Top 10 Tips to Stay Energized All Day
by Monique Ryan, MS, RD
1. Start the day right. Yes, that means breakfast. Combine a whole grain with fruit, skim dairy, or soy milk, and even add some lean protein to the mix to sustain energy levels throughout the morning. Cooked oatmeal with yogurt and a banana or Lite Mueslix with soy milk and blueberries are good choices.
2. Have a mid-morning snack. Combine a protein and a carbohydrate. It is fine to be hungry mid-morning, so honor your hunger and give your body fuel when it is asking for it. Try yogurt with a peach, low fat string cheese with an apple, or cottage cheese and grapes.
3. Eat lunch on time. Don't push back lunch until you are ravenous. Instead, eat your mid-day fuel right on time to keep your blood glucose levels nice and steady.
4. Boost your mental energy. Nature's nutrition for the brain are omega-3 fatty acids. Add light tuna or salmon to your lunchtime food choices, in addition to walnuts, tofu, and canola oil. Healthy fat keep you feeling full for a longer period of time, so add small amounts to meals and snacks. Some good choices include avocado and almonds.
5. Start the day with moderate caffeine levels and keep caffeine intake modest. While it does increase mental energy, too much caffeine may lead to energy highs and then lows, and it can interferes with quality sleep.
6. Limit processed foods high in sugar. Avoid the office candy jar, treats, and vending machine whenever possible. Processed foods do not provide sustained energy and can result in low-energy moments during the day.
7. Consume foods high in folate. Higher levels of blood folate have been associated with faster and better thought processing. Good sources include lentils, chickpeas, black beans, asparagus, broccoli, avocado, and orange juice. Also important are vitamins B6, found in bananas and spinach, and B12, found in lean proteins and skim dairy products.
8. Have an afternoon snack. If dinner is late or if you have an evening workout scheduled, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat yogurt provide energizing carbohydrate.
9. Consume complex carbohydrates that contain fiber. The fiber allows the carbohydrates to be released more slowly, providing sustained energy. Opt for whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and whole grain cereals.
10. Stay hydrated. About two-thirds of our body is water, and dehydration can contribute to reduced energy levels. About 80% of the fluid we consume comes from the fluids we drink, and the other 20% comes from foods. Always drink when you are thirsty, and have water available during the day to hydrate regularly.
Check out nine more energizing eats to start your day.
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Chinese salad may harbour cancer cureWed, Oct 15 04:05 PM
Washington, Oct 15 (ANI): A Chinese herb - more than 2,000-year-old - eaten as salad in many countries has been given a new twist to develop a compound to combat cancer.
According to researchers at the University of Washington, the new compound is more than 1,200 times more specific in killing certain kinds of cancer cells than currently available drugs, and paves the way for more effective chemotherapy drug with minimal side effects.
The compound is based on the common anti-malarial drug artemisinin, which is derived from the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua L). The scientists attached a chemical homing device to artemisinin that targets the drug selectively to cancer cells, sparing healthy cells, they report in the recent issue of the journal Cancer Letters.
The artemisinin compound takes advantage of cancer cell's high iron levels.
"The compound is like a special agent planting a bomb inside the cell," said Tomikazu Sasaki, chemistry professor at UW and senior author of the study.
For the study, the researchers tested their artemisinin-based compound on human leukemia cells, and found it to be highly selective at killing the cancer cells.
Sasaki said that the researchers also have preliminary results showing that the compound is similarly selective and effective for human breast and prostate cancer cells, and that it effectively and safely kills breast cancer in rats.
He added that most available chemotherapies to treat cancer are very toxic, destroying one normal cell for every five to 10 cancer cells killed.
"Side effects are a major limitation to current chemotherapies. Some patients even die from them," said Sasaki.
The new compound, however, kills 12,000 cancer cells for every healthy cell, i.e. it could be turned into a drug with minimal side effects, which in turn would be more effective than currently available drugs, since it could be safely taken in higher amounts.
Artemisinin alone is fairly effective at killing cancer cells- it kills approximately 100 cancer cells for every healthy cell, about ten times better than current chemotherapies. For improving the effectiveness further, the researchers added a small chemical tag to artemisinin that sticks to the "iron needed here" protein signal.
Unaware of the toxic compound lurking on its surface, the cancer cell waits for the protein machinery to deliver iron molecules and engulfs everything - iron, proteins and toxic compound. After entering the cell, the iron reacts with artemisinin to release poisonous molecules called free radicals, which on accumulation kills the cell.
"The compound is like a little bomb-carrying monkey riding on the back of a Trojan horse," said Henry Lai, UW bioengineering professor and co-author of the study.
The compound is so selective for cancer cells partly due to their rapid multiplication, which requires high amounts of iron, and partly because cancer cells are not as good as healthy cells at cleaning up free-floating iron.
"Cancer cells get sloppy at maintaining free iron, so they are more sensitive to artemisinin," said Sasaki.
"Most currently available drugs are targeted to specific cancers. This compound works on a general property of cancer cells, their high iron content," said Lai. (ANI)
Washington, Oct 15 (ANI): A Chinese herb - more than 2,000-year-old - eaten as salad in many countries has been given a new twist to develop a compound to combat cancer.
According to researchers at the University of Washington, the new compound is more than 1,200 times more specific in killing certain kinds of cancer cells than currently available drugs, and paves the way for more effective chemotherapy drug with minimal side effects.
The compound is based on the common anti-malarial drug artemisinin, which is derived from the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua L). The scientists attached a chemical homing device to artemisinin that targets the drug selectively to cancer cells, sparing healthy cells, they report in the recent issue of the journal Cancer Letters.
The artemisinin compound takes advantage of cancer cell's high iron levels.
"The compound is like a special agent planting a bomb inside the cell," said Tomikazu Sasaki, chemistry professor at UW and senior author of the study.
For the study, the researchers tested their artemisinin-based compound on human leukemia cells, and found it to be highly selective at killing the cancer cells.
Sasaki said that the researchers also have preliminary results showing that the compound is similarly selective and effective for human breast and prostate cancer cells, and that it effectively and safely kills breast cancer in rats.
He added that most available chemotherapies to treat cancer are very toxic, destroying one normal cell for every five to 10 cancer cells killed.
"Side effects are a major limitation to current chemotherapies. Some patients even die from them," said Sasaki.
The new compound, however, kills 12,000 cancer cells for every healthy cell, i.e. it could be turned into a drug with minimal side effects, which in turn would be more effective than currently available drugs, since it could be safely taken in higher amounts.
Artemisinin alone is fairly effective at killing cancer cells- it kills approximately 100 cancer cells for every healthy cell, about ten times better than current chemotherapies. For improving the effectiveness further, the researchers added a small chemical tag to artemisinin that sticks to the "iron needed here" protein signal.
Unaware of the toxic compound lurking on its surface, the cancer cell waits for the protein machinery to deliver iron molecules and engulfs everything - iron, proteins and toxic compound. After entering the cell, the iron reacts with artemisinin to release poisonous molecules called free radicals, which on accumulation kills the cell.
"The compound is like a little bomb-carrying monkey riding on the back of a Trojan horse," said Henry Lai, UW bioengineering professor and co-author of the study.
The compound is so selective for cancer cells partly due to their rapid multiplication, which requires high amounts of iron, and partly because cancer cells are not as good as healthy cells at cleaning up free-floating iron.
"Cancer cells get sloppy at maintaining free iron, so they are more sensitive to artemisinin," said Sasaki.
"Most currently available drugs are targeted to specific cancers. This compound works on a general property of cancer cells, their high iron content," said Lai. (ANI)
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