'Slimmer Waists Help British Couple Escape Tunisa Terror Attacks

British couple escaped Tunisia terrorist DEATH 'because of slimmer waists'

Lee and Anne Turnock fled the ISIS terrorist on a Tunisian beach last year. It was an attack that claimed the lives of 38 innocent people sunbathing on a beach - 30 of those were British. 

Brits abroad Lee and Anne have claimed they were only able to get to safety because they had lost weight before their holiday.

The pair, from Staffs, were both clinically obese before they started dieting back in May. 

Paramedic Anne, 28, tipped the scales at 19st 4lb, and struggled to squeeze into a size 24 dress - while husband Lee weighed almost 19st and needed an XXL t shirt.

 

Lee, 29, has spoken out about the scary experience, and is a firm believer in his weight loss having saved his life. 

He said: "It was an absolutely horrific experience and not one I'd want to repeat. I have never been so scared in my life.

"There's no doubt that if we'd both been packing the extra pounds we would have struggled to run as fast as we did. We were only a few metres from the beach where the terrorist was shooting. 

"I'd never run up five flights of stairs before and I didn't even know I could."

He added: "Any time I felt like giving in, I just thought back to running up those stairs and knew I should stick at it." 

 

Anne said: "It was only the third day of our holiday and I wanted to go and sunbathe on the beach, but Lee had a blister on his foot and didn't want to get sand in it, so we stayed by the pool.

"I'd been reading my kindle and had just leant down to put it away when I heard banging. I didn't really think anything of it at first, I thought it was fireworks. but it kept coming.

"I turned round and saw a woman behind me dive under her deckchair, and saw people running from the beach. Lee just looked at me, grabbed my hand, and said: "run".

"I didn't even know I could run, but we just went as fast as we could into the nearest building, a hotel. We were trying to help other people too, who were old or infirm, but it was just complete chaos."

She added: "We ran up to the first floor, but the corridor at the top of the stairs was a dead end.

"We ran up four more flights of stairs, and then someone in a room pulled us in - they were a British family and there were about 10 of us hiding in the room. 

"We barricaded ourselves in and tried to get information about what was happening from our relatives back home.

"After a couple of hours, we were told it was safe to come out, and we were put back on a plane home within hours."

When the couple arrived back home, they continued to follow the diet plan - and 6ft 3in Lee has become a Cambridge consultant after hitting his target weight of 14st.

Anne has also slimmed to 15st, and a size 14 - and when she reaches her own target weight, she also hopes to become a consultant and inspire other people to lose weight with her story.

She added: "The whole thing has changed our outlook on life. We're both lucky to be here, and I want to make the most of every moment." 

ANNE AND LEE'S TYPICAL DIET BEFORE: 

• BREAKFAST: Nothing LUNCH: Four rounds of sandwiches, chocolate bar, packet of crisps, can of fizzy pop SNACK: Flapjack and more fizzy pop DINNER: Takeaway or lasagne with four rounds of bread and butter, plus pudding every night.

ANNE AND LEE'S TYPICAL DIET NOW:

• BREAKFAST: Shredded wheat LUNCH: Light salad and piece of fruit DINNER: Fish, jacket potato and vegetables 

 

Source:http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/diets/633530/Tunisia-terror-holiday-British-deaths-weight-loss

 

 

 

Lower Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

Daily beetroot juice lowers blood pressure, scientists find

Drinking a daily cup of beetroot juice has been shown to significantly lower blood pressure among patients with high blood pressure, according to scientists from Queen Mary University of London.

Monday 19 January 2015

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Patients with high blood pressure who drank a daily 250ml glass of beetroot juice experienced an average decrease in blood pressure of about 8/4 mmHg (which for many patients brought their blood pressure levels back into the ‘normal’ range). This is due to beetroot – and other leafy green vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage – containing high levels of the substance ‘inorganic nitrate’.

The potential importance of these findings is substantial as large-scale observational studies suggest that each 2mmHg increase in blood pressure increases the likelihood of death from heart disease by 7 per cent and stroke by 10 per cent.

This is the first evidence of a long-lasting blood pressure reduction with dietary nitrate supplementation in a relevant patient group. The average reduction in blood pressure through a single anti-hypertensive drug is 9/5 mmHg. Therefore, these findings suggest a role for dietary nitrate as an effective, easy and affordable treatment in managing blood pressure with similar results to drug treatment.

Professor Amrita Ahluwalia, Lead Author, Queen Mary University of London, comments: “Diseases of the heart and blood vessels – which can cause heart attacks and strokes - remain the biggest cause of death worldwide. However, unlike some other serious illnesses, we are fortunate in that we can make certain lifestyle changes which dramatically improve our heart and blood vessel health. This research has proven that a daily inorganic nitrate dose can be as effective as medical intervention in reducing blood pressure and the best part is we can get it from beetroot and other leafy green vegetables.”

The double-blind Phase Two clinical trial, published in the journal Hypertension and funded by the British Heart Foundation, was carried out among 64 patients aged 18 – 85 years. Half of the patients were taking prescribed anti-hypertensive drugs but were failing to reach their target blood pressure, and the other half had been identified as having high blood pressure but not yet on medication.

Patients were randomly assigned a daily dietary supplementation for four weeks – half received the dietary nitrate (250ml beetroot juice) and the other half received a placebo (250ml nitrate-free beetroot juice). In addition, patients were monitored for two weeks both before and after the study, bringing the total study period to eight weeks.

During the study, patients in the intervention group also experienced an improvement of around 20 per cent in blood vessel dilation capacity and around a 10% reduction in arterial stiffness. These changes in blood vessel function have been shown, by other studies, to be associated with substantial reductions in heart disease. There were no adverse side effects from the daily dietary nitrate.

In the two weeks after the study period, the blood pressure readings among patients in the intervention group returned to their previous high levels.

There were no changes to blood pressure, blood vessel function or arterial stiffness among the placebo group during the study.

Professor Amrita Ahluwalia concludes: “These findings are exciting because we’ve now tested the effectiveness of dietary nitrate in reducing blood pressure in 64 patients, over a sustained period of time, and found it works. Plus it’s so easy for patients to work this into their daily lives and see a positive benefit. The next step will hopefully be to run a large-scale Phase Three clinical trial so we can determine whether the impact of dietary nitrate is sustained long-term, and whether this should be recommended in NHS guidelines.”

“It is hugely beneficial for people to be able to take steps in controlling their blood pressure through non-clinical means such as eating vegetables. We know many people don’t like taking drugs life-long when they feel ok, and because of this, medication compliance is a big issue.

“For those looking to work dietary nitrate into their daily diets, the trick is not to boil the vegetables – as dietary nitrate is water soluble – but steaming, roasting or drinking in a juice all has a positive effect.”

Dr Shannon Amoils, Senior Research Advisor at the British Heart Foundation, which funded the study, said:

“This interesting study builds on previous research by this team and finds that a daily glass of beetroot juice can lower blood pressure in people with hypertension – even those whose high blood pressure was not controlled by drug treatment.

“The possibility of using a natural product, rather than another pill, to help lower blood pressure, is very appealing.  The trial is small however, and the next step will be to see if this result can be repeated in a much larger group of people with high blood pressure and over a longer period of time.”

Source: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/items/smd/146262.html