Life Expectancy Positively Impacted By Moderate To Vigorous Physical Activity

Pooled data from six studies in the National Cancer Institute Cohort Consortium show that exercise can increase your life expectancy regardless of your weight.
A physical activity level equivalent to 75 minutes of brisk walking per week showed an increase of 1.8 years of life expectancy relative to no activity while 150 minutes per week of the same activity resulted in a 3.4 - 4.5 year gain.  This was evident at all body mass index (BMI) levels and also for black individuals and former smokers.
While keeping your weight at a healthy level should be your goal, exercise can add years to your life regardless.

Leisure Time Physical Activity of Moderate to Vigorous Intensity and Mortality: A Large Pooled Cohort Analysis

Exercise Is Good From Top To Bottom

You won't find much disagreement on the opinion that exercise is good for you.  Some recent studies have added more evidence to how exercise can positively impact your health and well-being.

A study from the University of Cordoba in Spain has shown that Physically active men show better semen parameters and hormone values than sedentary men.

Dr. Martin Juneau and colleagues at the Montreal Heart Institute recently presented a study at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress that shows that Exercise is smart for your heart - and makes you smarter

Dr. Matthew Pontifex and colleagues show that Aerobic exercise may offer new treatment option for ADHD.

Study Shows Multivitamin Use Reduces Cancer Risk

Although at least a third of all U.S adults take a daily multivitamin supplement, there has been some question as to whether there are any benefits for healthy people who are not vitamin deficient.  A study presented on The Journal of the American Medical Association's website now indicates that daily use of a multivitamin could modestly reduce the occurrence of total cancer.

Beginning in 1997 and lasting through June 1, 2011,the study followed 14,641 male physicians (initially aged 50 and over) who participated in the randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial.  The results showed     a significant though modest reduction in total cancer for middle aged and older men taking a daily multivitamin supplement.

Multivitamin Use Linked To Lowered Cancer Risk

Don't Sit Down...And If You Do, Get Up!

One hour spent watching TV reduces your life expectancy by 21.8 minutes, regardless of whether you exercise or not.

People who spend the most time sitting down have a relative risk increase of 112 percent for developing diabetes, 147 percent for cardiovascular disease, and 49 percent for dying prematurely, regardless of whether you exercise or not.

These are the results of two separate reports by the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study and the journal Diabetologia.  Apparently, it is the sedentary behavior which causes the health impact.  Even those who exercise on a regular basis are not immune from the ill effects of sedentary behavior.  A lot of jobs today involve sitting in front of a computer and a lot of people spend their leisure time sitting in front of a television.  The way to combat these effects are to simply cut down on the amount of time you spend watching TV and to get out of that chair as much as possible and move around to increase the number of skeletal muscle contractions in the very large muscles of your lower limbs.

Don't stop exercising, just focus on moving more during the rest of the time you're not exercising.

Get Up.  Get Out.  Don't Sit.

Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread

This is basically the same recipe as the Whole Wheat Bread recipe but a little wetter.  Reusing the same container and the scrapings from previous dough mixtures leads to the signature sour dough taste.

2 cups slightly warm water

3 tsp dry yeast
2 tbsp whole flax meal

1/2 tsp ginger

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp sea salt

Mix ingredients well in a bowl with a wooden spoon or something similar.

Place dough in a covered container with the cover left slightly ajar to prevent it being air tight and set aside to rise for 2 or 3 hours.

Put container in the refrigerator and leave for one to two weeks.

Remove dough, form into a loaf shape, and place in a bread pan lined with non – stick foil or parchment paper and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour while preheating oven to 375°.

Bake for about 50 minutes and let cool on a wire rack for about an hour. Bread will slice better if refrigerated for a few hours first.

Do not wash the container that stored the refrigerated dough. Keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to make more dough and then scrape what was left in the container into your new batch of dough. This will cause the new batch and subsequent batches of dough to take on a great sourdough flavor.

Italian Sausage The Vegan Way

Vegan Italian Sausage

This recipe tastes great on pizza or sandwiches made from homemade bread and topped with Tomato Sauce, peppers, and onions.

Two 15.5 oz cans of garbanzo beans (chick peas) rinsed and drained.

One boiled potato, skinned

3 oz red wine

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp fennel seed

¼ tsp black pepper

½ tsp coriander

1 tsp oregano

¼ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp caraway seed

3 tbsp Grape Nuts

4 tbsp Whole Wheat flour

¼ cup water

Preheat oven to 350°.

Using a potato masher, mash the beans and the potato together into a paste.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the paste.

Mix everything together well.

Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and form into patties or links as preferred.

Bake on a parchment paper covered baking sheet for 40 minutes and let cool.

A Delicious Sandwich Spread

Bean Spread

This is so simple but so delicious and versatile.

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas), rinsed and drained

Sauer's Original Barbecue Sauce (or your low sugar/no oil favorite)

Mt. Olive no sugar added sweet relish

Place beans in food processor, add 2 rounded tbsp of relish and about a 3 second squirt of barbecue sauce.

Run until you have a smooth spread.

Use on bread as a sandwich spread or as a topping for baked sliced potatoes, etc.

