Sunrays are Proving to be Skin Ally

A new study from the University of New Mexico shows that sunlight may also help melanoma victims survive the disease.

There's more... A second study conducted by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden shows that sunlight may reduce the risk of getting cancer of the lymph glands.

These two new studies have researchers confounded since its long been thought that exposure to the sun is the leading cause of the often fatal skin disease melanoma. Researchers admit that these new findings are totally counterintuitive, reports The Associated Press.

Skin Cancer Study Findings
The five-year study of 528 melanoma victims, researchers found that increased sun exposure actually led to increased survivability stated lead study author Marianne Berwick told AP. The new research iDs two scientific clues as to how sunlight may slow or stop some types of cancer.

Clue No. 1: Vitamin D. Our skin makes this vitamin in response to sunlight. It's an essential vitamin in that it helps regulate cell growth and helps cells stop unneeded growth through a process called apoptosis.

Clue No. 2: Sunlight may help victims survive melanoma through something called solar elastosis, which is a response to sunlight that breaks down collagen in the skin. Or put more simply, this is the same process that causes sun-related wrinkling. "It may be something in solar elastosis itself. It may be that some physical barrier created by this breakdown of collagen keeps the melanoma from getting into the blood and lymph system," Berwick explained to AP.

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Study Results
In a second study conducted by Karin Ekstrom Smedby of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, the research team studied 3,000 people who had lymph cancer and another 3,000 who did not. The results? Increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation through sunbathing and sunburns resulted in a reduced incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, reports AP.

But wait there is still a Strong Warning Against anyone going outside and sunbathing. The ultraviolet radiation of sunlight is still a well documented human carcinogen. So enjoy the sun but... in moderation!

Read more

New U.S. Dietary Food Pyramids: Hit The Market

New U.S. Dietary Food Pyramids Aim to Foster Healthier Eating and Better Health.

Biggest change from old pyramid? Now there are 12 different pyramids, each targeting four overarching themes:

1. Variety: Eat foods from all food groups and subgroups.
   
2. Proportionality: Eat more of some foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat milk products), and less of others (foods high in saturated or trans fats, added sugars, cholesterol salt, and alcohol.).
   
3. Moderation: Choose forms of foods that limit intake of saturated or trans fats, added sugars, cholesterol, salt, and alcohol.
   
4. Activity: Be physically active every day.
   

Background:
The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are the basis for new Federal nutrition policy. The MyPyramid Food Guidance System provides food-based guidance to help implement the recommendations of the new Guidelines. MyPyramid was based on both the Guidelines and the Dietary Reference Intakes from the National Academy of Sciences, while taking into account current consumption patterns of Americans.

MyPyramid translates the Guidelines into a total diet that meets nutrient needs from food sources and aims to moderate or limit dietary components often consumed in excess. An important complementary tool is the Nutrition Facts label on food products. And MyPyramid provides web-based interactive and print materials for consumers. In addition, materials have been developed for both consumers and professionals in the field. How MyPyramid Works

Overview of the New MyPyramid Food Guidance System:
The new pyramids works on the two key ideas. First, that one size does NOT fit everyone. And second, getting the bulk of your nutrients through food in-take is best. The MyPyramid Education Framework provides specific recommendations for making food choices that will improve the quality of an average American diet. These recommendations are interrelated and should be used together. Taken together, they would result in the following changes from a typical diet:

• Increased intake of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and other essential nutrients, especially of those that are often low in typical diets.
  
• Lowered intake of saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol and increased intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to decrease risk for some chronic diseases.
  
• Calorie intake balanced with energy needs to prevent weight gain and/or promote a healthy weight.
  

Take sometime to fully explore the new website: MyPyramid There's a lot of new information to digest; so plan to visit the site often. More about the new pyramids next time.

