Can You Exercise with AFib? Can you exercise with AFib? And if so, how high can your heart rate go before it is unsafe? We all know that exercise is good for you but does that still hold if you're in AFib? If you or a loved one has AFib, read on to learn more. Can Exercise Cause AFib? Most of my patients are shocked to learn that people who run marathons, competitively cycle, or do Ironman triathlons are five times more likely to develop AFib! What is particularly perplexing, however, is that studies have not tended to show higher rates of arrhythmias in athletes who participate in other strenuous forms of exercise, such as boxing, wrestling and weight-lifting. There is something particular about endurance sports that increases the risk of AFib. One exception to this may be football. Among former NFL athletes, the risk of AFib is six times higher, although this may be due to the use of performance-enhancing substances or the weight these athletes put on to compete at a professional level. Also, it bears noting that while aggressively competing in endurance sports might put you at a greater risk of AFib, participation in these activities certainly does not guarantee you’ll get AFib. It is reassuring to note that non-competitive recreational participation in endurance sports, even if it is a marathon or triathlon, doesn’t seem to put you at risk of AFib. I have found over the years that almost all of my athletes with AFib have opted for an early ablation. They simply can't or don't want to exercise with the usual cocktail of AFib drugs that are prescribed. And fortunately for athletes, we typically get excellent results as studies show that the AFib ablation success rates are up to 3 times higher with athletes! Can Not Exercising Cause AFib? Regular exercise in general isn’t risky at all. In fact, for 99.9% of my patients it’s exceptionally protective. To put things into perspective, for every thousand patients I see with atrial fibrillation, perhaps one may be at risk due to overexercising. The biggest problem, by far, is that most patients aren’t exercising enough. There is far greater risk to not exercising enough than to exercising too much. People who live sedentary lifestyles are at significant risk of AFib, not to mention all of the other health consequences of not getting enough exercise. Indeed, one study showed that not exercising at all increased your risk of AFib by more than four times! A big problem for many of my AFib patients is that they want to exercise but either the AFib or their medications make them so tired that they simply can't exercise. And for those people who can't exercise with AFib, we typically end up treating them with an ablation as the health benefits of exercising are too great to ignore. How High Can Your Heart Rate Go when Exercising in AFib? As exercise drives the heart rate up, how high can you let the heart rate go when exercising in AFib? For the vast majority of my patients, they are perfectly okay driving their heart rates up to their maximally predicted heart rate. And your maximally predicted heart rate is 220 minus your age. So if you are 40 years old, I would expect you to hit a heart rate of 180 with high levels of exercise. Of course, if you get chest discomfort or shortness of breath with exercise then you need to notify your cardiologist immediately as your life could be at risk. How Hard Can You Push Your Heart with Exercise and AFib? While I don't have AFib, I love to run long distances every day that I can. And the thought of whether or not I am putting my heart at risk for AFib has certainly crossed my mind on many occasions. If you love endurance sports, it is perfectly fine to participate as long as your cardiologist is in agreement and your heart feels great during exercise.

