DAYTONA, Fla., Feb. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As Daytona prepares for the upcoming Daytona 500, select Walmart stores will offer authentic NASCAR merchandise and host exclusive fan events starting Tuesday, Feb. 21. Customers are invited to attend these special events and enjoy racing show cars and simulators, along with special appearances by Jeff Burton and Miss Coors Light, as well as race car simulators– perfect to safely get behind the wheel and feel the power of NASCAR.

"Walmart is the champion of the racing fan, and we are committed to providing customers with savings on authentic merchandise, as well as unique race time experiences," said Corbin Norman, Walmart market manager. "We want to give fans affordability and accessibility, so they can enjoy race time with their families and friends."

Race Time at Walmart
In addition to the fan events happening in Walmart parking lots, area Walmart stores will feature savings on authentic NASCAR merchandise such as T-shirts and racing flags, with an even bigger selection of exclusive products available at Walmart.com/NASCAR.

Local radio stations 95.7 WHOG, 101one WJRR, and 106.7 XL WXXL will be at the stores broadcasting remotely.

Participating stores in Daytona include:

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012

Displays free and open to the public include the Bush's Ultimate Tailgate Truck, 5-hour Energy Show Car, Walmart 50th Anniversary Show Car, Keystone Light Show Truck, Coors Light Show Car & Pole Award, Wheaties Show Car, Oreo Ritz Show Car, and Cheez-It Simulator at:

Store #3207
1601 Rinehart Road
Sanford, Fla. 32771
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Displays free and open to the public include the Hellman's Show Car, Degree Show Car, Pepsi MAX Show Car, Diet Mountain Dew Show Car, Shell-Pennzoil Show Car, Hefty's Show Car Simulator, Budweiser Show Car, M&M's Show Car, Sim Pod & Trophy Display, and Miller Lite Show Car at:

Store #860
1699 N. Woodland Blvd.
Deland, Fla. 32720
11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012

Displays free and open to the public include the Bush's Ultimate Tailgate Truck, 5-hour Energy Show Car, Shell-Pennzoil Show Car, Wheaties Show Car, Budweiser Show Car, Oreo Ritz Show Car, and Cheez-It Simulator and Miller Lite Show Car at:

Store #1182
174 Cypress Point Parkway
Palm Coast, Fla. 32164
10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Displays free and open to the public include Walmart's 50th Anniversary Show Car, Coca-Cola 2-Seat Simulator, Pepsi MAX Show Car, Diet Mountain Dew Show Car, Hefty's Show Car Simulator, Hellman's Show Car, Degree Show Car, M&M's Show Car, Sim Pod & Trophy Display, and Keystone Light Show Truck, Coors Light Show Car & Pole Award at:

Store #613
1521 W. Granada Blvd.
Ormond Beach, Fla. 32174
11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012

Displays free and open to the public include the Wheaties Show Car, 5-hour Energy Show Car, Miller Lite Show Car, Walmart 50th Anniversary Show Car, Cheez-It Simulator, Hellman's Show Car, Degree Show Car and Oreo Ritz Show Car at:

Store #3862
1905 N. Nova Rd.
Daytona Beach, Fla. 32117
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Miss Coors Light Appearance from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Displays free and open to the public include the Shell-Pennzoil Show Car, Keystone Light Show Truck, Coors Light Show Car & Pole Award, Coca-Cola 2-Seat Simulator, M&M's Show Car, Sim Pod & Trophy Display, Bush's Ultimate Tailgate Truck, Pepsi MAX Show Car, Diet Mountain Dew Show Car, Budweiser Show Car, and Hefty's Show Car Simulator at:

Store #1079
3155 State Road 44
New Smyrna Beach, Fla. 32168
11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 24, 2012

Displays free and open to the public include the 5-hour Energy Show Car, Bush's Ultimate Tailgate Truck, Walmart 50th Anniversary Show Car, Keystone Light Show Truck, Pepsi MAX Show Car, Diet Mountain Dew Show Car, Oreo Ritz Show Car and Hefty's Show Car Simulator at:

Store #582
1590 Dunlawton Ave.
Port Orange, Fla. 32127
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Miss Coors Light Appearance from 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Coca-Cola's Sprint Cup Driver Jeff Burton Appearance from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Displays free and open to the public include the Wheaties Show Car, Coca-Cola 2-Seat Simulator, Hellman's Show Car, Quaker State Show Car, Shell-Pennzoil Show Car, Budweiser Show Car, M&M's Show Car, Sim Pod & Trophy Display, Miller Lite Show Car, Coors Light Show Car & Pole Award and Cheez-It Simulator at:

