In Los Angeles, Fresh Food Delivery Options Abound

Here are some of the more established fresh food delivery services in Los Angeles area. These services vary in price and quality (I haven't tried them all, but can give my input on a few). If you're considering one, I recommend testing a week or so of each service before you settle on a long-term plan. Here we go:

THE FITNESS KITCHEN
The Fitness Kitchen is an exclusive, gourmet food delivery service with delicious, nutrient-dense meals and snacks made from scratch. Meals are delivered to your doorstep in insulated coolers to be refrigerated and enjoyed one meal at a time. A sample menu might include: Organic Yam and Dill Frittata, Organic Grilled Chicken Salad with Papayas and Blueberries, Spinach Salad Stack with Crispy Saffron Galettes or Chicken Soft Tacos with Soy Cheddar.

VEGIN' OUT
It's Los Angeles' premiere "vegetarian" fresh food delivery service. Main dishes might include Pepper Steak Mushroom Stroganoff, Tofu Teriyaki and Vegetables, and Vegetarian Chili.

Raw food folks might enjoy RAWVOLUTION, which dedicates itself to gourmet, raw food. In case you don't know, the term "raw food" means just that -- vegetables, nuts and seeds. No meets, cheeses, dairy, etc. Each week, Matt Amsden and RAWvolution create a "box" of prepared, organic, raw foods that includes 2 soups, 4 entrées, 4 side dishes and 2 desserts. This provides packaged raw foods that you can bring to work or have waiting for you when you return from a long day. The box can be picked-up in Santa Monica, delivered anywhere in Los Angeles and Orange counties or shipped via Fed-Ex Overnight Express anywhere in the United States.

Another great raw option is TASTE OF THE GODDESS, a cafe based in West Hollywood which also offers delivery service. Friends who have tried GODDESS have enjoyed their variety and options.


SUSAN'S HEALTHY GOURMET is a service I've used on and off for the past 7 years. It's especially helpful for "getting back on track" with a generalized nutrition regimen for busy people. Getting started is pretty simple -- all you have to do is order at least 48 hours in advance and they will deliver full meals to your home or office the day before you are due to eat your first meal. Susan's uses a "5-week menu rotation" to keep the menus interesting.

It's important to remember that all of these fresh food delivery services may take the hassle out of prepping healthy meals, but this same "convenience factor" can lead to laziness (or ignorance) when you eventually stop using the services. I have been unable to find a food delivery service which educates its customers on the ratios of macronutrients, (or similarly, for example, why it's better to eat a low-glycemic fruit than a high-glycemic).

Diabetes Care Still Lagging in U.S.

HEALTH DAY -- Diabetes care in the United States has improved in the last decade, but there is still a long way to go, according to a new report by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"There has been kind of a mixed message in the last five to seven years," said report co-author Dr. K. M. Venkat Narayan, chief of the CDC's Diabetes Epidemiology & Statistics Branch in the Division of Diabetes Translation. "There have been good improvements in some areas, which tell us it is possible to improve things, but there is still a job that is left undone."

The findings appear in the April 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

There are 21 million people with diabetes in the United States and 41 million people who are in danger of becoming diabetic, Narayan said.

Acoording to the American Diabetes Association, about 5 percent of all diabetics have the familial, type 1 form of diabetes, caused by a dysfunction in the cells that produce insulin. The other 95 percent of cases are type 2 diabetes, which usually occurs in adulthood and is closely linked to obesity. In type 2 disease, the body either does not produce enough insulin, or the body's cells gradually lose sensitivity to insulin, causing a loss of control of blood sugar levels.

"What this report shows is that the application of good treatment to prevent complications in these people has improved in the last five to 10 years," he added.

Over the past 10 years, control of cholesterol among diabetics has improved substantially. There have also been small improvements in blood sugar control and yearly eye and foot examinations, all important components of the regular care of diabetics.

"The discouraging news is that blood pressure control and blood sugar control have remained fairly constant," Narayan said. "It has not changed in the last five to seven years."

In addition, two in five people with diabetes have poor control of their cholesterol, one in three has poor blood-pressure control, and one in five has poor control of blood-sugar levels, Narayan said.