The 4 Best Reasons Why Intermittent Fasting May Prevent AFib Fasting has been shown to slow aging and help most chronic medical conditions but can intermittent fasting also prevent atrial fibrillation? In this article, I'll share everything you need to know about intermittent fasting's role in atrial fibrillation prevention. Why Did I Write this Article? My long-term readers know I've always been impressed by the strong data supporting intermittent fasting for longevity and cardiovascular health. Indeed, both of our books, The Longevity Plan and The AFib Cure, had a section on intermittent fasting. The reason why I chose to cover this topic again came from a recent podcast interview I heard with Dr. David Sinclair. For those not familiar with Dr. David Sinclair, he is a Harvard University longevity researcher. And interestingly, the person who helped him write his New York Times best-seller, Lifespan, was the same person who helped me write The Longevity Plan and The AFib Cure. In this podcast, Dr. David Sinclair reported that he doesn't snack and only eats one meal a day. As someone who has always struggled with fasting, my goal is that writing again on the topic of intermittent fasting will help me to redouble my efforts to fast regularly. And to help you redouble your efforts, below are my 4 best reasons why intermittent fasting may prevent AFib. 1. Fasting May Slow Aging Researchers have long known that caloric restriction, or eating the absolute minimum number of calories to keep the body functioning, makes animals of all types live longer. Indeed, if you're a rat you'll live 80% longer with caloric restriction. But while caloric restriction works great for animals in a controlled experiment, it is almost impossible for humans to maintain caloric restriction long-term. The beautiful thing is that humans may not need to calorically restrict themselves to achieve this longevity boost. Indeed, intermittent fasting activates the same genes that caloric restriction does. How does this happen? Studies show that periodic fasting activates an energy-sensing protein called AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which then keeps the energy center of the cell, the mitochondria, in a “youthful” state. With regards to AFib, as age-related fibrosis (or scarring) of the left atrium is a significant driver of AFib, anything that slows the aging process would be expected to also slow the development of AFib. Indeed, based on a study we were involved with at Intermountain Medical Center, shorter telomeres, which is a marker of premature aging, was associated with atrial fibrillation. 2. Fasting May Lower Blood Pressure 10 mmHg When we fast, blood sugar levels are less likely to spike high. The research is pretty clear, the more time we can give our bodies a break from food the better our insulin sensitivity, the slower our body "rusts" with aging, and the lower our blood pressure runs. And when it comes to AFib, lower is usually better. Indeed, studies show that high blood pressure doubles the risk of AFib. So if you suffer from AFib, the goal is to keep your blood pressure always below 130/80 mmHg. But if your goal is to maximize longevity, then the research suggests a blood pressure in the range of 110/70 mmHg, without the help of blood pressure medications, is where you probably need to be. 3. Fasting is Good for a 9 Pound Weight Loss If you're looking for a quick 9-pound weight loss, then the science suggests you may want to try intermittent fasting. For example, I have found that when I skip dinner I eat approximately 500 fewer calories for the day. And these 500 fewer calories are maintained even after accounting for any "make-up" calories I may consume on the following days. While most people practice intermittent fasting by skipping breakfast,

The 7 Best Ways to Stop an AFib Attack If you find yourself experiencing a very occasional incident of AFib, you need not panic provided you aren't about to pass out, you're experiencing chest discomfort, or you're short of breath. Of course, if AFib is happening repeatedly then you need to see your cardiac electrophysiologist or "EP" as soon as possible. An EP is a cardiologist who has had two additional years of training in arrhythmias following their cardiology board certification. And the off chance that such an attack might happen in a very inconvenient time—like when you’re on a long international flight, taking a cruise, or in a very remote area of the world—absolutely shouldn’t stop you from living your life. Lots of people travel with a first aid kit. That doesn’t mean they intend to use it—it simply means they are ready in case something happens. No matter how long your AFib has been in remission from massive lifestyle changes or an ablation, I suggest having a plan of response ready to go, especially when you know you’re going to be away from a hospital or doctor for a while. As the Boy Scout motto goes: “Be prepared.” 