There was a time when the word was never spoken, not even between a mother and daughter. Menopause, still referred to as “the change" in some circles, is now no longer a taboo subject. Menopause is a natural transition in a woman's life. And nowadays most women can expect to live one-third to one-half of their lives past menopause; these can be among the most satisfying years of life. The emergence of menopause as a hot health topic is likely the result of newer research that has shown that exercise plays a key role in easing the transition into menopause, enhancing a woman's health, happiness and productivity.

 

What is menopause?

The medical definition of menopause is cessation of menses for 12 months. Menopause occurs when the ovaries stop making the hormones estrogen and progesterone. While the average age of menopause onset is about 51, some women may enter menopause as early as their 30s or as late as their 60s. Symptoms of menopause include: hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, insomnia, headache, lethargy/fatigue, irritability, anxiety, depression, a racing heart or skipped beats, and joint pain.

“Burn more calories, tone muscles, improve posture, reduce joint stress."

—Well, who wouldn't want all that?

“Train muscles your trainers never knew you had."

—Sign me up.

“It's the shoe proven to work your hamstrings and calves up to 11 percent harder. And tones your butt up to 28 percent more than regular sneakers just by walking."

—A better body without putting in any extra effort? That sounds good.

Or maybe too good to be true? All of the above are publicized claims marketing the latest toning shoes from Skechers Shape-Ups, MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) and Reebok EasyTone. The shoes, each of which uses uniquely shaped rounded soles and extra cushioning to alter the wearer's normal walking gait, are currently all the rage in footwear. A quick Web search reveals many blogs touting the shoes and NFL great Joe Montana has even been hired as a pitchman for one of the brands.

With all this buzz about toning shoes, it was time to put their claims to the test. So we enlisted a team

If increasing muscle mass is one of your goals, then think twice before you go out for a night of heavy drinking. Consuming alcohol in large quantities has a direct effect on your metabolism, causing fat to be stored instead of being utilized as an energy source. Alcohol contains seven “empty" calories per gram, meaning that these calories don't provide you with any of the essential nutrients you need to build that muscle mass you desire.

 

Effects of Excessive Alcohol Consumption on Your Body:

• Muscles—Reduces blood flow to the muscles, causing weakness and deterioration

• Hormones—Reduces testosterone in your blood and increases conversion of testosterone to estrogen, causing increased fat depositing and fluid retention

• Liver—Creates imbalances that can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), fatty liver and hyperlipidemia (build-up of fats in the bloodstream)

• Brain—Cuts off the supply of oxygen to the brain, resulting in a “blackout" caused by a lack of oxygen supply to the brain that can kill tens of thousands of brain cells

Every sunscreen has a sun protection factor, or SPF, which is a measure of its strength or effectiveness. Each of us needs a different SPF, depending on whether, and to what degree, our skin burns or tans. A tan is the direct result of melanin, a brown pigment found in the epidermis that is produced when skin is exposed to sunlight.

Melanin protects the skin by absorbing, reflecting and scattering ultraviolet radiation before it penetrates the dermis, or underlying skin. However, armor that it is, melanin can't prevent all the negative effects of the sun, and is often representative of damage. That's why we need to use sunscreens. To determine what SPF your skin requires, you must know how long it takes your skin to burn when unprotected and exposed to sunlight. As a rule of thumb, anyone whose skin burns, whether or not it turns into a tan, should use an SPF of 15. Check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking antibiotics, antidepressants or antidiuretics. Some of these medications increase your skin's sensitivity to sunlight and may decrease the time it takes your skin to burn. 


Asthma is an increasingly common lung disease in the U.S. People who have asthma have inflamed and highly irritable airways. When the airways are exposed to irritants, they narrow, making breathing more difficult. Signs of asthma include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and difficulty breathing, especially at night and early in the morning. Common irritants include tobacco smoke, air pollution, viral infection and allergens like dust mites and cat dander. Vigorous exercise also can act like an irritant by triggering airway spasm and narrowing. This is referred to as exercise-induced asthma.

The ABCs of Exercise-induced Asthma

About five to 10 minutes into a strenuous soccer game you start to cough

and feel short of breath. You tell yourself that you're out of shape and recommit to your resolution to participate in vigorous cardiovascular exercise at least three days per week. But then, the next time and the time after that the same feelings of difficulty breathing set in. You finally go visit your doctor, who tells you that you have asthma. But this only happens with exercise, you say.

