Loving the low-cal beer options

I'm  naming names over on San Jose Fitness Examiner when it comes to the best low-cal and low-carb beers from some of the post popular brewers.

 If you're a beer drinker but always wondering how the diet beers stack up against each other, check it out:
the 10 best low-cal, low-carb beers for dieters

From a marketing point of view, it's also interesting that Michelob light beers are dubbed ultra - (Amber Ultra, Michelob Ultra), Budweisers are dubbed select (Budweiser Select, and Select 55) but Miller Coors went straight to the heart of it by calling their beers "Light" or "Lite" (Miller Lite, Keystone Light)

The ads say it's all about the taste, but for the marketing folks, it's also about perception.  Enjoy the article.

Are tattoos safe? Not all the options are as safe or natural as presented

The FDA has stepped in with some advice on tattoos and permanent make up.  It's not fair to say "YEA" or "NEA" without some reservations, but there is a webinar (upcoming as I write this but archived afterward).

Before you go in and get a tattoo, or have that eyeliner or those eyebrows made with permanent ink, check it out. Here's all the details: Are tattoos and permanent make up safe?

Corporate fitness programs continue to grow in importance

Last week the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index posted its figures for February (the poll posts monthly)  and the headline from February 2011 is that while five of the categories polled in the well-being index were neutral or slightly up, workplace well-being, the sixth category, declined.

Read the article here: Workplace well-being declines, third straight year

This is keeping with a 38 month trend of employees' attitudes ebbing ever lower when it comes to how they feel about their jobs.  And it reinforces an article I put up on San Jose Fitness Examiner a few months back, that workers say their workplace actually hinders fitness.  

To me it seems clear: people who don't believe their boss cares if they are healthy or not, and who feel that the company is all about improving the company and not improving the worker will be demoralized about work.

Reading about the trends, I began to wonder what effect corporate fitness programs could have (or are having) on this sinking morale, and I put an email in to Patty Purpur of the Stanford Health Promotion Network.  Patty is a smart lady who has a lot of interesting information at her fingertips,and she's been working in corporate wellness programs since around 1995 so she has a good perspective.

Patty's noted a change recently in that corporations are putting more mental health and mental wellness programs in place and teaching journaling, meditation, and yoga.  It all goes together to meet that sagging spirit that seems pervasive, I suppose.

Personally, I think that some days the boss just needs to come by and say, "The company won't sink into oblivion if you get up from your desk right now and go for a five minute walk around the building."  Actually, one of the things I like about my job is that my boss does encourage that. 

So go on over and check out the article. See if you agree that corporate wellness programs could be the answer to help with that last piece of well-being.

Epigenetics Diet - how what you eat can help prevent or reverse cancer

I just posted a story on San Jose Fitness Examiner about the newly-coined term, "Epigenetics Diet" (Epigenetics Diet - broccoli, cabbage help prevent and treat cancer, Alzheimer's)

The concept isn't a new one. There's been a great deal of research done in the past decade about how food can actually turn on a gene's natural defenses to fight diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.  Some research focuses specifically on colon cancer or breast cancer etc, but by-and-large, it is pretty much accepted these days that some foods are "cancer fighters."

But what is new is that the University of Alabama/Birmingham has put together a lot of the research, looked at the foods that fall into the category,  and published findings in Clinical Epigenetics, and as a result, coined the term the Epigenetic Diet.  Having an "umbrella" for the findings helps an average person understand it better. 

The researchers at UAB also point out that it doesn't take a whole lot of these cancer fighting foods to make a difference:  3 cups of green tea a day, or a cup of broccoli sprouts.

I found it interesting.  If you do, go over to the column and take a look.

Silicon Valley fitness: new 24 Hour Fitness opens, West Valley Senior Walk April 15, Big Bunny Fun Run 2011 and more

I love all the things that go on in Silicon Valley that allow for people to get out and get active.  The fact that 24 Hour Fitness is opening a new 45,000 square foot facility in Sunnyvale is interesting.  The trend seems to be toward niche fitness but 24 Hour Fitness is all about big, so there is obviously still a lot of room in the "facility" category.

The 6th Annual West Valley Senior Walk (I suspect the West Valley name is a hold over from when the event was started - it's now Westfield Valley Fair) is a nice event, inside the mall, free breakfast, a couple of local councilmembers, and about 80 companies/non-profits all gathered from 8:30 to 10:30 in the morning.  I stopped by a couple of years back by accident and found it to be friendly and informative.

And of course, one of my top favorite events - the Big Bunny Fun Run is back in Cupertino.  I just love that a few blocks away from one of the world's most popular companies (Apple) 5 year olds can still have a good time walking a mile with a big bunny.

So, check out the stories - your visits are always appreciated.

Here's a look at some of the articles published this week on San Jose Fitness Examiner:  

• 24 Hour Fitness opens new Sunnyvale Super-Sport Club Saturday, March 12, 2011

• Join San Jose councilmembers for Senior Walk, April 15, 2011 at Valley Fair

• Big Bunny Fun Run, April 23, 2011 in Cupertino

• Ballet Body by Jazzercise comes to Silicon Valley