1. "Pill-in-the-Pocket" First, keep an antiarrhythmic medication, like flecainide, on hand for an emergency. Sometimes, my patients may also have a medication to also slow down their heart and a blood thinner in addition to the flecainide on hand for an emergency. Even though many of our patients haven’t had an AFib episode in years following an ablation, many still keep an antiarrhythmic in their wallet, purse, or car just in case their heart ever starts fibrillating again. If nothing else, it gives them peace of mind and a sense of control should anything ever change. 2. Rehydrate Next, always be ready to rehydrate. As dehydration is a big AFib trigger, many of our patients report that they are able to quickly get back to sinus rhythm simply by rehydrating. Always travel with clean water at arm’s reach. 3. Optimize Your Electrolytes Third, keep your electrolytes up. Low levels of magnesium and potassium are another common AFib trigger. A quick boost through electrolyte-heavy foods, or drinks like tomato juice or low-sodium vegetable juices, is always a good bet. But if you’re going to be away from a place where you can access these foods and drinks, supplements are a good idea, especially in the case of magnesium. 4. Exercise Away Your AFib Attack Fourth, exercise. While it may seem very counterintuitive, many of my patients report that all they need to do is to overtake their AFib heart rate with an elevated exercise heart rate to get back in normal sinus rhythm. When their heart slows after the exercise, their normal sinus rhythm is restored. Of course, if your heart rate runs especially fast with an AFib attack then driving the heart rate up even higher with exercise wouldn't be a good idea. For those whose hearts break speed records with AFib, option number 5 below may be a much better choice. 5. Lie Down Fifth, lie down. If an exercise-induced increased heart rate doesn’t work for you, the opposite might do the trick. Many of my patients report that taking a nap or going to bed early when they are in AFib is the trick to getting back in rhythm. 6. Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve Sixth, stimulate your vagus nerve. Sometimes autonomic nervous system imbalances can trigger AFib. One way to quickly correct this is through vagal maneuvers, like slow deep breathing, bearing down like you are trying to have a bowel movement, tightening your abdominal muscles, inverting your body by raising your legs or standing on your head, coughing, or taking a cold shower. 7. Get a Quick Cardioversion Finally, if all else fails, it’s time to visit an ER during off-hours or your cardiologist/EP's office for a quick cardioversion to restore normal sinus rhy...

Is Fish Oil Still Good for the Heart and Longevity? Is fish oil still good for the heart? Ten or 20 years ago I would have said most definitely for the heart and possibly for longevity. Now, I'm not so sure. But before we jump into this article, let me share with you 6 reasons why I have taken fish oil in the past. Six Reasons Why I've Taken Fish Oil 1. Fish Oil May Lower Blood Pressure 1-2 Points Studies show that fish oil may have a slight blood pressure-lowering effect in the range of 1-2 mmHg. And as my long-time readers know, the goal blood pressure to prevent heart disease and to optimize for longevity seems to be about 110/70 mmHg. To put this blood pressure-lowering effect of fish oil into perspective, you could get this same 1-2 mmHg blood pressure reduction from losing just 2-4 pounds. 2. Fish Oil Lowers Triglycerides High levels of triglycerides in the blood can cause all sorts of damage to your vascular system. And fish oil has long been proven to lower triglycerides. However, whatever benefit you may gain in triglyceride-lowering from fish oil, simply eliminating all added sugars and flour may lower your triglycerides even more! 3. Fish Oil May Keep Inflammation Levels Lower Once again, long-term readers know that keeping inflammation levels low may be the secret to avoiding cardiovascular disease, including atrial fibrillation, and optimizing for longevity. And science suggests that fish oil may help to reduce inflammation levels. As my personal goal is to have a C-reactive protein (CRP) lab value of zero despite having a history of an autoimmune condition, this provided an additional reason for me to take fish oil. For those not familiar with the CRP blood test, a CRP reading of zero indicates no significant inflammation going on anywhere in the body. 4. Fish Oil May Promote Longevity Although the data is weak, some studies report a longevity benefit from fish oil. For example, in this study, fish oil helps to prevent the telomere shortening that comes with aging. While many studies report that higher blood levels of omega-3's are associated with an increased lifespan, it isn't clear to me if this is from fish oil or from eating real fish. 5. Fish Oil May Help with Weight Loss Once again, the data here is weak but yes, there are studies reporting that fish oil helps with weight loss. Indeed, some studies report that fish oil may reduce hunger and enhance metabolism. As one who has struggled to keep my weight in check, I was eager for any help I