• Approximately 59 million Americans suffer from heart disease—the No. 1 killer in America. Each year, 960,000 people—or one every 33 seconds—die from the disease.
• Specific nutrients nourish your cardiovascular system and promote low cholesterol.
• Cancer, the second leading cause of death in the United States, will claim 560,000 lives this year alone, and 1 million new cases will be diagnosed.
• Scientific evidence suggests that up to one third of U.S. cancer deaths are related to poor nutrition or insufficient physical activity.
• An estimated 10.3 million Americans suffer from diabetes, and more than 798,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, according to the American Diabetes Association.
• The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that proper nutrition—including insoluble fiber—promotes stable blood sugar levels.

It is widely recognized that obesity (defined as a Body Mass Index or BMI of 30 or more) is linked to a number of health risks -- e.g., heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes. It has been less often acknowledged that the occurrence of several types of cancer is more frequent in the obese. A recent meta-analysis in the British journal The Lancet (A. Renehan and colleagues, Lancet 371: 569-578) substantiates such observations.

Most Americans are mildly to severely dehydrated. This deficiency in maintaining proper fluid levels can result in increased risk for kidney stones, colon and breast cancer, and in some cases heart disease.

The thirst sensation kicks in when a person is already .8 to 2% dehydrated. For a person who weights 150 pounds, this level of fluid loss equates to a 20% decline in physical and mental performance.

• Drink 2 cups of water each morning before doing anything else. You've just had 6-8 hours without any fluid. In reality, it's probably been longer than that.
• Drink 12-16 cups of water throughout the day. Drink 1-2 cups after taking supplements such as protein drinks and have water with meals for digestion and hydration.

Be hydrated before exercise (2 cups), stay hydrated during exercise (one cup every 10-15 min.), and after exercise, check your weight and drink at least 2 cups of water for every pound lost.

Your goal in losing weight is NOT in losing water weight.

Two studies in medical literature—one conducted at the Copper Clinic in Dallas, Texas, and the other, at The Juntendo University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan—indicate that exercise wards off Type-2 Diabetes, also known as "adult-onset" diabetes. More than 14 million Americans will be affected by this type of disease.

Both studies compared men who were involved in physical exercise over many years to groups of men who were not physically fit or not involved in any exercise over the course of their lifetimes.

When ranked, those men who were least fit, compared to those who were most fit, had 3.7 times the diabetes risk, even after age, smoking, alcohol use, and family history had been factored out.

What's more, men who had been involved in fitness and exercise in their 30's were in their 50's at significantly less odds to developing diabetes or impaired glucose intolerance, a precursor to diabetes.

An analysis of 10 years of research was reported recently in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. What it revealed was that nearly two dozen comprehensive studies show a "direct and positive relationship" between resistance training (weight lifting) and bone density.

The report indicated that while other types of exercise may provide some bone building benefits, weight lifting far surpasses any others for building muscle mass and bone mass. Weight lifting may prove superior to even traditional drug and nutrition strategies for improving bone health since it also increases muscle mass and improves overall body strength and balance.

Osteoporosis contributes to over one and a half million debilitating fractures each year. For years, the scientific community has known that exercise helps prevent the onset of Osteoporosis. What wasn't well established was how weight training compared to aerobic training in building bone mass and arresting this disease.

Mounting evidence points to a link between lifestyle and sexual activity in men and women. The famous Massachusetts Male Aging Study traced men between the ages of 40 and 70 over a span of years. Those who exercised regularly were much less likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction.

Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that "couch potatoes" were twice as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction as men who exercised daily and that significant body fat weight gains increase the risk as well.

Men who exercised reported firmer erections, better orgasms and greater frequency of sexual activity. A University of Texas study of women 18 to 34 found that exercise amplified blood flow to the vagina by 169%.

Mental health professionals routinely recommend a physical exercise regimen for its effect of alleviating depression and anxiety, themselves a cause of sexual dysfunction. Physical training activates beta endorphins, opiate-like substances in the brain which give rise to pleasurable sensations. You feel capable and attractive and that self-confidence is an aphrodisiac in and of itself.

To Drink or Not to Drink?

Moderate use of alcohol can be an enjoyable, safe experience if used with caution. If you do choose to drink, sip each drink slowly, and always consume alcohol with food. Spaces drinks out to no more than one drink per hour, and consume plenty of water in between drinks. Never drink while pregnant and never drive when intoxicated.

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body; causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.1 The adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 438,000 deaths, or nearly 1 of every 5 deaths, each year in the United States.^2,3 More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.^2,4

• Cancer is the second leading cause of death and was among the first diseases casually linked to smoking.¹
• Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80% of lung cancer deaths in women. The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes, and about 13 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with never smokers.¹
• Smoking causes cancers of the bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx (voice box), esophagus, cervix, kidney, lung, pancreas, and stomach, and causes acute myeloid leukemia.¹
• Rates of cancers related to cigarette smoking vary widely among members of racial/ethnic groups, but are generally highest in African-American men.⁵

• Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.¹ Cigarette smokers are 2–4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than nonsmokers.⁶
• Cigarette smoking approximately doubles a person's risk for stroke.^7,8
• Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels (arteries). Smokers are more than 10 times as likely as nonsmokers to develop peripheral vascular disease.⁹
• Smoking causes abdominal aortic aneurysm.¹

• Cigarette smoking is associated with a tenfold increase in the risk of dying from chronic obstructive lung disease.⁷ About 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung diseases are attributable to cigarette smoking.¹
• Cigarette smoking has many adverse reproductive and early childhood effects, including an increased risk for infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).¹
• Postmenopausal women who smoke have lower bone density than women who never smoked. Women who smoke have an increased risk for hip fracture than never smokers.¹⁰