How to Fight Global Warming

Take steps to reduce your energy use, improve efficiency and help end global
warming

The biggest cause of global warming is the carbon dioxide released when fossil fuels -such as oil and coal -- are burned for energy. So when you save energy, you fight global
warming and save money, too.
Here are some easy steps that you can take to help make a difference:

LIMIT GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION

Raise your voice. Congress needs to enact new laws that cap carbon emissions and
require polluters pay for the global warming gases that they produce. Send a message
to your elected officials, letting them know that you will hold them accountable for what
they do -- or fail to do -- about global warming. Take action here.

GREEN JOBS AND CLEAN ENERGY

Choose renewable energy. Pick a Green-e-certified energy supplier that generates at
least half of its power from wind, solar energy and other clean sources. If you don't have
that option, look at your current electricity bill to see if you are able to support renewable
energy in another way. For details, see NRDC's guide to buying clean energy.
Offset your carbon footprint. You can make up for your remaining carbon output by
purchasing carbon offsets. Offsets represent clean power that you can add to the
nation's energy grid in place of power from fossil fuels. Not all offset companies are
alike. See ourguide to carbon offsets for tips on how to choose an offset supplier.

DRIVE SMARTER CARS

Choose an efficient vehicle: High-mileage cars such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids
use less gas and save money. Over its lifetime, a 40-mpg car will save roughly $3,000
in fuel costs compared with a 20-mpg car. Compare fuel economy performance before
you buy.
Drive smart. If all Americans kept their tires properly inflated, gasoline use nationwide
would come down 2 percent. A tune-up could boost your miles per gallon anywhere
from 4 to 40 percent, and a new air filter could get you 10 percent more miles per
gallon. Learn more about saving fuel and money through proper car maintenance.

GREEN HOMES AND BUILDINGS

Weatherize your home or apartment. Heating and cooling consume about 40 percent
of energy in the home. Sealing drafts and making sure that your home has adequate

insulation are two easy ways to become more energy-efficient. Learn how to take
advantage of federal tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements.
Buy energy-efficient appliances. Look for the Energy Star label, which identifies the
most efficient appliances. Learn more about investing in energy-efficient products.
Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Compact fluorescent
bulbs (CFLs) last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. What's more, CFLs lower
your energy bills and keep a half-ton of carbon dioxide out of the air. Learn more on the
benefits of switching to CFLs or LEDs.

BETTER COMMUNITIES AND TRANSPORTATION

Drive less. Choose alternatives to driving such as public transit, biking, walking and
carpooling, and bundle your errands to make fewer trips. Choosing to live in a walkable
"smart growth" community near a transportation hub will mean less time driving, less
money spent on gas and less pollution in the air. Learn more about smart growth
communities.
RELATED NRDC WEBPAGES:

5 Tactics To Reduce Cholesterol Quickly

Below are 5 of the key lifestyle-change tactics taught by the physicians, registered
dietitians, exercise physiologists, and other faculty at the Pritikin Longevity Center in
Miami for fast, significant lowering of cholesterol levels, particularly LDL bad cholesterol.
If youre serious about lowering your cholesterol and taking good care of your heart,
these 5 tactics are a great place to start. Theyll also help you shed excess weight,
which will also improve heart health.

1
Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans
Our typical American diet is now abbreviated as SAD (Standard American Diet) by
scientists nationwide because its full of foods that do sad things to both hearts and
waistlines. Hyperprocessed foods like potato chips and French fries. Sugar-saturated
drinks. And fatty, artery-clogging meats and full-fat dairy foods like cheese.
We dont have to become complete vegetarians to get our cholesterol levels into healthy
ranges, studies on the Pritikin Program have found, but clearly, the more vegetables,
fruits, potatoes, and other naturally-fiber-rich plant foods we eat, the healthier well be.
Plant foods high in soluble fiber are especially beneficial in lowering total and LDL bad
cholesterol levels. Good sources include beans (pinto beans, black beans, etc), yams,
oats (yes, eat your oatmeal!), barley, and berries.
For simple tips on bringing more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans into your
life, here is a 5-day sample healthy meal plan from the doctors and dietitians at Pritikin
Longevity Center.

