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IN THIS ISSUE:

Lifestyle Changes Lead to Weight Loss and Fewer Medical Problems

Posted Feb 22, 2013

Deloris Brown, 46, said the most important part of her losing more than 70 pounds was making the decision.

She had some help, though. She wrestled with pre-diabetes, asthma and an autoimmune disease that often saw her in an emergency room as her immune system turned on her.

But that’s over, now, she said.

“I can’t remember when I last used my inhaler,” Brown said. “And I’m saving money because I haven’t had to buy the asthma medicine — and that was $140 for 30 pills.”

She put on pounds over the years because of her diet, which included a lot of stress eating and fried food, and the Prednisone, a drug she took for asthma and to fight off the autoimmune reactions. Weight gain and high blood glucose levels are a side effect of the drug.

Brown used a weight-loss method that scares a lot of people: She changed her diet, ate less and exercises nearly every day.

Brown decided in mid-2011 to lose weight, when she saw the first announcement for a new program called “Tread the Med” at the Washington University School of Medicine where Brown works.

“I’d been wanting to lose weight, so (friends and co-worker) formed a team to participate,” she said. The program assigned participants to walk 10,000 steps a day by walking around the hospital campus and other walking.

Tread the Med was “an initiative to get employees up and walking so they could have exercise in their daily lives,” said Betsy Snyder, wellness coordinator for Washington University School of Medicine. “We chose walking because so many people can do it and it’s so easy to do, the benefits are numerous and it leads to a less stressful walk.”

Each participant gets a pedometer with a goal of 10,000 steps per day for 100 days, Snyder said. People can build up to the goal while some are able to do 10,000 steps, she said.

“The purpose was that if you walk or do anything for 100 days, it becomes a habit,” she said. “Hopefully people continue walking after the program.”

That’s what Brown did. She joined the first session more than a year ago, then joined the second session.

During that second session, though, she had an asthma attack that set off the autoimmune disease. She had hives, rashes and other things that came with allergy attacks plus the asthma, she said.

“I knew then I had to lose weight, something to get my health under control,” she said.

She approached a childhood friend, Briant K. Mitchell, who ran a fitness center in Jamestown Mall. “She came to me crying,” he said. “I told her if she follows my program, she’ll get rid of the weight and be healthier.”

Mitchell says he caters mainly to people whose health depends on dropping weight. “Most of my clients have diabetes or pre-diabetes and hypertension,” he said. He and two physicians who were clients of his, created the eating program that Brown adopted.

“It’s the right amount of carbohydrates, nutritious food, six small meals a day,” he said, “and exercise for an hour four times a week.”

That was last spring. By the end of summer, she was missing 70 pounds. More importantly, her health numbers had improved and her asthma and autoimmune symptoms had vanished.

She said she might have weighed more than 229 pounds. “But that was the first time she weighed.”

She still works out with Mitchell and was in the second round of the Tread to Med program when she joined the fitness program. She’s in the third session now.

Each day she walks around the medical school with friends and co-workers. “That’s what’s good about this,” she said. “People asked how I did it and then they joined me and started walking too.”

The best part is that she feels better, she said. “I can do more, I have more energy and I feel so much better,” she said.

“My daughter told me when I lost the weight, Mama, I can get my arms around you now.”

Do you know a “How I did it?”

Suggest a candidate to:

Email — harry.jackson@post-dispatch.com

Phone — 314-340-8234′

©2013 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Deloris Brown, 46, said the most important part of her losing more than 70 pounds was making the decision.

She had some help, though. She wrestled with pre-diabetes, asthma and an autoimmune disease that often saw her in an emergency room as her immune system turned on her.

But that's over, now, she said.

"I can't remember when I last used my inhaler," Brown said. "And I'm saving money because I haven't had to buy the asthma medicine -- and that was $140 for 30 pills."

She put on pounds over the years because of her diet, which included a lot of stress eating and fried food, and the Prednisone, a drug she took for asthma and to fight off the autoimmune reactions. Weight gain and high blood glucose levels are a side effect of the drug.

Brown used a weight-loss method that scares a lot of people: She changed her diet, ate less and exercises nearly every day.

Brown decided in mid-2011 to lose weight, when she saw the first announcement for a new program called "Tread the Med" at the Washington University School of Medicine where Brown works.

"I'd been wanting to lose weight, so (friends and co-worker) formed a team to participate," she said. The program assigned participants to walk 10,000 steps a day by walking around the hospital campus and other walking.

Tread the Med was "an initiative to get employees up and walking so they could have exercise in their daily lives," said Betsy Snyder, wellness coordinator for Washington University School of Medicine. "We chose walking because so many people can do it and it's so easy to do, the benefits are numerous and it leads to a less stressful walk."

Each participant gets a pedometer with a goal of 10,000 steps per day for 100 days, Snyder said. People can build up to the goal while some are able to do 10,000 steps, she said.

"The purpose was that if you walk or do anything for 100 days, it becomes a habit," she said. "Hopefully people continue walking after the program."

That's what Brown did. She joined the first session more than a year ago, then joined the second session.

During that second session, though, she had an asthma attack that set off the autoimmune disease. She had hives, rashes and other things that came with allergy attacks plus the asthma, she said.

"I knew then I had to lose weight, something to get my health under control," she said.

She approached a childhood friend, Briant K. Mitchell, who ran a fitness center in Jamestown Mall. "She came to me crying," he said. "I told her if she follows my program, she'll get rid of the weight and be healthier."

Mitchell says he caters mainly to people whose health depends on dropping weight. "Most of my clients have diabetes or pre-diabetes and hypertension," he said. He and two physicians who were clients of his, created the eating program that Brown adopted.

"It's the right amount of carbohydrates, nutritious food, six small meals a day," he said, "and exercise for an hour four times a week."

That was last spring. By the end of summer, she was missing 70 pounds. More importantly, her health numbers had improved and her asthma and autoimmune symptoms had vanished.

She said she might have weighed more than 229 pounds. "But that was the first time she weighed."

She still works out with Mitchell and was in the second round of the Tread to Med program when she joined the fitness program. She's in the third session now.

Each day she walks around the medical school with friends and co-workers. "That's what's good about this," she said. "People asked how I did it and then they joined me and started walking too."

The best part is that she feels better, she said. "I can do more, I have more energy and I feel so much better," she said.

"My daughter told me when I lost the weight, Mama, I can get my arms around you now."

Do you know a "How I did it?"

Suggest a candidate to:

Email -- harry.jackson@post-dispatch.com

Phone -- 314-340-8234'

©2013 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Don’t Be SAD, Keep Winter Blues Away

Posted Jan 11, 2013

(May not apply to other forms of depression)

–Increased appetite with weight gain

–Loss of interest in work or other activities

–Less energy and ability to

concentrate

–Unhappiness and irritability

–Increased sleep

–Hopelessness

–Sluggish movements

–Social withdrawal

Source: PubMed Health Every year at this time, Tina Kirkham looks at the calendar and starts to tense up.

That’s because she knows she’s heading into her most difficult part of the season.

“It seems like every year it hits worse,” said the mother and nutrition assistant with Utah State University’s Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program.

Kirkham, 50, said she has suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder for a long time.

SAD is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in a specific part of the year — either the winter or summer, spring or autumn — every year, according to Wikipedia.

Medical sites state that the disorder is most common in the winter.

“I have to use a special light lamp in the morning,” said Kirkham, who listed a host of steps she takes to try to stay positive.

Among them, Kirkham takes a prescription moodenhancing drug, writes in a mood journal, thinks positive thoughts, takes regular naps and eats well.

“I know to exercise, but some days, I have no motivation. I have to make myself work, and helping others helps myself,” she said.

Kirkham knows she is not alone.

Through her life experiences, she has met many who are just like her.

“I think living in Utah and its high altitude makes it worse,” she said, also commenting on Utah’s bad air quality. “I also find that creative people suffer the most in my dealings with people I work with.”