"There are good treatments available, which can prevent a lot of long-term complications, such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke, kidney disease, amputations and blindness," Narayan said.

He also noted there are many national programs aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes, as well as promoting better care for those with the disease. "Diabetes is a major cause of complications, unnecessary sickness and death, but applying what we know, a lot can be achieved. There has been a lot of positive improvement, but it's no time for being complacent," he said.

Bulking Up Without "The Juice"

Q: All the focus is on weight loss, but I have the opposite problem. I’m a skinny guy who wants to bulk up. How can I do this without resorting to steroids? Are there any supplements that can help?

A: With all the news reports lately of steroid use in the sports world, it would seem the only way to get big and strong is by injecting chemicals into your body — and loads of them.

It's true "the juice" can produce results above and beyond what many men could achieve on their own through weight-training. But it's just not worth the risk, experts say.

"There are too many negative side effects," says Janet Walberg Rankin, a professor in the department of human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Among the risks associated with steroids are heart problems, aggressiveness ('roid rage), severe acne, baldness, shrunken testicles and breast enlargement in men, and facial hair growth for women.

But steroids aren't magic. Guys who bulk up on steroids also are clocking many hours at the gym each week pumping iron.

Muscles have to be stimulated and challenged to grow. So weight-training is what you should focus on to help put some meat on your bones.

Just how much muscle a man can put on through training varies. "It really depends on the individual's age, genetic profile, hormone levels, how hard and long a person might train, what kind of diet they consume and if they are taking any performance-enhancing drugs or supplements," says Jeffrey Potteiger, chair of the department of physical education, health and sports studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

A young, healthy man who's not taking steroids could still pack on several pounds of muscle in a couple of months if he's training hard, he says.

Most gains happen in the beginning of a strength program. Over time, Rankin says, the average muscle gain for men is about four or five pounds total.

So if you're hoping that weight-training will turn you into Mr. Universe, it's probably not going to happen.

Technically speaking, you're an ectomorph, with a body that's skinny by nature. Even with similar training programs, you'll have a harder time packing on pounds than an endomorph, who tends to be chubby, or a mesomorph, who has a more athletic body that gains muscle most easily, says Michael Barnes, an exercise physiologist and director of education at the National Strength and Conditioning Association in Colorado Springs, Colo.

But you can gain muscle and become stronger and more "cut" if you hit the weights hard enough, Barnes says. He recommends that beginners start out by doing one to two sets of strength exercises that target all major muscle groups, three times a week. As you build strength, you can increase the workload. After several months, for example, you could start training four days a week and gradually increasing your sets to three to five, he says.

And since you're already lean, Barnes notes, it's best to avoid high-calorie-burning activities like endurance running (ever seen a bulky distance runner?). Instead, focus your cardio activity on sprints and interval training that increase your power, he says.

People looking to pack on muscle also will need to consume more calories than they burn. This is the opposite formula than the one for weight loss.

Rankin recommends getting about 250 extra calories a day, making sure to consume good sources of protein, such as lean meat, fish and legumes. You probably don't need protein bars or powders since many people get about twice the recommended amount of protein (two to three servings a day) from foods, and that's more than enough for muscle gain, she says.

As for other dietary supplements, while some evidence suggests potential benefit from products such as creatine, the jury is still out and it's too soon to recommend any of them, says Rankin.

Because supplements aren't carefully regulated by the government, they could contain unsafe or even illegal ingredients. The FDA recently cracked down on the makers of two supplements that contained synthetic steroids.

Q: There is so much weight-lifting information out there that it's difficult to determine what's best. What do you recommend for sets and reps, and is it better to complete circuit training or work on specific muscle groups on weight day?

A: Ask five trainers about the best way to weight train and you'll probably get five different answers. Is it one set or three — or five? Free weights or machines? Two days a week or five? Target all muscles in one day, or split it up?

The best strength-training program for you will depend on your current fitness level and your goal. As Barnes notes above, beginners should start slowly and gradually build up to a tougher program.

Just how tough that program should be is up to you. If you're trying to build as much muscle mass as possible, you'll need to train several days a week with heavy weights. If you're just trying to tone up you may only need to do a quick circuit on the machines a couple times a week.

