How heart disease may led to James Gandolfni's death.

James Gandolfini, the larger-than-life Emmy award-winning actor who played mob boss Tony Soprano, has met his end in Rome, due to an apparent heart attack. At age 51, his passing was entirely premature.
As Tony Soprano, Gandolfini insinuated himself into popular culture as the big, menacing, complex and implacable mobster who ruled his criminal empire with old-school, strong-arm tactics. But every tough guy knows that there’s someone – or something – tougher out there. For Tony Soprano, the hit man was likely heart disease.
The much-beloved Gandolfini was by all accounts a marvelous friend and deeply respected by his peers. He had a charismatic personality and a great sense of humor. He was also very overweight, a cigar smoker and a man known to remain at the dinner table until the last strands of pasta and crumbs of tiramisu had been taken care of. As Tony Soprano, he could menace just about anybody. But as actor Gandolfini, his lifestyle vulnerabilities made him an easy target for a highly efficient silent killer.

As famous as he was, Gandolfini’s death added only a tiny notch in the belt of the ultimate assassin: heart disease. Gandolfini was just one of the more than 600,000 people to fall victim to fatal heart disease in the U.S. each year. The difference between Gandolfini and all other victims of cardiovascular disease is that he was globally famous.


What we can learn from a meteoric life - lived large and ended too soon - is that no matter who you are, no matter how famous, rich, awarded and popular you become, heart disease can get you.

Obesity is associated with increased rates of heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure and arterial disease. Tobacco smoking is also a major cardiovascular risk factor. Consistently large eating habits can lead to a large coronary event. Gandolfini did it all: lived too heavy, enjoyed his fine cigars and packed in the food. Like a recipe for a perfect marinara, Gandolfini’s life was a perfect formula for a heart attack.


At this point in time, the rules of cardiovascular health are fairly well understood. Eating foods low in fat, exercising daily, eradicating any and all smoking from your life and reducing stress are all factors in maintaining a healthy heart and living longer.


Omega-3 fatty acids from fish appear to be significantly protective to the heart and eating lots of soluble and insoluble fiber helps to regulate metabolism, eliminate waste, control blood sugar and reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Herbs like hawthorn and green tea and supplements like OPC’s and Coenzyme Q 10 can help you to keep your heart healthier, longer. But lifestyle still matters most.


We become attached to celebrities in our imagination. We watch them perform, relate in various ways to the characters they portray, celebrate their on-stage victories and feel for them in their scripted defeats. According to those who knew him, Gandolfini was nothing like Tony Soprano. He was instead a softer, more thoughtful man and a highly driven actor who put his all into his performances and enjoyed a wide range of friends. And that makes his death even sadder.

Nobody here gets out alive. How long we get to stick around depends to a great extent upon how we live. Violate the fundamental code of healthy living and you’ll be taken out. Don’t let television characters, however tough they are portrayed, mislead you into thinking that anybody can sidestep the basics. We are all responsible to live out our days with care for our bodies. Maintaining a healthy weight, eating clean food and avoiding major health risks like smoking are all smart strategies.

James Gandolfini will be missed. The accolades will pour in. His family and friends will weep. The funeral will get international coverage. Talk shows will discuss him for weeks. Re-runs of “The Sopranos” will get a new life. But for the big mob boss whose giant personality dominated television for years, it’s closing time. Bye, Tony. We’ll miss you.

