Apply exercises into our daily life

According to Teh Kong Chuan of the Singapore Sports Council, "If you work on the 4th floor and take the stairs up and down 4 times per day, you can burn about 200 calories in a 5 day work week which is equivalent to an hour of brisk walking or half an hour of moderate cycling." 

Nichole Kerr, a researcher with the Centers for Disease Control also says that we can lose about 10 pounds during the course of a year if we spend ten minutes a day going up and down stairs.

Sounds good?

Other daily habits that can help us have a trim body include:

• Do leg lunges while mowing the lawn, and leg squats while lifting plants during gardening activities.
• Walk often when allowed everyday.
• Do exercises like jumping jacks, rope jumping and running in place while watching TV.
  

Colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, especially in the richer countries but its incidence is rising in some developing nations.

Under normal circumstances, our body cells grow, divide and produce new cells to ensure the proper functioning of various organs. But due to genetics, diet, environment as well as other factors, some intestinal cells might grow out of control and develop into benign colon polyps. In the early stage, polyps may be as small as a red bean. Afterwards, it might grow into malignant tumor, that is, it becomes colorectal cancer.

Studies show a higher risk of colorectal cancer in people eating a diet low in vegetables, legumes and whole cereals. Frequent consumption of red meat increases the risk.

In addition to dietary factor, polyps can be caused by two kinds of inherited disorder - "Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP)" and "Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer syndrome (HNPCC)". 

Research found that in such cases, Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) which inhibits the growth of colon cancer gene or Mismatch Repair Genes (MMR) which repair DNA undergo mutations. This affects the normal operation of cells, leading to the growth of colorectal polyps and increases risk for the colorectal cancer.

Early detection of cancer greatly increases the chances for successful treatment. This can be done by fecal occult blood testing and colonoscopy. 

Colonoscopy method is more accurate. Polyps found during the inspection process can be removed immediately. In general, the entire examination takes about 45 minutes. Because it takes about 10 years for the polyps to develop into cancer, if the initial inspection shows that no polyps exists, you can check it 10 years later.

If diagnosed at an early stage, 90% of patients survive at least five years, compared to no more than 8% of those diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Stool bleeding, intermittent constipation or diarrhea are some of the common symptoms of colorectal cancer. And so it should not be taken lightly.

Move often, No sedantary life

Being overweight and physically inactive accounts for more than 300,000 premature deaths annually in the United States, second only to deaths related to smoking.

A study done at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas found that a 50-year-old could be brought back to the fitness levels of a 20-year-old with just 6 months of exercise training.

This is because exercise elevates the whole body’s metabolism and burns the most calories from our body. Thus movement can help us live longer and have a trim and fit body. And so if you want to have these, you have to move, and move often as well.

Walking

A study published by the New England Journal Of Medicine found that both walking and vigorous exercise are associated with substantial reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular events among postmenopausal women while prolonged sitting increased cardiovascular risk.

In fact, brisk walking for more than 3 hours a week can lower the risk of stroke, type 2 diabetes and breast cancer. About a 30% to 40% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease can be attained with mere 30 minutes in walking a day.

In addition, walking burns calories and helps weight loss. It can also help to improve our posture.

This is a cheap exercise with no special equipment required while there is no risk of injuries.

Mediterranean diet makes cancer cells die as normal

A study at The Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Center found that a compound in certain plant-based foods, called apigenin, could stop breast cancer cells from inhibiting their own death.

We know that one way that cancer cells thrive is by inhibiting a process that would cause them to die on a regular cycle. This study found that a compound in certain plant-based foods, called apigenin, could stop breast cancer cells from inhibiting their own death.

Parsley, celery and chamomile tea are the most common sources of apigenin.

The researchers of this study also found that apigenin binds with an estimated 160 proteins in the human body, suggesting that other nutrients linked to health benefits – called “nutraceuticals” – might have similar far-reaching effects.

"We see here that the beneficial effect on health is attributed to this dietary nutrient affecting many proteins. In its relationship with a set of specific proteins, apigenin re-establishes the normal profile in cancer cells. We think this can have great value clinically as a potential cancer-prevention strategy,”said Andrea Doseff, associate professor of internal medicine and molecular genetics at Ohio State and a co-lead author of the study.

"When we eat healthfully, we are actually promoting more normal splice forms inside the cells in our bodies,”said Doseff.

The beneficial effects of nutraceuticals are not limited to cancer, as the investigators previously showed that apigenin has anti-inflammatory activities.

How to get rid of belly fat?

The reason why our body stores excess abdominal fat is because certain chemicals in our food supply and our environment contain chemicals known as xenoestrogens (a type of xenohormone that imitates estrogen) that can react with our body.  Excess exposure to these chemicals can cause hormone balance disruptions and stimulate our body to store excess abdominal fat together with many other health

issues.

Luckily, cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, etc. contain phytonutrients such as indole-3-carbinol that can help fight against these estrogenic compounds. So eat more of them!

Bananas

Bananas contain vitamin B6, causing our body to secrete dopamine. Thus we feel relaxed and so it can act as anti-depressant. Its another ingredient, tyrosine, can manufacture norepinephrine, which helps neurotransmission to relieve our tension. The tryptophan in bananas can help the body to manufacture serotonin, which in turn has sedation effect. 

 

In addition, bananas contain vitamin C, manganese, potassium and are an excellent source of soluble fiber, Consumption of bananas may also be associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, breast cancer and renal cell carcinoma.