New Zero Calorie Sweetner Out: Truvia

Many of you may use low calorie sweetener to give an added sweetness to your food or favorite beverage such as Splenda, Equal, Sweet n' Low, Sugaree and Sunett. A new calorie sweetener has just been put out on the market and it is called Truvia. Truvia is a natural sweetener made from the stevia plant. The stevia plant comes from Paraguay and has been used for over 200 years to sweeten foods and beverages. Truvia argues that its product is better than most other natural sweeteners because this natural sweetener is made with rebiana. Rebiana is said to be the best tasting part of the stevia plant. Other natural sweeteners are usually a combination of different parts of the stevia leaf. For more information on Truvia visit: http://www.truvia.com/about.html

As new artificial sweeteners are being put out on the market and many others already out there it is important to find out if these sweeteners are a safe. Most people that are using artificial sweeteners use them to help enjoy their favorite foods without as many calories. Alot of people use artificial sweeteners in helping with weight loss and to prevent weight gain. Right now the Food and Drug Association (FDA) has an approved list of low calorie sweeteners that can be used and how much is appropriate for daily intake. The safety of sweeteners is a huge topic and it is up for debate. According to the Mayo Clinic artificial sweeteners need to be used sensibly. They claim that by just removing sugar from cookies and chocolates does not make them low calorie or low fat foods. It also means that if you eat to many, you will still be putting in more calories than needed. For more information on the safety of sweeteners visit here:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners/MY00073

When it comes down to the low calorie sweetener it can be used, but should be used in moderation. For instance for all those diet soda drinkers out there, just because it is low calorie and has an artificial sweetener it should not be the only drink you consume on a daily basis. This means that it is important for all of those that use low calorie sweeteners to use them wisely and not over do it. It is important to have balance in your diet and make sure you get enough of all the food groups.

Come Support Westfield State Women's Basketball

Westfield State Women's Basketball 08-09

The Westfield State Women's Basketball Team is the 2008-2009 Regular Season MASCAC Champions. This Weekend we are hosting the MASCAC conference championship with the winner getting a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Westfield will be tipping off on Friday, February 27, 2009 at 5:30 PM at the Woodward Center. It would be great for anyone to go and bring your friends to help support our team and cheer us on. For more information on the MASCAC Championships visit here:
http://www.westfieldstateowls.com/news/2009/2/22/WBB_0222095907.aspx?path=wbball

COME SUPPORT YOUR OWLS!!! :)

MLB Baseball Tainted by Steroids?

As many of you may know in the past week Alex Rodriguez one of the highest paid professional baseball players admitted to using steroids. ARod tested positive for Primobolan and Testosterone in 2003, both banned substances by the MLB. ARod testing positive for steroids has been all over the news for the past week. He is just one of a long list of names being caught for steroids and banned substances in the MLB. Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and Jose Conseco are just few of other big names caught for doping. Here is the latest article on ARod about him admitting to using steroids from ESPN.com written by Jayson Stark:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2009/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3914265

As more and more high profile players are being caught for steroids many question whether or not it is going to taint the game. Baseball has changed from players playing with true talent to alot of players resorting to steroids to help "better" their performance. Although only a bunch of athletes have been caught it just shows that baseball is not the same game and that athletes will do whatever they can to get ahead of there opponents to win and make money. Alot of people have there own opinion on this subject matter but I firmly believe it hurts baseball. Now fans of the game don't know who is clean or who is not clean, ultimately hurting those who are clean and have performed to the best of there ability on a daily basis. Professional players are also romodels for the youth of our country. Seeing your favorite player take steroids only makes them want to take steroids to get ahead in the game and be like there favorite player. Overall, steroids have made its mark on professional baseball and could cause huge problems for the the future of the MLB and the game itself.

The Importance of Water for the Competitive Athlete

Proper hydration for athletes is extremely important in allowing athletes to perform safely while competing and working hard. The body is made up of 70% of water and is the most important nutrient athletes need while competing. Water has several main functions including the transportation of nutrients, elimination of wastes, lubrication of joints and tissues and temperature regulation through sweating. When an athlete sweats, water is lost and that water must be replaced to allow the body to keep going at maximum performance.
Fluid intake for athletes is different from individual to individual depending on such factors as sweating and exercise intensity. Athletes can monitor their own fluid intake by monitoring urine output and color. A large amount of diluted urine means proper hydration while dark concentrated urine means you are dehydrated. Another way to measure adequate hydration is to weigh yourself before and after exercise. Any weight lost after practice, means fluid loss.
There are many different guidelines out on the web about the general guidelines of proper hydration for before, during and after exercise. Here are a set of proper hydration guidelines that I found:

• Before Exercise: 15-20 fl oz; 2-3 hours before, 8-10 fl oz; 10-15 minutes before
• During Exercise: 8-10 fl oz; every 10-15 minutes, exercise longer than 90 minutes drink 8-10 fl oz of sports drink every 10-15 minutes
• After Exercise: Weigh yourself before and after exercise to replace fluids, drink 20-24 fl oz of water for every pound lost
• (www.fitness.gov/)

Overall, athletes need to hydrate on a daily basis to stay on top of there game. As an athlete myself before practices and especially before games I try to drink lots of water and sometimes sports drinks to prepare my body for exercise. I believe it is important that every athlete have an understanding and have some knowledge about proper hydration so they do not let their bodies fail them while competing in sports.