2
Eat far fewer of the following fats

Saturated fats
Foods with a lot of heart-damaging saturated fat include butter, meat, palm oil,
coconut oil, and full-fat and low-fat dairy products, such as whole milk, low-fat
milk, cheese, and cream.

Trans fats
If you see partially hydrogenated fat in the Ingredient List of a food label, that food
has trans fats, which not only raise bad LDL cholesterol, they also lower good HDL
cholesterol.

Dietary cholesterol
Top sources of dietary cholesterol include egg yolks, organ meats, and shellfish.

One type of fat omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to protect against heart
disease. Excellent sources are cold-water fish like salmon, mackerel, halibut, trout,
herring, and sardines.
But do keep in mind that limiting fat intake, even so-called good fats like omega-3 fat
or Mediterranean-style fats like olive oil, is a good idea because any fat is dense with
calories, which means heavy consumption can easily lead to a heavy body. Thats bad
news not just for our weight but our hearts because being overweight adversely affects
blood cholesterol levels.
Excess weight is linked not just to heart disease but to a staggering list of other woes,
including Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, gout, dementia, and many cancers.

Eat more plant sources of protein

Excellent plant proteins include beans all beans, like lentils, red beans, pinto beans,
and soybeans. Rather than raising blood cholesterol levels, as animal sources of protein
do, beans actually help lower cholesterol.
Beans also help reduce blood sugar and insulin levels, and may even lower cancer risk.
When choosing products made from soybeans, stick to:

Soybeans
(available in most grocery store freezer sections, often described as edamame)

Soymilk
vanilla, original, or unsweetened

Tofu
(unflavored/unmarinated found in refrigerator cases)

All the above are great choices for your cholesterol profile and overall health.

4
Eat fewer refined grains, such as white flour.
Were a nation of white food eaters white bread, white rice, white pasta, and whiteflour foods like muffins, croissants, bagels, crackers, dried cereals, tortillas, pretzels,
and chips. Yes, more than half of many Americans typical diets are made up of
hyperprocessed refined white flour, often injected with sugar, salt, and/or fat.
Thats a real problem in part because the more white, or refined, grains we eat, the
fewer whole grains we tend to take in. Research has found that eating whole grains can
help lower both total and LDL cholesterol, and improve heart health.

In Harvard Universitys Nurses Health Study, for example, women who ate two to three
servings of whole-grain products (mostly bread and breakfast cereals) each day were
30% less likely to have a heart attack or die from heart disease over a 10-year period
than women who ate less than one serving of whole grains per week. 2
When first starting to make the switch from refined to whole grains, many people often
feel a bit confused. Where to begin? Whats whole? What isnt?
The registered dietitians at the Pritikin Longevity Center start with one very simple rule.
When looking at products like breads and cereals, they recommend turning the package
around and making sure the first word in the Ingredient List is whole. If you see the
word whole at the top of the list, its a good bet that what youre buying is in fact 100%
whole grain, or close to it.
Another tip for getting more whole grains in your life comes from the chefs at Pritikin,
who teachhealthy cooking classes every day at the Center. Expand your culinary
horizons. There are many delicious whole-grain choices in just about every grocery
store. Get beyond brown rice! encourages Executive Chef Anthony Stewart.
Introduce yourself to a whole new world of flavors with whole grains like whole-wheat
couscous, polenta (cornmeal), quinoa, wild rice, and kasha.
The really good news is that many whole grains are surprisingly quick and easy to
prepare. Often, all you need is a pot of hot water and a little stirring action.
Here, from Chef Anthony, is a simple and savory recipe for whole-wheat couscous.
Enjoy it for lunch, as a side dish, or as a hearty snack any time of day.

