Starting in September, Jillian Michaels will cohost the daytime talk show The Doctors , where she’s looking forward to having “a direct connection with viewers to provide them with information, motivation, and support.” She will also be a special correspondent on Dr. Phil.

And that’s not all she’s got planned. Among Jillian’s other goals: to rid the nation’s food supply of genetically modified foods (she staunchly believes in eating organic); to raise money for the troops overseas; and to promote her life makeover book, Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life, her K-Swiss line of workout clothes, and her DVDs. And oh, yes, she’s in the process of adopting a baby from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Whenever I feel dissatisfied and unfulfilled, I make a course correction,” Jillian says firmly. “I move, I grow, and I evolve.” She shares how she does just that in every area of her life — and how you can, too.

Jillian Michaels left The Biggest Loser this past May after 11 seasons on the show.

Jillian Michaels Bikini

Are you having trouble getting good nights sleep. Having the right combination of food can solve your sleeping problem. Here are five foods that can actually help you drift off:

• Cherries. Fresh and dried cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the body’s internal clock to regulate sleep. Researchers who tested tart cherries and found high levels of melatonin recommend eating them an hour before bedtime or before a trip when you want to sleep on the plane.
• Bananas. Potassium and magnesium are natural muscle relaxants, and bananas are a good source of both. They also contain the amino acid L-tryptophan, which gets converted to 5-HTP in the brain. The 5-HTP in turn is converted to serotonin (a relaxing neurotransmitter) and melatonin.
• Toast. Carbohydrate-rich foods trigger insulin production, which induces sleep by speeding up the release of tryptophan and serotonin, two brain chemicals that relax you and send you to sleep.
• Oatmeal. Like toast, a bowl of oatmeal triggers a rise in blood sugar, which in turn triggers insulin production and the release of sleep-inducing brain chemicals. Oats are also rich in melatonin, which many people take as a sleep aid.
• Warm milk. Like bananas, milk contains the amino acid L-tryptophan, which turns to 5-HTP and releases relaxing serotonin. It’s also high in calcium, which promotes sleep.

Scientists have come up with another reason for reuced sleep for men above age 40.  It is found that, after age 30, male testosterone levels reduces by one to two per cent yearlly. By age 40, men’s quality of sleep begins to diminish considerably.

Could there be a link between decreased testosterone and reduced sleep? Absolutely, according to Zoran Sekerovic, graduate student at the University of Montreal (UM) Department of Psychology. Sekerovic found a link between testosterone levels in men over 50 and their quality of sleep — specifically less deep sleep, that is, Phases III and IV of the slumber cycle.

“Deep sleep is when the recuperation of body and mind is optimal,” said Sekerovic, adding his is the first study to find this correlation. In young men, deep sleep represents 10 to 20 per cent of total sleep. By age 50, it decreases to five to seven per cent. For men over 60, it can disappear altogether.

The study, however, didn’t find any correlation with other parts of the sleep cycle: Falling asleep, Phases I and II, or paradoxical sleep, when most of dreaming occurs.

The UM researcher explained that men in their 20s don’t have such a correlation because their neuronal (brain cell) circuits are intact. “With age, there is neuronal loss and the synchronisation of cerebral activity isn’t as good, which is why there is a loss of deep sleep. Because deep sleep requires great synchronisation,” Sekerovic explained. “Low levels of testosterone intensify the lack of synchronisation and can explain 20 per cent of men’s inability to experience deep sleep,” he added.

Sekerovic suggests dwindling testosterone levels are what impact sleep, not vice-versa, as other studies have suggested. He adds that previous investigations measured daily fluctuations in testosterone levels, which are higher in the morning.

If Sekerovic is right, his findings could re-ignite the hormone therapy debate. “The loss of deep sleep is a serious problem that could be treated with testosterone. That would be tremendous progress,” Sekerovic said. “But hormone therapy can have secondary effects. Therefore, it will be essential to understand the mechanisms leading to the loss of deep sleep better,” according to an UM release. The study was conducted under the supervision of Julie Carrier, professor of psychology.

Wish for a baby boy? Fine, then eat full breakfast and fatty diet during the first part of pregnancy, suggests a new study.