In a society that is becoming increasingly health conscious, more and more information is constantly coming out on how to lose weight, how to get fit, how to eat, sleep, breathe—everything under the sun that will help you get healthy! It's a wonder that before this information was available people were able to survive—let alone live healthy lives!

The fact is, people did survive, and were—and are—still healthy without all the weird, scientifically suspect practices that people get tricked into. Nutrition is one of those fields that is inundated with quacks who will try to sell you the latest secret to weight loss. A basic myth-spotting motto: If it sounds too good to be true—it is. 

Here are some common diet myths that people futily follow in hopes of losing a few pounds.

Eating late at night, or at any particular time of day, will not cause you to put on more weight than what is normal for what you ate and the activity you did. Weight gain occurs when you consume more calories than you expend, whether that occurs in the middle of the day, the morning or at night. However, in reality, people who eat a lot of food late at night tend to consume more calorie-dense foods and thus eat more calories—which can cause weight gain.

Many parents and physical education teachers have traditionally shied away from strength training with their children or students. However, there is sufficient research to suggest that strength training is a suitable—and safe—option for most youth.


There are a number of common myths about youth strength training that continue to cause concern among parents and educators. Two of the most common misconceptions are that strength training may stunt the growth of children and that children should not lift weights until they are 12 years old. There is simply no evidence to support either of these statements. In fact, all of the major fitness and medical organizations in the U.S. recommend strength training for youth, assuming that basic guidelines are adhered to and that appropriate leadership is present. And about the question of age, children can begin to train with weights as soon as they are able to accept and follow directions—usually around the age of seven or eight.

There are more myths and misconceptions about strength training than any other area of fitness. While research continues to uncover more and more reasons why working out with weights is good for you, many women continue to avoid resistance training for fear of developing muscles of Herculean proportions.

Other women have tried it and been less than thrilled with the results. “Don't worry," people say. “Women can't build muscle like men. They don't have enough testosterone." This is, in fact, only partly true.

Many women, believing they wouldn't build muscle, hit the gym with a vengeance and then wondered why, after several weeks of resistance training, their clothes didn't fit and they had gained muscle weight.

The truth is, not everyone responds to training in quite the same way. While testosterone plays an important role in muscle development, the answer to why some men and women increase in muscle size and others don't lies within our DNA.

We are predisposed to respond to exercise in a particular way, in large part because of our genetics. Our genetic makeup determines what types of muscle fibers we have and where they are distributed. It determines our ratio of testosterone to estrogen and where we store body fat. And it also determines our body type.

In response to increased levels of cholesterol and a greater risk of heart disease—or for countless other reasons—many Americans are making the switch from a diet dominated by hamburgers and hot dogs to one of veggie burgers and tofu.

But is this type of diet a wise choice for athletes who need to maintain their strength and stamina?
The answer to that question is a qualified “yes."
Whether you are an athlete or moderately active, you must be aware of the nutritional implications of vegetarianism and choose foods that will provide you with enough calories and nutrients to keep you healthy and strong.

There are four basic types of vegetarians. The first, lacto-ovo-vegetarians, omit meat, fish and poultry from their diets, but include animal products such as eggs, milk, yogurt and cheese.

The second and third types of vegetarians are lacto-vegetarians and ovo-vegetarians. Lacto-vegetarians, while excluding eggs, do include dairy products. Conversely, ovo-vegetarians do include eggs, but exclude dairy products from their diets. Both types exclude all forms of meat. Finally, the restrictive vegan diet excludes all foods derived from animals in any form.

Regardless of what type of vegetarianism may be your preference, it is essential to have a good understanding of basic nutritional principles to choose a balanced diet.

Without this knowledge, vegetarians may find themselves deficient in nutrients generally derived from meat, eggs and/or dairy products, such as protein, iron, calcium and vitamins B12 and D.

Are you satisfied with your general physique, or would you like to get rid of a few extra pounds? If your answer is the latter, quit looking for that magic pill and just follow several general guidelines that will help you work toward a healthier body.

Atkins™, South Beach™, The Zone Diet™ and countless other types of diets have each been hyped as the perfect diet strategy to shed those unwanted pounds. While they may have shown initial results, most have failed to demonstrate long-term success in keeping the weight off. Here's an important tip to remember: Your body must burn more calories than it is taking in to lose weight. One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories, so if you want to lose 1 pound per week you need to average a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day.

Don't worry—that doesn't mean you have to get on the treadmill and run until you have burned 3,500 calories to lose a pound. Your goal is to combine increased activity with some cutbacks in your diet.