Weight Loss Surgery a Risk

In-hospital outcomes of weight-loss surgery, also known as "bariatric" surgery, vary widely from one institution to another, and it appears that hospitals that perform the most procedures have the lowest complication rates.

HealthGrades Bariatric Surgery Trends has rated physicians, hospitals, and nursing homes in what it calls is "the first study of its kind".

It used hospital discharge data between 2002 through 2004 to assess in-hospital outcomes of bariatric surgeries. Most of the procedures were gastric bypass or key-hole (laparoscopic) procedures.

The number of bariatric surgeries increased by 34 percent from 2002 to 2004 in the 17 states included in the study. While bariatric surgery is considered the most effective treatment for morbid obesity, it is also associated with significant risk. In this study, roughly 10 percent of patients experienced an in-hospital complication and two patients for every 1000 procedures will die.

Included in their study were 86,520 bariatric procedures performed in 398 hospitals. Excluded were 270 hospitals in which fewer than 30 bariatric surgeries were performed during the study period and if fewer than five surgeries were performed in 2004.
According to their risk-adjusted ratings, 17.8 percent of hospitals in the US were classified as "best" performers and given a five-star rating; 62.1 percent were rated as "as expected" performers with a 3-star rating; and 20.1 percent were rated as "poor performers" and given a 1-star rating.

During the trial period the five-star hospitals performed 388 surgeries, 3-stars performed 155, and the 1-star hospitals completed 195 surgeries.

The most common serious complications were respiratory, bleeding, and cardiac complications. The risk-adjusted in-hospital complication rate was 5 percent in the 5-star hospitals, versus 15 percent in the 1-star hospitals.

Article Source Sydney Morning Herald

My comment - I think that a juice detox to lose weight is MUCH healthier and cheaper!

Fruit Juices - How Healthy Are They?

Fruit juice contains a range of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. Orange juice in particular, has been shown to increase blood antioxidants and decrease inflammation markers, so is very good for your health.

Fruit juice also contains folate and potassium as well as phytochemicals, which may increase the good HDL cholesterol. Among older people, fruit and vegetable juice three times a week has been associated with delaying Alzheimer’s disease.

Fruit juice has a total sugar content of about 8 grams per 100 millilitres, with about a thitd coming from sucrose. So don’t add any sugar or sweeteners to your juice, or you may not lose the weight you want. If you want your juice to taste sweeter, add a pear, or some ripe pineapple.

Learn more about the Health Benefits of Juicing

Kill those addictions and save money

Eliminate toxins from your body to reduce addictions to, or cravings for expensive junk food. Once your body is clean of addictive chemicals, you just won’t fancy those sorts of foods, which are not only expensive, they are unhealthy, and are sure-fire weight gainers.

A juice detox will help you do this, and a detox diet after that will continue the process, and maintain the health benefits of juicing.

Which is the Best Juicer?

People ask me which juicer is the best, and while you can easily spend a LOT of money on a juicer, this one is the best value, in my opinion. And it works really well - it's the one I use.

The Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE95 is the Australian Design Award juicer and is available around the world. 850-watts of power, professional juice extractor, has 2-speed electronic control and an extra-large feed chute for juicing whole fruit and vegetables. All parts are dishwasher safe except for the motor. It is designed for easy use while maximising the extraction of the juice.

I’ve researched the best prices worldwide for you – click on the appropriate link for where you live :
Breville Juicer in Australia
Breville Juicer in the US
Breville Juicer in the UK

Happy juicing!

Detox Regularly

Considering all the toxins we come into contact with everyday, it makes sense to detox regularly, about twice a year. Regular detoxification improves health and vitality. Detoxifying gives our overloaded digestive and eliminative organs a chance to rest and clear out any accumulated toxins.

Detoxyifying helps to clear addictions, improve symptoms, treat disease and prevent chronic disease.

Detoxifying is an important factor in keeping our bodies strong and well. Schedule a week of detoxifying at least twice a year as part of an ongoing commitment to health and wellness.
The results will amaze you.

Detox Products

There are heaps of detoxification products readily available on the market. However, the ONLY reason I would use them is if I didn’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Juicing is the most natural and effective way to detox, plus it gives you a massive intake of nutrients as well. How good is that?

Living in Australia I am fortunate to have a huge variety of fresh fruit and vegies easily available to me. This is cost-effective for me since I don’t have the expense of meat or vitamin supplements.

