4/23/24 - Is seafood bad for me? Beware of fake Botox, supercharge your coffee

What’s Trending - Is too much seafood bad for me?

High-Seafood Diets May Increase Risk of Exposure to 'Forever Chemicals’

• Frequent seafood consumption can increase your chance of exposure to dangerous chemicals, according to a new study.

• For the general public, seafood should be limited to 12 ounces per week.

• Fish that are high in mercury should be consumed less often.

• Researchers and experts agree more stringent public health guidelines surrounding seafood intake need to be established.

A new study showed that people who eat seafood on a regular basis may have an increased risk of exposure to PFAS, toxins more commonly described as “forever chemicals” since they remain in the body indefinitely.

Exposure to forever chemicals is linked to health issues such as cancer, fetal abnormalities, high cholesterol, and thyroid, liver, and reproductive disorders.

For the study, published April 12 in Exposure and Health, researchers combined a PFAS concentrations analysis of fresh seafood with a survey of eating habits in New Hampshire. According to national data, New Hampshire is the leading state in seafood consumption.

They measured 26 types of PFAS in the most consumed fish: cod, haddock, lobster, salmon, scallop, shrimp, and tuna. Results showed shrimp and lobster had the highest levels of PFAS compounds.

The survey findings showed that men in New Hampshire eat just over one ounce of seafood per day and women eat just under one ounce. These amounts are more than 1.5 times the national average for adults. For New Hampshire children (2 to 11 years old), it was about 0.2 ounces, which is also higher than the national average.

Read the FULL Story here - more info and tips on what to avoid
^{Source - Healthline.com}

Health Hack of the Week - Make your Coffee better

7 Easy Ways To Make Your Morning Coffee Even Healthier

Coffee is a beloved part of daily routines for many, offering more than just an energy jolt. Packed with antioxidants and benefits for brain health and athletic performance, it's a favorite beverage for a reason.

But what if you could take your coffee to the next level, adding even more nutritional value to your cup of joe?

Here are some simple ways to boost both flavor and wellness benefits.

1) Store your beans properly
2) Add a Collagen powder
3) Buy dark-roasted, fresh coffee beans
4) Grind your coffee beans before each brew
5) Make it cold brew
6) Try micro-dosing
7) Add some health fats

See WHY and how to optimize these top 7 benefits HERE - the full list.
^{Source - Mindbodygreen.com}

Need to Know - Summer Beach Bod here we come…

15 Best Exercises for Love Handles to Burn Belly and Back Fat Faster

The best exercises for love handles comprise muscle-building, fat-burning moves for improved health and a stronger physique.

The best exercises for love handles aren't as cut and dry as the best leg exercises, best chest exercises, and best shoulder exercises. When looking to burn fat, some areas of the body are tougher to crack than others—namely belly and back fat, for men. Determining how to get rid of love handles takes a multi-pronged approach.

If you’ve tried to get rid of love handles using a combination of situps, cardio, and dumbbell side bends to no avail, it's time to change up your workout routine—or start a new one—and take a holistic approach with a meal plan to lose belly fat.

15 Best Exercises for Love Handles

What follows is a range of exercise types. Some are compound movements (e.g. barbell front squats, farmers walk, single-arm dumbbell rows), meaning they target multiple body parts and muscle groups, which recruits more energy to perform, burning more calories. These are great exercises to burn fat and build muscle simultaneously.

Others are "fast-paced and/or designed to target both the rectus abdominals and the transverse abdominals," Hadzovic says. "To burn fat, you must do more than just crunches; you need to recruit your entire body to enter a thermogenic state that leads to an accelerated rate of fat loss." We call this the afterburn, meaning you continue to burn calories long after the workout.

Get the Full workout HERE - 15 Best Exercises with images
^{Source - Mensjournal.com}

Womens Health - Fake Botox?

Fake Botox Has Made People Sick in 9 States

A total of 19 people from nine states have experienced harmful reactions after receiving injections of counterfeit or mishandled botulinum toxin, commonly called Botox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).[1]

Nine of the patients were hospitalized, and four were treated with botulism antitoxin because of concerns that the botulinum toxin could have spread beyond the injection site, the CDC said in an April 15 statement. Symptoms have included blurry and double vision, drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, slurred speech, difficulty breathing, fatigue, and generalized weakness, the CDC said.

How to Spot Fake Botox

Currently, there isn’t any indication that the reported reactions happened with FDA-approved Botox, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in an April 16 statement.[2]

“The products appear to have been purchased from unlicensed sources,” the FDA said in the statement. “Medications purchased from unlicensed sources may be misbranded, adulterated, counterfeit, contaminated, improperly stored and transported, ineffective and/or unsafe.”

Authentic Botox is made by AbbVie and should list the manufacturer on the carton as “Allergan Aesthetics / An AbbVie Company” or “abbvie,” the FDA said. Approved products are described on the packaging as “BOTOX® COSMETIC / onabotulinumtoxinA / for Injection” or “OnabotulinumtoxinA / BOTOX® / for injection.”

Want to learn more how to avoid this?
Read more here - Fake Botox warning signs.
^{Source - everydayhealth.com}