Dole, the world's largest fresh fruit and vegetable company, offers a monthly newsletter chock-full of valuable health and nutrition information.

"Science is rapidly discovering new compounds in fruits and vegetables with the potential to prevent disease and lengthen life. While fad diets come and go, countless studies have confirmed that diets rich in fruits and vegetables are the key to losing weight. The Dole Nutrition Institute (DNI) was founded to help propagate such information."

In this month's issue learn how curry helps curb weight gain and tomatoes strengthen your bones. Dole chairman, David H. Murdock, reports he's added blogger to his resume, as well.

The Dole Nutrition Institute newsletter reaches over two million people each month and BodySpex is a proud supporter of their mission.   Read More

Does working out for only a few minutes a day, sound too good to be true. There is increasing evidence that interval training can be as effective as endurance workouts. Studies are showing that simliar benefits can be achieved in short intense bursts.

“There was a time when the scientific literature suggested that the only way to achieve endurance was through endurance-type activities,” says one expert... Ongoing research is turning that idea on its head.

One group of [subjects] rode a stationary bike at a sustainable pace for between 90 and 120 minutes. Another [group] did a series of short, strenuous intervals: 20 to 30 seconds of cycling at the highest intensity the riders could stand. After resting for four minutes, they pedaled hard again for another 20 to 30 seconds, repeating the cycle “for a total of two to three minutes of very intense exercise per training session."

After two weeks, both groups showed almost identical increases in their endurance.  Read The Article and learn more about interval training.

If you're like many people and obsessed with great abs, this article is worth a read. An unbalanced core routine could be doing you some harm.

The genesis of much of the ab work we do these days probably lies in the work done in an Australian physiotherapy lab during the mid-1990s... Personal trainers began directing clients to pull in their belly buttons during crunches on Swiss balls or to press their backs against the floor during sit-ups...

“There’s so much mythology out there about the core... The idea has reached trainers and through them the public that the core means only the abs. There’s no science behind that idea,” says a back pain expert.

The muscles forming the core must be balanced to allow the spine to bear large loads. If you concentrate on strengthening only one set of muscles [e.g. your abs] within the core, you can destabilize your spine by pulling it out of alignment... Read The Article to learn about three good core exercises.

WebMD reports on a fascinating study involving 20 healthy, non-obese people and reaffirms that skipping breakfast makes you crave high-calorie foods.

Researchers used a scan called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to look at how feeding behaviors affected the brain's "reward" center.

During the test, [the subjects] looked at random photos of high- and low-calorie foods. The high-calorie foods included pizza, cake, and chocolate. The healthier options included vegetables, fish, and salad. When skipping breakfast, high-calorie foods topped the list of favorites. After eating, however, the group did not show a strong preference for the calorie-laden foods.

Breakfast has long been touted as the most important meal of the day, and researchers say their findings add credence to that adage.
Read The Article

Cancer Research UK reports that the reluctance of men to adopt a healthy lifestyle and visit the doctor may be fueling a gender gap in cancer cases and deaths.

Among cancers which affect both sexes, men are 60% more likely [than women] to develop the disease and 70% more likely to die from it, experts say.

There is no known biological reason for this but it may be because women take better care of themselves... It is thought half of all cancers can be prevented through lifestyle changes.

"Men have a reputation for having a 'stiff upper lip' and not being as health conscious as women," says one expert. "What we see from this report could be a reflection of this attitude, meaning men are less likely to make lifestyle changes that could reduce their risk of the disease and less likely to go to their doctor with cancer symptoms."   Read The Article

Danish researchers have found strong evidence that a little known form of cholesterol, lipoprotein (a), significantly increases risk of heart attacks.

"Liprotein (a) has been around for a long time as a risk factor but people hadn't taken it too seriously because they didn't think it caused heart attacks," said the study leader. "Now we show that, like LDL, it is causing heart attacks."