Dianna Abel, a psychologist and director of the Counseling Service Center at Weber State University, said anxiety and depression are by far the largest two categories students who seek help fall into.

“These truly do get worse during the winter,” she said.

Like Kirkham, Abel also pointed to limited exposure to light as a key source of people’s mood swings.

“People need to get out and get some sunlight,” she said, recommending that those who suffer need to “make time” to make sure this happens.

“They need to get up in the elevation,” Abel said, recommending day trips to Park City. “If they can make some time, it will make a difference.”

The psychologist said people who notice seasonal depression can help themselves by paying particular attention to the healthy routines they already know are good for them.

She named the same types of behaviors as Kirkham outlined, with the addition of staying away from excessive alcohol.

Abel said one mistake people make is not making time for fun and friends.

Listing ways people can elevate their moods — things like taking a bubble bath, watching a favorite movie and doing something active like skiing — Abel said remembering to hang out with friends is also important.

Another suggestion Abel makes is to redirect negative thoughts. She said one thing people do is put a rubber band on their wrist. When they catch themselves having negative thoughts, they flick the rubber band as a way to remind themselves to stop.

Abel also said new research surrounds the role of gratitude in changing people’s morale.

“People should take some time at regular intervals to journal those kinds of things,” she said about gratitude lists. “If you can bring those things into focus, that would help.”

Andrea Widdison, of Hooper, said she has watched as her husband has learned to cope with his “winter blues.”

“He works in a building with no windows or natural light, and he starts work before sunrise. He often stays late and arrives home shortly before dark,” she said.

“It used to affect him a lot more when he brought his lunch to work and stayed indoors all day. However, he’s found that, if he just goes out for lunch every day and gets some natural light, it’s considerably better.”

But Widdison said all that eating out sometimes can lead to another problem — winter waistline.

___

©2013 the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah)

Visit the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) at www.standard.net

Distributed by MCT Information Services

(May not apply to other forms of depression)

--Increased appetite with weight gain

--Loss of interest in work or other activities

--Less energy and ability to

concentrate

--Unhappiness and irritability

--Increased sleep

--Hopelessness

--Sluggish movements

--Social withdrawal

Source: PubMed Health Every year at this time, Tina Kirkham looks at the calendar and starts to tense up.

That's because she knows she's heading into her most difficult part of the season.

"It seems like every year it hits worse," said the mother and nutrition assistant with Utah State University's Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program.

Kirkham, 50, said she has suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder for a long time.

SAD is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in a specific part of the year -- either the winter or summer, spring or autumn -- every year, according to Wikipedia.

Medical sites state that the disorder is most common in the winter.

"I have to use a special light lamp in the morning," said Kirkham, who listed a host of steps she takes to try to stay positive.

Among them, Kirkham takes a prescription moodenhancing drug, writes in a mood journal, thinks positive thoughts, takes regular naps and eats well.

"I know to exercise, but some days, I have no motivation. I have to make myself work, and helping others helps myself," she said.

Kirkham knows she is not alone.

Through her life experiences, she has met many who are just like her.

"I think living in Utah and its high altitude makes it worse," she said, also commenting on Utah's bad air quality. "I also find that creative people suffer the most in my dealings with people I work with."

Dianna Abel, a psychologist and director of the Counseling Service Center at Weber State University, said anxiety and depression are by far the largest two categories students who seek help fall into.

"These truly do get worse during the winter," she said.

Like Kirkham, Abel also pointed to limited exposure to light as a key source of people's mood swings.

"People need to get out and get some sunlight," she said, recommending that those who suffer need to "make time" to make sure this happens.

"They need to get up in the elevation," Abel said, recommending day trips to Park City. "If they can make some time, it will make a difference."

The psychologist said people who notice seasonal depression can help themselves by paying particular attention to the healthy routines they already know are good for them.

She named the same types of behaviors as Kirkham outlined, with the addition of staying away from excessive alcohol.

Abel said one mistake people make is not making time for fun and friends.

Listing ways people can elevate their moods -- things like taking a bubble bath, watching a favorite movie and doing something active like skiing -- Abel said remembering to hang out with friends is also important.

Another suggestion Abel makes is to redirect negative thoughts. She said one thing people do is put a rubber band on their wrist. When they catch themselves having negative thoughts, they flick the rubber band as a way to remind themselves to stop.

Abel also said new research surrounds the role of gratitude in changing people's morale.

"People should take some time at regular intervals to journal those kinds of things," she said about gratitude lists. "If you can bring those things into focus, that would help."

Andrea Widdison, of Hooper, said she has watched as her husband has learned to cope with his "winter blues."

"He works in a building with no windows or natural light, and he starts work before sunrise. He often stays late and arrives home shortly before dark," she said.

"It used to affect him a lot more when he brought his lunch to work and stayed indoors all day. However, he's found that, if he just goes out for lunch every day and gets some natural light, it's considerably better."

But Widdison said all that eating out sometimes can lead to another problem -- winter waistline.

___

©2013 the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah)

Visit the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) at www.standard.net

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Diet Myths

Posted Jan 10, 2013

DIET season is upon us and you may have started on a new weightloss “theory”. But if your no-fat detox fasting frenzy isn’t working, it could be because it’s a myth. We go in search of the truth…

1 Low-fat or no-fat diets are good for you.

Myth

A third of your calories should come from fat. The body needs fat for energy, tissue repair and to transport vitamins.

As a guideline, women need 70g of fat a day (30g as the minimum) and men need 95g (40g minimum). Cut down on saturated fats in cream, cheese or butter for unsaturated fats, found in olive oil and avocados.

2 Crash dieting makes you lose weight.

Myth

Crash dieting or fasting can hinder weight loss as both remove fat and also lean muscle and tissue, which causes a fall in your basal metabolic rate – the amount of calories your body needs when it is resting.

This means your body comes to need fewer calories to stay the same, making weight gain more likely once you stop dieting. It is why exercise is recommended in any weight-loss plan to maintain your metabolic rate.

3 Low-fat milk contains less calcium than full-fat milk.

Myth

Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk have more calcium, because the calcium is in the watery not creamy part. If you want to lose weight, skimmed milk is your best option but use semi-skimmed to maintain a healthy lifestyle if you are not dieting.

4 A slow metabolism stops you losing weight.

Myth

The number of calories used by the body at rest increases as people become fatter. So, the larger you are, the more calories you need to keep your body going and the higher your metabolism becomes.

5 Eating a fattening meal will mean you pile on the pounds.

Myth

Weight gain is a slow process. You need to eat an extra 3,500 calories to gain 1lb of fat. If the scales say you have gained a few pounds after a meal, it is down to fluid retention.

6 Low-fat foods always help you lose weight.

Myth

Low-fat or fat-free does not always mean low calorie. Check the calories of foods, especially cakes, crisps, ice creams and ready meals. Extra sugars and thickeners are often added to boost flavour. Foods labelled low-fat should have no more than 3g fat per 100g.

7 Food eaten late at night is more fattening for you.

Myth

A large meal eaten late at night does not make the body store more fat, according to a study at Dunn Nutrition Centre, Cambridge. Volunteers were fed a large lunch and small evening meal for one test period, then a small lunch and large evening meal the next. The large meal eaten late did not make the body store more fat. So it is not when you eat that is important, but the total amount you consume during a 24-hour period.

8 Avoid fatty foods because they will raise your cholesterol.

Myth

Cholesterol can be bad for us because it forms deposits that clog our arteries, which contribute to heart disease. But we all need blood cholesterol for building cells and making hormones.

>Saturated fats found in meat, cheese, cream, butter and processed pastries tend to raise low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, known as bad cholesterol. Choose unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils, nuts and seeds.

9 Vegetarians can’t build up muscle mass.

Myth

Vegetarians can be as muscular as meat eaters by getting their protein from cheese, nuts, pulses and grains. You need protein to build muscle but the body can only store a certain amount of protein, so too much can damage the kidneys.

