Coca Cola and Pepsi Co joined former president Bill Clinton in announcing the results of an initiative they said had reduced the number of soft drink calories in American schools by 88%.

The announcement comes after Michelle Obama increased pressure on the companies by targeting them as one of the many causes of obesity in children.

One in five US children aged six to 19 are estimated to be obese, a condition that frequently leads to related health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.  Conditions that can follow obese children through adulthood.

Since soft drink companies are the biggest targets to preventing obesity in our children, their proactive approach by partnering with Bill Clinton may protect their future earnings as they are expecting a slide in profits as people continue to lead healthier lifestyles.

“It’s a brand new day in America’s schools when it comes to beverages,” said Susan Neely, the head of the American Beverage Association. “Our beverage companies have slashed calories in schools as full calorie soft drinks have been removed. The beverages available to students are now lower-calorie and are served in smaller portions.”

Under the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation, full calorie drinks were removed from shipments to school cafeterias and vending machines.  Low-fat milk, diet soft drinks, flavored waters and teas replaced the sugary drinks.

Coca Cola and Pepsi Co also spent millions of dollars in retrofitting vending machines and repackaging products.

“School is a unique environment where students make food and beverage choices with limited supervision,” said Clyde Yancy, president of the American Heart Association.

In addition to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, there is an increasing urgency to impose a “fat tax” on soft drinks.  New York is in the forefront of the campaign, which the American Beverage Association vigorously opposes.

New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines considers the “fat tax” as an opportunity to help our children. “The dramatic under pricing of sugar sweetened beverages, their widespread availability, and the ceaseless marketing of these products constitute a stumbling block to good health and are a clear and present danger to the future of our children,” Daines said.

SOURCE: http://health.yahoo.com/news/afp/ushealthobesitychildrendrinkschooltax_20100308220858.html

Reason to celebrate!  February is American Heart Month!  This initiative was created to raise awareness about heart disease and stroke, which is the number one killer of people in the United States.

The easiest way to prevent heart disease is through diet, and given that, we have highlighted five heart healthy foods that could potentially save your life.

Garlic.  Numerous studies have shown that regular garlic consumption benefits blood pressure, platelet aggregation, serum triglyceride level, and cholesterol levels.   In addition, by using garlic instead of salt to flavor foods you can reduce your amount of sodium intake, which will also keep your heart healthy.

Salmon.  This fish can help lower your risk of heart disease thanks to heart healthy fats.  Omega-3s can prevent erratic heart rhythms, reduce likelihood of blood clots inside arteries, improve the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol, and prevent cholesterol from becoming damaged, at which point it clogs arteries.  Don’t like fish?  No problem!  Even though consuming salmon is your best bet to get the heart healthy omega-3s, supplement your diet with fish oil capsules and you can also reduce your risk of heart disease.

Berries.  Berries are high in polyphenols, which prevent cell damage that creates unhealthy blood vessels and heart.  Berries also contain heart healthy antioxidants.  If you are having a hard time finding berries in the winter, experiment with frozen varieties.  Thaw a bag of frozen berries in the refrigerator and use in smoothies and your morning oatmeal.

Quinoa.  This tiny miracle seed is an excellent source of magnesium, the mineral responsible for relaxing blood vessels. If you are one of the millions of people in the United States with low dietary levels of magnesium, you may be at an increased risk of hypertension, ischemic heart disease and heart arrhythmias.  Adding versatile quinoa to your diet can help protect your heart!

Hot Chocolate.  Surprised?  Hot chocolate is full of antioxidants!  It contains two times more antioxidants than red wine and three times more than green tea, which are also considered heart healthy foods.  To gain maximum benefit, avoid the sugary hot chocolate mixes and use 100% cocoa and a teaspoon of sugar.  In addition, recent studies have found that by eating a small piece of dark chocolate each day may also decrease your risk of heart disease, just note, the higher the cocoa percentages, the better for your heart!

SOURCE:  http://shine.yahoo.com/event/hearthealth/5-foods-to-prevent-heart-disease-577077/

When you think about cholesterol, you probably think about fatty foods and heart problems.  But you may be only partly correct in your thinking.  We already know that elevated blood cholesterol is bad news, and 34 million Americans have levels that can increase their risk of all sorts of health problems, including a heart attack. But if you think you’ve heard everything you need to know about this waxy fat, there may be a few surprises in store.