could get. Sadly, I didn't notice any reduction in my hunger or an increased calorie burn with fish oil. 6. Fish Oil May Help with Dry Eyes and Dry Skin Yes, fish oil has been shown to help with dry eyes and dry skin. And given that I live in the very dry state of Utah, my hope was that fish oil would help me better tolerate contact lenses and help to moisturize my skin. But with many of the other possible fish oil benefits, it didn't really seem to help my dry eyes or my dry skin. Fish Oil Doesn't Seem to Prevent Heart Disease and Cancer With all of the above reasons to take fish oil, one would hope that fish oil prevents heart disease and cancer. So in the biggest and most rigorous study to date, the recently completed VITAL Trial randomized nearly 26,000 patients to approximately 1 gram/day of fish oil or placebo for over 5 years. Sadly, faithfully taking fish oil for over 5 years didn't prevent heart disease nor did it prevent cancer. Fish Oil May Increase Your Risk of Atrial Fibrillation While fish oil didn't seem to impact heart disease risk, a just-published sub-study of the VITAL Trial showed a non-statistical trend toward an increased risk of atrial fibrillation from taking 1 gram/day of fish oil. To put this finding in perspective,

Get Out of AFib as soon as Possible A recent study reported that your risk of cardiac death, stroke, or hospitalization could be decreased by 22% if you can get out of AFib as soon as possible. If you're feeling okay, is there really a rush to get your heart back in rhythm? In this article we discuss the research behind the title of this article--get out of AFib as soon as possible. EAST-AF Study The EAST-AF Study was the recent study reporting 22% fewer cardiac deaths, strokes, or hospitalizations with an early rhythm control strategy for AFib. This study was a well-designed randomized controlled multi-center study published in the most prestigious medical journal in the world. Indeed, of the 2,791 patients followed for over 5 years, the EAST-AF researchers found that all of the bad things mentioned above (cardiac death, stroke, or hospitalization) could be significantly reduced if patients could get out of Afib within 12 months.  I could only imagine how much more successful the results of this study would have been if they had gotten their patients back in rhythm within a day, like we do in our practice, rather than wait up to a year! "Get Out of AFib" also Benefits Heart Failure Patients In a follow-up to the EAST-AF Study discussed above, a new sub-study just looking at heart failure patients with AFib was published. As AFib patients with heart failure are the highest risk AFib patients, it makes sense to see whether early rhythm control also benefits the sickest of the AFib patients. As you might expect, the 798 patients with heart failure patients with AFib in this sub-study also benefited significantly from a strategy to get out of AFib. Taken together, these two studies provide a very convincing message that people do best when their hearts are beating in normal sinus rhythm. How Long Do You Have to Get Out of AFib? The real question from the EAST-AF main study, as well as the sub-study, is how long do you have to get out of AFib? We certainly know that the longer you are in AFib the harder it is to correct. This is because people that have been out of rhythm too long start to have enlargement of the upper chambers of their heart from too much scar tissue. Indeed, my co-author on the best-selling book, The AFib Cure, Dr. Jared Bunch, and I wrote an article a few years back discussing the "AFib tipping point." The AFib tipping point is when you have been out of rhythm so long that normal sinus rhythm is no longer possible. Based on the best research available, electrical degenerative changes to the heart can start to develop within as little as 5 hours of AFib. Even more worrisome is that new scar tissue can develop within 5 weeks of uninterrupted AFib. This AFib tipping point varies from patient to patient but in general the older you are the faster the tipping point comes. Obviously, if your goal is normal sinus rhythm then the sooner you can get out of AFib the better. The Longer You Wait for an Ablation the Lower the Success Rate The AFib tipping point also plays a factor when looking at ablation success rates. Indeed, in our study of 4,535 atrial fibrillation ablation patients, the sooner they could go from AFib diagnosis to ablation the better their long-term freedom from AFib. And this only makes sense as AFib causes degenerative changes to the heart so the sooner you can get out of AFib the better. But just getting back in rhythm quickly with an AFib ablation is only half the story. The other key finding of our study was that with an early ablation our patients could also cut their death rate in this study by 2.5x as well as cut their hospitalization risk by 1.7x! Once again, when the heart is out of rhythm bad things are more likely to happen. Dr. Day's 5 Thoughts on Early Rhythm Control for AFib 1. The sooner you can get back in rhythm the better.