(Source: MyPyramid.gov)

Health Benefits of Physical Activity

A strong body makes the mind strong.
- Thomas Jefferson

Regular physical exercise is the best antidote to many of the effects of aging. Major benefits from regular exercise include the following:

• favorable effects on fats in the blood
  
• better handling of blood sugar
  
• improved breathing
  
• better endurance
  
• improved balance
  
• greater strength
  
• stronger bones
  
• improved sense of well-being
  
• clearer thinking
  
• better sleep
  

Studies are currently being done to show the benefits of exercise programs for increasing life expectancy and decreasing the risk of or delaying disability as long as possible. Virtually, all studies done to date have consistently and repeatedly shown strong evidence that excercise is a key component for a quality, healthier life. So it's really important to keep active and excercise -- regularly!

To Learn More visit:
Physical ActivityBenefits

Keep Your Mind Sharp -- Excercise Daily

As soils are depleted, human health, vitality and intelligence go with them.
- Louis Bromfield

Staying physically fit throughout your life is not only good for your body, its great for your mind too. Exercise every day, and you're more likely to keep your mind sharp well into old age.

Maintaining a healthy mind2body health connection is the ultimate paradigm for living a healthier, full and active, longer life. Researchers from the V.A. Medical Center in San Francisco found that adults who were the most fit at the start of a six-year study maintained their mental sharpness over time and did better in tests of their mental function conducted years later than did their less physically fit peers, reports Reuters.

Study author Dr. Deborah E. Barnes, told Reuters that "Physical activity appears to be good for the brain as well as the body. And, older adults with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness experience a slower rate of cognitive decline over time."

The benefits link between excercising and maintaining good health becomes even more important as we age. A person who has cardiorespiratory fitness may also be at a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, all of which are known to be associated with poor mental function in older adults. Research findings suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness may be directly associated with blood flow to the brain. Reduced blood flow to the brain has been linked to lower mental function in both Alzheimer's disease patients and normal older adults.

Full study findings are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Also check out Health in Aging.

Meditate to Improve Your Health...

Ill-health, of body or of mind, is defeat... Health alone is victory. Let all men, if they can manage it, contrive to be healthy.
-- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Sir Walter Scott

Are YOU Meditating? Yes, it can improve your health.

Even if you don't have years and years of meditation skills and practice you too can benefit from meditation. (See previous article citing measurable results for Buddhist monk practitioners). Research results show that meditation stimulates Brain & Immune Functions for everyboy! These are the clear and conclusive findings of a research study conducted in 2003 at the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. And many recent findings of other clinical studies, including trials at Harvard support these findings.

The 8-week clinical training program in mindfulness meditation was applied in a work environment with healthy employees. And study consisted of two groups, those who meditated and those who did not. Subjects in both groups were were also injected and vaccinated with an influenza vaccine.

Findings: Researchers reported for the first time significant increases in left-sided anterior activation, a pattern previously associated with positive affect, in the meditators compared with the nonmeditators. Also they found significant increases in antibody titers to influenza vaccine among subjects in the meditation compared with those in the non-meditation control group.

Read More: Mindful Meditation Improves Brain and Immune Functions

Bottom Line: The health benefits are real not just "all in your head". Meditate to improve your health! Could this be a "no brainer" way to also lower your chances of Alzheimer's?

Meditation Supports Healthy Minds & Emotions!

A quiet mind cureth all. -- Robert Burton

Maintaining your brain is crucial. As recent research findings clearly prove.

Practitioners of meditation have long used this brain work to achieve different levels of cognition and emotion. Recently, scientists at the University of Wisconsinwere able to detect positive mental changes associated with meditation -- through electrical imaging.

The Dalai Lama – the most well-known meditation practitioner – greatly supported the study by offering eight of his Buddhist monks, with 10,000 to 50,000 hours of lifetime meditation (15-40 years of practice), to undergo tests and brain scanning.

These eight “professional” meditators’ results were compared to an untrained control group of ten volunteers. Even before either group began meditation, scientists noticed that the monks’ brain waves had considerable more activity than the control group – indicating that meditation may have lasting effects on the brain.

As both groups began to meditate on unconditional compassion, the intensity of the monks’ gamma wave activity was the highest that the researchers had ever seen.