Keep in mind, though, that it's good to mix things up. Your body likes a challenge. That's why trainers, while they may disagree on the exact number of sets and reps, generally recommend some combination of free weights and machines, and periodically trying new training regimens.

The key is to find some combinations you like so that you stick with the activity.

This article is reprinted from MSNBC.com

Moderate Drinking Good For Women's Brains

[HealthDay News] A drink or two a day might improve a woman's thinking ability, a new study claims. Women who had up to two drinks a day scored about 20 percent higher on a test of mental ability than women who had less than one a day or didn't drink at all, according to a report in the April 7 issue of Stroke.

It's not startling news, acknowledged study author Dr. Clinton B. Wright, an assistant professor of neurology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Other studies have found similar results, most notably one reported last year by a group led by Dr. Meir J. Stampfer that used data from the Nurses Health Study.

This latest study was much smaller, gathering information on 2,215 residents of northern Manhattan. Fifty-four percent of the participants were Hispanic, 25 percent were black, and 21 percent were white.

"The main thing that this study adds is that it had a population that includes a large number of Hispanics," Wright said. "Data on only whites or other ethnic groups is limited in value. It's good to have data from a multi-ethnic cohort."

Stampfer, who chairs the epidemiology department at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, agreed. "This adds to the body of data coming from diverse populations around the world," he said.

No statistical association between alcohol intake and mental function was found among men in the study, probably because "only a small group of men were never drinkers," Wright said.

A potentially important finding of the new study was the doubt it cast on the theory that moderate alcohol intake helps preserve mental function by limiting the buildup of fatty plaque deposits in the carotid artery, the main blood vessel to the brain. Using ultrasound to image the carotid artery, the researchers found no relationship between alcohol intake and the amount of plaque in the artery.

One possible explanation is that alcohol improves the flow of blood in smaller arteries, Wright said. The Columbia researchers plan further studies to explore that possibility.

"Another possibility is that the amount of plaque is not the relevant factor," Wright said. "The tendency to form clots or the tendency to inflammation might be more important."

"Small arteries probably are important, and there might be other mechanisms as well," Stampfer said.

The results are no reason for nondrinking women to sip a glass or two, Wright said. "I don't think anybody should change behavior based on this study alone," he said.

The standing advice of the American Heart Association and other bodies stands, Stampfer said. For older men with no complicating issues, such as a prior drinking problem, "a moderate, one or two drinks a day, regular intake of alcoholic beverages is more likely to be beneficial than harmful, as long as nutrition is adequate," he said.

The picture is more complicated for women because of an association between drinking and breast cancer, Stampfer said. But "the net effect is toward benefit for women as well," he said. "Moderate for women is up to one drink a day."

Parents won't admit children are obese

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many parents do not identify their child as "overweight," but will select a sketch of a heavier model when asked to choose one representative of their child, new study findings show.

"Comparisons between images and sketches showed that parents' visual perceptions of their children more clearly reflect their child's physical appearance than words they might use to classify the child's weight," study author Dr. Helen J. Binns, of Northwestern University in Chicago told Reuters Health.

"So parents have a correct visual perception, but don't consider that to fit in the medical 'diagnostic categories,'" she added.

Previous studies have found that helping parents recognize their child's overweight status and their willingness to make the necessary behavioral changes is key to their child's treatment. Parents who fail to recognize that their child needs help may not be ready to receive any related counseling or other interventions, researchers say.

Yet, various reports show that many mothers -- especially those with young children -- do not consider their overly chubby children to be overweight, with some wrongly believing that their child is "about the right weight."

In the current study, Binns and her team examined parents' perceptions about their child's overweight status and investigated whether sketches may be useful in helping parents recognize their child's problem.

Of the 223 children studied, 20 percent were overweight and 19 percent were at risk for overweight. Over half (60 percent) of the 2- to 17-year-old study participants were under 6 years old.

Similar to previous studies, the researchers found that many parents failed to recognize that their child was overweight. Only about one third (36 percent) of parents correctly identified their child as overweight or at risk for becoming overweight.

However, asked to select a sketch representative of their child, 70 percent selected a middle or heavier sketch, Binns and her team report in this month's issue of Pediatrics.]