Obese people at 29% higher risk of premature death

People who are obese have a 29% increased risk of premature death.
This could come as a wake-up call for 8 million women and 4.4 million men in India who are obese (body mass index of 30 kg/m2).
One of the largest analyses done - 100 studies that included 3 million adults - has found that obesity was associated with a significantly higher all-cause risk of death.
In this meta-analysis that looked at 2.7 lakh deaths that occurred in the US, Europe, Mexico, India, Israel, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, China and Australia, researchers found a 18% higher risk of death for obesity - BMI equal or higher than 30 and a 29% increased risk of death among those whose BMI was higher than 35.
The study says that the presence of a wasting disease, heart disease, diabetes, renal dialysis or older age are all associated with an inverse relationship between BMI and mortality rate, an observation termed the obesity paradox.
Over one in 10 adults, who 20 years and above, are obese globally.
That's over half a billion people (205 million men and 297 million women were obese in 2008).
Researchers say excess bodyweight is an important risk factor for mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and musculoskeletal disorders, causing nearly three million deaths every year worldwide.
While the number of obese men in India increased from 2.3 million to 4.4 million between 1980 and 2008, the number increased from 2.1 million to 8 million among women during the same period
According to the study that was published on the January 2nd issue of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), "Estimates of the relative mortality risks associated with normal weight, overweight and obesity may help to inform decision making in the clinical setting."
Katherine Flegal, of the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducted the study to compile and summarize published analyses of body mass index (BMI) and all-cause mortality that provide hazard ratios (HRs) for standard BMI categories.
All-cause mortality HRs for overweight (BMI of 25 and 30), obesity (BMI of 30), grade 1 obesity (BMI of 30-35), and grades 2 and 3 obesity (BMI of 35) were calculated relative to normal weight (BMI of 18.5-25).
The researchers found that the summary HRs indicated a 6% lower risk of death for overweight; a 18% higher risk of death for obesity (all grades), a 5% lower risk of death for grade 1 obesity and a 29% increased risk of death for grades 2 and 3 obesity.
Professor Majid Ezzati from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London had said, "Excess bodyweight is a major public health concern."
Now, India is in the grip of an obesity epidemic. Experts say the trend needs to be immediately arrested by taxing junk food, restricting food ads and making food labelling clearer.
A study that looked at the burden of overweight citizens in six countries - Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa - has found that between 1998 and 2005, India's overweight rates increased by 20%. Currently, almost one in five men and over one in six women are overweight. In some urban areas, the rates are as high as 40%.
Published in the Lancet by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD), the annual cost of broad-based prevention strategies tackling obesity and other health threats, such as alcohol consumption, smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol, would be less than $2 per person per year in India.
Obesity is the root for several non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Another study in the Lancet predicted that by 2030, nearly 70% of all global deaths will be from non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, and respiratory and heart disease. Of these 70% of fatalities, 80% will be in less wealthy nations like India.
According to WHO, NCDs - principally cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases - caused an estimated 35 million deaths in 2005. This figure represents 60% of all deaths globally, with 80% of deaths due to noncommunicable diseases occurring in low- and middle-income countries, and approximately 16 million deaths involving people below 70 years.
The total deaths from NCDs are projected to increase by a further 17% over the next 10 years.
Up to 80% of heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes and over a third of cancers can be prevented by eliminating shared risk factors, mainly tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol.

Tucking shirt in!

I hate this look for me. If you do it that's your business, but I feel sloppy. When I wasn't able to tuck my shirts in, I always wore pullover type shirts for work. 

This is the look I like! So much cleaner look. I'm happy I can do this again! Keep Planking!

Would you eat a stack of 16 sugar cubes?

This website breaks down the sugar content in common things you eat and drink.


http://www.sugarstacks.com/

Training harder!

Today turning another new leaf. I've reached a plateau with my weight. So I need to turn up the steam! Friend of mine has been going to a new gym and lost over 40 ibs in about 4 months. I ran into the owner last night and mentioned I had did 36 miles biking the day before. He told me that is not going to help me with weight loss. My body needs constant change. So today I'm going to do a free session at Train Studios. Monday, June 4th I will officially enroll.

Follow me as I continue to reach my goal weight.

Richard Carmona - America's Obesity Epidemic

Obesity could affect 42% of Americans by 2030

WASHINGTON – A new forecast on America's obesity crisis has health experts fearing a dramatic jump in health care costs if nothing is done to bring the epidemic under control.

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  Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images
  "The obesity problem is likely to get much worse without a major public health intervention," says health economist Eric Finkelstein.

