The #1 Secret to Bigger Biceps

FITNESS

The #1 Secret to Bigger Biceps
No weights? No problem. Use resistance bands to build muscle in a hurry.

Source: Men'sHealth.Com

http://www.menshealth.com

When it comes to growing strong and building muscle, real men need clanking iron and leather kidney belts. We need to stare down an imposing piece of steel, spit on our hands, and conquer it. And then we need to do it all over again. Or do we?

Sometimes, life doesn't allow you to have access to a gym or even a good set of weights—when you're on vacation, perhaps, or traveling for business. Other times you simply don't want to go, or would rather exercise at home but can't spare the space for a squat rack. Bodyweight exercises fit the bill in such circumstances, but an even better option is to use elastic resistance bands ($12.95, performbetter.com).

http://www.performbetter.com/

Unlike dumbbells, resistance bands create constant tension throughout a lifting movement, recruiting more muscle and accelerating growth. They also boost cardiovascular endurance and calorie combustion. The result: More muscle and less fat in less time.


2009 Copyright Rodale, Inc. Men's Health. All Rights Reserved.

Last Act for the Bluefin

EDITORIAL

Last act for the Bluefin

The New York Times

The international commission that sets fishing limits for tuna and other large migratory fish is meeting in Brazil. The commission faces a depressing reality: the bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean is headed toward commercial extinction.

From time to time, the commission has marginally reduced the allowable catch, but never by as much as its scientists have recommended, and never by enough to reverse the fish’s plunge toward extinction. The only quota that will make a difference is zero. The tuna fishery in the Mediterranean, where most of the fish spawn, should be shut down, pure and simple, until scientists say the fish have reached sustainable levels.

The United States delegation to the talks should settle for nothing less. If the talks produce only a reduced quota — given the makeup of the commission, that could happen — then the United States should join Monaco and other nations that have been pressing to put tuna on the international list of endangered species. Such a listing would allow fishermen to sell bluefin domestically but would make the high-volume international trade illegal, finally giving tuna a chance to recover.

Scientists say that overharvesting (much of it illegal) has caused a 72 percent decline among adult bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean over the last 50 years. The smaller western Atlantic stocks have shown similar declines but have now stabilized, partly because of rigorous compliance by the United States.

Though shutting down a fishery is a drastic step, scientists increasingly believe that it is the only way to save the fishery, and that it has to be done soon, before the species reaches a point of no return. That happened to the North Atlantic codfish, while closing nursery areas to commercial fishing allowed the swordfish to rebound.

European countries with big industrial fleets are sure to argue that dropping the allowable catch to, say, 15,000 tons a year from the present 22,000 tons will do the trick. It won’t. We know the commercial stakes are huge: bluefin fishing is a billion-dollar business that is driven by a global appetite for tuna, particularly in Japan.

But what these governments and their fishing interests need to recognize is that unless something is done now, soon there will be no tuna left to fish.


Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.

Leafy Greens, Eggs, & Tuna Top List of Riskiest FDA-Regulated Foods

FOOD SAFETY

Leafy Greens, Eggs, & Tuna Riskiest FDA-Regulated Foods
The Center for Science in the Public Interest Urges Senate to Pass Food Safety Modernization Act

Source: Sustainable Times
http://www.sustainabletimes.net/

By George Zens

Leafy greens, eggs, and tuna are on the top of a list of the 10 riskiest foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Those and seven other foods account for nearly 40 percent of all foodborne outbreaks linked to FDA-regulated food.

That’s no reason to forgo the occasional salad Niçoise, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which authored the report, nor need one pass up tomatoes, sprouts, and berries, even though those foods are also on the list. But the nonprofit watchdog group says the presence of so many healthy foods on such a list is exactly why the United States Senate should follow the House and pass legislation that reforms our fossilized food safety laws.

The FDA is responsible for regulating produce, seafood, egg and dairy products, as well as typical packaged foods such as cookie dough and peanut butter—nearly 80 percent of the food supply. More than 1,500 separate, definable outbreaks were associated with the top 10 riskiest FDA-regulated foods, causing nearly 50,000 reported illnesses. Since most foodborne illnesses are never reported, these outbreaks are only the tip of a large, hulking iceberg.

“Outbreaks give the best evidence of where and when the food safety system is failing to protect the public,” said CSPI staff attorney Sarah Klein, the lead author of the report. “It is clearly time for FDA’s reliance on industry self-regulation to come to an end. The absence of safety plans or frequent inspections unfortunately means that some of our favorite and most healthful foods also top the list of the most risky.”

CSPI identified 363 outbreaks linked to iceberg lettuce, romaine, spinach, and other leafy greens, variously contaminated with E. coli, Norovirus, or Salmonella, and causing 13,568 cases of illness. Manure, contaminated irrigation water, or poor handling practices are all possible culprits in those outbreaks. The FDA does not currently require farms and processors to have written food safety plans, nor does it provide specific safety standards for even the largest growers to meet.