10 You always gain weight when you stop smoking.

Myth

While nicotine does increase metabolism, its effect is small. It is far healthier to be an overweight non-smoker than not bother giving up. Chew on sugar-free gum or snack on vegetables or satsumas until your cravings go away.

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/womenshealth/features/dietmyths.htm

DIET season is upon us and you may have started on a new weightloss "theory". But if your no-fat detox fasting frenzy isn't working, it could be because it's a myth. We go in search of the truth...

1 Low-fat or no-fat diets are good for you.

Myth

A third of your calories should come from fat. The body needs fat for energy, tissue repair and to transport vitamins.

As a guideline, women need 70g of fat a day (30g as the minimum) and men need 95g (40g minimum). Cut down on saturated fats in cream, cheese or butter for unsaturated fats, found in olive oil and avocados.

2 Crash dieting makes you lose weight.

Myth

Crash dieting or fasting can hinder weight loss as both remove fat and also lean muscle and tissue, which causes a fall in your basal metabolic rate - the amount of calories your body needs when it is resting.

This means your body comes to need fewer calories to stay the same, making weight gain more likely once you stop dieting. It is why exercise is recommended in any weight-loss plan to maintain your metabolic rate.

3 Low-fat milk contains less calcium than full-fat milk.

Myth

Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk have more calcium, because the calcium is in the watery not creamy part. If you want to lose weight, skimmed milk is your best option but use semi-skimmed to maintain a healthy lifestyle if you are not dieting.

4 A slow metabolism stops you losing weight.

Myth

The number of calories used by the body at rest increases as people become fatter. So, the larger you are, the more calories you need to keep your body going and the higher your metabolism becomes.

5 Eating a fattening meal will mean you pile on the pounds.

Myth

Weight gain is a slow process. You need to eat an extra 3,500 calories to gain 1lb of fat. If the scales say you have gained a few pounds after a meal, it is down to fluid retention.

6 Low-fat foods always help you lose weight.

Myth

Low-fat or fat-free does not always mean low calorie. Check the calories of foods, especially cakes, crisps, ice creams and ready meals. Extra sugars and thickeners are often added to boost flavour. Foods labelled low-fat should have no more than 3g fat per 100g.

7 Food eaten late at night is more fattening for you.

Myth

A large meal eaten late at night does not make the body store more fat, according to a study at Dunn Nutrition Centre, Cambridge. Volunteers were fed a large lunch and small evening meal for one test period, then a small lunch and large evening meal the next. The large meal eaten late did not make the body store more fat. So it is not when you eat that is important, but the total amount you consume during a 24-hour period.

8 Avoid fatty foods because they will raise your cholesterol.

Myth

Cholesterol can be bad for us because it forms deposits that clog our arteries, which contribute to heart disease. But we all need blood cholesterol for building cells and making hormones.

>Saturated fats found in meat, cheese, cream, butter and processed pastries tend to raise low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, known as bad cholesterol. Choose unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils, nuts and seeds.

9 Vegetarians can't build up muscle mass.

Myth

Vegetarians can be as muscular as meat eaters by getting their protein from cheese, nuts, pulses and grains. You need protein to build muscle but the body can only store a certain amount of protein, so too much can damage the kidneys.

10 You always gain weight when you stop smoking.

Myth

While nicotine does increase metabolism, its effect is small. It is far healthier to be an overweight non-smoker than not bother giving up. Chew on sugar-free gum or snack on vegetables or satsumas until your cravings go away.

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/womenshealth/features/dietmyths.htm

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Excess Belly Fat Linked to Depression

Posted Nov 26, 2012

Accumulating fat around the belly has long been linked to metabolic syndrome, a collection of problems that include high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose. Recently, metabolic syndrome was linked to a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life. Now depression has been added to the list of ailments linked to excessive belly fat, and losing weight through dieting doesn’t seem to reverse the problem.

“Weight gain is the major contributor to metabolic syndrome and depression, but we also observed that in many people who are obese, losing weight is not enough to reduce the symptoms of depression,” said An Pan, a nutritionist at the Harvard School of Public Health and one of the authors of the study, which appears in a recent issue of Diabetes Care. “In fact, losing weight by dieting may actually increase stress and depressive symptoms.”

A better approach, he says, would involve more exercise, which helps the body burn some of the deep fat packed around abdominal organs – the cause of the large belly often carried by people with metabolic syndrome. He encourages those wanting to lose weight to eat a healthy diet and participate in physical activity. Pan also recommends psychiatric counseling for people who are depressed.

The paper found evidence of a vicious cycle – metabolic syndrome contributes to depression, and depression contributes to metabolic syndrome, apparently by causing people to overeat.

Pan and the other authors of the paper suggest several possible mechanisms for this two-way interaction.

For example, depression affects the metabolism in ways that could increase blood pressure, reduce the body’s ability to absorb glucose and promote the accumulation of belly fat. Also depressed people are more likely to lack the motivation to get exercise.

On top of that, some antidepressant medications promote weight gain.

In the other direction, metabolic syndrome promotes inflammation, which has been linked to depression, and makes the body less sensitive to leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite after eating.

Low levels of leptin, as well as leptin insensitivity, have been shown to produce depressive symptoms. Also, damage to blood vessels in the brain caused by high blood pressure and other consequences of metabolic syndrome may produce symptoms of depression, and are believed to promote dementia, as other studies have found.

Another study, just published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, reports that pioglitazone, a drug that helps prevent diabetes by enhancing the body’s sensitivity to insulin, also appears to boost the effectiveness of antidepressants in people with major depression.

The drug helped even when taken by depressed people who didn’t have the metabolic problems that signal the approach of diabetes. The authors believe that pioglitazone (sold as Actos) counteracts depression by helping the body use glucose more efficiently, just as exercise does.

Apparently the accumulation of belly fat, which may be a consequence of too much sugar in the blood, also contributes to elevated blood sugar and several other problems, including depression.

“I think the major message of our paper is that depression, cardiovascular disease, stroke and other problems begin early even in people who do not have diabetes,” said Pan.

“So prevention should begin early for people with metabolic syndrome. We should pay attention to their mental health, and for people with mental health problems we should monitor their blood glucose, blood lipids and blood pressure to control their risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.”

Accumulating fat around the belly has long been linked to metabolic syndrome, a collection of problems that include high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose. Recently, metabolic syndrome was linked to a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia later in life. Now depression has been added to the list of ailments linked to excessive belly fat, and losing weight through dieting doesn't seem to reverse the problem.

"Weight gain is the major contributor to metabolic syndrome and depression, but we also observed that in many people who are obese, losing weight is not enough to reduce the symptoms of depression," said An Pan, a nutritionist at the Harvard School of Public Health and one of the authors of the study, which appears in a recent issue of Diabetes Care. "In fact, losing weight by dieting may actually increase stress and depressive symptoms."

A better approach, he says, would involve more exercise, which helps the body burn some of the deep fat packed around abdominal organs - the cause of the large belly often carried by people with metabolic syndrome. He encourages those wanting to lose weight to eat a healthy diet and participate in physical activity. Pan also recommends psychiatric counseling for people who are depressed.

The paper found evidence of a vicious cycle - metabolic syndrome contributes to depression, and depression contributes to metabolic syndrome, apparently by causing people to overeat.

Pan and the other authors of the paper suggest several possible mechanisms for this two-way interaction.

For example, depression affects the metabolism in ways that could increase blood pressure, reduce the body's ability to absorb glucose and promote the accumulation of belly fat. Also depressed people are more likely to lack the motivation to get exercise.

On top of that, some antidepressant medications promote weight gain.

In the other direction, metabolic syndrome promotes inflammation, which has been linked to depression, and makes the body less sensitive to leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite after eating.

Low levels of leptin, as well as leptin insensitivity, have been shown to produce depressive symptoms. Also, damage to blood vessels in the brain caused by high blood pressure and other consequences of metabolic syndrome may produce symptoms of depression, and are believed to promote dementia, as other studies have found.