According to the University of Missouri study, what women consume while they are in the the first part of development of pregnancy influences the sex and wellbeing of their unborn little one, reports The Telegraph.
Women who consume a satisfied breakfast and a high fat diet at the time of conception are more probable to have a boy, scientists claim.

A low fat diet with periods of extended fasts favours girls, the researchers have found.
Dr Cheryl Rosenfeld, of the University of Missouri, and colleagues said: “High calorie diet programs generally favour birth of males over females, where low calorie diet programs tend to favour females over males.

In humans and mice, food restriction and a suboptimal diet during the period about conception and early pregnancy also guide to a surfeit of daughters, most probably due to selective loss of male foetuses, the most weak sex in the womb.”

There are many home remedies for men sexual impotency. These are traditional methods which can be done at home and are very cheap. Ofcource drugs like Viagra, Cialis and Levitra are avilable for those who seek off the shelf treatment. The problem with these pills are that it is only effective for 70% of the men who take this pills. The alternate option is to inject drugs straight into the penis, or use a pump that manually increases blood supply to the organ.

In the world of fast food, people are looking for fast ready made methods to better handle the problem. Now a new inhaler might one day end impotency in 10 minutes, reveals a new study.

It contains a powdered form of a drug called apomorphine, which works by stimulating chemical receptors in the brain.

Apomorphine was developed to treat Parkinson’s disease, however researchers noticed it had an ability to boost a man’s desire.

Although it is still undergoing trials, the new device – which resembles an asthma inhaler – could prove popular with men affected by erectile dysfunction if tests prove successful, reports dailymail.co.uk.

When comparing to drugs like Viagra, among men who respond to Viagra and other impotence drugs, it can take at least 40 minutes before they are ready to make love.

The study involving 600 men showed majority of men using an inhaler of the powdered drug, developed by Vectura Ltd, the Wiltshire-based firm, could get an erection within 10 minutes.

If you want bulging biceps like Popeye the sailor, then all you have to do is eat his favourite food – spinach.

And, saying this are scientists from Rutgers University who have found that the green vegetable really does boost strength. The secret behind this, they reveal, is that spinach contains phytoecdysteroids, a type of steroid that increases the development of muscles.

As a part of their study the researchers used extracts of phytoecdysteriods on lab samples of human muscle, and found that it speeded up muscle growth by 20%. According to the New Scientist, on conducting trials on rats, the researchers found that spinach extracts made the rodents stronger within a month, the Daily Express reported on Thursday.

Researchers state that eating spinach is not only a good idea if you want strong muscles, but also if you want to keep eye disease, teeth, gum problems and anaemia at bay. But it does suggest the US creators of the famous nautical hero were ahead of their time.

It is said they toyed with the idea of making garlic Popeye’s strength enhancer when they devised the original comic strip in 1919 – but by 1932 he was eating spinach to give him almost superhuman powers.

Spinach was chosen because it was known to be extremely healthy. Although it actually contains less iron than many other vegetables, it has many other health-giving properties.

Apart from this, it has also been found to have heart benefits. Research has shown that the vegetable can strengthen hearts, also Vegetable diet reduces heart attack risk and boost survival rates by a third for attack victims.

However, getting biceps like Popeye will not be an easy task for the researchers also stated that to do so, you would need to eat at least a kilo of spinach a day.

Spinach became one of trendiest foods in Britain and sales soared by 30% in 2006 after TV chefs and health gurus backed it as something essential for health. Coupled with daily workout eating Spinach is sure to help build biceps.

Playing outdoor games regularly reduces the risk of developing blood clots by 39 per cent in women and 22 per cent in men, according to a study published in Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands evaluated 7,860 people in the 18 to 70 years age group. They compared patients who had suffered their first blood clot in a leg vein or lung artery with control subjects who had never experienced blood clots.

Thirty-one per cent of the patients and 40 per cent of the control subjects participated in sports on a regular basis.

The study revealed that participating in sports at least once per week, regardless of the type of sport or its intensity, reduced the risk of developing a blood clot in a lung artery by 46 per cent and in a leg vein by 24 per cent.

The results were applicable to both men and women.