Store #1391
1101 Beville Rd.
Daytona Beach, Fla. 32119
11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012

Displays free and open to the public include the Hellman's Show Car, Walmart 50th Anniversary Show Car, Pepsi MAX Show Car, Diet Mountain Dew Show Car, Bush's Ultimate Tailgate Truck, Oreo Ritz Show Car, MARS M&M's Show Car, Sim Pod & Trophy Display, Hefty's Show Car Simulator and Miller Lite Show Car & Keystone Light Show Truck at:

Store #1391
1101 Beville Rd.
Daytona Beach, Fla. 32119
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Miss Coors Light Appearance from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Events free and open to the public include the 5-hour Energy Show Car, Wheaties Show Car, Coors Light Show Car & Pole Award, Quaker State Show Car, Shell-Pennzoil Show Car, Coca-Cola 2-Seat Simulator, Budweiser Show Car and Cheez-It Simulator at:

Store #582
1590 Dunlawton Ave
Port Orange, Fla. 32127
11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

For additional details and a complete listing of participating Walmart stores, visit Walmart.com/NASCAR.

About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT - News) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 10,000 retail units under 69 different banners in 28 countries. With fiscal year 2011 sales of $419 billion, Walmart employs 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://walmartstores.com, and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.

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Daytona Walmart Stores To Host NASCAR Driver Appearances, Racing Simulators, Fun for Fans Starting Feb. 21

22-02-2012 00:05 The Quickest Way to Lose Weight at http:www.quickestwaytoloseweightsafe.com - Lose weight quickly with diets that work fast and still allow you to eat delicious foods! Claim You Free eBook, Body Fat Analysis Calculator, and 'Fast Fat Tips' eNewsletter subscription at http:www.quickestwaytoloseweightsafe.com. http://www.youtube.com

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The Quickest Way to Lose Weight with Diets that Work Fast - Video

Celebs have done it.  Non-celebs have done it too. No meat, no sweets, no booze, no caffeine: Cleansing or detox diets.

A liquid diet, it's made up of maple syrup, lemon juice, a bit of cayenne pepper and water -- which is essentially all you drink for ten days.

“The purpose of the detoxification is to get out the toxins and other substances that make people tired, old irritable, unhappy and not function well and zap their energy,” said Peter Glickman in a Florida interview.

He writes about the Master Cleanse in his book, "Lose Weight, Have More Energy, and Be Happier in Ten Days."

“I lost 23 pounds and had just unbelievable energy,” Glickman said. 

But not everyone agrees there is a lot of benefit.

 “When we look to find the toxins in the blood or colon, we can't find them, they're not really there, so it's a little tough. You're trying to remove something that's not there,” said Doctor Ken Fujioka, the Medical Director of the Scripps Center for Weight Management.

He said our kidneys and liver do the job of removing toxins. As for weight loss, he said it's mostly water weight loss.  Not a lot of benefit, he said, but with the simple cleanses, there’s not a lot of harm either.

“If somebody is healthy, they're doing it for three days or less and they're getting adequate fluid and in particular adequate calories, they're probably going to be okay,” said Fujioka.

But he does warn against hard core cleanses that he said can be dangerous.

“There are caffeine enemas or coffee enemas, different things that are stimulants to the bowel, so they’re trying to move things along,” Fujioka said.

“More than that, with all the clients I’ve had, what I've found is that mentally something kicks into gear. They figure something out,” said John Lenz, a fitness professional and health adviser who said his cleanse diet is about jumpstarting a lifestyle change, not about losing weight. 

He said people become aware of their emotions around food, their eating habits.

The diets are made up of a vegetable juice, one you drink for breakfast, one for lunch. Dinner is protein -- maybe a piece of fish and steamed vegetables, so you are not starving your body, risking the loss of muscle.

Doing something hard can lead to change, he said.

“Bottom line is it's a lifestyle thing, you have to learn how to eat right,” Lenz said. “If it means to go through a cleanse to jump start that, then do it, it might help you.”
 

Tell us what you think. Comment below, fan us on Facebook, mention us on Twitter @nbcsandiego, or download our improved iPhone app.

Continued here:
Detox Cleanse: Safe or Dangerous?

