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March 2006 Vol. 11 no. 3

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to
rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the
gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt

 

Table of Contents:

Newly Posted Articles at AFPA
Certification of Fitness Professionals and Legal Defensibility
Check out AFPA [American Fitness Professionals & Associates]
The Get America Fit Foundation
Another Way Hospitals Can Kill You
How Antidepressants Affect Your Immune System
Vegetable Oil Fats Can Accelerate Cancer Growth
Government Testing of Chicken Shows Dramatic Jump in Salmonella in 2005
Flaxseed Can Help Fight Breast Cancer
Meat and Fat Intake Increase Risk of Pancreatic Cancer

Newly Posted Articles at AFPA

How to Prevent Personal Trainer Burn Out
How to Choose the Proper Business Entity
The Employer’s Role in Verifying Employment
Top Reasons to Hire a Fitness Business Coach
Avoiding Business Failure
Ten Ways to Retain Quality Employees
Narrow Your Focus to Expand Your Business
Reaching Out to Baby Boomers
Closing the Sale
How to Close the Personal Training Sale
The Power of the Fax

Certification of Fitness Professionals and Legal Defensibility

There is the truth & there is mis-information regarding what a certification can provide in the way of legal protection from lawsuits.

Read the truth here: http://www.afpafitness.com/articles/LegallyDefensibilityofCertification.htm

Check out AFPA [American Fitness Professionals & Associates]

AFPA is an international fitness organization in its 13th year in business with over 58,000 certified members in all 50 states and over 35 foreign countries.

Recognized by IHRSA: http://www.healthclubs.com/choosing/clubtrainer.html
NBFE Affiliate: http://nbfe.org/about/affiliate
VA approved: http://www.gibill.va.gov/education/benefits.htm

No need to proctor an exam if the exam is structured in such a way as AFPA has conducted their programs since 1994.

The Get America Fit Foundation

I have come across a wonderful organization designed to inspire Americans to get moving. Check out some of the goals and check out their website.  It is well worth your time.

By the end of 2006 The Get America Fit Foundation hopes to inspire

Americans to:

Run 1 million miles
Cycle 1 million miles
Walk 1 million steps
Drink 1 million gallons of water
Exercise for 10 million minutes
Be Part of a Guinness Book of World Record !

Get America Fit is going to make its first Guinness Book of World Record attempt in February 2006. Join us as we encourage the world to exercise on February 25, 2006.

Print Your Registration Form Today to become part of the largest fitness campaign in the world
http://www.getamericafit.org/registration.html

Another Way Hospitals Can Kill You

The Center for Science in the Public Interest tested French fries at 14 of America’s leading hospitals and six top children’s hospitals. All 20 served fries with health-harming Tran’s fats.  Among the worst offenders, based on the Trans fatty content of their Fries:

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania — 5.3 grams
University of Michigan Health System — 4.9 grams
UCLA Medical Center — 4.6 grams
University of Washington Medical Center — 4.5 grams
University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center and Children’s  
National Medical Center — 4.1 grams

What’s more, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) serves trans-fat-laden French fries in its cafeteria, despite that agency’s own recommended dietary guidelines. Their French fries, in fact, contained more trans fats than any of the hospitals.

The report is having some effect; the University of Michigan Health System vowed to work to remove trans fats from their menus, and the USDA will begin serving fries cooked in trans-fat-free canola oil.

Center for Science in the Public Interest February 6, 2006
http://www.cspinet.org/new/200602061.html

USA Today February 7, 2006
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-02-06-hospital-fries_x.htm

How Antidepressants Affect Your Immune System

Antidepressant drugs may have an effect on the immune system. Drugs such as Prozac and Zoloft, which belong to a class known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or “SSRIs,” work by making the chemical serotonin remain for longer periods at nerve junctions.  New research indicates that serotonin is also a signaling molecule between immune cells. Dendritic cells pick up serotonin at inflammation sites and pass it along to T cells. This affects T cell growth and division into new cells. However, when Prozac was introduced at inflammation sites, it blocked this type of serotonin uptake.

Blood February 1, 2006; 107(3): 1010-1017
Yahoo News January 27, 2006

Vegetable Oil Fats Can Accelerate Cancer Growth

Omega-6 fatty acids accelerate the growth of human prostate tumors.  The current study found that the fats caused human prostate tumors in cell culture to grow twice as quickly as tumors to which omega-6 fats had not been added.

Omega-6 fatty acids are found in vegetable oils, including:

Corn
Canola
Soybean
Sunflower

Americans currently consume over 25 times the level of omega-6 fats as the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. Further, the researchers pointed out that the rate of prostate cancer in the United States has increased steadily along with intake of omega-6, suggesting a possible link between diet and prostate cancer.

Cancer Research February 1, 2006; 66: 1427-1433
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/3/1427

Food Navigator February 1, 2006
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=65537-omega-corn-oil-prostate-cancer

Government Testing of Chicken Shows Dramatic Jump in Salmonella in 2005

Statement of CSPI Food Safety Director Caroline Smith DeWaal

USDA test results announced today show that Salmonella rates in chicken increased almost 80 percent since 2000. In 2000, about 9 percent of chickens tested by USDA were positive for Salmonella but the new data show more than 16 percent testing positive.

Steady increases in Salmonella, including a 2.8 percent jump in 2005, mean that more chickens contaminated with Salmonella are going home with consumers than at any time since the mid 1990s. USDA is belatedly stepping up oversight of the poultry industry to try to reverse this trend, but it has stood idly by while processors have challenged the agency’s authority in court.

Without legislation from Congress restoring USDA’s authority to enforce microbial limits in the meat supply, the agency will simply flap its wings at Salmonella problems. More than a million people in the United States get sick from Salmonella infections each year, and more than 500 die. What the agency needs is authority to close down any meat or poultry plant that fails to meet performance standards.

Flaxseed Can Help Fight Breast Cancer

Flaxseed may slow breast cancer, according to a recent study at the University Health Network in Toronto. In addition to their regular diet, 32 postmenopausal women with breast cancer were asked to have a flaxseed muffin or a muffin with similar nutrient content but without flaxseed. Women in the flaxseed group showed a 34.2 percent reduction in tumor cell growth and a 71 percent decrease in expression of an aggressive type of cancer cell known as C-erbB2.

Thompson LU, Chen JM, Li T, Strasser-Weippl K, Goss PE. Dietary flaxseed alters tumor biological markers in postmenopausal breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2005;11(10):3828-35.

Meat and Fat Intake Increase Risk of Pancreatic Cancer

A new study shows that meat consumption increases the risk of pancreatic cancer, one the most serious forms of the disease. Researchers with the Multiethnic Cohort Study in Hawaii and Los Angeles followed 190,545 participants for seven years, finding that those who regularly consumed red meat (beef, pork, lamb) showed a 50 percent increase in cancer risk; and those who consumed the most processed meat (sausage, salami, bologna) showed a 70 percent increase in risk. The researchers speculate that carcinogens formed during the preparation of the beef, pork, and lamb products may be to blame.

Nöthlings U, Wilkens LR, Murphy SP, Hankin, JH, Henderson BE, Kolonel
LN. Meat and fat intake as risk factors for pancreatic cancer: The Multiethnic Cohort Study. J Natl. Cancer Inst. 2005;97:1458-65.

Selected segments are reproduced from Dr. Mercola’s excellent website:
http://www.mercola.com/index.htm

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
http://www.pcrm.org