Another study, just published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, reports that pioglitazone, a drug that helps prevent diabetes by enhancing the body's sensitivity to insulin, also appears to boost the effectiveness of antidepressants in people with major depression.

The drug helped even when taken by depressed people who didn't have the metabolic problems that signal the approach of diabetes. The authors believe that pioglitazone (sold as Actos) counteracts depression by helping the body use glucose more efficiently, just as exercise does.

Apparently the accumulation of belly fat, which may be a consequence of too much sugar in the blood, also contributes to elevated blood sugar and several other problems, including depression.

"I think the major message of our paper is that depression, cardiovascular disease, stroke and other problems begin early even in people who do not have diabetes," said Pan.

"So prevention should begin early for people with metabolic syndrome. We should pay attention to their mental health, and for people with mental health problems we should monitor their blood glucose, blood lipids and blood pressure to control their risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke."

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Increased Calorie Intake Tied to Early Puberty

Posted Sept 13, 2012

Girls today may be reaching puberty as much as four years earlier than generations before them because their diets are higher in calories, research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests.

The findings — the first in primates to document a connection between diet and body growth and earlier puberty — appear in the journal Endocrinology.

The study does not suggest girls weigh significantly more when they reach puberty. Rather, they hit a weight associated with the start of puberty at an earlier age, said Ei Terasawa, a professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine and Public Health who has studied puberty in rhesus macaques since the 1970s at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at UW.

Rhesus monkeys are studied by biomedical researchers because they are genetically and physiologically similar to humans.

The monkeys in the UW study reached puberty six months to a year earlier than a control group of monkeys the same age that consumed 33% fewer calories. The faster-maturing monkeys were not obese, but their bones and muscles grew faster and larger, said Joe Kurian, an assistant scientist at the center. The faster-maturing monkeys all had consistently higher total body fat and upper abdominal skin folds.

Researchers noted no significant difference in activity levels between the two groups of monkeys, so they suspect the high-calorie-diet animals had an excess energy balance.

The study involved only eight monkeys — four that were fed the high-calorie diet and four fed a controlled diet. But the findings were consistently dramatic, the researchers said.

Environmental pollutants, eating habits, lack of exercise and genetic traits all have been raised as possible causes of earlier onset of puberty in girls.

The new research about earlier puberty onset reinforces why children’s eating behaviors should be balanced with activity. Avoiding early weight gain also reduces the risk of adulthood diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Emotional implications

Early puberty has emotional implications for girls, as well. A younger girl’s brain isn’t developed enough to handle the intense emotions brought on by puberty, Terasawa said.

“This can be very traumatic physically and psychologically to a young girl who is already showing signs of being a woman at age 8, rather than age 12,” she said.

Puberty is a complex topic not only from a physiologic standpoint, but also a psychological perspective, said Sadhana Dharmapuri, an adolescent medicine specialist at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and assistant professor of adolescent medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The UW study offers insight into the physiologic aspects of early puberty, she said. It’s interesting, Dharmapuri said, that the researchers were able to control environmental, genetic and chemical exposure factors.

“However there is much research that needs to be done in order to account for these other factors and the influence of higher caloric diets that children and adolescents are exposed to,” Dharmapuri said. “More importantly, it is necessary to understand the psychological impact of early pubertal development on children and how we can educate and support them emotionally through these changes.

“This study provides a step in that direction, emphasizing the importance of educating parents and children about what a healthy diet is and how it is important to their overall health and development now, not just 20 years down the road. This study reinforces the need for developing interventions that promote healthy life choices at a young age.”

Researchers in the Madison study noted the faster-maturing monkeys had elevated levels of two hormones leading to puberty onset, which liberates other hormones that trigger changes in the brain while the brain is still maturing in ways such as development of judgment.

A surge of puberty-induced hormones may trigger emotions more quickly, or with greater intensity, causing a girl to become more aggressive or sexually active earlier.

The invasion of hormones also likely structures or permanently programs behavioral dispositions, Kurian said.

“If this happens early, when the brain is still immature, those behaviors may be exaggerated or eliminated. Think sexual behaviors, aggressive behaviors, coping abilities.”

That’s an area of research that still needs more study, he said.

Eating a high-calorie diet also could change the chemical structure of genes, which could be passed on to future generations, said Kurian, making them more prone to earlier onset puberty, too — yet another area for additional research.

Researchers at the UW primate research center began studying the possible diet connection to earlier onset puberty when Terasawa noticed from records kept over the past 30 years that colony females were growing up faster and seemed to reach menstruation at an earlier age.

Before 1995, the monkeys were fed supplemental fruits and/or fresh vegetables three to five times per week. Since 1995, they have been fed daily fresh fruits. Higher-sugar treats such as fruit roll-ups, Fruit Loops cereal, marshmallows and yogurt were added in 2002 for foraging activities and training.

©2012 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Girls today may be reaching puberty as much as four years earlier than generations before them because their diets are higher in calories, research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests.

The findings -- the first in primates to document a connection between diet and body growth and earlier puberty -- appear in the journal Endocrinology.

The study does not suggest girls weigh significantly more when they reach puberty. Rather, they hit a weight associated with the start of puberty at an earlier age, said Ei Terasawa, a professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine and Public Health who has studied puberty in rhesus macaques since the 1970s at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center at UW.

Rhesus monkeys are studied by biomedical researchers because they are genetically and physiologically similar to humans.

The monkeys in the UW study reached puberty six months to a year earlier than a control group of monkeys the same age that consumed 33% fewer calories. The faster-maturing monkeys were not obese, but their bones and muscles grew faster and larger, said Joe Kurian, an assistant scientist at the center. The faster-maturing monkeys all had consistently higher total body fat and upper abdominal skin folds.

Researchers noted no significant difference in activity levels between the two groups of monkeys, so they suspect the high-calorie-diet animals had an excess energy balance.

The study involved only eight monkeys -- four that were fed the high-calorie diet and four fed a controlled diet. But the findings were consistently dramatic, the researchers said.

Environmental pollutants, eating habits, lack of exercise and genetic traits all have been raised as possible causes of earlier onset of puberty in girls.

The new research about earlier puberty onset reinforces why children's eating behaviors should be balanced with activity. Avoiding early weight gain also reduces the risk of adulthood diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Emotional implications

Early puberty has emotional implications for girls, as well. A younger girl's brain isn't developed enough to handle the intense emotions brought on by puberty, Terasawa said.

"This can be very traumatic physically and psychologically to a young girl who is already showing signs of being a woman at age 8, rather than age 12," she said.

Puberty is a complex topic not only from a physiologic standpoint, but also a psychological perspective, said Sadhana Dharmapuri, an adolescent medicine specialist at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and assistant professor of adolescent medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The UW study offers insight into the physiologic aspects of early puberty, she said. It's interesting, Dharmapuri said, that the researchers were able to control environmental, genetic and chemical exposure factors.

"However there is much research that needs to be done in order to account for these other factors and the influence of higher caloric diets that children and adolescents are exposed to," Dharmapuri said. "More importantly, it is necessary to understand the psychological impact of early pubertal development on children and how we can educate and support them emotionally through these changes.

"This study provides a step in that direction, emphasizing the importance of educating parents and children about what a healthy diet is and how it is important to their overall health and development now, not just 20 years down the road. This study reinforces the need for developing interventions that promote healthy life choices at a young age."

Researchers in the Madison study noted the faster-maturing monkeys had elevated levels of two hormones leading to puberty onset, which liberates other hormones that trigger changes in the brain while the brain is still maturing in ways such as development of judgment.

A surge of puberty-induced hormones may trigger emotions more quickly, or with greater intensity, causing a girl to become more aggressive or sexually active earlier.

The invasion of hormones also likely structures or permanently programs behavioral dispositions, Kurian said.