Lipoprotein (a) is one of several forms of cholesterol found in the blood, with levels determined almost entirely by genetics... People have little control over the cholesterol, whose levels can vary up to a thousand-fold among individuals... "This study may explain why statins don't work for some people" researchers say... [They] hope the study will spur drugmakers to begin work on a new drug specifically aimed at lipoprotein(a) levels... Niacin and Aspirin can lower lipoprotein(a) levels.   Read The Article

Researchers examining 2,500 elderly people have concluded that following these lifestyle choices improve your chances of staying sharp in your old age if you have at least a high school education and a ninth-grade literacy level.

1) Exercise moderately or vigorously at least once a week; 2) live with someone; 3)  avoid smoking; 4) continue to volunteer or work into your 70s or 80s.

The lead author notes that "a majority of past research has focused on factors that put people at greater risk to lose their cognitive skills over time, but much less is known about what factors help people maintain their skills."

The study found seniors who exercised moderately to vigorously at least once a week were 30 percent more likely to maintain their cognitive function than those who didn't exercise that often.  Read The Article

This Women's Health feature reprinted at MSNBC explains how your body's waste provides important clues to your health. Find out what brown is telling you.

This cleverly written article covers three "flush factors" - Consistency, Color and Shape... What to look for and what it means for your health. "What comes out tells you a lot about what's going on inside," say doctors.

Are you getting enough fluids and fiber in your diet? Your poo can tell you. Read The Article

Medical News Today provides this editor's choice article on cholesterol. An excellent resource.

What is cholesterol...? What are the functions of cholesterol...? Three main types of lipoproteins... What are normal cholesterol levels...? List of cholesterol levels and how most doctors would categorize them...? Dangers of high cholesterol levels... Symptoms of high cholesterol... What causes high cholesterol...? How is high cholesterol diagnosed...? What are the treatments for high cholesterol? Read The Article

Researchers at the American College of Sports Medicine say yoga can almost halve the symptoms of asthma after just ten weeks.

Study participants, all yoga novices, took two yoga classes and did one extra 30-minute session at home per week and reported that "the severity and frequency of their symptoms had reduced, while their quality of life had improved by more than 40 per cent."

It's thought that the deep breathing involved in holding yoga postures causes similar respiratory stress as in an asthma attack - as the subjects became used to this, they were better able to deal with their asthma... "For some people, regular yoga could mean they need less medication" says a lead researcher. Read The Article

New research into the "feel-good" effect of exercise suggests that mood benefits can last up to 12 hours, which is signifantly longer than expected.

Study participants who exercised for twenty minutes on a stationary bike registered an improved mood for up to twelve hours over participants who did not exercise.

"This goes a long way to show that even moderate aerobic exercise has the potential to mitigate the daily stress that results in your mood being disturbed," said a lead researcher.

Men and women seemed to benefit equally, and the fitness level of the participant didn't seem to matter... Experts believe that exercise's mood-boosting effects are partly due to a rise in levels of mood-enhancing neurotransmitters, such as endorphins, in the brain... The "dose" of exercise needed to lift mood is not a lot... a few minutes a day could pay off, researchers noted. Read The Article

Additional information on the mood-exercise connection

CNN reports on a study at West Virgina University where mindfulness training, such as yoga poses, breathing methods, stretches and meditation, significantly reduced stress in participants. Learn these techniques to connect your mind with what you're doing.

Mindfulness dates back to the time of Buddha, who believed that the mind should always be fully in the present -- not looking back at the past or anticipating the future. Being mindful of the here-and-now, Buddha said, reduces stress and brings inner peace.

Numerous studies have shown that stress can take its toll on the human body... "[Stress] increases your heart rate, your blood pressure and your respiration; you go into a state of hyper-arousal," says the lead investigator. "And over the long-term, we internalize the response, which can lead to neck pain, back pain, digestive disorders, sleeplessness. ... And many people deal with those problems by overeating, drinking or smoking."

The mindfulness exercises in the WVU study included "deep tasting," where participants spent time eating a raisin: They looked at it, smelled it, and took small bites to savor the taste. Study participants were also taught to breathe by taking deep breaths through the nose, feeling the air fill their lungs and exhaling fully.

Slay your inner zombie... Read The Article