Extremely interesting. Watchers of Grey’s Anatomy may remember them using HIV virus to deliver a cure for a child with immune issues.

I am a fan of Empire Avenue. I use it to meet some of the greatest social media superstars and to make sure I am doing all I can to hopefully become one myself.
Empire Avenue helps by letting you know where you need to do more work in the social media arena and you can check in on people that have mastered their specific platform to see what and how they do it.
Now Empire Avenue is starting a new group of leaders to help propel EAv to new heights and one of the things they are doing is spotlighting some of their more active members as a token of appreciation.
EAv has always been a great community and it looks like they are reaching out farther to really allow the leaders of the community to do more and get recognized for it.

A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that adults who exercise more tend to be less susceptible to mental and physical health problems including depression, dementia, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The English Longitudinal Study of Aging studied 3,500 adults (average age 64 years old) and collected data on their physical activity level every two years between 2002-2003 and 2010-2011. The participants were then categorized by the amount they exercised each week and divided into three categories – no activity, moderate activity and vigorous activity. The researchers also tracked serious health problems (including mental health) suffered by the participants and found a strong correlation between health and exercise as the participants aged.

The results showed a clear correlation between “healthy aging” and exercise level. Adults who practiced moderate or vigorous exercise at least once a week were 3-4x more likely to age healthier than adults who did not exercise. While this association is not a clear cause-and-effect relationship, the fact is that adults who were active in the beginning of the study were 7 times more likely to have fewer health problems than adults who did not exercise for the entirety of the study. Twenty percent of all participants were considered to be healthy agers, and of the 1 in 10 participants that became active over the study, 70% stayed active.

So how much exercise is enough? The World Health Organization recommends adults age 65+ do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise during the week with each session lasting at least 10 minutes. Adults should also practice muscle-strengthening activities 2-3 times a week.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Servings: 12

Serving Size: 2” slices

Ingredients:

4 oz fat free cream cheese

16 oz fat free sour cream

2 tbsp graham cracker crumbs

4 oz Neufchatel cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp chocolate extract

spray Canola oil cooking spray

1 tbsp cornstarch

8 oz fat free egg substitute

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Coat the bottom of a 9″ springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Dust the pan with graham cracker crumbs.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese, and vanilla and beat at medium speed until smooth.

3. Add the sugar and cornstarch, beat until well blended.

4. Add the egg substitute, 1/4 cup at a time; beat at low speed just until blended.

5. Then add the cocoa powder and chocolate extract and beat until well blended.

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Turn off the oven and partially open the oven door. Allow it to sit for 1 hour. After one hour, remove it from the oven, cover and chill it for 8 hours.

While we all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to food, there are a number of easy food substitutions that can help make dieting and eating healthy a little easier.

Most of us enjoy our morning cup of coffee to kick-start our day and rather than making a full substitution (which may be hard for the die-hard coffee fan like me) it is easy to cut calories by ordering coffees made with nonfat milk rather than full milk. Grande nonfat Cappuccinos from Starbucks also only contain 80 calories compared to grande Caffe Latte which have 200.

One of the most common guilty pleasures, ice cream, can be easily substituted for nonfat frozen yogurt which is lower in saturated fat and calories. If you are going for ice cream, try low fat versions of your favorites and use fruit toppings rather than candy or chocolate.

Using nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream or mayo will also save you on calories and fat and is a better source of protein as well. Additionally, if you are making a salad use nuts instead of croutons to cut on salt and increase protein.

There are a number of good substitutions for using oil in your baking as well. ¾ cup to 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce as well as mango, banana or avocado puree mixed with nonfat milk can be used for 1 cup liquid oil. Cutting out oil not only helps to lower cholesterol by avoiding high fats in oils but also can help to lose weight by cutting calories and improving overall health.

With entire stores devoted to selling multi-vitamins and supplements, the headlines coming out about multi-vitamins seem to be conflicted. One day, the media can report that they are essential to preventing disease and the next day reports state these vitamins are doing more harm than good.

For example, a large observational study by the Iowa Women’s Health Study followed a group of women for 19 years and found that those women who reported taking a daily multi-vitamin were actually 6% more likely to diet than those who did not report taking a daily multi-vitamin. Researchers have hypothesized that users of multi-vitamins may be healthier because they tend to have a healthier lifestyle and diets, which lower their risk of disease and called for a randomized study to look at the cause and effect relationship of the Iowa study.

The randomized study, called the Physicians’ Health Study II, followed 14,000 men who took either Centrum Silver or a placebo everyday for 11 years and found that the risk of dying was not significant between the two groups. The study also found that taking a multi-vitamin had no effect on the risk of developing heart disease, stroke or cancer. This find has been consistently proved in other studies as well, including the Multiethnic Cohort Study and Women’s Health Iniative cohort.

So when is it worth it to take a multi-vitamin? The answer, in short, is when it will suppliement nutrients that you may not be getting from your regular diet. For example, between 7-16% of women aged 12-49 are iron deficient and may benefit from multis that contain the recommended daily value of 18 miligrams. Additionally, persons age 50+ generally get vitamin B-12 from either fortified foods or supplements, with the recommended daily amount being 2.4 micrograms.

The important takeaway from the multi-vitamin argument is to not rely on them to keep you healthy! While multi-vitamins may be beneficial for those who have a nutrient deficiency, it is important to keep in mind that research shows that these multi-vitamins will not reduce the risk of disease and that they are not a subtsitute for a healthly lifestyle.

The link between nutrition and cancer is an important relationship to understand and one that many people today seem to forget. What many people may not realize is that nearly 35% of all cancers are tied to nutrition in some way. Consequently, there have been a number of studies devoted to the research of cancer-fighting foods and diets and the results tend towards a number of recurring trends.

The big picture of the research available shows that eating more fruits and vegetables, and less meat and highly saturated fat dairy products will improve your odds of avoiding nutrition-related cancers. Additionally, cooking methods that use exposure to high heat and charring (barbeque, grilling) have been linked to higher risk of cancer. Not to worry though, a balanced diet lowers the risk of cancer and there are a number of foods that actively reduce the risk of cancer. The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends filling 2/3 of your plate with fruits, veggies, whole grains and beans.

More specifically, dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, collard greens and Swiss chard are high in fiber, folates, cartenoids and flavonoids that protect against a number of cancers. Green tea is also high in flavonoids and polyphenols that act as antioxidants that can prevent liver, colon, breast and prostate cancer. Berries (strawberries, blueberries and raspberries) are also high in fiber and Vitamin C and can protect against esophagus and colorectal cancer.

In terms of food to avoid, one of the worst foods is full, fat regular bacon. It is extremely high in saturated fat and is full of nitrites and other cancer-contributing ingredients. Look instead for reduced fat bacon or turkey bacon that is specifically labeled to be nitrate-free. Look for nitrate-free labeling on other processed meats as well, such as lunchmeat, sausage and hot dogs. Also, avoid any foods that contain GMOs but beware, you won’t find GMOs on the nutrition label so be sure to look for foods that are specifically labeled to be non-GMO.

A few powerful changes in lifestyle and diet can be incredibly influential in reducing the risk of cancer. Simple changes – from being more aware of what’s in your food to including foods in your meals that prevent cancer in or diet all help in making informed decisions when it comes to nutrition and all help reduce the risk of developing nutrition-related cancers.