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Jeff J Mitchell, Getty Images

"The obesity problem is likely to get much worse without a major public health intervention," says health economist Eric Finkelstein.

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The new projection, released here Monday, warns that 42% of Americans may end up obese by 2030, and 11% could be severely obese, adding billions of dollars to health care costs.

"If nothing is done (about obesity), it's going to hinder efforts for health care cost containment," says Justin Trogdon, a research economist with RTI International, a non-profit research organization in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park.

• MORE: BMI calculator

As of 2010, about 36% of adults were obese, which is roughly 30 pounds over a healthy weight, and 6% were severely obese, which is 100 or more pounds over a healthy weight.

The obesity epidemic:

Reporter Nanci Hellmich's latest coverage on the obesity epidemic that is crippling the country.

• More obese people have joint pain, heart conditions
• Obesity rate inches up for males, but levels off overall
• It's an uphill climb for obese kids and their parents
• Family plays key role in monitoring a child's weight
• Study finds gene variants behind childhood obesity risk

"The obesity problem is likely to get much worse without a major public health intervention," says Eric Finkelstein, a health economist with Duke University Global Health Institute and lead researcher on the new study.

The analysis was presented at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Weight of the Nation" meeting. The study is being published online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The increase in the obesity rate would mean 32 million more obese people within two decades, Finkelstein says. That's on top of the almost 78 million people who were obese in 2010.

Extra weight takes a huge toll on health, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, many types of cancer, sleep apnea and other debilitating and chronic illnesses.

"Obesity is one of the biggest contributors for why healthcare spending has been going up over the past 20 years," says Kenneth Thorpe, a professor of health policy at Emory University in Atlanta.

The obesity rate was relatively stable in the USAbetween 1960 and 1980, when about 15% of people fell into the category. It increased dramatically in the '80s and '90s and was up to 32% in 2000 and 36% in 2010, according to CDC data. Obesity inched up slightly over the past decade, which has caused speculation that the obesity rate might be leveling off.

Finkelstein, Trogdon and colleagues predicted future obesity rates with a statistical analysis using different CDC data, including body mass index, of several hundred thousand people. Body mass is a number that takes into account height and weight. Their estimates suggest obesity is likely to continue to increase, although not as fast as it has in the past.

Finkelstein says the estimates assume that things have gotten about as bad as they can get in the USA, in terms of an environment that promotes obesity. The country "is already saturated" with fast-food restaurants, cheap junk food and electronic technologies that render people sedentary at home and work, he says. "We don't expect the environment to get much worse than it is now, or at least we hope it doesn't."

In an earlier study, Finkelstein and experts from the CDC estimated that medical-related costs of obesity may be as high as $147 billion a year, or roughly 9% of medical expenditures. An obese person costs an average of $1,400 more in medical expenses a year than someone who is at a healthy weight, they found. Other researchers have estimated the costs may be even higher.

If the obesity rate stays at 2010 levels instead of rising to 42% as predicted, then the country could save more than $549.5 billion in weight-related medical expenditures between now and 2030, says study co-author Trogdon.

Patrick O'Neil, president of the Obesity Society, a group of weight-control researchers and professionals, says that these new projections "indicate that even more people will be losing loved ones and others will be suffering sickness and living lives that fall short of their promise because of obesity."

There's no one-size-fits all solution to a complex problem that has been decades in the making, says Sam Kass, assistant chef and senior policy advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives at the White House. "This national conversation — this national movement — must continue. This is literally life and death we are talking about."

How can you lose weight and keep it off for good?

Successful dieters in the National Weight Control Registry, a group of 10,000 people who have lost 30 pounds or more and maintained that loss for a year or more, have developed many weight-control strategies. For instance, they:

•Follow a low-calorie, low-fat diet of about 1,800 calories a day.

•Keep track of food intake.

•Count calories, carbs or fat grams or use a commercial weight-loss program to track food intake.