Is Vitamin D Good for the Heart, Longevity, and Atrial Fibrillation? My answer to is vitamin D good for the heart, longevity, and atrial fibrillation is changing based on the most recent studies. While low vitamin D levels are definitely associated with heart attacks, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, longevity, cancer, infections, premature death, dementia, etc. it is becoming increasingly clear that taking a vitamin D supplement may not decrease the risk of any of these bad things happening. So what do the latest studies say and should we still take a vitamin D supplement for low vitamin D levels? Read on to learn more. The Vital Trial The main findings of the Vital Trial were published in 2019. This was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) which is the highest quality study you can do. It was also published in the most prestigious medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine. The Vital Trial enrolled 12,987 patients and through a complex randomization process specifically evaluated whether taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D or a placebo could prevent cancer, heart attacks, strokes, or a cardiac death. To get into the Vital Trial you had to be age 50 or older if male and 55 or older if female. The reason why they picked an older age group is that at these ages the risk of heart disease and cancer start really going up. As you might suspect, for those randomized to 2,000 IU of vitamin D, their 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels did somewhat increase from 29.8 ng/mL to 41.8 ng/mL. For those not familiar with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, normal is 30 to 100 ng/mL. With this in mind, you can see that the people studied didn't really have that low of vitamin D levels, to begin with. Regardless, researchers then following these 12,987 patients for the next 5.3 years to see if this slight increase in vitamin D levels could prevent cancer, heart attacks, strokes, or a cardiac death. Sadly, 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily did none of the above. There was no statistical difference in the number of cancers, heart attacks, strokes, or cardiac deaths between the vitamin D supplement group and the placebo group. And a just-published sub-study from the Vital Trial also showed that a 2,000 IU vitamin D supplement did nothing to prevent atrial fibrillation. Surprisingly, even in the group with super low vitamin D levels (less than 20 ng/mL) a daily vitamin D supplement still didn't prevent atrial fibrillation. Vital Trial and Atrial Fibrillation Risk So what did all these millions of dollars spent on this study really teach us? Well, we learned that even though low vitamin D levels have been shown to be associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, a supplement doesn't seem to fix anything. Of course, one could argue that only increasing 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels from 29.8 to 41.8 ng/mL is simply not enough to make a difference in arrhythmias. And it's certainly possible that many episodes of atrial fibrillation during the 5 plus years of follow-up were probably missed as these people were not continuously monitored for arrhythmias. And given that the mean age of this study was 67, one could also argue that the results may not apply to younger patients. Our 2011 Vitamin D Atrial Fibrillation Study When trying to assess the results of the atrial fibrillation Vital Trial, I have to put in a plug for our 2011 vitamin D atrial fibrillation study. In this study, we looked at the impact of vitamin D on 132,000 patients within the Intermountain Healthcare system in Utah and Idaho. In our study, the average age was 52 and 71% of the patients were women (as opposed to the 50/50 male-female mix in the Vital Trial). One finding of our study was that there was a trend toward low vitamin D levels being associated with atrial fibrillation (14% increased risk that didn't quite reach statistical significance). However,

Ablation or Drugs First for Atrial Fibrillation? Should you do ablation or drugs first for atrial fibrillation? Technically, I would argue neither as studies show that with aggressive lifestyle changes, including weight loss, up to 50% of atrial fibrillation cases can be put into remission without drugs or procedures! Assuming you have already tried lifestyle changes, let's discuss next options--ablation or drugs first for atrial fibrillation based on three recently published meta-analysis studies. Background Information If you're not sure what an ablation is, or what drugs are used for atrial fibrillation, then this section is for you. For advanced readers, feel free to skip down to the next section. Catheter ablation is an outpatient procedure whereby a cardiologist specializing in arrhythmia treatment (cardiac electrophysiologist or "EP") inserts catheters into the heart through a vein in the leg. And then while the patient is asleep, the "EP" will cauterize or freeze those areas of the heart that are misfiring. And the goal of catheter ablation is no more AFib and no more anti-arrhythmic medications. Anti-arrhythmic drugs have traditionally been used first to keep hearts beating in rhythm. Under the old treatment paradigm, ablations were only recommended when drugs failed. Mechanistically, anti-arrhythmic medications change the electrical connections between cells in the heart. If everything goes as hoped then the drug keeps your heart in rhythm and you don't have any side effects. 