Couscous & Cherry Tomatoes

Here, from Chef Anthony, is a simple and savory recipe for whole-wheat couscous.
Enjoy it for lunch, as a side dish, or as a hearty snack any time of day.

Ingredients

1/2 red onion chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes halved

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon oregano dried

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1.5 cups water

1 cup couscous whole wheat

Servings:

Instructions
1. Lightly mist a medium nonstick saucepan with canola oil spray and pre-heat over
medium-high heat.
2. Add onions to pan and saut until softened, about 2 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, garlic, oregano, black pepper, and water to pan, and bring to a boil.
4. Lower heat and simmer until tomatoes begin to soften, about 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, place couscous in medium mixing bowl.
6. Remove tomato mixture from heat and immediately pour over couscous. Cover and let
stand 5 to 8 minutes, until couscous is tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir with fork to fluff
before serving.

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5
Get moving.
Regular exercise may only slightly lower your total and LDL cholesterol levels, but it
often does a very good job, in combination with a healthy eating plan like Pritikin, of
helping you shed excess weight, which can dramatically improve your cholesterol
profile.
Just getting out for a 30-minute walk most days of the week is a great start, but for
optimal health and protection from cardiovascular disease, the exercise physiologists at
the Pritikin Longevity Center coach people in three key forms of exercise:

1.

Aerobic exercise
daily, a minimum of 30 minutes and optimally 60 to 90 minutes, alternating moderateintensity days with vigorous-intensity days.
But dont think you have to do it all at once, says Pritikin Fitness Director Scott
Danberg, MS. If youre pressed for time, something like 15 minutes of brisk walking in
the morning, another 15 at lunch, and another 15 after dinner is an excellent
alternative.
Concerned about vigorous exercise? Afraid it might be harmful to your heart? Before
launching an exercise program, its always important to schedule an appointment with
your physician to make sure youre in good shape for cardiovascular workouts. At
Pritikin, every guest undergoes treadmill stress testing, plus a 1-hour consultation with
one of Pritikins board-certified physicians, before starting exercise classes.

2.

Full-body resistance
routine two to three times weekly.

You dont need high-tech weight machines, guests at Pritikin learn. Simple hand weights
or resistance bands can provide a superb full-body workout, and in just 20 to 25
minutes.

3.

Stretching exercises
daily to greatly enhance overall flexibility and ability to exercise more freely.
For stretching, many of our guests really enjoy our yoga classes, observes Scott
Danberg. Yoga is a wonderful way to wind down after cardiovascular and resistance
training.

Eating Well + Exercise

For best results with a healthy lifestyle, new research has found that plunging right in
with both healthy eating and exercising is the way to go. 3
The Stanford University School of Medicine study involved 200 middle-aged Americans,
all sedentary and with poor eating habits. Some were told to launch new food and
fitness habits at the same time. Others began dieting but waited several months before
beginning to exercise. A third group started exercising but didnt change eating habits till
several months later.
All the groups received telephone coaching and were followed for one year. The winning
group was the one making food and exercise changes together. The people in this
group were most likely to meet U.S. guidelines for exercise (150 minutes per week) and
healthy eating (5 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables per day), and to keep calories
from saturated fat at less than 10% of their total intake of calories.

If lifestyle changes arent enough

Take medications, if you need to, to lower your cholesterol into healthy ranges. Drugs
like statins can be very effective, says cardiologist and Pritikin Medical Director Ronald
Scheib, MD, but do continue in your efforts to eat well and exercise because a healthy
lifestyle can give you far, far more than drugs alone.

With a healthy living program like Pritikin, youre not only reducing cholesterol quickly,
youre also creating changes throughout your body that can profoundly improve your
overall well-being. Youre reducing blood sugar levels and blood pressure. Other heart
disease risk factors like triglyceride fats are also dropping dramatically. Youre also
reducing inflammatory factors that sicken arteries. Youre shedding excess weight. And,
quite simply, youre feeling better, much better. Many of our guests at Pritikin tell us, I
had no idea I could feel this good again.
Can any pill or combination of pills do all of the above? I highly doubt it. But a healthy
lifestyle like Pritikin can.

