Watch Out on Your Weight

Frequent consumption of foods as shown in the figure above, could lead to obesity. As we all know, obesity does associated with a string of complicated diseases, particularly heart diseases, type II diabetes and breathing difficulties while sleeping.

In a recent study, an article which is published in the Journal of the America Medical Association on 24th June 2009, links between obesity and pancreatic cancer very closely. The study suggests that the risk of pancreatic cancer occurrence seems to be higher in those who are obese.

Particularly in the United States, the number of obese individuals have been increasing by leaps and bounds nowadays. Evidences accumulated in the last 2 decades appear to be inclined to a fact that having excess body weight influenced an individual's lifespan greatly, as well as increasing the risk of pancreatic cancer occurrence.

Dong Li Hui, PhD form University of Texas, together with a number of colleagues, found in their study that individuals who were overweight (a BMI of 25-29.9) from the ages of 14 to 39 years or obese (a BMI of 30 or greater) from the ages of 20 to 49 years had an associated increased risk of pancreatic cancer, independent of diabetes status. The result is based on 841 patients with pancreatic cancer and 754 healthy individuals matched by age, race and gender.

Apart from that, the study also reveal that individuals who are overweight or obese from the ages of 20 to 49 years had an earlier onset of pancreatic cancer by 2 to 6 years.

The abstract can be found here.

Learn More About H1N1

The spread of H1N1 virus has caused some sort of turmoil worldwide. As for cases which occurred locally, as at 2.20pm, on 24th June 2009; the number of H1N1 cases had been mounted up to 80. Where 69 of it were transmitted from foreign countries while 11 cases were claimed to be locally transmitted.

We must always beware and make sure we are cautious about the transmitting factors.

The United Nation (UN), which is well-known as an international organization, had published a booklet about H1N1 virus in an interactive and easily understandable way. You might still be confused about the deadly virus. This booklet expressed very clearly about the differences between flu and cold, the symptoms, factors and many more.

Feel free to click on this link to download the booklet.

Milk Does Reduce Weight

Many people would have been scratching their heads while seeing the topic of this article. By drinking milk, our weights can be reduced? That sounds quite absurd since common sense always tell us that as long as we are consuming dairy products, weight-gaining is simply inevitable. True enough, but when you shift your paradigm and look into this matter in a different perspective, you will definitely see the difference.

Frequently, people who gained unwanted weight after drinking milk are usually those who drink whole milk, a type of milk the fat content in it appears to be very high. In the meantime, milk which has low fat content, that is, ranging from less than 0.5% to 2% (the fat content in GT&F Milk Powder is 2%) is considered as low fat milk or skimmed (semi-skimmed) milk. But they still do contain fat, how do they reduce weight?

Researchers in Australia found that by drinking low fat milk in the morning helped increase satiety, in other words, it caused a feeling of fullness. This phenomenon directly renders the person to consume lesser for lunch.

In the study, 34 overweight but otherwise healthy men and women participated in two testing sessions. One in which they were served about 20 ounce of virtually fat-free milk in the morning, while in the other session, they were served with fruit drinks, where the milk and fruit drinks served in both sessions respectively contain 250 kcal (an amount where it is considered as equivalent with a breakfast meal).

After an interval of 4 hours, those who were served with milk consume about 9% less in lunch. The researchers suspect that the lactose (natural sugar in milk) or simply the thickness of the milk may play an important role in the satiety benefits.

GT&F Milk Powder proves to be effective in weight management. Since the essential substances in the product stimulate body metabolism, it directly eliminates the unwanted or excess fats which eventually resulting in reducing your body weight. The content itself already has such marvelous benefits, imagine how the effectiveness would be enhanced if you develop a habit as mentioned in the article?

Therefore, for those who really determined to lose more weight, this could be a good way to start off your very own weight-loss program. No pills-swallowing, no meals-skipping, all you need to do is just remember to drink a glass of GT&F Milk each day in the morning before activating your biological engine to start off the day!

OPP : Depression & Its Solutions

Ever since the financial meltdown in the last quarter of 2008, many people reported to suffer from depression. As a matter of fact, we should not be ignorant, neglect and belittle what depression can inflict upon human kind. For instance, the financial slump which is claimed to be the worst post-war crisis, has caused many homicidal as well as suicidal cases.

Particularly, some people who lost their jobs, suffered greatly from depression and helplessly overpowered by their troubling minds, they also lost their rationality and started killing their family members as the only route to vent their frustration. Almost all the murderers in cases with such similarity eventually had themselves killed.