Free Downloads

I’ve added some free downloads at
http://www.juice-detox.com/free_downloads.html

* Lower Cholesterol with Natural Foods

* Can Sleeping 8 Hours Kill You Faster? (Unexpected results from a recent survey by the University of California)

* How To Create Energy From Nothing

* Uncommon Cure for Everyday Ailments

* Dangers of Weight Loss Products and Plans

Health Benefits of a Juice Detox

Quite apart from the many benefits of eliminating your body of toxins accumulated over your lifetime, a juice detox gives you even more. Unlike many diets, where you feel deprived, and where you feel lethargic, a juice detox does the opposite.

These are the benefits I received :
Quick weight loss
Clear, glowing skin
Massive increase in energy
I needed less sleep
New zest for life
Arthritis disappeared
I looked younger
Lower blood pressure
My old wardrobe fitted me again

All the systems in your body can work as they are supposed to, once the poisons we ingest everyday are removed. It makes sense! Learn more about the health benefits of juicing.

A Gift to Give Yourself

A Juice Detox is not a deprivation but exactly the opposite : a wonderful gift you can give to yourself.

Rest from food, noise, phones, TV, computers and newspapers. Leave the make up off and let yourself just be you. In cold weather, warm yourself with warming teas, heaters, and blankets. In hot weather, cool yourself in a pool, or in air conditioning. Nourish yourself deeply with delicious juices.

Allow yourself this time to paint, draw, write, knit, crochet, scrapbook or whatever non-strenuous hobby or passion you have.

You will be cleansed, rested, detoxified and you will lose weight too. It's amazing how the part about losing weight may be the reason some of us may participate in a fast or a detox, but quickly this becomes just a bonus. Weight loss on a juice detox is just one of many happy side effects..

No Food - Oh No!

I always thought a fast was a deprivation - no food, oh no! Since I don't deny myself anything that I want, and have no self control over food, a fast was out of the question. No matter what anyone said about the benefits, the thought of no food for a couple of days sounded like too much hard work.

HOWEVER, when I finally did do it, it was amazing.
Why did I do it? Because the pain of feeling unhealthy and being overweight all the time became more than my feelings toward a fast for a mere 2 or 3 days. So I made the DECISION to do it. Once I made the decision, the difficult part was the preparation, because I decided to do it in an extra healthy way, by juicing my way through it. I hate doing only 1 thing at a time, so I thought I'd stuff myself full of nutrients while not eating. May as well. I had researched this topic widely, and knew that this would also help me to detox, another benefit.

To be continued.....

Living Raw food

One of the main reasons juicing works is that it is living raw food. Most of us would notice significant improvements in our energy, health and wellbeing if we increased the amounts of living raw foods in our diet.

Many vitamins are destroyed by cooking (by heat) as well as the enzymes that help us digest our food.

If you juice fruit and vegetables on a regular basis, it is quite easy to consume over 50% of your foods as raw.

Why a Juice Detox?

Our bodies detoxify everyday – it’s simply the process of processing or getting rid of toxins through the colon, liver, kidney, lungs, lymph or skin. Detoxification is the body’s way of getting rid of the pollutants we’re exposed to daily in our environment. These can include industrial chemicals in our water, pesticides in our food, heavy metals and second-hand smoke.

Unfortunately, these days we are exposed to so many toxins that our bodies can’t get rid of them fast enough.

That’s why it’s often necessary for us to step in and assist our bodies by going through a rapid detox. There are many detox programs and methods, however, as a female, I like doing at least 2 things at once. That’s one of the reasons I only have a juice detox. While eliminating toxins, I am also giving my body a massive intake of nutrients at the same time.

What is the importance of detoxification?

The greatest health care challenge of the twenty-first century is keeping our bodies functioning in an environment that is becoming increasingly polluted. Detoxification and cleansing programs have been key components of supporting good health since the beginnings of nature cure, even as far back as 420 BC with the teachings of Hippocrates. Gastrointestinal health is the cornerstone of optimal wellness.

Our food supply has undergone tremendous changes since the Agricultural Revolution, especially in the last century. Our bodies, literally, have not had enough time to adapt to these radical changes. Returning to our original eating patterns on a regular basis allows our bodies the opportunity to cleanse and renew itself.

The goal of detoxification is to eliminate the foods in our diets to which we have become addicted, both physically and emotionally. As creatures of habit, we subconsciously choose from the same few food items for our meals. Part of this behaviour may be attributed to the dominance of certain foods, advertising and the convenient nature of some of these foods.

Periodically changing our eating habits gives our bodies a chance to rest from its normal digestive and detoxification functions, thereby giving it the opportunity to do some internal cleansing.

This article is continued