Fast Factoid: Gamma waves are high-frequency electrical brain impulses, which knit together disparate brain circuits that are required for high-level brain functions, such as learning and conscious perception.

The monks with the most practice meditating also had an exceptional amount of activity within the left prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with happiness and positive thoughts and emotions!

Finally, the belief that connections among brain nerve cells are fixed early in life and do not change in adulthood, as it turns out, is passé! Today, scientists believe that the brain is actually quite plastic, enabling development to continue over a lifetime.

So, if you’ve been considering a meditation class (or any class that requires focused attention and learning), you will be doing a lot more than the activity itself. You’ll be developing valuable new brain circuits!

Article Source: Our Health Coop and Full Scientific Study

Acupuncture Wins Western Medical Approval

Our understandings are always liable to error. Nature and certainty are very hard to come at, and infallibility is mere vanity and pretense. -- Marcus Antoninus

This ancient Chinese technique of sticking needles into the skin to relieve pain, nausea, and many other ills has finally won the endorsement and approval of western medicine. Acupunture has long suffered keen skepticism from the traditional western medical profession.

But now there is a growing and strong body of scientific evidence -- brain scans, ultrasound, and other "scientific" techniques -- showing that acupuncture triggers direct, measurable effects on the body, including perhaps activation of precisely the regions of the brain that would be predicted by ancient Chinese theory.

Acupuncture, an extraordinarily safe technique, has been in used for centuries throughout Asia. And according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a government agency, some 8.2 million Americans now use acupunture on a regular basis. Even some insurers are now paying for acupuncture treatments.

And in light of the recent FDA recall of painkillers Vioxx and Celebrex, this news that acupunture works and is a viable treatment, is great news for millions of Americans now faced with finding new pain relief in the wake of the recall.

[Acupunture] "never fails to make me feel better -- more mellow and more energized. I used to think this lovely state was mostly due to the placebo effect." For decades western medicine has been sharply skeptical about acupunture and its benefits.

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine, have shown that when a needle is placed in a point on the side of the foot that Chinese theorists associate with vision, sure enough, the visual cortex in the brain ''lights up" on functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, though the cause and effect are not totally clear.

"Neuroscientist Seung-Schik Yoo of Brigham and Women's Hospital has shown that when a needle is placed in a point called pericardium 6 on the wrist, known in Chinese medicine as a sensitive point for nausea, the part of the brain that controls the vestibular system (which affects balance and nausea) lights up on scans."

"While much about acupuncture remains mysterious, at least to Westerners, a great deal is becoming clearer, thanks to an explosion of studies using Western scientific techniques." And in deed, it seems that ancient Chinese theory as practiced and predicted is for real! To read more about it: Medical Research Shows Acupunture Works

When It Comes to Chocolate, Dark is Healthier For You

The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.
--Thomas Jefferson

Dark chocolate may help reduce blood pressure and boost the body's ability to metabolize sugar from food, according to the results of a small recent study in Italy and published in the March 2005 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Investigators at the University of L'Aquila in Italy found that after eating only 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate every day for 15 days, 15 healthy people had lower blood pressures and were more sensitive to insulin, an important factor in metabolizing sugar.

This is not the first study to demonstrate potential health benefits of dark chocolate, which contains high levels of a kind of antioxidant called flavonoids. Research shows that flavonoids that can help maintain a healthy heart and good circulation and reduce blood clotting, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.

Chocolate's health benefits include flavonoids that help the body by neutralizing potentially cell-damaging substances known as oxygen-free radicals, which are a normal byproduct of metabolism, explained Dr. Claudio Ferri.

However, Ferri urges caution when interpreting the results. In spite of dark chocolate's apparent benefits and its rich antioxidant base, it also contains a lot of fat and calories. Dr. Ferri noted that each 100 grams of dark chocolate contains roughly 500 calories. He suggests that people who want to add some chocolate to their diet need to subtract an equivalent amount of calories by cutting back on other foods, to avoid weight gain.

Another good reason to keep-on eating dark chocolate! Unfortunately, milk and white chocolates do not provide the same health benefits.