That's how far depression can lead us to.

Last night, our very own Malay Nutritionist, Pn. Masrisa had thoroughly reminded the audiences about the danger of depression. Furthermore, she had also mentioned all the diseases which relate to depression, such as major depression, dysthemia, atypical depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and etc.

Besides that, Pn. Masrisa pointed out the factors and causes which could lead to the development of depression, namely biological factors, psychological factors and environmental/social factors.

Apart from that, Pn. Masrisa also appeared to be cautious about the medical treatments which are being used in the medical field nowadays. Without her clear explanation, many would not know that medicines which contain St. John's Wort, Valerian and Kava could cause adverse effects to the consumers.

Other than a speech which won a big round of applause, the company also provided a mini quiz for the audiences. The audiences were given a self-assessment form each, and were asked to fill in the answers for each question. This test allowed the audiences to have a better understanding about themselves as far as depression level is concerned.

There are a number of scientific evidences which show that chromium (a essential substance in GT&F Products, could benefits individuals who suffer from depression). The following are some links which lead to abstracts of those scientific evidences:

CJO - Abstract

Effectiveness of chromium in atypical depression

IngentaConnect

Solutions to Inflammation

GT&F Products are very well-known with its inflammation-eliminating effect, since it can effectively reduce the existence of interleukin-6 (inflammatory factors) in your body. But a piece of pleasant news gave rise to the attention of the world, especially in the world of sport medicine.

As promised earlier, we will be revealing further scientific evidences about the benefits of Tai Chi, the famous Chinese Martial Arts which have been passed on for many decades. Yesterday, we had been looking into the positive effect which Tai Chi could shower upon the diabetic patients. But as we all know, diabetes is a disease where it would possibly cause a series of other metabolic syndromes.

Speaking about metabolic syndromes, it basically refers to the diseases which emerge when the flow of metabolism in your body system goes haywire. Among the diseases are
high blood pressure,cardiovascular diseases, arthritis and many many more.

Today, we are focusing on the common ache which suffered from many individuals, namely arthritis. A recent abstract of a study in May 2009 shows that Tai Chi, other than capable in improving blood glucose level, the famous sport also proves to have positive health benefits for musculoskeletal pain.

The study proves to be a robust evidence where pain and disability among people with arthritis can be greatly improved with the practice of Tai Chi. Dr. Chris Maher, from The George Institute revealed that in the near future, another study to determine whether same benefits could be applied to people who suffer from lower back pain.

Tai Chi, The Ultimate Sport

A legendary culture hero, Zhang San Feng, has been credited by modern practitioners by his well known martial art, Tai Chi Quan. Tai Chi, being regarded as one of the most famous Chinese Martial Arts in the world, has long been practiced by many people who reckon that such sport could shower the practitioners great health and longevity.

While consuming our very own GT&F Products, diabetic patients especially, can also consider taking up Tai Chi classes as their favorite exercise or sport. In 2008, Tai Chi has been regarded scientifically as a sport which could improve diabetes control.

According to articles (two studies) being published in the journal of Sport Medicine in April 2008, Tai Chi can improve the control of type II diabetes as well as boosting immune system response.

In the first study, researchers analyzed the consequence of a 12-week long period of Tai Chi exercise program on the activity of helper T cells in 30 diabetic patients of the same age.

Pleasantly, after 12 weeks, the levels of glycated hemoglobin levels fell significantly, from 7.59% to 7.16% in diabetic patients. In conjunction, helper T cells activity also increased significantly. Base on such observartion, researchers postulated that Tai Chi could be a sport where it prompts a decline in blood glucose levels, very possibly by stimulated blood glucose metabolism. Apart from that, with the rise of helper T cells activity, it apparently means that immune system can be improved tremendously through this exercise.

Meanwhile, the second study involves patients with deadly metabolic syndromes such as high blood glucose and hypertension.

The investigation was conducted almost similarly with the first study, a 12-week Tai Chi exercise program had been carried out by 13 patients for up to 1.5 hours, and up to 3 times a week, while the patients were also encouraged to perform exercises outside the classes.

When the time duration is passed, investigators observed that the waist length of the patients had dropped by approximately 3 cm while the average lost weight was 3 kg. Very surprisingly, the level of insulin resistant, an arguably the sign of diabetes onset, has also dropped significant after the 12-week program.

Tomorrow, we shall see more scientifically proven benefits about Tai Chi, an ultimate sport which could alleviate the excruciation by common pain sufferers.