In fact, the study’s co-author F.R. Rosendaal said: “Women were shown to be even more likely to reap the benefits of regular sporting activities than men. When we excluded women who were pregnant or receiving oral contraceptive or hormone replacement therapy – all possible causes of blood clots – the risk for women was reduced by 55 per cent.” There is a separate article on Exercise during pregnancy for those who are interested.

Although strenuous activity is known to increase the risk of blood clot development in old age, the net effect of participation in sports by old people may be positive.

The study also revealed that people who did not participate in sports were more than four-times as likely to develop a blood clot if they were obese than their lean counterparts.

“When we looked at the results, we found that, overall, the mere fact that people took part in a sporting activity at least once a week was enough to lower their risk of blood clots,” say the authors. Also exercise helps to reduce the bad Cholestrol in blood. However scientists have found a Genes link to high Cholestrol.

This stresses the importance of Daily Workout in life. Also check out the new finding that High blood pressure is emerging as the biggest killer.

If you are looking for a way to keep your heart healthy and still satisfy your snacking mood, pistachios and sunflower seeds may be the powerful cholesterol-fighting tool your body needs.

A new study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, shows that these nuts and seeds rank at the top of the list for containing cholesterol-lowering compounds, phytosterols. While many nuts contain this helpful compound, the study is the first to determine which of these little treats have the largest amount of this cholesterol-clobbering ingredient.

“We tried to establish values for all these foods, so others can determine their value in the diet,” said Dr. Katherine Phillips, study author from the department of biochemistry and food chemistry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Phytosterols are found only in plant-based foods and very closely resemble the molecular structure of cholesterol. But unlike cholesterol, phytosterols are not easily absorbed by the body. Scientists believe that because of this, the compound can partially block cholesterol from being absorbed, thereby lowering overall cholesterol levels naturally.

Philips and her colleagues recognized that nuts and seeds tend to be high in phytosterols, but no study had adequately compared the amounts of the compound found in all of the varieties, which range in size from poppy seeds to walnuts.

While wheat germ and sesame seeds were found to contain the highest amount of phytosterols, according to the tests, most people do not eat these foods by themselves, let alone in high enough amounts for it to matter. So, the third and forth place finishers, sunflower seeds and pistachios, were considered by Philips to be the most practical nutty snack for people looking to lower their cholesterol.

Even if you don’t consider sunflower seeds or pistachios a desirable treat, any of the nuts and seeds tested were found to contain at least a small amount of phytosterols. So, if walnuts are more tempting than pistachios, munch away. But Philips also advises you to consider other options, such as diet and exercise, that are proven to substantially help lower your cholesterol.

“This isn’t the only food product to prevent high cholesterol,” she said. “There are many other factors at play.” It is well known that Macadamia nuts helps reduce heart attack.

From moob (male breast) jobs to nose jobs and liposuction to taking botox injections, more and more men are going under the knife – in the quest for perfection or to turn back the wheels of time and look young for numerous reasons.

Global patterns indicate that men, close on the heels of the fair sex, are willing to pay to alter their appearance. According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, there has been an increase of 17.5 per cent in the number of male surgeries over a year.

Nose job or rhinoplasty is the top choice among men followed by tummy tucks, liposuction, male breast reduction, hair transplant and laser hair removal. Apart from these there are other specialised non-surgical services like facial rejuvenation, fillers and facelifts that are becoming a rage to ensure the feel-good factor.

The popularity of treatments can be further categorised according to age. Nose jobs, breast reduction and laser hair removal are hot among 18-30 year olds who are crazy about the so called ‘sexy male cleavage’. On the other hand, for 30-50 year olds, pot belly reduction, liposuction, hair transplant and other age-defying and fat reduction treatments like botox, fillers, micro-dermabrasions and facelifts are extremely popular.

Till some time back a hairless body or removing wrinkles was considered feminine amongst the male species. Today, a smooth chest or a ‘six-pack’ ab or shelling out a lakh rupees for ‘Pectoral Implants’ to give that muscled look only adds to a man’s machismo.

Read what Rakesh, a 47-year-old broker, has to say about the potbelly reduction treatment that he took and you will know that it’s not just about the improvement in physical state but also the mental and moral boost that a modern age beauty therapy ensures.

