Archive Year 2012 month 12

Body weight is one of the most basic issues of human life. Medically speaking, not all overweight people are obese. Obesity is defined as weight that exceeds 15 percent of normal weight for height and body type. "Morbid" obesity exceeds 20 percent of optimum weight.

An obese or overweight person is at high risk for a number of serious health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, varicose veins, dementia, psychological stress, depression, osteoarthritis, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

The body mass index (BMI) is a widely used formula to calculate obesity because body fat is considered within the calculated result. BMI must be 24 or less in order for one's weight to be considered healthy. An individual with a BMI 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. Obese individuals have a BMI greater than 30.

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Xenoestrogens.  Sounds pretty serious, right?  That’s because they are! 

What?  The word ‘xeno’ comes from Ancient Greek, meaning ‘foreign.”  Xenoestrogens are synthetic, man-made chemicals which increase the amount of estrogenic activity in the body, and therefore can disrupt how our hormones are supposed to work. 

Where?  There are over 20 of these man-made

In the previous blog article (Part 1), I talked about what xenoestrogens are and where you find them, and I highlighted one of the most prevalent xenoestrogen in our daily lives – Bisphenol A  (BPA).  Now let’s learn about two more common xenoestrogens:  phthalates and parabens, plus easily adoptable suggestions for reducing your exposure.

Phthalates:  A second xenoestrogen called phthalates are a group of chemicals used to make plastics more flexible or resilient.  Phthalates are found in:

• Children’s items, such as plastic/squishy toys, infant chew

The connection between vitamin D deficiency and cancer was first made in 1980 when two doctors learned the incidence of colon cancer was nearly three times higher in New York than in New Mexico.  The doctors determined that lack of sun exposure played a critical role (1).  When the ultraviolet portion of sunlight hits your skin, this stimulates the body to produce vitamin D.  This lack of sun exposure results in a lack of vitamin D in our body.

Consider the relationship between vitamin D and breast cancer.  According to the Vitamin D Council, there is strong evidence vitamin D plays a beneficial role in lowering breast cancer risk.  Whether vitamin D is obtained from sun exposure, food, or supplements, vitamin D must undergo chemical reactions to become calcitriol, which may provide the numerous benefits against cancer (2).  Calcitriol