COMMENTARY | Scientists say they know why the obesity rate is so high: Everything we know about dieting, including calorie counting and metabolism rates, is wrong, AFP reports. This would explain why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stats show we're getting fatter faster. Generally, I think this study is overlooking some key issues.

It says people quit dieting because they don't know about the plateau effect and they should cut fewer calories over a longer period. Most dieters know that crash dieting might take the fat off faster, but it really doesn't teach new healthy new habits. I've tried the fad diets for quick weight loss (Acai, Hoodia, lemon detox). I lost a few pounds with those tricks, but it's only with better nutrition that I've managed make any real strides.

To lose weight, my nurse practitioner had me identify a goal weight (I chose 125 pounds). According to her algorithm, people who weigh that amount consume 1,400 calories a day. If I want to weigh 125 pounds, I need to take in calories needed to sustain that weight. I've been following this plan, and I've lost 40 pounds in about six months. The more exercise I build in, the better it works.

Yes, people fall off the wagon when they plateau, but it's more than that. Most dieters quit because they don't see appreciable results and get discouraged. If I only cut out 100 calories a day, as suggested in the study, I would only lose about 10 pounds per year. I can't speak for everyone, but I would have given up long before at those rates.

The study also ignores age-related weight issues. The goal weight plan from my nurse practitioner does, too. Up till age 38 or so, I weighed 125 pounds. I was on-the-go constantly. I never did formal exercise and I could eat anything I wanted and not gain weight. After 38, I had some health setbacks, was less active and put on weight very easily. Much of that could be exercise-related, but aging accounts for some of the problem. Weight loss research needs to address those issues.

Link:
Scientists Are Wrong in Saying Calorie-Counting Diets Don't Work

TUESDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Gluten-free diets have become a popular way to manage gluten sensitivity, but a new analysis suggests that many people who stop eating gluten may not need to do so.

Health experts have claimed that this special diet can ease digestive ills in those who are sensitive to gluten, a substance found in wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats. Some even think avoiding gluten might reduce headaches, fatigue, hyperactivity and autism symptoms.

However, when comparing the number of mentions of gluten sensitivity on Google to the number of scientific articles on the subject, Italian researchers found that the Google mentions far outweighed mentions in the medical literature, at a ratio of 4,598 to one.

"Clinically, we see a lot of suspicion that gluten reactions are responsible for numerous health problems, and it's difficult to counter this belief. There are a lot of alternative practitioners out there that blame gluten for everything, even though there's not a lot of science behind it," said Dr. Joseph Levy, division director of pediatric gastroenterology at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City.

In the article, published in the Feb. 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Italian researchers explain that gluten has become "the new diet villain" in the United States. American marketers claim that 15 percent to 25 percent of consumers want gluten-free foods, and popular estimates suggest that as many as 17 million Americans are gluten-sensitive. However, there's no official data on the prevalence of gluten sensitivity in people who don't have celiac disease, according to the study authors.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that damages the lining of the small intestine when gluten is eaten. This damage prevents the small intestine from absorbing the nutrients in food, and people with celiac disease slowly become malnourished. It's essential that anyone with celiac disease maintain a gluten-free diet; even occasional slips can cause damage.

Levy said there's no question that some people appear to have what the researchers dubbed nonceliac gluten sensitivity. "Some people, when you remove gluten, have less gas, belly aches and nausea," he said.

But, he added that it might not be the gluten that's the problem, and could instead be something else in foods containing gluten.

Another digestive expert, Dr. David Greenwald, isn't convinced yet. "It's very hard to tell if someone has nonceliac gluten sensitivity. I have a healthy skepticism until there's a scientific basis for the diagnosis. It's very easy to jump on the wave, but the authors here are saying to wait for the scientific evidence that there is a sensitivity that's not based on celiac disease," he explained. Greenwald is a gastroenterologist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.

Greenwald said that a lot of people who try gluten-free diets do so because they're having symptoms that suggest irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), such as abdominal pain, gas and bloating.

"Most of the people who come to the conclusion that they have nonceliac gluten sensitivity have IBS symptoms, and they've heard that a gluten-free diet might help them, and a number of them start feeling better when they eliminate gluten," said Greenwald. But, in clinical trials, people with IBS often have high placebo success rates, sometimes more than 30 percent, he said. So, for some, going on a gluten-free diet might induce a placebo effect.