How to stop damaging your hair

In our quest for beautiful hair, we often do things that damage our hair. Damaged hair is
fragile, so it tends to break. Hair breakage can leave us with frizzy, unhealthy looking
hair. If we continue to damage our hair, we may eventually see thinning hair or even
bald spots.
The good news is that simple changes can prevent further hair damage. On this page,
youll find 10 common hair-care practices that can damage hair and dermatologists tips
that can help you to stop damaging your hair.

10 hair-care habits that can damage your hair

1. Washing your hair by rubbing shampoo into the length of your hair
Changes that can help prevent hair damage:
o

Gently massage shampoo into your scalp.

When you rinse the shampoo from your scalp, let it flow through the
length of your hair and resist the temptation to rub it into your hair.

2. Skipping the conditioner

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:
o

Use conditioner after every shampoo.

Dermatologists recommendations for swimmers

Pool chemicals can be hard on your hair. The following can help protect your hair:

Wear a swim cap.

Rinse hair immediately after swimming.

After rinsing your hair, wash your hair with a specially formulated swimmers
shampoo and follow with a deep conditioner.

3. Drying your hair by rubbing it with a towel

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:
o

Wrap your hair in a towel to absorb the water.

Let your hair air dry.

4. Brushing your hair while it is wet

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:

o

Do you have straight hair? Let your hair dry a bit before you gently comb
it with a wide-tooth comb.

Do you have textured hair or tight curls? Always comb your hair while it is
damp, using a wide-tooth comb.

5. Using a blow dryer, hot comb, or curling iron

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:

o

Let your hair air dry when possible.

Use the lowest heat setting.

Limit the time a hot comb or curling iron touches your hair.

Use these tools less frequently, aiming for once a week or even less
often.

6. Applying styling products that offer long-lasting hold

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:

o

Try a hairstyle that does not require this product.

7. Pulling your hair back tightly, such as in a ponytail, bun, or cornrows

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:

Wear hair loosely pulled back.

Use covered rubber bands made especially for styling hair.

Try a different hairstyle that does not pull on your hair.

8. Wearing a weave or hair extensions

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:

o

Wear weaves and extensions that are light, so they do not pull.

Get weaves and hair extensions at a salon that specializes in these

services.

Wear a professional weave or hair extension for 2 or 3 months at most.

Keep up your scalp hygiene when wearing a weave or hair extension.

Switch hairstyles, so you dont always wear a weave or hair extensions.

9. Coloring, perming, or relaxing your hair

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:

o

Try to add more time between touch-ups, especially when the air is dry. In
the winter, try to stretch the time between touch-ups to every 8 to 10
weeks or longer.

Have only one service a coloring, relaxer, or perm. If you want more
than one service, perm or relax your hair first, and do it 2 weeks before
you color your hair.

Use conditioner after each shampoo.

When in the sun, protect your hair by using a leave-in conditioner that
contains zinc oxide or wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

10. Brushing your hair 100 strokes a day or tugging on your hair to style it

Changes that can help prevent hair damage:

o

Brush and comb your hair only to style it. Hair never needs 100 brush
strokes a day. Thats a myth.

Use a wide-tooth comb, and use it gently to comb your hair.

Avoid pulling and tugging on your hair as you brush, comb, or style it.

Remove tangles gently, using a moisturizing conditioner if necessary.

When to see a dermatologist

If changing how you care for your hair does not help you see healthier hair, you may
want to see a dermatologist. Your hair care may not be the root cause of your problem.
Seeing a dermatologist is especially important if you are concerned about thinning hair
or hair loss. Most causes can be stopped or treated. The sooner the problem is
addressed, the better your results.

Related links

Tips for healthy hair

Hair loss