8 secrets for all-day energy -Part 5

Consistent wake-up time, regular meals can help fight fatigue

Time your meals

Instead of: Grazing all period long

Try: Eating your meals at the same time every day

Your body's caloric needs are closely tied to its other regular rhythms, including when you intend up and go to bed and when you pay the most forcefulness (during your late-day fitness walk, for example). \"What module attain you bushed is if your body expects a 7 a.m. breakfast and a 12 p.m. lunch and you skip one of those,\" says Layman. \"Chaotic eating leads to greater hunger and overeating.\"

Prepare breakfast the night before so you're sure to start the period with a increase modify if you're running late. Pack a lunch to take to work in housing you can't intend away from your desk midday. On the weekend, attain and freeze several meals that you can quickly heat up so you and your family eat party at the same time every night.

Don't Be Afraid of Dietary Supplements and Vitamins - Even if You Were Burned in the Past

If you watch television or listen to the radio long enough, then you will surely hear an ad telling you about an amazing new weight loss supplement or miracle supplement. These drugs are guaranteed to slim you down, clean out different organs, or provide miracle cures for all types of illness. Truly there are still many people that are pulling up and trying to sell miracle health supplements that don't really do anything to benefit you, and in many cases actually hurt your health. It seems that no matter how much time passes there will still be snake oil doctors among us vending their wares. Many people have bought these terrible products, and they have sworn off ever purchasing any other supplements or vitamins.

Don't give up on supplements and vitamins just because you have been burned in the past. The benefits to your health are too important to let one poor experience force you to abandon them forever. In the future it is just as important that you are aware of what you require and products that will improve your overall health.

Multivitamins are a good starting point. Sure that isn't very flashy, and it isn't the newest craze that all the celebrities and people around the office are talking about; however, taking a good daily multivitamin is a good way to supplement your nutritional diet. Even for someone who is very conscious about what they are eating, and trying to get a full diet it is nearly impossible to get all the nutrients that your body requires. Vitamins act as the fillers to a healthy diet. A good multivitamin will provide all the vitamins and minerals that your body requires. Just like any other supplement, a multivitamin shouldn't be taken in excess. Yet, a good multivitamin has been proven to help fight off illness and improve overall health.

Another simple supplement that can be added to a diet is whey protein. Whey protein helps people to add additional protein to their diet. Your body uses protein to build lean muscle and to burn fat. Adding protein to your diet is very simple, and whey protein comes from dairy so it is easier to digest than soy based proteins. Like anything, you shouldn't take too much protein; but your body hardly ever turns protein into fat. Therefore, adding whey protein is a simple way to add to your diet without fear. When looking for protein one should find a supplement that contains at least 18 grams a serving, and one that is isolated and not concentrated. Isolated whey protein supplements contain higher amounts of protein, normally more than 90%, and isolated whey protein doesn't contain any of the fats and carbohydrates that other supplements contain.

Even if you have been burned in the past by cheap and ineffective dietary supplements, don't be afraid to research and add some good supplements to your diet. A good addition would be a good multivitamin, whey protein, and other healthy safe supplements.

by: Gerald Fitz

The Importance of Drinking Water When Losing Weight

Hydration is an important element to any workout. A lack of liquids will decrease body performance, and may lead to serious bodily injuries that will prevent further workouts. Yet, often overlooked is the benefit of an increase in drinking more water to better health and losing weight.

For anyone wanting to lose weight, the most important part of the endeavor is to watch what they are eating. There might not be any more important push-up that people do when losing weight, than the push-up away from the dinner table. Counting the calories of a diet will make a huge improvement to any effort to lose weight. One of the major ways that calories sneak into people's diets is in liquid form. Many beverages are loaded with sugars. It is easy to get your daily amount of calories in just a few cups of your favorite drink. To combat these hidden calories traps many people drink diet beverages or juice mixes. Studies have shown that diet sweeteners might actually be worse for you than actual sugar. Also, in efforts to lose weight, carbonation in diet drinks really counteract the efforts that people put out at the gym. Studies have shown that carbonation attacks and weakens muscles, and further muscle growth. A prevention of muscle growth will decrease the calories that your body burns when idle. Water is the most natural and most effect beverage that anyone can take if they are looking for a good way to hydrate. The more water that someone has in their system the more waste buildup will be taken out of their bodies.

Adding protein to your daily diet will also help in efforts to lose weight. Protein is the building block your body uses to lean muscles. Why are lean muscles so important for losing weight? The creation of lean muscle takes energy. When your body is creating lean muscle you are burning calories. Those extra calories which your body would be otherwise be burning, in other ways, or storing for later use by converting into fat. This means that if a person has a good workout that will include resistant muscle building training, with a high protein diet, they will be more successful than someone who just uses cardiovascular training. A great way to add the protein to the diet is by using a whey based protein isolate supplement. Whey Protein provides high amounts of pure protein without the fats and carbohydrates that other supplements include.

When you change the amount of protein in your diet, it is crucial to also increase the amount of water that you're drinking each day. Many high protein diet plans are designed for quick results. These results come due to a loss in water weight. The lack of water, mixed with an increase in protein can be very detrimental to your health. Your body will have a hard time moving the excess waste from your blood stream which will be very harmful to your kidneys. Drinking an adequate amount of water to the protein in your system will prevent any harm from a protein diet, and will allow you to gain all of the benefits that protein will give to your diet.