“My personal as well as professional life came to a halt as I couldn’t even walk due to my big belly. Whatever little amount of exercising I was doing made me feel exhausted and didn’t do any good to reduce weight. So, I underwent this surgery and today I feel much lighter and healthy. My looks have improved, I look much younger and my confidence has doubled.” See one is getting this woth out Daily Workout

For Deepak Mehrota, marketing executive with an MNC, getting a nose-job added to his confidence. “The inferiority complex has just vanished and I appear more presentable now. I can feel the difference in the kind of reception I get now. Those strange looks have just vanished and my clients look more impressed now.”

Modern age beauty treatments are no longer the privilege of models and actors. Be it a lawyer, a media professional or a doctor …today, just about anybody can go under the knife in order to look and feel good.

‘Men, money and beauty’ equation which was limited to just a hair-cut, a good shave or for that matter a head massage till sometime back has altered its form over time. Men who were mere partners accompanying their wives to a skin clinic are gradually transforming into active treatment takers. Now an increased number of men are ready to shell out moolah like never before on a variety of beauty treatment options available to them, both surgical and non-surgical.

Talk about the average amount a modern man is ready to spend and answers Dr. Hema, “Men who come to us are game to spend anything between Rs. 10,000-50,000, once they are convinced about a treatment and the effect it is going to have on them.”

What are the risks?
Once you have made up your mind about a treatment, telling your doctor what exactly you are looking for is the first and the most important step. But like every medical procedure, there is some element of risk here too. “However, getting treated by an experienced person always helps,” says Dr. Anoop Dhir, senior cosmetic surgeon, Apollo Hospital.

“Patients should understand that cosmetic surgery can help only to the extent of making corrections under realistic parameters, you cannot change your complete appearance with a surgery. That happens only in movies,” sums up Dr. Malik.

It is also proved that loosing weight improves sexual function.

Healthy food Macadamia Nuts

There is a new entrant in the category of heart healthy food. Macadamia nuts included in a heart healthy diet can effectively cut low-density cholesterol or bad cholesterol, thereby reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular problems, according to a new study.

The researchers suggest that macadamia nuts should be included among nuts with qualified health claims.

“We looked at macadamia nuts because they are not currently included in the health claim for tree nuts, while other tree nuts are currently recommended as part of a heart healthy diet,” said Dr. Amy E. Griel, a recent Penn State Ph.D. recipient in nutrition and now senior nutrition scientist at The Hershey Company.

“Macadamia nuts have higher levels of mono saturated fats, like those found in olive oil compared with other tree nuts,” she added.

“Epidemiological studies showed that people who are frequent nut consumers have decreased risk of heart disease,” said Penny Kris-Etherton, co-author and distinguished professor of nutritional sciences.

The study involved participants who had slightly elevated cholesterol levels, normal blood pressure and were not taking lipid-lowering drugs.

The participants were randomly assigned either the macadamia nut diet or the standard American diet and provided all meals for the participants for five weeks. They then switched diets and continued eating only food provided by the researchers for another five weeks.

The findings revealed that Healthy Heart diet with macadamia nuts did reduce total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared with the standard American diet.

The macadamia nuts reduced total cholesterol by 9.4 percent and low-density lipoprotein by 8.9 percent.

“We found that the reduction in LDL or bad cholesterol we observed was greater than would be predicted by just the healthy fats in the nuts alone,” said Griel.

“This indicates that there is something else in the nuts that helps lower cholesterol,” she added.

Science has found the Genes links to High Cholesterol, but the science also helps to find the foods that help reduce the heart attack. It has found that Vegitable diet reduces heart attack risk. There other Nuts to Clobber Cholesterol.

What is Macadamia?

Macadamia is a type flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, with a disjunct distribution native to eastern Australia, New Caledonia and Indonesia Sulawesi. The genus is named after John Macadam, who was a colleague of the botanist, Ferdinand von Mueller, who first described the genus. Common names include Macadamia, Macadamia nut, Queensland nut, Bush nut, Maroochi nut and Bauple nut; Indigenous Australian names include Kindal Kindal and Jindilli.

The nuts are a valuable food crop. Outside of Australia, commercial production is also established in Hawaii, South Africa, Brazil, California, Costa Rica, Israel, Kenya, Bolivia, New Zealand and Malawi. Australia is now the world’s largest commercial producer – at approximately 40,000 tonnes of nut in shell per year.