•Walk about an hour a day or burn the same calories doing other physical activities.

•Eat breakfast regularly, often including whole grains and low-fat dairy products.

•Limit dining out to an average of three times a week, and fast food to less than once a week.

•Eat similar foods often and don't splurge much.

•Watch fewer than 10 hours of TV a week.

•Weigh themselves at least once a week.

Stroke Risk!

Today a cardiologist told me not to exercise because it could be me at risk for a stroke! Imagine that no exercise for me, but health comes first. My blood pressure has been very high, the reason for my visit. Today it was 190/110. So I got more medication and had an ultrasound on my heart. Will know more in 2 weeks.

50 days unitl I'm 50!

Well now the biggest challege starts, losing weight by my 50th birthday. Besides the goal to lose by a certain date it will fix a lot of my health problems, especially the blood pressure.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE OVERVIEW

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a common condition that can lead to serious complications if untreated. Making dietary changes and losing weight are effective treatments for reducing blood pressure.
Other lifestyle changes that can help to reduce blood pressure include stopping smoking, reducing stress, reducing alcohol consumption, and exercising regularly. These changes are effective when used alone, but often have the greatest benefit when used together.

5 Foods That Can Trigger a Stroke

Few things feel more terrifying and random than a stroke, which can strike without warning. And fear of stroke -- when a blood vessel in or leading to the brain bursts or is blocked by a blood clot, starving brain cells of oxygen and nutrients -- is well founded. After all, stroke is the number-three killer in the U.S., affecting more than 700,000 people each year. Here are five foods that cause the damage that leads to stroke.
1. Crackers, chips, and store-bought pastries and baked goods
Muffins, doughnuts, chips, crackers, and many other baked goods are high in trans fats, which are hydrogenated oils popular with commercial bakeries because they stay solid at room temperature, so the products don't require refrigeration. Also listed on labels as "partially hydrogenated" or hydrogenated oils, trans fats are found in all kinds of snack foods, frozen foods, and baked goods, including salad dressings, microwave popcorn, stuffing mixes, frozen tater tots and French fries, cake mixes, and whipped toppings. They're also what makes margarine stay in a solid cube. The worst offenders are fried fast foods such as onion rings, French fries, and fried chicken.

Why it's bad

For years scientists have known trans fats are dangerous artery-blockers, upping the concentrations of lipids and bad cholesterol in the blood and lowering good cholesterol. Now we can add stroke to the list of dangers. This year researchers at the University of North Carolina found that women who ate 7 grams of trans fat each day -- about the amount in two doughnuts or half a serving of French fries -- had 30 percent more strokes (the ischemic type, caused by blocked blood flow to the brain) than women who ate just 1 gram a day. Another recent study, also in women, found that trans fats promoted inflammation and higher levels of C-reactive protein, which have been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

What to do

Aim to limit trans fats to no more than 1 or 2 grams a day -- and preferably none. Avoid fast-food French fries and other fried menu items and study packaged food labels closely. Even better, bake your own cookies, cakes, and other snacks. When you can't, search out "health-food" alternative snacks, such as Terra brand potato chips and traditional whole grain crackers such as those made by Finn, Wasa, AkMak, Ryvita, and Lavasch.
2. Smoked and processed meats
Whether your weakness is pastrami, sausage, hot dogs, bacon, or a smoked turkey sandwich, the word from the experts is: Watch out.

Why it's bad

Smoked and processed meats are nasty contributors to stroke risk in two ways: The preserving processes leave them packed with sodium, but even worse are the preservatives used to keep processed meats from going bad. Sodium nitrate and nitrite have been shown by researchers to directly damage blood vessels, causing arteries to harden and narrow. And of course damaged, overly narrow blood vessels are exactly what you don't want if you fear stroke.
Many studies have linked processed meats to coronary artery disease (CAD); one meta-analysis in the journal Circulation calculated a 42-percent increase in coronary heart disease for those who eat one serving of processed meat a day. Stroke is not the only concern for salami fans; cancer journals have reported numerous studies in the past few years showing that consumption of cured and smoked meats is linked with increased risk of diabetes and higher incidences of numerous types of cancer, including leukemia.