There are four basic food groups, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles. --Unknown

Read more about this chocolate health research finding:
Dark Chocolate Is Healthier

If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage? --Marquise de Sevigne, February 11, 1677

Eliminate Normal Body Waste -- Naturally

A well-balanced diet is the most important requirement for healthy living.

Good nutrition helps reduce our risk of getting a large number of diseases, from diabetes to heart disease. But to ensure that your body absorbs all the nutrients of our well-balanced diet and their full dietary values of proteins, enzymes, vitamins, amino acids, and all the other 'good stuff' at the micro-celluar level, it is important that you detoxify your body on a regular basis. One of the good things about detoxing the body is that it can be easily accomplished with many of the foods we eat.

This article, Benefits of Detoxing Your Body, give a great explanation about detoxifying our bodies and what foods help to get rid of the that 'body waste' we naturally produce during "the process of converting food into the raw materials and energy we need to live, along with the complex biochemical reactions that occur continuously within cells." This process produces waste products that must be eliminated from the body. Learn how you can do it easily and naturally!

Alzheimer's Can Be Avoided

Life is not merely being alive, but being well.
-- Martial, c. AD 66 Epigrams

Memory loss is not an inevitable consequence of aging, but rather is usually the consequence of age-related diseases, a new study says. Some people, no matter how old they are, have sharp and clear minds and memories.

"What's their secret? It's a timely question, and not just for scientists. Baby boomers are watching their parents get older -- and spotting a few grey hairs of their own in the mirror. What can they expect from the aging brain?" Read
Secret of People Whose Minds Never Fade

In case you're wondering, "Fear not, memory loss and brain aging are a natural part of getting older. It is often the case that people will start to report in their 50s that they think their memories are slipping," says Zola, a research career scientist who has dedicated his work to memory function." There could be other reasons for it short term memory lost; Alzheimer's disease is not the only cause for memory problems as we age. Health issues such as stress and anxiety; depression; ADHD; infections; and brugs, both prescription and over-the-counter. So, Is Your Memory Normal?

Flaxseed: Small but Mighty Health Food!

“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.”
--Spanish Proverb

Country-wise Living: A 68-year-old retired registered nurse sings the praises of Flaxseed Meal. “It is a vital health-smart ingredient to add to your daily dietary intake.” Overcoming her initial skepticism regarding what she read about the benefits of flaxseed “because nothing could be that good”, she has found flaxseed to be a powerhouse of nutritional benefit.

She now recommends it to everyone, especially women because it “causes tumors and cancer to shrink by stopping the growth of small blood vessels that they need to grow.” However, she cautions its usage for “pregnant women and small children who are still developing.” For everyone else it is a god-send.

It lowers cholesterol, raises the good cholesterol we all need to produce hormones, alleviates arthritis (in a fairly short time) and increases peripheral circulation (I can feel my hands, for the first time since the 1980s). Flaxseed is also high in fiber, but does not cause diarrhea. She goes on to say that “it seems to have normalized by metabolism which had been off since I tried to change thyroid medicine in the mid 1980s.” Take note, the nurse isn't the only one convinced about the health powerhouse flaxseed. Here's what one group of flaxseed growers report Flaxseeds Lowers Blood Pressure, Eliminate Constipation, Easy Arthritis

All it takes is ½ cup a day for therapy, if you’re experiencing any problems or suspect you might be a risk, to prevent or alleviate tumors or cancer. The great thing is that it can be added to bread, muffins, cookies, pie crust, cake mixes or scratch – add it like nuts, says the inspired nurse.

In addition, she add that it can be eaten in yogurt, cottage cheese, salads, and casseroles; add it to a pot of beans or even turkey dressing. However, you can get it into your diet, do it.

While the oil is being promoted more than the meal, I found that [the oil] interferes with the absorption of some medicines especially any that are absorbed in the stomach, says Nurse Quinn.