Levy agreed. "Physiological changes can occur with positive thinking. If, for whatever reason, someone is convinced that removing gluten will help, and it does, that's fine," he said.

The good news is that a gluten-free diet is generally considered safe. It's helpful to work with a nutritionist to ensure you're getting all the necessary vitamins and nutrients if you decide to undertake a gluten-free diet. And, Levy advised reading ingredient lists on gluten-free products. Some are made with beans, which could cause gas and bloating if eaten in significant quantities.

The only significant downside to gluten-free diets is cost, since gluten-free foods are significantly more expensive than foods that contain gluten.

"If people are uncomfortable and want to put themselves on a gluten-free diet and they don't mind it, there's no real harm to that if they're willing to bear the inconvenience and cost," said Greenwald.

However, both experts cautioned that it's important that a doctor rules out celiac disease before anyone undertakes a gluten-free diet. Lowering the amount of gluten in your diet can change the results of the blood tests used to screen for celiac disease, and might mask the presence of celiac disease. With celiac disease, it's essential to avoid all gluten to avoid complications.

More information

Learn more about food allergies and intolerance from the American Gastroenterological Association.

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Is Avoiding Gluten in Foods Always Necessary?

Newport Beach, CA (PRWEB) February 20, 2012

Internet marketing consultants LocallyRank LLC of Newport Beach, California have been signed to provide strategic marketing advice for Desert Labs Inc, the makers of the popular dieting product The Ice Cube Diet.

LocallyRank specializes in ecommerce marketing solutions for firms wishing to incorporate social media advertising and advanced SEO strategies.

"While an online presence is rightly recognized as essential in today's marketplace, it's the latest in ecommerce utilities and strategies that truly keep you competitive," says Kevin Heimlich, co-founder of LocallyRank. "We are proud to add Desert Labs to our rapidly expanding list of clients."

The Ice Cube Diet is a non-prescription diet supplement whose ingredients include extracts from the hoodia plant—a cactus like plant containing a natural appetite suppressant that has been safely used by desert dwellers in Africa's Kalahari region to manage appetite control in a locale with sparse and erratic food supplies. Marketed by Desert Labs Inc., the product is shipped nationwide in packets that allow it to be conveniently used as ice cubes in health drinks.

Desert Labs is an integrated consumer product company developing, manufacturing and marketing food supplements and dietary aids. Desert Labs' agro technical profile spans medicinal plant research, plant tissue culture propagation, clinical testing, modern processing, packaging and marketing of consumer products.

The company’s flagship product, The Ice Cube Diet, is based on hoodia grown in Israel and frozen in a process unique to Desert Labs; it represents the first of the company’s “field to market” products now available in the U.S.A.

Consumers are able to buy hoodia shipped specially to preserve its freshness, in packages of 40, 60, and 80 cubes. Many NYC health food stores and select NJ ShopRite stores carry The Ice Cube Diet and orders can be placed online at http://www.IceCubeDiet.com.

###

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LocallyRank To Handle Internet Marketing For Desert Labs

Put down your diet soda and listen up. Drinking a bubbly zero-calorie beverage daily may increase your risk of heart attack and stroke by 44 percent, according to new research of 2,600 older adults over a 10-year span.

For decades, manufacturers marketed diet colas as a healthier diet-conscious alternative to regular sodas that contain large amounts of sugars linked to health risks such as obesity and diabetes.

Subsequent research tied diet sodas, which replace sugar with exotic sweeteners such as aspartame or stevia, with increase risks for heart disease.

"What we saw was an association," Hannah Gardener, lead researcher with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, told Reuters. "These people may tend to have more unhealthy habits."

Those who drank diet soda daily tended to be heavier and had existing heart risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and unhealthy cholesterol levels, Reuters reported.

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Since the Journal of General Internal Medicine published the study online Jan. 27, the study has become increasingly popular online. Researchers at Columbia University in New York City also contributed to the study.

The researchers looked into the diet soda drinking habits of 2,564 residents of northern Manhattan over a 10-year period and found that those who drank diet soda daily had increased risks for vascular disease, including heart disease and stroke.

The researchers controlled the volunteers for several factors such as smoking, physical activity, body mass index, diet and alcohol consumption.

No risk was found for people who drank regular soft drinks or drank diet sodas from time to time. The correlation was only found with daily diet soda drinkers.

The only way researchers said to find a cause-and-effect would be to randomly assign people to drink diet soda or not and then follow their health over the years.