1. JAMA Cardiology: Ablation or Drugs First In this recently published JAMA Cardiology meta-analysis study, researchers pooled the results from 6 randomized clinical trials (RCT's). I should point out here that RCT's are considered the most accurate clinical studies as by randomizing the patients to say treatment "A" vs "B" it minimizes the risk of selection bias. And selection bias can change the results of a study if researchers subconsciously recommend one treatment over another based on how "sick" the patient may be. With 1,212 patients from 6 RCT's available to study, these researchers came up with the following 3 conclusions: 1. Ablation is better at maintaining normal sinus rhythm. 2. Ablation results in less hospitalizations. 3. Ablation is every bit as safe as medications. When I've shared the results of studies like these with patients, many have been surprised to learn that the safety profile of an ablation is similar to that of medications. And probably the reason why ablations are just as safe as drugs probably stem from the fact that we really don't have any good medications available to keep hearts beating in rhythm. All of the anti-arrhythmic drugs can change the electrical connections within the heart thereby ever so slightly increasing the risk of a cardiac arrest. Indeed, based on my 26 years of clinical experience since medical school, I've personally seen far more serious complications from AFib medications than complications from catheter ablations. 2. British Medical Journal Heart: Ablation or Drugs First Interestingly, in this recently published meta-analysis researchers used the same 6 RCT's and the same 1,212 patients. Fortunately, when analyzing these same 6 studies, the researchers came to the same conclusion that ablations are best for keeping hearts in rhythm, keeping patients from being hospitalized, and from a safety standpoint there was no difference between the two therapies. In this world where everyone seems to interpret "the facts" differently, it is very reassuring that two different research groups came to the exact same conclusion. 3. Circulation Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology: Ablation or Drugs First And in the third meta-analysis study published this year, the researchers writing this report only included 5 studies of ...

Is there a Low Carb Diet Mortality Risk? Everyone seemed to think carbs were bad until this new study was published last week.  Is there a way to follow a low carb diet and still live a long life?  In this article, I'll teach you how to optimize your carbs so that you can avoid the low carb diet mortality risk. The Dietary Carbohydrate Intake and Mortality Study In what has to be one of the biggest carbohydrate studies ever done, Harvard University researchers included a total of 447,607 people.  Of these 447,607 people, a total of 46,464 people passed away during the 25-year follow-up of this study.  These Harvard researchers then analyzed their mortality risk based on food questionnaires filled out over the years prior to their deaths.  Here are the results: 1.  If you ate a moderate amount of carbs (40-70% of your total calories) you lived the longest. 2. If you followed a low carb diet (less than 40% of your calories are carbs), you lost about 4 years of life. 3. If you followed a high carb diet (more than 70% of your calories are carbs), you lost around 1 year of life. How do you explain these results? As carbs have been blamed for the obesity crisis, diabetes, and just about every other health problem, how can these study results be explained?  The answer is really quite simple.  Just as there are good and bad carbs there are also good and bad proteins and fat. In the case of this study, people eating the most carbs ate a lot of flour and other processed carbohydrates.  As a result, their lives were cut short.  This fits nicely from what we know from countless other studies. For the low carb eaters in this study, the problem is that they replaced their carbs with animal proteins and fat.  Indeed, these lost years of life could have been avoided had plant-based proteins and fat replaced their carbs.  Once again, this finding is something that comes up in study after study. While nutrition studies are hard to do and sometimes reach the wrong conclusion, the results of this study seem believable based on what we already know.  Personally, I really don't think what percentage of carbs you eat matters provided you are eating a mostly real food plant-based diet.  In other words, if you choose to eat meat it is a very small portion of wild meat.  The bulk of what is on your plate is vegetables and you also have a healthy fat like nuts, seeds, avocado, etc. How do you find out your carb percentage? It is really easy to find out what percentage of your calories come from carbs.  