentary screening of the film scheduled in the U.K. There have been hospitals changing their food structure. The journal BMJ just wrote a beautiful review of the film. To get that kind of support has been so inspiring.

Q.

You have a daughter who is now nearly 2 years old. Is it difficult navigating the sugar issue as the parent of a small child?

A.

We talk about it all the time because obviously we don’t want to demonize sugar and give our daughter an eating disorder. But what we’ve learned in our very short time as parents is that children want to do what the adults are doing. And because my wife and I don’t eat a lot of sugar, our daughter doesn’t either. Blueberries are a fantastic treat for her at the moment – she gets so excited. Or my wife might make a homemade chocolate cake and use banana or coconut as the sweetener, and our baby absolutely loves it. It’s almost defining for her palate what sweet is.

Of course, we haven’t hit the kid’s party circuit yet. But I guess we’re not too extreme about it. We believe that if you’re careful at home, it’s O.K. to loosen the shackles when you’re out. The odd birthday party is not going to hurt. We’re fine with all that.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/what-eating-40-teaspoons-of-sugar-a-day-can-do-to-you