"If this happens early, when the brain is still immature, those behaviors may be exaggerated or eliminated. Think sexual behaviors, aggressive behaviors, coping abilities."

That's an area of research that still needs more study, he said.

Eating a high-calorie diet also could change the chemical structure of genes, which could be passed on to future generations, said Kurian, making them more prone to earlier onset puberty, too -- yet another area for additional research.

Researchers at the UW primate research center began studying the possible diet connection to earlier onset puberty when Terasawa noticed from records kept over the past 30 years that colony females were growing up faster and seemed to reach menstruation at an earlier age.

Before 1995, the monkeys were fed supplemental fruits and/or fresh vegetables three to five times per week. Since 1995, they have been fed daily fresh fruits. Higher-sugar treats such as fruit roll-ups, Fruit Loops cereal, marshmallows and yogurt were added in 2002 for foraging activities and training.



©2012 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Many Struggle with Eating and Exercise Disorders

Posted April 30, 2012

A healthier heart, greater bone density, strength and muscle mass, decreased body fat and stress reduction are just a few of the benefits of an exercise program. The key to enjoying safe, long-lasting benefits and results, however, is to recognize and understand the difference between training and over-training.

Although not widely publicized, a growing number of people struggle with an obsessive and compulsive need to exercise. Those with body-image illnesses are particularly preoccupied with the notion that they do not “measure up.” Within this mindset, diet and exercise can be a means to fix a perceived flaw, rather than for purposes of good health.

One body-image disorder that often goes hand in hand with compulsive exercise is anorexia nervosa, which is characterized by a preoccupation with weight, size and dieting.

According to the Mayo Clinic, anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes people to obsess about their weight and the food they eat. People with anorexia nervosa attempt to maintain a weight that’s far below normal for their age and height. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia nervosa may starve themselves or exercise excessively.

Often suffering with low self-esteem, compulsive exercise and food restriction may be used as a form of self-punishment for eating too many calories, not performing well on a test or at work, annoying a friend or family member, etc. Obsessive workout sessions are usually extremely long in duration and/or high in intensity, and often contain a ritualistic aspect .

Symptoms of anorexia nervosa and compulsive exercise may include fear of body fat and gaining weight, misperception of self (not seeing themselves as they really are), desire to become thinner and thinner, and in females, loss of menstrual periods.

Other warning signs include working out with injuries or when sick, extreme worry or mood swings if sessions are missed, and the need to work out more than once a day or for many hours per day.

Those with compulsive exercise disorders become anxious and feel extreme guilt when they are unable to work out, and rarely find it fun or enjoyable.

Treatment of obsessive-compulsive exercise and other body-image disorders is extremely important. Without intervention, health and physical safety, emotional well-being and many other areas of life are affected considerably.

Obsessive-compulsive illness affects both men and women, and it should be noted that body weight alone is not always a marker of the condition. Spotting such clues usually comes from someone close to the person. This may be a family member, friend, teacher, coach or anyone else familiar with warning signs.

Marjie Gilliam is a certified personal trainer and fitness consultant. Email: marjie@ohtrainer.com. This article appeared in the Dayton Daily News.

A healthier heart, greater bone density, strength and muscle mass, decreased body fat and stress reduction are just a few of the benefits of an exercise program. The key to enjoying safe, long-lasting benefits and results, however, is to recognize and understand the difference between training and over-training.

Although not widely publicized, a growing number of people struggle with an obsessive and compulsive need to exercise. Those with body-image illnesses are particularly preoccupied with the notion that they do not "measure up." Within this mindset, diet and exercise can be a means to fix a perceived flaw, rather than for purposes of good health.

One body-image disorder that often goes hand in hand with compulsive exercise is anorexia nervosa, which is characterized by a preoccupation with weight, size and dieting.

According to the Mayo Clinic, anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes people to obsess about their weight and the food they eat. People with anorexia nervosa attempt to maintain a weight that's far below normal for their age and height. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia nervosa may starve themselves or exercise excessively.

Often suffering with low self-esteem, compulsive exercise and food restriction may be used as a form of self-punishment for eating too many calories, not performing well on a test or at work, annoying a friend or family member, etc. Obsessive workout sessions are usually extremely long in duration and/or high in intensity, and often contain a ritualistic aspect .

Symptoms of anorexia nervosa and compulsive exercise may include fear of body fat and gaining weight, misperception of self (not seeing themselves as they really are), desire to become thinner and thinner, and in females, loss of menstrual periods.

Other warning signs include working out with injuries or when sick, extreme worry or mood swings if sessions are missed, and the need to work out more than once a day or for many hours per day.

Those with compulsive exercise disorders become anxious and feel extreme guilt when they are unable to work out, and rarely find it fun or enjoyable.

Treatment of obsessive-compulsive exercise and other body-image disorders is extremely important. Without intervention, health and physical safety, emotional well-being and many other areas of life are affected considerably.

Obsessive-compulsive illness affects both men and women, and it should be noted that body weight alone is not always a marker of the condition. Spotting such clues usually comes from someone close to the person. This may be a family member, friend, teacher, coach or anyone else familiar with warning signs.

Marjie Gilliam is a certified personal trainer and fitness consultant. Email: marjie@ohtrainer.com. This article appeared in the Dayton Daily News.

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The Right Snacks Can Help Manage Weight

Posted April 4, 2012

Snacking can be a help or a hindrance when it comes to managing your weight.

Reasonable snacking can stave off hunger and prevent overeating at meals. But the problem seems to be in determining what is reasonable.

Americans snack more now than in past decades. A study done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and published in The Journal of Nutrition compared data about snacking from national health surveys done between 1977 and 2006. During this time, Americans increased the percent of calories from snacking from 18 percent of total calories in 1977 to 24 percent of total calories in 2006. Twenty-four percent of calories from snacking equates to about 600 calories per day.

And what Americans snack on has changed. There has been a huge increase in salty snacks, both the low- and high-fat versions, from 2 percent of total snacking calories in 1977 to just more than 14 percent of total snacking calories in 2006.

Consumption of candy, nuts and seeds and cereals also increased. The amount of snacking on high-fat desserts, like cake, decreased, but snacking on low-fat desserts, like reduced-fat cookies, increased.

Surprisingly, consumption of regular sodas remained about the same, but intake of fruit drinks and sports drinks increased. Consumption of fresh fruit, recommended by most health professionals as part of a healthy snack, decreased. During this time period, obesity rates have dramatically increased.

Maybe Americans snack so much because food is so widely available and so heavily advertised. According to Mintel Menu Insights, a consumer market research firm, menu items at restaurants classified as a “snack item” have increased by 170 percent since 2007.

McDonald’s has a Snack Wrap (a beef patty with condiments wrapped in a tortilla), and KFC has “Snackers,” a smaller version of the typical chicken sandwich that comes in several varieties. A McDonald’s Grilled Snack Wrap with Ranch dressing has 270 calories, while a KFC Snacker has 210 to 310 calories, depending on the type you choose. These are more like a small meal than a snack, and if you add a sweet beverage (around 150 calories) or a small order of French fries (around 200 calories), you would increase the calories significantly.

Many dietitians recommend keeping snacks in the 100- to 200- calorie range. If you eat snacks that are a lot more than that, it can drive up your overall calories for the day.

Registered dietitian Amanda Carmichael, outpatient dietitian at Methodist Germantown Hospital, recommends snacks for those wanting to lose weight.

“Snacks help my clients feel more satisfied throughout the day,” she says. “They don’t get so hungry all the time, and they don’t feel deprived.” Typical snacks she recommends include cottage cheese and fruit, peanut butter and crackers or a bar-type snack, such as a South Beach Bar, preferably with at least 7 grams of protein. “Protein feels more satisfying.”

Carmichael finds many of her clients are eating only one or two meals a day. Some say they don’t have time to eat or they just don’t notice how hungry they are because they are so wrapped up in work or activities. But they make up for it when they finally do eat a meal, and often end up eating more food than they need, resulting in weight gain. This is where reasonable snacking can help, staving off extreme hunger so eating large quantities of food doesn’t become a habit.