“Your magazine promotes the healthy slow food lifestyle and flaxseed mean is a good addition to that goal. It may very well be the antidote to our very toxic world.” – Betty Quinn, California. (Source: Countryside Vol. 89 No. 2 March/April 2005 Tips Column) CountrySide Magazine

Retired nurse Quinn is not the only one singing the praises of the power health food. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is taking a serious look at Flaxseed too. Duke University's Comprehensive Cancer Center and National Cancer Institute (NCI) are currently running clinical trials for: Low-Fat Diet and/or Flaxseed in Preventing Prostate Cancer. NOTE: This study is currently recruiting patients. Flaxseed may well be one of the cancer cures we have been looking for.

It's a super source for fiber, omega-3 oil, and Here's a great article that tells you The Health Benefits of Flaxseed and everything you want to know about the Mighty Flaxseed.

Others Are Saying: MUST READ!
Flaxseed Oil FAQs UK Ministry of Fitness
Whole Health MD: Applauds & Praises Flaxseed
1997 Prevention Magazine Article Excerpt: Flaxseed -- Top Seed


Flaxseeds have been around forever. The early Eypyptian, Greeks, and Romans ate them as part of their daily diet. During the past 100 years, flaxseed has fallen out of favor. But now its health benefits are being re-discovered and scientifically proven. So what do you think? Is there something special about flaxseed? Well, you don't have to tell me twice, I've added flaxseed to my diet. So what about you? It's your move now!

Fortify Your Immune System Eat High ORAC Foods

The natural healthy force within us is the greatest force in getting well.
-- Hippocrates, The Father of Western Medicine

Today’s high stress living takes its toll on our bodies. Under ordinary conditions, our food intake would be enough to support and nourish our wellbeing and sustain our good health. But these are not ordinary conditions! The environment we live in is filled with chemicals and other toxins that often work against our health. Toxin chemicals can be found in the air we breath, the food we eat, the products we use, the water we drink, and in the medicine we consume. And because the diversity and scope of the chemicals we are exposed to are so great and the fact that we are constantly exposed to these chemicals day-in and day-out, we suffer from overexposure.

Dr Richard M Fleming, a nuclear cardiologist and specialist in internal medicine and the founder and director of the Fleming Heart and Health Institute in Omaha, Nebraska is an innovative cardiologist. He authored the book, “Stop Inflammation Now.” He believes that the body uses proper foods more effectively than vitamin supplements to promote health. And in his book he reveals the twelve main causes of heart attack and stroke, and presents his breakthrough plan on how to restore heart health.

For example, he cites that eating 10 ounces of spinach has a greater effect on vitamin C blood levels than taking a 1250 mg vitamin C pill. He points out that nutritious foods, like fruits and vegetables, tend to contain a variety of healthful substances that act synergistically.

Given research findings that support this line of thinking, the USDA (Department of Agriculture) has developed an “Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity” (ORAC) scale to rate the antioxidant content of food. Here are some of the foods that scored the highest: High ORAC Foods

Our bodies are working triple time to rid chemicals and toxins from our systems. We need to fortify our systems daily with generous amounts of natural fruits, vegetables, and grains that nourish and boost our health. Natural foods do more to nourish our bodies than supplements because our systems are able to better absorb and process the photonutrchem Research findings now show that diets rich in fruits, grains and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. And eating a variety of colorful foods, five times a day is a healthier, smarter way to reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases: Color Your Way to 5 A Day

Brain Regulators Mapped -- New Era for Hope!

"In nothing do men approach so nearly to the Gods, as in giving health to men."
-- Cicero

US scientists have mapped a key network of gene "switches" in the brain which could aid neurological research. The "atlas", created by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and used mouse brains to pinpoint the genes. But the map applies to human brains too, and is hoped it will help research into conditions, such as brain tumors, linked to mutations in these genes. Mice and human brains share many of the same regulators, which is why the researchers believe their work could help in the understanding of human diseases. Tumors, and other neurological diseases occur because of mutations in these key genes, called transcription factors (TF). This chain reaction cause abnormalities in the development or function of nerves. Dr Quifu Ma of Dana-Farber's Cancer Biology Department, who led the research, said his team found over 1,000 (TFs) gene regulators and mapped 349 of them to create the brain atlas.