Best Vegan Burger Ever!

Best Vegan Burger Ever

This is the best vegan burger I have ever eaten and it tastes great no matter how you serve it.  My favorite way is to top it with Spicy Vegan Chili, tomato slices, and mustard.

The best way to make this is to use a crock pot and throw all the ingredients on top of each other and then cook on low for 5 hours. You can also throw everything into a pot in order, bring the water to a boil and then turn down the heat to medium low and simmer covered for 40 minutes.  The crock pot method makes everything more of a paste which is better for forming the burger patties.

Ingredients

1 cup Basmati brown rice

1 3/4 cup water

1/4 cup hot sauce (Tabasco, etc.)

1/4 onion

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp fennel seed

1 tsp cilantro

1 whole bell pepper, chopped

2 small or 1 large jalapeno pepper chopped (or 1 banana pepper)

4 mushrooms, sliced

1 15.5 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen peas

1 tsp crushed red pepper

After cooking at low heat in the crock pot for 5 hours or the alternate covered pot method, add 1 cup of corn meal and 1 cup of whole wheat flour to the mixture and stir thoroughly.

Let cool so you don't burn your hands and then grab handfuls and form into large patties and place the patties on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.

You should end up with 9 - 12 large patties.

Preheat the oven to 350° and bake the patties for about 55 minutes.

You can either serve them immediately or let the baking sheet cool on a wire rack and then wrap and freeze the patties individually for later use.

Spicy Vegan Chili

Spicy Vegan Chili

This chili is a little bit spicy but tastes great on sandwiches, rice, or as a pizza topping.

40 oz tomato juice

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

1 small onion chopped

4 - 15.5 oz cans rinsed and drained kidney beans (mash 2 of the cans with a potato masher or all 4 if using the chili as a sandwich topping).

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cilantro

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp hot sauce (Tabasco, Frank's Redhot, etc.)

Simmer for 2 hours over medium low heat.

Serve over rice, baked potatoes, bean burgers, etc.

High Intensity Interval Training Is Not A New Idea

Researchers at Colorado State University recently released a study showing that short bursts of high intensity  sprinting on exercise bikes can burn 200 calories a day more.  Subjects pedaled as fast as they could against high resistance during 5 separate 30 second periods interspersed with periods of 4 minutes of slow pedaling with little resistance.  This 2.5 minutes of high intensity training during the approximately 25 minutes of total workout time led to an average calorie burn of 200 more per day than on non workout days.  Kyle Sevits says that doing this workout a couple of times a week could help in weight maintenance.  The extra calories burned daily would offset the pound or two gained yearly by most Americans.
High intensity interval training is not a new idea.  A 1996 study by Izumi Tabata resulted in the Tabata method of workout.  This involves 4 minute sessions where an exercise is performed at high intensity for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest to complete one interval.  A total of 8 intervals are done to total 4 minutes.  Many combinations of exercises can be structured into this format but the benefits are a shorter exercise period despite greater aerobic and anaerobic gains.  The key is that all exercises must be done at a high intensity to reap the rewards.

Do Those Exercises Correctly!

In 4 Exercises You're Doing Wrong At The Gym, Philadelphia trainer Brian Maher explains the proper technique for four common exercises.

1. In the lunge, keep your step long enough to avoid having your knee go over your toes and don't lean forward.
2. Align your hands with your shoulders and keep them even with your chest when doing push-ups.  Keep your body straight from your head to your knees to keep your hips from sagging.
3. Keep your eyes on a spot directly above you while doing crunches and contract your abs to lift your back and shoulders off the ground.  This reduces the chance of straining you neck.
4. Half of the benefit of bench pressing is lowering the weight back down so don't use so much weight that you slam the weight down against your chest instead of bringing it down slowly.

Why Steve-O Went Vegan

Steve-O Glover, a big part of the Jackass TV series and movie franchise, is living part of his life a little less dangerously lately.
Comedian Steve-O: Why I Went Vegan

77 Year Old Vegan Bodybuilder

77 year old bodybuilder Jim Morris tells frugivore about becoming a vegan and how it has impacted his health.

Black Male Vegan: 77 Year Old Bodybuilder Jim Morris Proves Vegans Can Be Muscular & Healthy

C-Reactive Protein Levels and Disease Risk

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a protein synthesized by the liver and which belongs to a class of proteins called Acute-phase proteins.  Blood levels of these proteins increase in response to inflammation.  It is thought that high levels of CRP are indicative of increased risk for diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

A vegan diet has been shown to lower the levels of CRP in the blood indicating a reduction in inflammation.  It has also been shown that this is beneficial in the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis not only because of lower CRP levels but also because of its effect on gut bacteria.  Rheumatoid Arthritis patients show higher levels of Proteus mirabilis antibodies.  The disease activity is linked to these levels which are reduced in patients following a vegetarian diet.
Vegetarian Diets In The Treatment Of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Are Vegans And Carnivores More Tolerant Of Each Other Now?

Moby has been a vegan for 24 years and he thinks their relationship with carnivores has changed for the better over time.  In this Diner's Journal article, he discusses that transformation.