One problem with snacking is planning. “People don’t want to plan,” Carmichael says. She suggests carrying appropriate snacks so you don’t get too hungry and end up choosing less- healthful choices.

Physician George Woodman, who maintains a busy general and bariatric surgery practice in Memphis and West Tennessee, says planning is the key. With his weight-loss patients, he finds the “one thing in common with those that do well is that they have planned ahead.” They have “a bag of something in their purse or a healthy snack packed with their lunch,” so they don’t have to rely on vending machines when hunger strikes between meals.

For those who want convenience, Carmichael recommends the 100- calorie packs of crackers or other snacks, but not the cookies and sweet varieties. “I hate the dessert-driven ones,” she says. With too much sugar and not enough fiber or protein, they don’t live up to her snacking standards.

If the prepackaged snacks are too expensive, she suggests buying a larger container of snack food, then portioning out small servings into zippered bags or small containers.

Woodman advises caution with commercially packaged 100-calorie snacks, noting “just because it’s 100 calories doesn’t mean it’s OK,” especially if someone consumes several packages at a time.

What people snack on makes a difference. “For some people, snacking means they’re choosing chips and candy,” says registered dietitian Rachel Burana, clinical dietitian at Delta Medical Center, “which means they are increasing their calorie level.” Not only do chips and candy pack a lot of calories, but they also do not provide a lot of fullness .

Burana steers her clients to higher-fiber snacks because they satisfy for a longer time. Some of her favorite recommendations include apple slices with peanut butter, whole wheat crackers with low-fat cheese, or yogurt and fruit.

Carmichael agrees heartily about making snacks high in fiber. If a client has eaten a snack but still needs a little more, Carmichael suggests raw vegetables with a small amount of dip. This choice provides lots of fiber with few calories.

Board-certified strength and conditioning specialist Jeremy Crowe, fitness trainer at Germantown Athletic Club, recommends snacks for his clients who are working on weight management.

“It helps keep your energy level at an even keel and keeps insulin from spiking too high.” If there is too much insulin circulating in the blood, less fat is burned for fuel. He recommends his clients eat every three to four hours, even if it is just a small amount.

One of Crowe’s favorite snacks to recommend is almonds. He likes their heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, and they seem to satisfy the need for a bit of fuel in between meals. Crowe suggests “20 almonds eaten over a 30-minute period” as a healthful and satisfying snack choice.

Many health professionals agree that nuts make a good snack, but moderate portions are key. Nuts are high in fat and calories. Most of the fat nuts contain is not saturated fat, which can raise blood cholesterol levels. Instead, most varieties of nuts contain more monounsaturated fat, which can decrease “bad” cholesterol.

With nuts, Burana says, the general rule is one small handful.

Burana tells her clients if they eat several snacks during the day, they should “make sure meals are smaller to compensate, so that the total calorie level is acceptable.”

Woodman, who often gets to his office at 5:30 a.m., makes his lunch part of his morning snack. “I divide lunch into two smaller portions, and eat half of it around 9 a.m. and the other half around 1 p.m.”

Crowe, whose day starts around 4:30 a.m. training clients before work, eats a high-protein breakfast early but likes to grab a couple of handfuls of almonds around 7 a.m. He finds this gives him plenty of energy to make it to lunch around 11 a.m.

“Just being hungry doesn’t mean you have to eat something,” Woodman said. “If you’re hungry now and dinner is just 30 minutes away, you can probably wait for the meal.”

Burana encourages her clients to use food journaling as a tool to find out if they are snacking because they are hungry or just because food is nearby or it has become a habit. She encourages her clients to “only eat when you’re hungry” and finds that journaling helps them keep track of how many snacks they have had on a particular day and figure out if they are bored, tired or truly hungry.

Megan Murphy is a Tennessee-licensed registered dietitian and associate professor of nutrition at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Call (901) 277-3062, fax (901) 529-2787, e-mail Meganmyrd@aol.com.

10 Healthy Snack Options

A piece of fruit and an ounce of low-fat cheese or small handful of nuts.

3 to 4 whole wheat crackers spread with a wedge of low-fat cheese spread (such as Laughing Cow).

A slice of thin bread, toasted and spread with 2 tablespoons hummus.

A corn tortilla filled with to 1/3 cup cooked beans, with a little shredded lettuce and salsa.

Half a cup of yogurt (Greek yogurt has more protein) with a few berries and two to three chopped almonds.

Half a lean meat sandwich on whole grain bread.

A banana or apple spread with 1-2 tablespoons peanut butter or other nut butter.

Small fruit and/or vegetable smoothie.

Small salad sprinkled with sunflower seeds and a tablespoon or less of a reduced-fat dressing.

Cut-up vegetables (choose a colorful variety) with low-fat salad dressing as a dip.

Snacking can be a help or a hindrance when it comes to managing your weight.

Reasonable snacking can stave off hunger and prevent overeating at meals. But the problem seems to be in determining what is reasonable.

Americans snack more now than in past decades. A study done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and published in The Journal of Nutrition compared data about snacking from national health surveys done between 1977 and 2006. During this time, Americans increased the percent of calories from snacking from 18 percent of total calories in 1977 to 24 percent of total calories in 2006. Twenty-four percent of calories from snacking equates to about 600 calories per day.

And what Americans snack on has changed. There has been a huge increase in salty snacks, both the low- and high-fat versions, from 2 percent of total snacking calories in 1977 to just more than 14 percent of total snacking calories in 2006.

Consumption of candy, nuts and seeds and cereals also increased. The amount of snacking on high-fat desserts, like cake, decreased, but snacking on low-fat desserts, like reduced-fat cookies, increased.

Surprisingly, consumption of regular sodas remained about the same, but intake of fruit drinks and sports drinks increased. Consumption of fresh fruit, recommended by most health professionals as part of a healthy snack, decreased. During this time period, obesity rates have dramatically increased.

Maybe Americans snack so much because food is so widely available and so heavily advertised. According to Mintel Menu Insights, a consumer market research firm, menu items at restaurants classified as a "snack item" have increased by 170 percent since 2007.

McDonald's has a Snack Wrap (a beef patty with condiments wrapped in a tortilla), and KFC has "Snackers," a smaller version of the typical chicken sandwich that comes in several varieties. A McDonald's Grilled Snack Wrap with Ranch dressing has 270 calories, while a KFC Snacker has 210 to 310 calories, depending on the type you choose. These are more like a small meal than a snack, and if you add a sweet beverage (around 150 calories) or a small order of French fries (around 200 calories), you would increase the calories significantly.

Many dietitians recommend keeping snacks in the 100- to 200- calorie range. If you eat snacks that are a lot more than that, it can drive up your overall calories for the day.

Registered dietitian Amanda Carmichael, outpatient dietitian at Methodist Germantown Hospital, recommends snacks for those wanting to lose weight.

"Snacks help my clients feel more satisfied throughout the day," she says. "They don't get so hungry all the time, and they don't feel deprived." Typical snacks she recommends include cottage cheese and fruit, peanut butter and crackers or a bar-type snack, such as a South Beach Bar, preferably with at least 7 grams of protein. "Protein feels more satisfying."

Carmichael finds many of her clients are eating only one or two meals a day. Some say they don't have time to eat or they just don't notice how hungry they are because they are so wrapped up in work or activities. But they make up for it when they finally do eat a meal, and often end up eating more food than they need, resulting in weight gain. This is where reasonable snacking can help, staving off extreme hunger so eating large quantities of food doesn't become a habit.

One problem with snacking is planning. "People don't want to plan," Carmichael says. She suggests carrying appropriate snacks so you don't get too hungry and end up choosing less- healthful choices.

