Healthy nuggets of news to keep your motor humming

Welcome to the 17th issue of our newsletter:

Healthy World Digest

In this issue:

* Stimulus funds for healthy water?

* Why do you think they call'em supplements?

* Olive oil may not bestow health benefits

* How to exercise for more muscle

* Weight loss herbs

Oh, and we wont harass you with numerous mailings or with articles that are longer than the Bible.

Just a few important, interesting, up to date, super beneficial health items that you could easily apply to you life or pass along to loved ones.

There has been a lot of controversy about government stimulus money. So, I was struck by the following item I stumbled onto.

"Thanks to the stimulus package, the town of Patten, Maine is getting 120,000 dollars in federal grants to remove contaminated soil and old gasoline tanks from underneath the town. This will make the water much cleaner and safer to drink for Patten residents."

I'm not going hyper-political here but how does this sound?

What would be better than to stimulate our economy by making our water systems clean and safe. What better legacy to give our selves and our children than healthy water?

Doesn't this sound better than diverting money to B.S. works? can't this provide good meaningful jobs for a country who's unemplyment rate is pushing 10%/

I'm just asking.

* Why do you think they call'em supplements?

A friend of mine told me that he takes mega doses of vitamin C to neutralize the effects of smoking a pack of cigarettes daily. My head nearly exploded.

Look Einstein, supplements are called "supplements" because they supplement a healthy lifestyle. OK?

They don't undo breathing in lung cancer sticks or sucking down a gallon of soda or sitting on your fat posterior 14 hours a day.

That's not the way they work. Don't expect them to.

Hey, but if it makes you feel better, go ahead and waste your hard earned dollars on "miracle" supplements. A lot of good that'll do you. After downing your dish of supplements, perhaps you'd be interested in buying the Brooklyn Bridge from me.

* Olive oil may not bestow health benefits

Well, it may not if you are not getting what you think you are getting.

The health benefits of olive oil come from virgin or "first press" oil. How exciting for an Italian like me to have researchers confirm that the stuff we freely sprinkled on bread, salads, and everything in between, actually helps keep us healthy.

So, imagine the anger and shock when the following story ran across my PC.

Associated Press 07/15/10 7:30 PM EDT

A study by researchers found many of the olive oils in the United States are not the top-grade extra-virgin oils their labels proclaim. It analyzed samples from 19 randomly selected, widely distributed brands from retailers in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles. 69 percent of imported oils and 10 percent of domestic oils sampled did not meet the international standards that define the pure, cold-pressed, olive oils that merit the extra virgin title. Bob Bauer, president of the North American Olive Oil Assn., said he was "somewhat skeptical" of the results. He noted that some of the chemical tests weren't universally accepted by the industry. "We've been conducting tests on oils in the marketplace since the early 1990s, from all over the country, and we've never come up with results like these," said Bauer, whose group represents most of the companies that import olive oil into the U.S.

So, now, those of us who depend on the health benefits of olive oil cannot be sure that we are getting what we hope we are. Hopefully, Bauer is right in his assertions but more tests will need to be conducted to assure proper consumer protection.

For now, here's a list of the olive oil brands fared in the study:

DOMESTIC OLIVE OILS:

Corto Olive Extra Virgin Olive Oil: All passed.

California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil: All passed.

McEvoy Ranch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil: All passed.

Bariani Olive Oil Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 1 of 2 samples failed.

Lucero (Ascolano) Extra Virgin Olive Oil: All passed.

___

IMPORTED OLIVE OILS:

Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2 of 3 samples failed.

Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2 of 3 samples failed.

Pompeian Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2 of 3 samples failed.

Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2 of 3 samples failed.

Star Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 1 of 3 samples failed.

Carapelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 3 of 3 samples failed.

Newman's Own Organics Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2 of 3 samples failed.

Mezzetta Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 3 of 3 samples failed.

Mazola Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 3 of 3 samples failed.

Rachael Ray Extra Tasty Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2 of 3 samples failed.

Kirkland Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil: All samples passed.

Great Value 100 percent Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 1 of 3 samples failed.

Safeway Select Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2 of 3 samples failed.

365 Everyday Value 100 percent Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2 of 3 samples failed.

* How to exercise for more muscle

In a Brazilian study, the key to improving muscle mass proved to be changing the number of reps per set and rotating changes each workout. That forces your muscles to adapt and grow.

Use sets of 5, 10 and 15 reps.

It all makes sense. Bodybuilders know that rep variety is a real key to increasing muscle size.

But, note to get stronger you need to lift heavier weights even if you do fewer reps.

What should you do? Depends on your goals.

When I want to increase strength to help me do something better, I lift heavy. For example, when I want to increase jumping strength for basketball, I'll use lift weights when doing heel raises for calves. Also, I'd use heavier barbells when doing squats.

But if I want to look a little better for the beach, I emphasize rep rotation.

* Weight loss herbs

Under the category, "Herbs are great!"

A study finds that eating spicy foods helps burn up fat. Luckily, the herbal spices are fantastic flavorers. The particularly helpful herbs include ginger, cloves, cayenne, coriander and dry mustard.

Well, that's all for this month. By the time you get the next issue of Healthy World Digest, summer will be essentially gone but no reason to slack off.

Be smart. Stay motivated. Don't give up. Keep going.

See you next month!

Sal

Healthy Water