Did you know that cholesterol can be so high that it shows up in fatty deposits in the skin?  Did you know that cholesterol can even be too low?

High cholesterol may be inevitable, depending on genetic history

If you have high cholesterol, it may be partly genetic.  For some families, it’s inevitable that LDL, or bad cholesterol, will be in the unhealthy zone. The disease, known as familial hypercholesterolemia, affects about 1 in 500 people and can cause total cholesterol levels from 300 mg/dL to 600 mg/dL, and cause heart attacks even in younger years.

Clogged arteries look like butter

Even if you can’t see xanthomas on the skin, high cholesterol can still build up in the body.  Bad cholesterol slowly builds up in artery walls, causing a thick plaque that can narrow arteries, restrict blood flow and lead to blood clots.  Arteries thicken, become rigid and start to take on the yellow color of cholesterol. If you were able to take a look at the inside of cholesterol-clogged arteries, they would look as if they were lined with a thick layer of butter!

You can see high cholesterol

Normally, you only know you have high cholesterol levels if a doctor tells you so. But it is possible for high cholesterol to be as plain as the nose on your face, showing up on the skin as reddish-yellowish bumps known as xanthomas.  These patches vary in size and can be found all over the body, including on the joints, hands and eyelids.  They tend to occur in older people and in those with diabetes or other health problems.

Cholesterol can be too low

Everyone knows that high cholesterol is bad, but low cholesterol can be unhealthy too.  Experts recommend that you keep your total cholesterol under 200 mg/dL, which is about the average for adults. However, below a certain level — generally 160 mg/dL — low cholesterol is associated with health risks, including cancer. Do the health problems cause low cholesterol, or vice versa? Are they even unrelated? It’s still being researched.

Our cholesterol is dropping

Good news!  Overall, our cholesterol has been dropping! In the 1960’s, 33 percent of people aged 20 to 74 had high cholesterol.  In 2003 to 2006, about 16 percent of people in that same age group had high cholesterol.  Elevated cholesterol, which was unrecognized as a serious health problem 50 years ago, is dropping mainly because of more awareness of its dangers, which has resulted in healthier diets, more cholesterol screening, and the widespread use of statin medications.

Exercise boosts good cholesterol

Doctors generally recommend exercise as a lifestyle change that can help lower cholesterol naturally.  That being said, a recent study in the Journal of Lipid Research suggests that exercise may affect cholesterol differently, depending on the patient’s race and gender. Among the study participants, who were followed over nine years, physical activity equivalent to an extra hour of mild exercise or half hour of moderate exercise per week was associated with an increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or good cholesterol, in each of the groups the researchers studied.  But LDL, the bad cholesterol, dropped only in women, and total cholesterol dropped only in African-American women.

Cholesterol-free food can still raise cholesterol

Watch out for cholesterol-free food.  Cholesterol is made by the liver of animals, and it will only be found in animal-based foods, such as meat, milk and eggs.  Certain products can honestly state that they have little or no cholesterol — however, that doesn’t mean they are good for your cholesterol levels. Many fried foods and commercial baked goods contain cholesterol-raising trans fats, most commonly in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Trans fats, along with saturated fats, are the main culprits of high cholesterol from food, but they won’t be listed as cholesterol on packaging. It’s recommended that you read ingredient lists and nutrition labels carefully, looking at fat and cholesterol content.

High cholesterol may cause erectile dysfunction

We already know that high cholesterol is bad for your heart. But high cholesterol can cause a host of other health problems. A 2005 Swedish study found that men with total cholesterol of about 270 mg/dL and above were 4.5 times more likely to develop testicular cancer than men with cholesterol levels of 220 or below

What’s more, high cholesterol has been linked to a greater risk of erectile dysfunction, kidney failure, and even Alzheimer’s disease.  In addition, a 2009 study found that diets high in dietary cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of developing liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.

SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/24/moh.healthmag.cholesterol.surprises/index.html