Physician George Woodman, who maintains a busy general and bariatric surgery practice in Memphis and West Tennessee, says planning is the key. With his weight-loss patients, he finds the "one thing in common with those that do well is that they have planned ahead." They have "a bag of something in their purse or a healthy snack packed with their lunch," so they don't have to rely on vending machines when hunger strikes between meals.

For those who want convenience, Carmichael recommends the 100- calorie packs of crackers or other snacks, but not the cookies and sweet varieties. "I hate the dessert-driven ones," she says. With too much sugar and not enough fiber or protein, they don't live up to her snacking standards.

If the prepackaged snacks are too expensive, she suggests buying a larger container of snack food, then portioning out small servings into zippered bags or small containers.

Woodman advises caution with commercially packaged 100-calorie snacks, noting "just because it's 100 calories doesn't mean it's OK," especially if someone consumes several packages at a time.

What people snack on makes a difference. "For some people, snacking means they're choosing chips and candy," says registered dietitian Rachel Burana, clinical dietitian at Delta Medical Center, "which means they are increasing their calorie level." Not only do chips and candy pack a lot of calories, but they also do not provide a lot of fullness .

Burana steers her clients to higher-fiber snacks because they satisfy for a longer time. Some of her favorite recommendations include apple slices with peanut butter, whole wheat crackers with low-fat cheese, or yogurt and fruit.

Carmichael agrees heartily about making snacks high in fiber. If a client has eaten a snack but still needs a little more, Carmichael suggests raw vegetables with a small amount of dip. This choice provides lots of fiber with few calories.

Board-certified strength and conditioning specialist Jeremy Crowe, fitness trainer at Germantown Athletic Club, recommends snacks for his clients who are working on weight management.

"It helps keep your energy level at an even keel and keeps insulin from spiking too high." If there is too much insulin circulating in the blood, less fat is burned for fuel. He recommends his clients eat every three to four hours, even if it is just a small amount.

One of Crowe's favorite snacks to recommend is almonds. He likes their heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, and they seem to satisfy the need for a bit of fuel in between meals. Crowe suggests "20 almonds eaten over a 30-minute period" as a healthful and satisfying snack choice.

Many health professionals agree that nuts make a good snack, but moderate portions are key. Nuts are high in fat and calories. Most of the fat nuts contain is not saturated fat, which can raise blood cholesterol levels. Instead, most varieties of nuts contain more monounsaturated fat, which can decrease "bad" cholesterol.

With nuts, Burana says, the general rule is one small handful.

Burana tells her clients if they eat several snacks during the day, they should "make sure meals are smaller to compensate, so that the total calorie level is acceptable."

Woodman, who often gets to his office at 5:30 a.m., makes his lunch part of his morning snack. "I divide lunch into two smaller portions, and eat half of it around 9 a.m. and the other half around 1 p.m."

Crowe, whose day starts around 4:30 a.m. training clients before work, eats a high-protein breakfast early but likes to grab a couple of handfuls of almonds around 7 a.m. He finds this gives him plenty of energy to make it to lunch around 11 a.m.

"Just being hungry doesn't mean you have to eat something," Woodman said. "If you're hungry now and dinner is just 30 minutes away, you can probably wait for the meal."

Burana encourages her clients to use food journaling as a tool to find out if they are snacking because they are hungry or just because food is nearby or it has become a habit. She encourages her clients to "only eat when you're hungry" and finds that journaling helps them keep track of how many snacks they have had on a particular day and figure out if they are bored, tired or truly hungry.

Megan Murphy is a Tennessee-licensed registered dietitian and associate professor of nutrition at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Call (901) 277-3062, fax (901) 529-2787, e-mail Meganmyrd@aol.com.

10 Healthy Snack Options

A piece of fruit and an ounce of low-fat cheese or small handful of nuts.

3 to 4 whole wheat crackers spread with a wedge of low-fat cheese spread (such as Laughing Cow).

A slice of thin bread, toasted and spread with 2 tablespoons hummus.

A corn tortilla filled with to 1/3 cup cooked beans, with a little shredded lettuce and salsa.

Half a cup of yogurt (Greek yogurt has more protein) with a few berries and two to three chopped almonds.

Half a lean meat sandwich on whole grain bread.

A banana or apple spread with 1-2 tablespoons peanut butter or other nut butter.

Small fruit and/or vegetable smoothie.

Small salad sprinkled with sunflower seeds and a tablespoon or less of a reduced-fat dressing.

Cut-up vegetables (choose a colorful variety) with low-fat salad dressing as a dip.

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Good Carb or Bad?

Posted Feb 18, 2012

Confused about which carbohydrates you should be eating?

Welcome to the club.

“It’s the biggest lack-of-consensus issue in the U.S. diet today,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health. “We don’t have a standard method for assessing their quality.”

Carbohydrates, the most common of the three energy sources we get from food (the others are fat and protein), reside in the vast majority of our food, prominently in grains, vegetables, legumes and fruits. They are essential to good health – as long as you stick to the good sources and steer clear of the bad ones, which are linked to obesity and a host of chronic conditions, including diabetes and heart disease.

Most health experts agree that processed foods, sweetened beverages and refined grains such as white bread, pasta, flour and rice (which are stripped of their nutrients) are among the worst kinds of carbohydrate-rich foods you can eat.

Your digestive system breaks them down too easily, flooding the bloodstream with simple sugars (glucose), which in turn prompts a surge of the hormone insulin to carry the glucose into the body’s cells, said Michael Roizen, chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute and co-founder of realage.com. Too much blood sugar and insulin for too long can be dangerous on several levels: more fat storage, less fat burning, malfunctioning proteins that eventually lead to organ damage, even cancer cell growth, Roizen said. Your brain also gets addicted to the high glucose levels, leaving you craving more.

What constitutes a good carb, however, can be trickier.

It’s not as basic as “simple” versus “complex,” as fruits contain simple sugars but are a highly desirable carb source.

Rather, four main factors determine the quality of a carb, Mozaffarian said: dietary fiber (the more the better); how fast it makes your blood sugar rise (aka glycemic index, the lower the better); whole-grain content (the more the better); and structure (if it’s liquid, milled or pulverized, it’s not as good).

So Cheerios, which are made of 100 percent whole grain oats, get a thumbs up for whole grain and fiber content, but the pulverized nature of the oats makes it inferior to intact whole grains, such as steel-cut oats, Mozaffarian said.

And pasta? It seems like the quintessential fattening carb, but in fact it has a lower glycemic index than rice or potatoes and is a “reasonable choice,” he said.

Speaking of potatoes … the white ones have a high glycemic index, and studies have shown them to contribute to weight gain, so Mozaffarian banishes them to the “bad” list alongside Skittles. But other nutrition professionals, such as Stephanie Dunbar, director of nutrition and clinical affairs and the American Diabetes Association, gives potatoes the thumbs up because they have nutrients.

And then you have Jonathan Bailor, a health and fitness researcher who advises you source carbohydrates from citrus fruits, berries and a host of nonstarchy vegetables, such as spinach, and stay away from starches altogether – including whole grains. The best foods to eat, Bailor said, are those with greater water, fiber and protein content relative to their calories, so you get more bang for your buck.

“It’s not that whole grains are evil; it’s just absolutely not as good for us as nonstarchy fruits and vegetables,” said Bailor, who recently published “The Smarter Science of Slim” (Aavia; $34.95), the result of a decade of reviewing more than 1,000 diet studies.

Reading the nutrition label can help guide people through the morass. Choose items with less sugar – Roizen says to aim for 4 grams or less – and more dietary fiber. And no, brown sugar and honey aren’t metabolized any differently than the white stuff.But sugar doesn’t tell the whole story, as refined starches with little sugar are still terrible for you.

As a general rule of thumb, Mozaffarian recommends that you look at the ratio of total carbohydrates in a serving to dietary fiber, as that captures both sugar and starch content. If the ratio is 10:1 or more, avoid it. If it’s less than 5:1, it’s very good.

