Live Well Information

Biomechanics - applies mechanical principles to the study of how the human body moves.


Yoga - an exercise regimen for attaining bodily or mental control and well-being. The numerous schools of yoga include postures (called `asanas`) to increase the body`s strength and suppleness, breath-control exercises that calm and purify the body, and meditation as a stress management and relaxation technique.


Confounding Variable / Factor - a `spurious` variable that distorts the true relationship of the study variables that are of central interest.


Clinical Trials - research tests that carry out experimental research studies on human subjects. These trials may attempt to decide whether the results of basic research are applicable to humans, or to substantiate the findings of epidemiological research, which is the statistical study of the distribution and determinants of disease in human populations. Studies could be conducted on a modest scale, involving just a few test subjects, or they could be large-scale intervention trials that seek to conclusively prove the outcome of medical treatments on entire populations. The `gold standard` clinical trials are Double Blind, placebo-controlled studies, which employ random assignment of subjects to experimental and control groups, unknown to the subject or the researcher.


Minerals - the micronutrients vital for physical fitness. As compared with other food groups (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins), these micronutrients cannot provide the body with either calories or energy. When it comes to nutrition, minerals are classified into two categories: macrominerals (also known as `bulk` minerals or `minerals`) and microminerals (also referred to as `trace minerals`). The body needs `bulk` minerals at a minimum of 100 mg each day. Trace elements are needed in more minute quantities, although they are equally essential to the body. Macrominerals include calcium, magnesium, chlorine, sodium (salt), potassium, sulfur, and phosphorus. Micro minerals include zinc, iron, copper, manganese, chromium, selenium, fluorine, and iodine.


Sugar Alcohols - substances used to give foods a sweet flavor. Those frequently used as a substitute for sugars include sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol. A number of fruits and vegetables are natural sources of sugar alcohol. These sugars are also present in some sugar-free gum, jellies, jams, and hard candy. In addition to adding a sweet flavor, sugar alcohols also add a good texture to food products, help foods remain moist, prevent heated food from browning and give a refreshingly cool `menthol-like` effect to the flavor of food. They provide 4 calories per gram, but are digested at a slow pace and incompletely, and thus need little or no insulin during the metabolic process. They do not cause dental caries because these sugars are not consumed and processed by oral microorganisms that contribute to cavities.


Pesticide - generic term for a wide class of crop protection chemicals, grouped into four major classes: insecticides, to kill or repel parasitic insects; herbicides, to kill or control vegetation such as brush and weeds; rodenticides, to control or destroy rats and other rodent pests; and fungicides, to control or banish mildew, mold, and fungi.


High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) - natural sweeteners generally having 42 %, 55 %, or 90 % fructose (the remaining carbohydrate consisting largely of glucose), according to the product application. HCFSs are utilized in the manufacture of food items such as soft drinks or cake mixes.


Health and Wellness - a state of physical, mental, and emotional well-being, along with the absence of disease or ailment.


Polyuria - excessive excretion of urine.


Saccharin - a zero calorie artificial sweetening agent. Saccharin, the oldest of the non-nutritional artificial sweeteners, is currently derived from purified, manufactured methyl anthranilate, a chemical naturally found in grapes. It is 300 times more sweet than sugar, retains its properties when heated, and does not cause dental caries. This artificial sweetener has a long shelf-life, but has a somewhat bitter aftertaste. The human body does not metabolize saccharine or accumulate it, but excretes it rapidly as urinary waste.


Kilometer - metric measure of linear dimensions. One kilometer (k) = 0.62 miles, 10k = 6.2 miles, and 5k = 3.1 miles.


Low-calorie Sweetener Blends - mixtures of non-nutritive sweeteners in food products and beverages, which can act synergistically to supply the preferred extent of sweetness in lesser amounts than the sweetening substances utilized individually. The resulting sweetness and flavor often better meets consumer expectations of a sweetness profile, which is close to that of table sugar or similar caloric sweeteners. The food products may, in addition, have greater sweetness consistency over the life of the product. Health authorities across the globe have logically deduced that there is no scientific basis to expect that any adverse health or functional consequences will ever come from blended sweeteners, any different than those that occur with the individual sweeteners, and none have been noted.


Cholesterol (Dietary) - cholesterol that comes from animal products in the foods consumed. Cholesterol is not a fat, but can be considered a fatty substance categorized as a lipid. It is crucial to sustain existence and can be found in all cell membranes. Cholesterol is crucial for the production of bile acids (that help digest fat) and steroid hormones (steroids that act like hormones). Dietary cholesterol is found only in animal foods. Found abundantly in animal-organ meats and egg yolks, cholesterol is also found in meats and poultry. Unsaturated fats (vegetable oils and shortening) are cholesterol-free.


Subcutaneous - between the skin and the muscle (covered in a fascia) or bone (covered in periosteum).


Lipoprotein - compounds of protein, which transport fats and fat-like substances, such as cholesterol, in the bloodstream.


Bariatric Surgery - surgery to seal off a portion of the stomach (to reduce intake capacity) and/or the intestines (to reduce the calories absorbed), to enable dangerously obese patients to reduce their body mass. Weight-loss surgery is conducted on those who have a body mass index (BMI) above 40. Surgical procedures may also be an option for people with a BMI anywhere between 35 & 40, with medical complications like any damage to or abnormality of the heart or noninsulin-dependent diabetes. Bariatric surgical procedures are also called `gastric stapling surgery` or `stomach stapling surgery`, `morbid obesity surgery` or `obesity surgery`, `stomach reduction surgery` and `weight-loss surgery for morbid obesity`.


Lycopene - a carotenoid related to the better known beta-carotene. This pigment is responsible for the familiar red color of certain fruits and vegetables, such as ripe tomatoes and watermelon. Nutritionally, it functions as an antioxidant. Research conclusively indicates that lycopene is most easily digested by the body when eaten as tomatoes that have been heat-processed, with a small amount of oil. This includes cooked foods like tomato paste and tomato sauce. (Also look at `functional foods`.)


Sucralose - the only zero-calorie sweetener which is manufactured from sucrose (sugar). It is about 600 times sweeter and has zero calories. It remains highly stable under an extensive range of food-processing conditions. Therefore, it has the versatility to be utilized practically in any food where regular sugar is used, including cooking and baking, without losing any of its sugar-like sweetening properties. Currently, sucralose is authorized in more than 25 nations worldwide for use in foods and beverages. In the USA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been requested to approve the utilization of sucralose in fifteen individual classes of food and beverages.


Diabetic Coma - a critical medical emergency when a diabetic patient becomes unconscious because the blood glucose (sugar) is too low or too high. When the glucose level is abnormally low, the person is suffering from hypoglycemia (insulin shock); if the glucose level is abnormally high, the person is in a diabetic coma and might develop ketoacidosis.