Eggs were linked 352 outbreaks and 11,163 illnesses; tuna to 268 outbreaks and 2,341 cases of illness, and oysters—despite their limited consumption—to 132 outbreaks causing 3,409 illnesses. Outbreaks involving potatoes don’t seem to make headlines, but nevertheless they are linked to 108 outbreaks and 3,659 cases of illness. Cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts, and berries round out the top 10 list. The data come from CSPI’s Outbreak Alert! Database, which includes outbreaks from 1990 to 2006, using data collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other sources.

In July, the House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act with broad, bipartisan support. That measure would give FDA authority to require food processors to design and implement food safety plans, provide specific safety standards that growers would have to meet, and require FDA to visit high-risk facilities every 12 months or less, and most other facilities every 3-4 years. In the Senate, similar legislation, sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), is pending.

“As consumers, we don’t have the power to check on these products,” said Kathleen Chrismer, whose 9-year-old daughter Rylee Gustafson was hospitalized for a month after becoming seriously ill from eating spinach salad contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. “Without a better system to protect us, we are totally at the mercy of the next outbreak.”

Source: http://www.sustainabletimes.net/node/712

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit health advocacy group based in Washington, DC, that focuses on nutrition, food safety, and pro-health alcohol policies. CSPI is supported by the 900,000 U.S. and Canadian subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and by foundation grants.

Copyright ®2009 Sustainable Times. All Rights Reserved.

Common Sage and Greek Sage; History and Uses

HERB GARDEN ~ HISTORY & USES

Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Medicinal: The name salvia comes from salvere, Latin for 'to heal'. Sage is known for its healing value.

Garden of Healing®

For millennia, both common sage (Salvia officinalis) and Greek sage (Salvia fruticosa) have been valued as medicinal plants.

The Ancient Greeks and Romans used the leaves of both species as compresses for the treatment of wounds.

The oldest reference is a depiction of Salvia fruticosa on a fresco at knossos in Crete, which has been dated at about 1400 BC.

Sage is a small perennial evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers.

The name salvia in fact comes from the latin, salvere, meaning to heal. It is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae, and is native to the Mediterranean region and commonly grown as a kitchen and medicinal herb or as an ornamental garden plant.

The Romans brought sage to Britain and, after being valued for centuries in this country for its antibacterial properties, it began to be referred to as a cooking herb in Tudor times.

By 1597, when Gerard's Herball was published, nine different sages were mentioned, including S. pratensis and S. verbeneca, the two species native to Britain.

The ornamental sages first came from South Africa - mentioned in 1768 by Philip Miller, curator of the Physic Garden in London's Chelsea - and then from Latin America, as plant hunters roamed the globe for new species in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Salvia officinalis is also known as Sage, Common sage, Garden sage, Kitchen sage, Culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, Purple sage, Broadleaf sage and Red sage.


© 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. All Rights Reserved.

Unhealthy Smog took a Vacation this Summer

WEATHER

Less Smog recorded
U.S. cities were cleaner than average this summer

Garden of Healing®

The air in most major American cities was cleaner than average this summer, the Environmental Protection Agency reported Thursday.

Charlotte, N.C., had five unhealthy air days in 2009, down from its average of 36 days; Philadelphia had six, compared with an average of 34; Cleveland's three bad air days compare with an average of 23.

For central and eastern U.S. cities, air quality was aided by an unusually stormy weather pattern that kept the atmosphere stirred up, the 2009 Ozone Season National Recap said.

Even skies in typically smoggy cities in the South and West, such as Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Sacramento, had a cleaner-than-average summer.


© 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. All Rights Reserved.

Giants' starter Tim Lincecum cited for marijuana possession

SPORTS

SF Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum facing drug charges
Winner of the 2008 Cy Young Award was cited for marijuana possession on Oct. 30

Garden of Healing®

SEATTLE, WA

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is facing misdemeanor marijuana charges following a traffic stop in his home state of Washington.

Washington State Patrol spokesman Steve Schatzel said Thursday that the 2008 Cy Young Award winner and former University of Washington star was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 5 in the town of Hazel Dell, about four miles north of the Oregon border, on Oct. 30.

An officer approached Lincecum's 2006 Mercedes and smelled marijuana as the pitcher rolled down his window. Schatzel said Lincecum immediately complied with a request to hand over the drug and a marijuana pipe from the car's center console.

The amount measured was 3.3 grams. Schatzel said police consider that a small amount for personal use, well below the maximum of 40 grams before possession is classified differently and carries a more severe penalty.

The incident was first reported by The Columbian in Vancouver, Wash.

"It was about the size of a thumb, the whole thumb," Schatzel said of the volume of marijuana Lincecum handed over.

Lincecum could face potential fines totaling $622 for the misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia counts plus the citation for driving 74 mph in a 60 mph zone, Schatzel said.

The 25-year-old All-Star starter entered a plea of not guilty through his attorney on Monday, according to records in Clark County District Court. A hearing that had been scheduled for Friday morning was canceled, pending a pretrial conference between Lincecum's attorney and a county prosecutor on Nov. 23.

Lincecum is currently scheduled to appear before a judge on Dec. 22.

The Giants said they were aware of the situation but did not immediately have a comment.


© 2009 The Garden of Healing® Company. All Rights Reserved.