Gardner said such as study would be "difficult and costly" to undertake since it would involve following so many volunteers.</

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Diet Soda and Heart Attacks: Study Finds Daily Diet Soda Increases Risk

Most folks love food and want to be healthy. Oftentimes, the two work against each other, leaving us discouraged and out of shape.

The Eat-Clean Diet uses one of our favorite things, food, and shows us how to make it work for us to help lose weight and achieve overall health, leading to a happier lifestyle with more energy and productivity.

Tosca Reno, the author of the popular “Eat-Clean Diet” series, has drawn attention to clean eating, but she did not invent it. The Eat-Clean Diet’s principles are based on the diet that bodybuilders, gymnasts, marathon runners and other athletes have followed for years, and that nutritionists and dieticians suggested to patients to help with health problems long before Reno released her first book.

Despite its name, the Eat-Clean Diet is not a diet at all, but a lifestyle change that takes weight off and keeps it off, unlike diets that require calorie-counting and depriving the body of certain food groups.

“I’ve done Weight Watchers in the past, but I always found myself obsessed with points,” said Nikki Banik, a wife and mother of two from Winder and the owner of Nikki Banik Photography. “(I would look for) processed food with the least amount of points so I could eat as much as possible — and never getting enough, or caring to get enough — of the good-for-you, healthy stuff.”

The Eat-Clean Diet shows people how to replace unhealthy foods that have little or no nutritional value with healthy foods full of nutrients that the body needs. It does not require counting calories and actually suggests eating more — five to six small meals throughout the day — to keep from getting too hungry, to provide extra energy and to keep the body’s metabolism running.

“A lot of people are trying to go extended periods of time without eating, and really we need to eat on a regular basis and be sensitive to our hunger cues,” said Connie Crawley, an extension nutrition and health specialist with the University of Georgia’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences and a registered dietitian. “If you are ravenous, you’re going to crave high-sugar, high-fat foods, which are going to make you eat more.”

In her books, Reno breaks down each of the Eat-Clean Diet principles, including eating several small meals, drinking lots of water and consuming healthy fats, fresh fruits and vegetables.

Simple sugars or white refined sugars are taboo, because they have been linked to immune suppression, inflammatory conditions and dramatic spikes in blood sugar, according to “The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged!”

“Basically, what (the Eat-Clean Diet is) recommending is for people to go back as closely to what I call the hoof and the plant as possible,” Crawley said. “In other words, trying to get as little between you and the original source of the food as possible, and that certainly is a very admirable thing to do, and it’s what we at the extension office are recommending that people do.”

Banik looked into clean eating after hearing about people who eliminated almost all white foods from their diet. She thought it couldn’t hurt to eliminate white bread and replace it with whole grain bread and eliminate white pasta and white refined sugar. Soon after that, she began following all of the diet’s principles.

“It wasn’t so much that I wanted to try a ‘diet.’ Rather, I wanted to create a better lifestyle for my family and myself where we would be in tune with our bodies and our food,” Banik said.

Banik and her family will have followed the Eat-Clean Diet principles for one year this March.

“For me, I dove in head first,” Banik said. “I emptied out our kitchen cabinets and refrigerator, donated the food and restocked it. That was expensive, but worth it. I’ve lost 25 pounds eating clean, and my husband has lost about 30 pounds. Also, my husband’s blood pressure is normal, and he is off of blood pressure medication. This did not happen when we did Weight Watchers but after we had been eating clean for a few weeks.”

Another change was the behavior and attitude of Banik’s 5-year-old daughter.

“My 5-year-old’s behavior completely turned around,” Banik said. “I feel like she is finally herself. The excessive whining, moaning and groaning is gone. It is amazing how negatively processed food affects our children.”

When people begin the Eat-Clean Diet, they typically lose 3 to 5 pounds in the first week, but the diet isn’t just about becoming leaner.

“Eating clean is just eliminating things that your body does not need,” Banik said. “It is not a diet. It is a cleaning of your system, and once you eat clean, truly 100 percent clean, you will really not want to eat any other way. We always eat clean at home. When we go out to eat or to someone’s house, (it’s harder to) eat clean. So we try not to eat out as much.”

Proponents say eating clean can lower one’s risk of heart disease, stroke and chronic lower respiratory diseases, and even give a person more energy, brighter eyes, healthier teeth, bright and clear skin and stronger hair and nails.

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The Eat-Clean Diet