1. No salt please.Conventional turkeys (with added salt solution) do stay moister but if you’re watching your sodium intake, avoid them.

2. Forget the marshmellows.Sweet potatoes are already sweet, so why load them up with marshmallows when just a touch of maple syrup or honey accentuates their great flavor?

3. Forgo the butter.The key to a tasty gravy is using the drippings from the roasting pan. This gives plenty of flavor without the added fat or calories.

4. Skip the skin. A 3-ounce portion of light meat without skin has only 132 calories and 3 grams of fat. With the skin, that jumps to 168 calories and 6 grams of fat.

Lack of exercise may greatly increase the risk of breast cancer, suggests a new study in the December issue of Cancer Causes and Control.

The study by Coyle YM at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center says exercise equivalent to a 30-minute walk five times a week can help prevent breast cancer, slow progression of the disease, enhance recovery and prevent the disease from recurring.

According to researchers, animal studies have found that exercise slows breast tumor growth by promoting changes in cellular reproduction and apoptosis (a form of programmed cell death).

Exercise training is safe in heart failure patients, does not significantly reduce hospitalization or death, but is associated with several improved clinical outcomes, even in those already receiving optimal medical care, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008. The Heart Failure and A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise Training (HF-ACTION) was presented as a late-breaking clinical trial.

The trial is the world’s largest study of exercise training versus usual care in heart failure (HF) patients, said Christopher M. O’Connor, M.D., principal investigator and director of the Heart Center and professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

A new study says that a regular exercise regime can significantly improve quality of life in heart failure patients.

The study led by Duke University Medical Center showed that exercise is not only safe for patients, but also helps to improve the quality of their lives. They fare better and feel good about their lives than similar patients who do not work out on a regular basis.

During the study, the researchers randomized participants to receive either standard care or standard care plus an exercise program.

The exercise regimen consisted of three months of supervised aerobic training on a bicycle or treadmill, followed by instruction for continued home-based training.

Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) says working out on a stationary bicycle or walking on a treadmill just 25 to 30 minutes most days of the week is enough to modestly lower risk of hospitalization or death for patients with heart failure.

The findings stem from the HF-ACTION trial (A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes Exercise TraiNing), the most comprehensive study to date examining the effects of exercise upon patients with heart failure. The study was reported today as a late-breaking clinical trial at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008 by Christopher O’Connor M.D., director of the Duke Heart Center and principal investigator of the trial, and David Whellan, M.D., of Thomas Jefferson University, co-principal investigator, according to a press release issued by EurekAlert.

Exercises for arthritis

Any movement, no matter how small, can help you feel better if you have arthritis.Your doctor or physical therapist can recommend which exercises could be best for you. Some exercises for arthritis may include:

Range-of-motion exercises which relieve stiffness and increase your ability to move your joints through their full range of motion. Range-of-motion exercises involve moving your joints through their normal range of movement, such as raising your arms over your head or rolling your shoulders forward and backward. These exercises can be done daily or at least every other day.

Left to Right:
Back Row: Lester, Pastor Larry, Roy, Jim
Middle Row: Jean, Maureen, Luella, Susan, Edna, Sherri
Front Row: Eleanor, Doris, Nadine, Aileen

The senior group fitness at The First Congregational Church in Santa Ana, CA every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30pm. We work on balance and strength training. Please call us at (949) 933.1681 if you are interested in joining. Fees are very minimal.

I found this interesting and thought I should share it. I wonder if this will work on humans?

French researchers said they have discovered a drug that “tricks the body into burning off fat,” regardless of the body’s diet, BBC News reported.

A team at the University of Louis Pasteur successfully tested the drug, called SRT1720, on mice, according to a report in this month’s journal Cell Metabolism.The drug is a chemical cousin of resveratrol, the red wine extract that combats aging and promotes heart health.

Folic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 supplements should be taken every day, just don’t expect them to lower your cancer risk.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School analyzed data from a study of 5,442 women age 42 and older who were at high risk of cardiovascular disease and who had taken a daily combination of the three supplments or a placebo for more than seven years.

The supplements are crucial in DNA synthesis, repair and general functioning, which suggests higher levels of them could lower cancer risk. Some observational studies had supported this notion. But the research has been far from definitive, with one study even suggesting a negative effect.

Ingredients

3/4 cup(s) low-fat cottage cheese , or low-fat plain yogurt
1 cup(s) fruit
2 teaspoon(s) toasted wheat germ

Directions

1. Place cottage cheese (or yogurt) in a small bowl. Top with fruit and sprinkle with wheat germ.