"This is the first systematic mapping of all of the major brain areas that shows what regulatory genes are expressed in those specific locations," Dr. Quifu Ma stated.
This important breakthrough holds promise for find the causes and cures for such brain-related diseases as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's, strokes, and other brain disorders. (Photo source: Brain, Wellcome Trust)

Read the article: Brain Gene Regulators Mapped

Good Health Starts With Your Thinking!

"If your thoughts are thoughts that draw low-frequency energy current to you, your physical and emotional attitudes will deteriorate, and emotional or physical disease will follow, whereas thoughts that draw high-frequency energy current to you create physical and emotional health." -- Gary Zukav (as quoted in HeartMath Discovery Program)

Being of good health is our natural state of being. When we are well, our mind and body work harmoniously together to optimize our wellness and this allows us to be all that we can be. In our state of wellness we are positive... energized... confident... and creative.

The importance of exercising and keeping your weight in check has now been positively strongly linked to living a longer life. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicated that being fit and as lean as you can be can add years to your life.

The study analyzed data from 116,564 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study who, at the beginning of the study in 1976, were between the ages of 30 to 55 and were free of cardiovascular disease. During 24 years of follow-up, 10,282 women died -- 2370 from cardiovascular disease, 5223 from cancer and 2689 from other causes.

Dr. Hu noted that "there was nearly a two and a half-fold increase in risk of death for inactive and obese women" compared to physically active, lean women. Summing up, Dr.Hu said this study shows that "both weight and exercise are important for longevity."

This study has a "basic and helpful conclusion in terms of public health: be fit and lean as you can be."


Read More:
What Is Health?

Health is Beauty, Power, and Peace

When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied. ...Herophilus

Health is our most precious possession. Most of us take feeling well for granted but when we suffer from poor health, we look for quick remedies to heal us and make us better again.

In this time of the 21 century, we have an overwhelming number of options to choose from including Eastern Medicine, Western Medicine, Wholistic Therapies, Natural Remedies, Old World Cures, and New Emerging Technology Health Soultions. Each has a role to play. And each can provide relief for what ails us. Healthiness and Wellness are the goal. Prevention is key! Using Intergative medical solutions to restore wellness is vital. There are not single solutions... There are many choices and we'll explore their benefits.

Eat wisely, exercise regularly, be spiritually centered, curb excesses, and savor your good health! Read More

Wealth Equals Health

What Health Is Not

Processed Foods Have NO Nutrients...

"Living under conditions of modern life, it is important to bear in mind that preparation and refinement of food products either entirely eliminates or in part destroys the vital elements in the original materials." -- USDA (U.S. Dept of Agriculture)

Here it is, straight from the horse's mouth! The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture tell us pure and simple that processed foods contain little of their original nutrients and nutritional value. Bottom line: processed foods provide us with no health benefits.

Studies have linked a high sugar intake which all processed foods contain an abundance of, with increased risks of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature aging. Is this pure coincidence, or is the association real?

"Common table sugar represents about 20 to 25 percent of the daily caloric intake of the average American. This translates into the equivalent of half a pound a day and over 5 tons in a lifetime. In the early 1800's, the average sugar consumption was 12 pounds per person annually. This increased to 124 pounds in 1980 and to 152 pounds in 1997. It is estimated that 75 percent of all sugar we consume comes from processed food."

So now what do we do to get the vital nutrients that our mind and body need to keep us healthy and fit?

Eat greater amounts of fresh natural foods. And supplement your daily dietary intake with juices, omega-3 oils, grains, seeds, and vitamins to offset the nutritional deficit found in our foods. Cut BACK sharply on empty calories. Add more fish, fresh vegetables and fruit, whole grains, and natural juices. The goal is to become a healthy eater by making smarter choices in your daily food intake each day. When you incorporate this conscious decision-making into your routine, then you've made a "life-style" change and dieting becomes a non-issue because you're routinely eating healthy foods and nuturing your health. For some more great ideas about how to do this well, read this article:
Becoming a Good Eater -- Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD