John Aaron Wellness

When promises of fast weight-loss results fail to become reality, many body conscious men and women leave themselves open prey to diet and weight loss gimmicks. But, do they really work? Let's take a look: Liposuction. The process of liposuction literally sucks the fat out of specific areas of the body. Tubes are inserted in half-inch long incisions in the thighs, buttocks, upper arms, abdomen or hips, and the fat cells are vacuumed out. Support bandages must be worn for two to six weeks after surgery, and the entire procedure, although available on an outpatient basis, is costly. Contrary to popular belief, liposuction is not recommended for obese individuals. Many doctors require that their patients be regular exercisers and usually not over the age of 35 (skin must be resilient) before undergoing liposuction. The procedure has proven most useful for individuals who follow healthy exercise and diet guidelines, but are unable to reduce fatty deposits in one particula...

Essential to life, vitamins and minerals cannot be made by the body so we must get them from the foods we eat. However, a well-rounded, low-fat diet will provide the average adult with an adequate supply. As a wellness coach, I’ve unfortunately come across too many Americans that are infatuated with supplementation. Mega dosing has become a common practice for athletes trying to improve their performances and for fad dieters hoping to compensate for inadequate nutrition. It has been noted that, in a well-nourished adult, excessive supplementation is ineffective in actually improving athletic performance. Excess amounts of fat soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) may result in vitamin toxicity as they are stored in the body and not easily excreted. Most recently, vitamin B-12 has also been shown to cause toxicity in mega doses. While most individuals do not need to supple¬ment their diets, women are an exception when it comes to iron and calcium. To counter the loss of ...

“There have been reports that the Omega-3 fats in fish oil/krill oil are beneficial by having anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombogenic and anti-arrhythmic properties in humans. What we haven’t really been able to learn, though, is just how this happens in our body. Well, we may now have our answer as to how. University of Michigan Biochemists report that fish oil/krill oil significantly lowers the production of various prostaglandins as well as its effectiveness. Prostaglandins are a naturally occurring hormone-like substance that can increase internal body inflammation and thrombosis. Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. Yes, that is a bad thing. There are three different mechanisms in which fish oil/krill oil causes the lowering of prostaglandins. The first one is that there are far fewer prostaglandins produced from Omega-3 fatty acids compared to Omega-6 fatty acids. This makes sense ...

I love soba noodles. The traditional Tokyo-style soba noodles have a ratio of 8 parts buckwheat to 2 parts whole wheat flour thus making them an excellent pasta choice for the health conscious. Filled with flavor and super charged with antioxidants, I think this recipe is a keeper! If you don’t like tofu, I suppose you can stray from the “Meatless Monday” theme and substitute a grilled & cubed chicken breast instead. Prep: 35 minutes, Total: 35 minutes, Serves 4 Ingredients Scallions (1 bunch), separate greens & cut them into 2-inch lengths, thinly sliced lengthwise 1 inch ginger (about a square inch), peeled and sliced 2 garlic cloves, smashed Canola oil, for grill pan 1 package (14 ounces) extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed with a couple of paper towels Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper for seasoning 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, plus more for seasoning 6 ounces soba noodles 1 to 2 heads baby bok choy ( about 4 ounces), trim...