This was particularly true for parents of children 6 years or younger, the researchers note.

In addition to choosing the heavier sketches, parents of younger children were also more likely to use words to identify their child as overweight or at risk for overweight, and were more likely to worry about their child's weight.

Overall, 26 percent of parents of overweight or at-risk-for-overweight children said they worried about their child's weight and 18 percent said a doctor had expressed concern about their child being overweight or gaining weight too quickly.

Parents of older children were less likely to worry, unless they considered their child to be less active or slower than his or her peers, or if a doctor had expressed concern about their child's condition, the report indicates.

So what can parents do to address their child's excess weight?

"Start by setting a good example in relationship to foods, physical activity and leisure time activity," Binns advised, noting, "your children are watching you and will follow what you do."

Also, she recommends that parents "play actively" with their children and "decrease the availability of opportunities for sedentary behavior."

SOURCE: Pediatrics, March 2006.

Exercise May Reduce Depression in Stroke Patients

[Reuters] Stroke patients who partake in a therapeutic exercise program may experience a reduction in depressive symptoms, according to the results of a study published the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Along with physical disability, depression is common in stroke patients, Dr. Sue-Min Lai, of the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, and colleagues point out. Previous studies have found that physical exercise can reduce symptoms in depressed patients, but the effect of exercise on stroke patients is unknown.

To further investigate, Lai and her associates assessed the effect of physical exercise on depressive symptoms in 100 stroke survivors who had completed rehabilitation. The patients were randomly assigned to participate in an exercise program or to receive the usual care.

The exercise program consisted of a progressive, structured, three-month regimen that targeted strength, balance, endurance and arm function. The researchers conducted tests for depression and physical function before the study began and again after three months and nine months.

The average patient age was 69.8 years old. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the rates of depressive symptoms and other effects of the stroke before the study began.

After three months, depressive symptoms persisted in 14 percent of patients in the exercise group and 35.6 percent in the usual care group. After nine months, the rates of significant depressive symptoms were 7.5 percent in the exercise group and 25 percent in the usual care group.

The team found that the presence of depression did not affect the physical gains achieved with exercise.

Lai and colleagues conclude that the effects of stroke on physical function and mood are interrelated and should be considered together. "Optimal recovery after stroke may be best achieved by integrating physical exercise with monitoring for and treatment of depression."

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, February 2006.

Fitness and Fatness Predict Poor Heart Health in Women

Reuters--Women who are otherwise healthy, but have low levels of physical activity and high levels of weight, generally have less favorable heart health than their leaner, more active counterparts, Boston-based researchers report in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"The important observations from our study are that even in healthy women both fitness and fatness are very important for heart health," Dr. Samia Mora from the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital told Reuters Health.

The message, therefore, for women who want to protect themselves from having a heart attack, the number one killer of women, "is to get out and walk, be active 30 minutes each day most days of the week, and lose those 10 lbs or more if you need to, if you want to protect yourself against heart attack and stroke," Mora said.

More than half of the US population falls short of recommended levels of physical activity and 65 percent are overweight or obese, with women outnumbering men. Both increased body weight and a sedentary lifestyle are strong predictors of heart disease, as well as diabetes and death.

Among 27,158 apparently healthy US women, Mora's team found that lower levels of physical activity and higher levels of body weight were independently associated with adverse levels of nearly all of the 11 lipid and inflammatory biomarkers measured. These biomarkers are related to cardiac risk and may play a role in the development of atherosclerosis, also referred to as "hardening of the arteries."

For example, inactive overweight women had higher levels of potentially harmful C-reactive protein, a blood protein that signals ongoing inflammation, and higher levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and lower levels of "good" HDL cholesterol.

Compared with normal weight women, "women who were overweight or obese had 2 to 10 times increased levels of risk factors that increase women's risk for heart attack and stroke, such as cholesterol and inflammation," Mora reported. Women who were physically inactive, whether they had normal weight or elevated weight, also had 5 to 50 percent higher levels of these risk biomarkers, she added.

A high body weight was more strongly related to adverse cardiovascular biomarker levels that physical inactivity. However, within body weight categories, physical activity was generally associated with more favorable cardiovascular biomarker levels than inactivity.

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, March 22/29, 2006.