Water has been shown to have many benefits in your daily diet. Drinking more water will help to sleep better, have less stress, avoid illnesses, and will also help anyone who is trying to lose weight. Combining the benefits of water with an increase in daily protein will also be a real boost to anyone trying to create lean muscle and lose weight.

by: Gerald Fitz

Scientists Create Genetically Accurate Mouse Model for Autism

Marlene Busko

May 28, 2008 (London, United Kingdom) — Mice containing a mutation in a gene encoding neuroligin-3, which is implicated in human autism, may represent the first genetically accurate model of autism that is not confounded by other neurological diseases, researchers report.

The study, by Craig M. Powell, MD, and colleagues, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas, Texas, showed that mice with a neuroligin-3

R451C substitution exhibited impaired social interaction but also showed superior spacial learning skills.

Dr. Powell presented these findings in an oral presentation at the 7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research. Part of this work was recently published (Tabuchi K et al. Science. 2007;318:71-76).

"We've created the first animal model that’s a genetically accurate model of autism that’s not associated with other neuropsychiatric syndromes like fragile X syndrome, Rett's syndrome, or tuberous sclerosis," Dr. Powell told Medscape Psychiatry.

Their data suggest that this mouse model may be useful to better understand the molecular mechanism of autism and ultimately to design and test new therapeutic approaches, he added.

What Is Happening in the Autistic Brain?

During the past several years, scientists have been attempting to develop an appropriate animal model for autism, the group writes.

A small percentage of patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) carry mutations in genes encoding neuroligin-3 and -4, which are postsynaptic cell-adhesion molecules, they note. In addition, mutations in neuroligin binding partners, neurexin-1 and shank-3, have also been found in patients with ASD.

The team aimed to create and characterize a genetically accurate mouse model of autism by introducing a mutation linked with autism — the R451C substitution in neuroligin-3 — into mice.

The researchers examined the performance of 19 "knock-in" mice with this mutation vs 19 wild-type littermate controls in a variety of behavioral tests relevant to autism. They also performed various tests to measure synaptic protein activity.

Compared with the control mice, the R451C-mutant knock-in mice showed impaired social interaction, but they had normal anxiety, coordination, and sensitivity to pain. Interestingly, the mice with the mutated gene performed better in the Morris water maze, which showed that they had enhanced spatial learning ability.

Unexpectedly, these behavioral changes in the mutant mice were accompanied by an increase in inhibitory synaptic transmission in the cortex.

Encouraging Early Results

"These are very encouraging preliminary data," said Dr. Powell.

"What we are trying to do now is target the changes in synaptic function in these mice — the increase in inhibitory synaptic function in the cortex," he said. "We're using drugs that might reduce the level of inhibition that's abnormally elevated in the knock-in mice," he added, noting that it is hoped that this will treat the behavioral symptoms in the mice.

By looking at more mouse models and gaining a better understanding of what is wrong with the brain in autism, researchers hope to find common pathways that would some day be potential drug targets for patients, he said.

7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research: Oral Presentation 132.1. May 15-17, 2008

taken from medscape.com

What Effects Does Nutrition Have On Mental Health

It has been an enduring belief that nutrition plays a significant role in the state of mental health of an individual. But is this true or not?

Recent as well as previous researches have proven that nutrition (or the lack of it) does have effects on how a person's brain functions, his moods and his behaviors.

Say for example, a person who has skipped a meal is observably weak, out of focus and irritable. This case worsens when extended to a certain period of time when the person becomes severely moody and indifferent to the demands of his environment thus showing decreased speed in reaction time.

These behaviors occur due to the lack of nutrition supply to the brain. The brain requires high energy and nutrient supply. It comprises, in fact, 20% to 30% of all the energy consumption of the body during rest periods. Thus, any change in diet or nutrition level of the body directly reflects in the mental functioning.

Chronic energy deprivation, such as the case of malnourished people, results to the eventual shutting down of the body by decreasing its activities and redirecting all its energy sources towards the systems that require higher energy supply. This results to altered levels of activities, changes in hormonal levels, lessened immune system efficiency and transport of nutrients and oxygen to certain body parts, all of which could directly or indirectly influence mental health. People with extremely low nutrition are more likely to become sad, depressed and emotional as compared with those who have adequate nutrition.

Newborn babies and fetuses are also susceptible to brain damage if they are subjected to lack of necessary nutrition. The type and degree of damage is dependent on the severity of malnutrition. Also, malnutrition among babies has proven to produce low level of intelligence, cognitive defects as well as functional abnormalities.

Protein, carbohydrates, lipids and vitamins all have individual effects on the brain. Lack of supply of these necessary nutrients result to alterations in the activities of the neurotransmitters, a chemical component in the brain that transmit one nerve impulse from one nerve cell to another. Malfunctioning of the transmitters could influence a person's mood, thinking and even sleep patterns. Additionally, deficient levels of nutrition may result to nerve cell damage that could disrupt cognitive and mental functions.

Neurotransmitters are partly made of amino acids, the building block of protein. Trytophan for example, makes up the neurotransmitter serotonin. If the required amino acid is lacking, the functions of the neurotransmitter could not be executed affecting the normal functioning of the brain. In case of deficient protein consumption and failure to supply the necessary amino acid to make serotonin, the body would experience low mood and perhaps, aggression. On the other hand, diseases that could cause the build up of certain amino acids could lead to brain damage thus affecting the mental health of an individual.

Mood regulation could also be associated with the sufficient intake of dietary fats. Some studies have yielded inconclusive results on the correlation between serotonin level and intake of omega-3 fatty acids, a certain type of fat found only in white fish to stress and symptoms of bipolar disorder (a mood disorder having the representations of both mania and depression).

Directly or indirectly, nutrition has an effect on mental health. Changes in the nutritional intake of a person could lead to alterations in the mental health and vice versa.