Simply download the free version of either Lose It or Cronometer from iTunes or Google play to your smartphone.  If you still use a flip-phone, there is also a free desktop version to both of these apps. Next, enter in everything you ate today.  Both of these apps will then automatically calculate what percentage of your calories came from carbs. How to Eat Low Carb and Live a Long Life Many of my patients swear by the ketogenic diet.  Some of the biggest celebrities in the world are also following the ketogenic diet.  Even my own carbohydrate intake this past week was 40%.  This 40% number was just 1% away from falling into the danger zone according to this new study. Yes, you can eat low carb and still live a long life according to this study.  The way to do this is to replace your carbs with plant-based fat and protein. For example, nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, and coconuts are all mostly fat.  Likewise, there is a lot of protein in beans, lentils, and other legumes. The big take away for me from this study is that unless you want to eat more plant-based you should probably moderate your carbohydrate intake.  If you are trying to lose weight or reverse diabetes with the ketogenic diet, start embracing a much more plant-based way of eating...

Dr. Day's Riced Cauliflower Fast Food It often seems like there is no time to prepare healthy food.  Wouldn't it be great if you could have great tasting healthy food in 5 minutes?  In this article, I'll share my riced cauliflower fast food meal.  This dish is guaranteed to fill you up for hours! My "No Cooking Skills" Disclaimer I am not a chef. In fact, I am horrible in the kitchen.   While my wife is a fabulous cook, I'm not.  If your time and cooking skills are limited, like me, you may want to consider giving this recipe a try. 4 Ingredients from Trader Joe's We love Trader Joe's.  For those of you outside of the US, Trader Joe's is a popular and affordably priced health food store.  We have one between our home and my hospital.  While these four ingredients all came from Trader Joe's, you could easily improvise with your local health food store. 1. Frozen Organic Riced Cauliflower While you could buy fresh riced cauliflower, I like the frozen variety better.  It is always fresh and I never have to worry about it going bad.  Given that it was frozen immediately, you don't get the loss of nutrients that often comes from long farm to plate transport times. I use the whole bag for this riced cauliflower fast food meal. 2. Frozen Melodious Blend I love the frozen melodious blend from Trader Joe's.  There are only six ingredients with no chemicals, preservatives, or any added sugars.  The six ingredients are cooked green lentils, cooked red lentils, cooked green garbanzo beans, tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt. This little-frozen concoction is a meal unto itself.  I just use half the bag for this riced cauliflower fast food dish.  If you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, I would suggest substituting in one cup of cooked lentils in light olive oil. 3. Can of Organic Diced Tomatoes I like the 14.5 oz (411 g) can of organic tomatoes (diced and no salt added) from Trader Joes.  I use the whole can which works out to be 1.5 cups of diced tomatoes. 4. Salt or Garlic Salt to Taste I can't give you an amount because everyone's tastes and health needs are different.  You can make this rice cauliflower fast food dish with or without added salt. If you choose to skip the salt, it will be a little bland.  Personally, I like to use garlic salt.  I like the added flavor that comes from the garlic. I would suggest adding in a little salt or garlic salt and see how it tastes.  If you want a stronger flavor, add more. Combining the 4 Ingredients Preparation is simple.  Use the whole bag of organic riced cauliflower (12 oz or 340 g).  Add in half the bag of the melodious blend (or 1 cup of cooked lentils in olive oil if you don't live near a Trader Joe's).  Mix in the entire small can of diced organic tomatoes (1.5 cups, 14.5 oz or 411 g).  Then add salt or garlic salt to taste. Given that most of the dish comes frozen, you can heat it on the stove or in the microwave.  I often throw the frozen bags and can of tomatoes in my computer bag when I leave in the morning as it is so easy to prepare everything at my hospital.  The total preparation time for me, including warming it up, is 5 minutes. The Nutrition Stats I eat the entire dish and it fills me up for half the day.  You could easily share this meal with a couple of other people.  Assuming you eat the entire dish by yourself, here are the nutritional stats. Calories Cauliflower 80, melodious blend 200, and tomatoes 90 for a grand total of 370 calories.  No other 370 calorie meal fills me up as much as this one does.  When you see how much food is in this 370 calorie meal you will be amazed.  Be prepared to use a huge container for this meal as it probably won't all fit on your plate. Fiber Cauliflower 8 g, melodious blend 11 g, and tomatoes 3 g for a combined total of 22 grams.