What to do

If a smoked turkey or ham sandwich is your lunch of choice, try to vary your diet, switching to tuna, peanut butter, or other choices several days a week. Or cook turkey and chicken yourself and slice it thin for sandwiches.
How to Tell if Someone Is Having a Stroke
3. Diet soda
Although replacing sugary drinks with diet soda seems like a smart solution for keeping weight down -- a heart-healthy goal -- it turns out diet soda is likely a major bad guy when it comes to stroke.

Why it's bad

People who drink a diet soda a day may up their stroke risk by 48 percent. A Columbia University study presented at the American Stroke Association's 2011 International Stroke Conference followed 2,500 people ages 40 and older and found that daily diet soda drinkers had 60 percent more strokes, heart attacks, and coronary artery disease than those who didn't drink diet soda. Researchers don't know exactly how diet soda ups stroke risk -- and are following up with further studies -- but nutritionists are cautioning anyone concerned about stroke to cut out diet soda pop.

What to do

Substitute more water for soda in your daily diet. It's the healthiest thirst-quencher by far, researchers say. If you don't like water, try lemonade, iced tea, or juice.
4. Red meat
This winter, when the respected journal Stroke published a study showing that women who consumed a large portion of red meat each day had a 42-percent higher incidence of stroke, it got nutrition experts talking. The information that red meat, with its high saturated fat content, isn't healthy for those looking to prevent heart disease and stroke wasn't exactly news. But the percentage increase (almost 50 percent!) was both startling and solid; the researchers arrived at their finding after following 35,000 Swedish women for ten years.

Why it's bad

Researchers have long known that the saturated fat in red meat raises the risk of stroke and heart disease by gradually clogging arteries with a buildup of protein plaques. Now it turns out that hemoglobin, the ingredient that gives red meat its high iron content, may pose a specific danger when it comes to stroke. Researchers are investigating whether blood becomes thicker and more viscous as a result of the consumption of so-called heme iron, specifically upping the chance of strokes.

What to do

Aim to substitute more poultry -- particularly white meat -- and fish, which are low in heme iron, for red meat. Also, choose the heart-healthiest sources of protein whenever you can, especially beans, legumes, nuts, tofu, and nonfat dairy.
5. Canned soup and prepared foods
Whether it's canned soup, canned spaghetti, or healthy-sounding frozen dinners, prepared foods and mixes rely on sodium to increase flavor and make processed foods taste fresher. Canned soup is cited by nutritionists as the worst offender; one can of canned chicken noodle soup contains more than 1,100 mg of sodium, while many other varieties, from clam chowder to simple tomato, have between 450 and 800 mg per serving. Compare that to the American Heart and Stroke Association's recommendation of less than1,500 mg of sodium daily and you'll see the problem. In fact, a nutritionist-led campaign, the National Salt Reduction Initiative, calls on food companies to reduce the salt content in canned soup and other products by 20 percent in the next two years.

Why it's bad

Salt, or sodium as it's called on food labels, directly affects stroke risk. In one recent study, people who consumed more than 4,000 mg of sodium daily had more than double the risk of stroke compared to those who ate 2,000 mg or less. Yet the Centers for Disease Control estimate that most Americans eat close to 3,500 mg of sodium per day. Studies show that sodium raises blood pressure, the primary causative factor for stroke. And be warned: Sodium wears many tricky disguises, which allow it to hide in all sorts of foods that we don't necessarily think of as salty. Some common, safe-sounding ingredients that really mean salt:

• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• MSG (monosodium glutamate)
• Disodium phosphate
• Sodium alginate

What to do

Make your own homemade soups and entrees, then freeze individual serving-sized portions. Buy low-sodium varieties, but read labels carefully, since not all products marked "low sodium" live up to that promise.