Archive for October, 2008

Check Vitamin D Levels this Winter

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin
In this newsletter I have reported that low vitamin D levels are associated with increased risk for heart attacks, strokes, at least 17 different cancers, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, depression and osteoporosis. Adequate blood levels of vitamin D are thought to be over 75nmol/L. Researchers at the University [...]

Stretching Pros and Cons

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin
Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia reviewed the world’s literature and concluded that stretching does not prevent muscle soreness that follows vigorous exercise (1). Athletes train by taking a hard workout, feeling sore the next day, and then taking easy workouts for as many days [...]

Broken Knee Cartilage is Forever

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin
A team of researchers at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario have shown that arthroscopic removal of loose cartilage and trimming of knee cartilage is no better than doing no surgery at all (NEJM, September 11, 2008). The only other study that also used sham [...]

Don’t Regain Lost Weight

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin
A new study shows that older people who diet without exercising lose huge amounts of muscle. When weight loss was combined with exercise, they did not lose muscle (Journal of Applied Physiology, October, 2008). Loss of muscle slows metabolism even further because larger muscles burn more calories [...]

Plastic Bottles and Containers: New Concerns

Submitted by Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin
A study from Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, U.K. shows that high levels of urinary Bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical compound commonly used in plastic packaging for food and beverages, is associated with heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and abnormal liver tests (JAMA, Sept 17, 2008). BPA can break [...]