HealthyConcerns.com

Comments are off for the next week

I'm sure there's something fancier I could be doing as a prophylactic measure, but the truth is I spend more time deleting spam comments on this blog than I do writing in it (which is my bad, I totally agree.)

I'm off to BlogHer for the next 6 days, and I just don't think I'll be able to be responsive and delete all those lovely messages...mostly porn and pharm...quickly enough.

So, I'm turning off comments altogether until I return.

I apologize for the inconvenience and assure you this is not some philosophical statement about the value of comments or blogs, nor is it an attempt to shut down debate or discussion :)

Have a great week!

8 exercise myths

The SimpleHuman blog seeks this week to dispel 8 Exercise Myths.

Some seem way, waaay obvious...like, do those myths actually still persist? Among those are:

-to get skinny, just do lots of cardio (Actually, muscle training is the best way to slim down. The additional muscle increases your resting metabolism, plus makes you look more toned.)

-muscle turns to fat (Actually, they're two completely separate tissues. When you stop working out, you burn fewer calories, so your fat increases while your muscle mass decreases.)

-crunching alone takes away ab flab (Actually, to truly get an ab sixer, you have to also eat a balanced diet and do some cardio so you can get rid of the top fat layer.)

Some do indeed seem like they're good to know, like:

-stretching beforehand is essential (Actually, it increases your chance of injury. The best thing to do before exercise is a gentle 3-5 minute easy warm-up.)

-there is a "fat burning zone" (Actually, it doesn't matter if you exercise long and slow or fast and hard. Whatever gets the most calories expended is what works.)

I kinda wish they had listed a source for these myth-busting tips, though. I'd love to know more about that last one. Not so much whether there's a "fat burning zone" (which sounds like late-night infomercial language) but whether there's any difference in benefits and results from one type of exercise vs. the other. I'm sure there must be.

Here's an exercise myth I'll dispel for you:

-No matter how much time you do on the treadmill, it will never feel the same when you do the same distance/time outside!

Totally anecdotal, I share that at no charge :)

Ah, so that's it

So you may recall this dilemma:

One medical insurance broker told me that California law prohibited carriers from charging variant premiums rates to small businesses, so they had to differentiate themselves by giving great service.

Meanwhile another company that actually charges to deliver more comprehensive "services" around employee benefits was telling me they could save me 20% on premiums.

The California law the first guy referred to is AB 1672 and is described here. And yes, it reads like he said: for companies with between 2 and 50 employees carriers can only charge within 10% of particular rate "bands" per age and zip code.

So, was the other guy blowing smoke up my ass? (Which sounds medically undesirable.) Actually, probably not. I believe if you go with this all-in-one service, there is some way in which your employees really become their employees, and therefore part of a much-larger-than-50-person company.

The downside is that it seems like one of those situations where they don't actually give you a reasonable, comprehensible break-down of costs, but rather roll it up in their all-in-one quote.

Suffice to say: all I was able to get out of them was that administering HR services for 1-4 employees costs $1K a month, besides the premiums. And from what I can tell about the premiums broker #1 quoted me, there goes any savings right there.

We're moving forward with the company that was more responsive, open and, nice side benefit, doesn't actually charge us anything!

You must be kidding

Do you know how many health plans there are to choose from?

Apparently 173 pages worth.

Yes, I just got a 173-page PDF from the company helping us roll out benefits, listing every health plan from every carrier known to man, woman or child.

How on earth am I supposed to weed through that?

Because you don't offer your employees 173 pages worth of plans. You offer them an HMO option and a PPO option, right? But there are about a hundred variations of each.

High deductibles, low deductibles. High co-pays, low co-pays. And every combination.

My eyes are crossing as we speak.

Time to vote in BlogHers Act survey

A few weeks back I blogged about a new initiative that BlogHer was tackling: BlogHers Act.

Since then, a lot has happened:

- The phrase "BlogHers Act" has gone from 0 hits to over 44,000 hits on Google.

- There were literally hundreds of blog posts and comments making suggestions for the single global issue we should tackle for a year, and for the four top issues we should include in our 2008 Voter Manifesto.

- Some neighbors to the North reached out and volunteered to lead a third BlogHers Act project: introducing BlogHers Act Canada!

But, now it's time to take the next step: Vote in the survey.

We've compiled all the suggestions and consolidated them into one big list of potential global activism issues and one big list of '08 election issues.

Tell us what issues you think are most important.
Tell us what issues you would NOT support.
But mostly, tell us!

Right here.

You'll be glad to know that since expressed surprise that more people weren't suggesting health-care issues as the issues we should be tackling and Amy at Diabetes Mine blogged that, a few more health posts went up. But more than that, the folks who care about healthcare issues came out of the woodwork to vote, vote, vote in the survey. Healthcare has been among the leading issues since the survey opened up.

If you want to influence the decisions you have until July 8th: vote now!

Glad to hear it: Soy and Juice are good for you

As a vegan I suppose most people assume I'm wildly healthy, at least nutritionally. (Well, except for the people whoa re convinced I may just die if I don't eat animal products.)

But the truth is that you can eat a lot of crap even when you're a vegetarian or vegan.

But this morning I read two different items on the Yahoo! Eat Right, Stay Fit blog that validated a couple of my nutritional staples:

1. Soy

Sometimes it's soy milk in my latter, sometimes it's tofu, sometimes it's edamame. I eat a lot of soy products. And according to even the FDA that's good for me and my heart.

2. 100% Fruit Juices

Yes, too much fruit juice can lead to an overload of sugars, but it's also a good source of vitamins and nutrients...and way better for you than soda. I try to drink mostly water, but I also have a penchant for Odwalla Grapefruit Juice. And we also buy organic juices via our bi-weekly Organic Express delivery, mostly Limeade and Pineapple Juice, and sometimes Pomegranate juice. I like my juice, so I'm happy to hear that reasonable portions of it are more than A-OK, they're good for you!