Can Vegans and Carnivores Get Along?  Moby Thinks So

Still Rockin' After 60

Bruce Springsteen may have just turned 63 but he's still going strong.  A mostly vegetarian diet and a 30 year workout routine have a lot to do with it.

Bruce Springsteen turns 63: His vegetarian diet and workout secrets

Bruce Springsteen at Sixty - Two

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Beer's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore!

If you like cinnamon raisin toast with your breakfast or as a snack, this is a great recipe with a little twist.  You'd be surprised at how good it tastes.

Raisin Beer Bread

one 12 oz bottle or can of beer

2 tsp dry yeast

1/2 tsp ginger
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp Splenda
one banana (mashed)

2 tbsp whole flax meal
1 cup raisins
1 cup one minute oatmeal

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp sea salt

Mix yeast and beer in a bowl and stir until yeast is dissolved.

Add ginger, cinnamon, vanilla extract, Splenda, and banana and stir well.

Mix in the flax meal, raisins, and oatmeal.

Add flour and salt and knead well for about 10 minutes.

Set the bowl aside, covered with a warm, moist towel and let rise for about 1 hour.

Knead well again and then form the dough into a loaf and place in a non – stick bread pan or one lined with non – stick foil or parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 350° and let dough rise in bread pan for 40 minutes.

Bake bread in oven for 40 minutes, remove, and let cool for at least 1 hour on wire rack.

Bread will slice better when cooled, especially if refrigerated for a few hours first.

Bread Machine Variation

You may have to experiment a little depending on your brand of bread machine.  I have a Cuisinart CBK-200 Convection Bread Maker and I find that I prefer the results of using the White, light crust setting instead of the Whole Wheat setting.  I add the beer first but make sure that it is warm to the touch.  Then I add the salt, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla extract, Splenda, flax meal, banana, and oatmeal and stir it up with a plastic spoon.  Lastly, I add the flour and make a little pocket in the top where I place the yeast.  Add the raisins during the mix-in cycle on your machine.  I have tried mixing a tablespoon of vital gluten with the flour prior to adding it but I haven't noticed any improvement in the bread so I consider it unnecessary, although it is an option to consider.

Health Benefits Lead to Surge in Vegan Diet Popularity

Having gone through bypass surgery and stent insertions, former President Bill Clinton decided to radically change his diet based on Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's research into plant based diets.  President Clinton is now a strict vegan and this article in U.S. News documents the growing popularity of a plant based diet.
'Me, Give Up Meat?  Vegan Diets Surging in Popularity'

Daily Supplements

If you're thinking about going vegan, one of the things you should consider is the use of supplements to ensure that you are meeting your daily nutrition requirements.  Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn recommends the use of the following:

• A daily multivitamin
• 1,000 mcg of vitamin B12 daily
• 1,000 mg of calcium daily for those over 50 and 1,200 mg for those over 60
• 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily for those over 50
• 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal daily to supply Omega-3 fatty acids

You can mix the flaxseed meal in with one of your meals if you like.  I add it to my Oatmeal Quick Meal.

Personally, I take 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily.  There has been a lot of interesting information about vitamin D that has come out over the last few years and anyone interested in learning more would be hard pressed to find more information than is contained on the Gibson Research Corporation's site.  Steve Gibson makes available his audio podcast detailing his painstaking research into vitamin D as well as links to many clinical trials and studies.  You can find this all here:

GRC Vitamin D Research

Potatoes and Vegetables in Tomato Sauce

This is good on it's own or as a complement to another dish.

4 potatoes cut into small chunks

1/2 onion

1 bell pepper chopped

1 hot pepper chopped (optional)

2 large or 4 small mushrooms chopped

1 large or 1 small tomato chopped

Tomato Sauce

Black Pepper

Garlic Powder

Preheat oven to 375°.

In a bowl, mix potatoes, onion, peppers, mushrooms, and chopped tomato.

Add desired amount of Tomato Sauce, sprinkle with black pepper and garlic powder to taste and mix.

Place in a casserole dish and bake uncovered for  about 50 minutes to one hour, remove, and serve.

Making Some Changes

Almost a year ago, I purchased 'Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease' by Doctor Caldwell B. Esselstyn.  At the time, I was also trying to get back into my normal exercise program that I had pretty much abandoned as I tried my hand at backyard gardening last summer.  The day after I started on the Esselstyn program, I tweaked my rotator cuff in my right shoulder while doing push ups without a proper warm up.  This was in September of 2011 and I wasn't able to resume workouts until early in 2012.  Despite my lack of exercise, I experienced a dramatic loss of weight on the Esselstyn plan without curtailing the amount I was eating in any way.  I also noticed my energy level had increased quite a bit and my thinking seemed to be sharper.  One strange thing I noticed is that the Plantar fasciitis that I had suffered from for years suddenly disappeared.  This may be a coincidence but I had tried many different pairs of work shoes over the years to try and relieve the suffering I experienced by being on my feet at work all night, an experience shared by many of my co - workers.

Now I'm exercising again and still following the plan.  I still haven't lost my love of eating like a pig so I've been trying to come up with some vegan recipes that mimic closely the foods I've always loved to eat.