4 Reasons Why Vacations Make You Live Longer Wouldn't it be great if the more vacations you took, the longer you lived?  Having just returned from a family trip I'd like to think that this week away added years to my life.  In a landmark study, researchers found that the more holidays you take, the longer you live.  In this article, I discuss four reasons why vacations make you live longer. Vacation Longevity Study In this study, researchers recruited 12,338 people who were at high risk for a heart attack.  Over the next nine years, they found something exciting.  If you want to live a long life, you need to take a lot of vacations. Interestingly, the reason why these people lived longer was that vacations somehow protected them from heart problems.  Indeed, those taking the most vacations lived 17% longer and were 29% less likely to have serious heart troubles. 4 Reasons Why Vacations Make You Live Longer To explain the life-extending benefits of vacations, these researchers came up with four possibilities. 1. Vacations Allow You to De-Stress Really?  Perhaps this is because I have four strong-willed children.  In my experience, time away can be more stressful.  Everything from sleep deprivation to the various delays can make travel hard. Perhaps the magic lies in the fact that it is a different kind of stress.  In my case, rather than the pressure of the operating room or being on call for hospital emergencies, it is now the stress of moving a large family from point A to point B and making sure my two-year-old doesn't get lost or injured in the process. When it comes to stress and the heart, I have learned that you can't ever eliminate stress.  The only people without any stress have all passed away.  Whether or not stress causes you an arrhythmia or an early cardiac death all comes down to how you perceive your stressors.  Perhaps this helps to explain why any vacation related stress might be a good thing. 2. Vacations Increase Time with Family and Friends Spending more time with friends and family may be one of the healthiest things we can do for our heart.  Indeed, studies show that your social life may be a better predictor of longevity than either smoking or obesity.  Sometimes it takes a vacation to wake us up to what is most important in this life. 3. Vacations Increase Physical Activity Most people live their lives going from one chair to the next.  We sit for breakfast, sit in our cars, sit at work, sit in our cars again, and then sit to watch TV at night. Sometimes we need an enjoyable vacation to shake things up and get us a bit more active. In my case, vacations offer the chance of a long workout.  And, as you know, long workouts can be challenging to come by during a typical workday. Physical activity from time away could be yet another reason why vacations make you live longer. 4. You're Working Fewer Hours If nothing else, getting away means you aren't usually working.  And if taking a vacation makes it so that you avoid overtime then it may be good for your heart.  For example, many studies have shown that putting in more hours than the typical workweek significantly increases your risk of atrial fibrillation.  As a recovering workaholic, vacations help me remember the importance of creating memories that my children will remember for the rest of their lives. How to Vacation Regularly on a Budget Everyone's idea of the perfect vacation is different.  Rather than just settle for one big annual family getaway, we try to spread out many budget-friendly mini-vacations over the course of a year.  Our goal is to try and do something, even if it is just a one-night getaway, on at least a monthly basis. Staying a couple of nights with old friends or family members can be another budget-friendly vacation.