If all the confusion makes you want to reach for a bowl of mac-and-cheese, rest assured that everyone can agree on this: Eating lots of nonstarchy vegetables does every body good.

SHOPPING LIST

Take this list shopping to help you weed out the bad carbs.

BAD CARBS:

Soft drinks

Sports drinks

Fruit drinks

Beer

French fries

White rice

White bread

Sugar-sweetened cereals

Bagels

Baguettes

Croissants

Potato chips

Pastries

Cookies

White crackers

Brownies

Cakes

Pies

Candy

Sugar

Brown sugar

Honey

Debatable

Corn

Popcorn

White potatoes

Pasta

100 percent fruit juice (limited quantities)

GOOD CARBS:

Spinach

Kale

Tomatoes

Mushrooms

Beets

Brussels sprouts

Broccoli

Onion

Squash

Artichoke

Berries

Oranges

Tangerines

Melons

Mangoes

Pears

Peaches

Low-fat Greek yogurt

Sweet potatoes

Peas

Black beans

Kidney beans

Lentils

Brown rice

Barley

Amaranth

Quinoa

Whole-grain bread

Whole-grain pasta

Confused about which carbohydrates you should be eating?

Welcome to the club.

"It's the biggest lack-of-consensus issue in the U.S. diet today," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health. "We don't have a standard method for assessing their quality."

Carbohydrates, the most common of the three energy sources we get from food (the others are fat and protein), reside in the vast majority of our food, prominently in grains, vegetables, legumes and fruits. They are essential to good health - as long as you stick to the good sources and steer clear of the bad ones, which are linked to obesity and a host of chronic conditions, including diabetes and heart disease.

Most health experts agree that processed foods, sweetened beverages and refined grains such as white bread, pasta, flour and rice (which are stripped of their nutrients) are among the worst kinds of carbohydrate-rich foods you can eat.

Your digestive system breaks them down too easily, flooding the bloodstream with simple sugars (glucose), which in turn prompts a surge of the hormone insulin to carry the glucose into the body's cells, said Michael Roizen, chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute and co-founder of realage.com. Too much blood sugar and insulin for too long can be dangerous on several levels: more fat storage, less fat burning, malfunctioning proteins that eventually lead to organ damage, even cancer cell growth, Roizen said. Your brain also gets addicted to the high glucose levels, leaving you craving more.

What constitutes a good carb, however, can be trickier.

It's not as basic as "simple" versus "complex," as fruits contain simple sugars but are a highly desirable carb source.

Rather, four main factors determine the quality of a carb, Mozaffarian said: dietary fiber (the more the better); how fast it makes your blood sugar rise (aka glycemic index, the lower the better); whole-grain content (the more the better); and structure (if it's liquid, milled or pulverized, it's not as good).

So Cheerios, which are made of 100 percent whole grain oats, get a thumbs up for whole grain and fiber content, but the pulverized nature of the oats makes it inferior to intact whole grains, such as steel-cut oats, Mozaffarian said.

And pasta? It seems like the quintessential fattening carb, but in fact it has a lower glycemic index than rice or potatoes and is a "reasonable choice," he said.

Speaking of potatoes ... the white ones have a high glycemic index, and studies have shown them to contribute to weight gain, so Mozaffarian banishes them to the "bad" list alongside Skittles. But other nutrition professionals, such as Stephanie Dunbar, director of nutrition and clinical affairs and the American Diabetes Association, gives potatoes the thumbs up because they have nutrients.

And then you have Jonathan Bailor, a health and fitness researcher who advises you source carbohydrates from citrus fruits, berries and a host of nonstarchy vegetables, such as spinach, and stay away from starches altogether - including whole grains. The best foods to eat, Bailor said, are those with greater water, fiber and protein content relative to their calories, so you get more bang for your buck.

"It's not that whole grains are evil; it's just absolutely not as good for us as nonstarchy fruits and vegetables," said Bailor, who recently published "The Smarter Science of Slim" (Aavia; $34.95), the result of a decade of reviewing more than 1,000 diet studies.

Reading the nutrition label can help guide people through the morass. Choose items with less sugar - Roizen says to aim for 4 grams or less - and more dietary fiber. And no, brown sugar and honey aren't metabolized any differently than the white stuff.But sugar doesn't tell the whole story, as refined starches with little sugar are still terrible for you.

As a general rule of thumb, Mozaffarian recommends that you look at the ratio of total carbohydrates in a serving to dietary fiber, as that captures both sugar and starch content. If the ratio is 10:1 or more, avoid it. If it's less than 5:1, it's very good.

If all the confusion makes you want to reach for a bowl of mac-and-cheese, rest assured that everyone can agree on this: Eating lots of nonstarchy vegetables does every body good.

SHOPPING LIST

Take this list shopping to help you weed out the bad carbs.

BAD CARBS:

Soft drinks

Sports drinks

Fruit drinks

Beer

French fries

White rice

White bread

Sugar-sweetened cereals

Bagels

Baguettes

Croissants

Potato chips

Pastries

Cookies

White crackers

Brownies

Cakes

Pies

Candy

Sugar

Brown sugar

Honey

Debatable

Corn

Popcorn

White potatoes

Pasta

100 percent fruit juice (limited quantities)

GOOD CARBS:

Spinach

Kale

Tomatoes

Mushrooms

Beets

Brussels sprouts

Broccoli

Onion

Squash

Artichoke

Berries

Oranges

Tangerines

Melons

Mangoes

Pears

Peaches

Low-fat Greek yogurt

Sweet potatoes

Peas

Black beans

Kidney beans

Lentils

Brown rice

Barley

Amaranth

Quinoa

Whole-grain bread

Whole-grain pasta

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Teen Dieting Can Lead to Future Weight Gain

Posted Feb 18, 2012

Researchers at the University of Minnesota followed local students over a decade and found that those who tried risky diets in their adolescent years were likely to gain more weight by their 20s.

Their findings, reported in the latest Journal of Adolescent Health, show that students who tried weight-loss strategies such as skipping meals or taking diet pills in 1999 and 2004 were likely to be heavier in 2009. Girls who tried these tactics gained 4.63 points in their body mass indexes (BMI) over the 10-year study period. Girls who didn’t gained only 2.29 points. (BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. A one-point increase equates to roughly 5 pounds of excess weight gain.)

The findings held up regardless of whether the students, from Minneapolis, St. Paul and Osseo, were overweight at the start of the study. This was an important nuance because it’s otherwise logical that overweight kids would be more likely to try extreme dieting — and to end up with proportionately more weight gain than slimmer peers.

The study doesn’t address the “why” question, but lead author Dianne Neumark-Sztainer has a theory.

“It’s probably that these [risky dieting] behaviors are being substituted for healthy behaviors. They’re probably going on and off and on and off these behaviors, as opposed to implementing an ongoing routine of healthier eating and physical activity.”

The greatest increases in BMI were noticed among students who attempted skipping meals or eating very little, girls who tried diet pills, and boys who sought to replace food with powders and special drinks.

“We really want to help kids stay away from this sort of short-term dieting,” Neumark-Sztainer said, “and the use of unhealthy weight-control behaviors.”

An inherent problem in this type of research is that findings often come out years after the studies were completed. Some of the “children” in this study now have their own children. But Neumark-Sztainer said she will be publishing additional research shortly showing that today’s teens face the same pressures and temptations to diet as teens from a decade earlier.

Jeremy Olson –612-673-7744

©2012 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Researchers at the University of Minnesota followed local students over a decade and found that those who tried risky diets in their adolescent years were likely to gain more weight by their 20s.

Their findings, reported in the latest Journal of Adolescent Health, show that students who tried weight-loss strategies such as skipping meals or taking diet pills in 1999 and 2004 were likely to be heavier in 2009. Girls who tried these tactics gained 4.63 points in their body mass indexes (BMI) over the 10-year study period. Girls who didn't gained only 2.29 points. (BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. A one-point increase equates to roughly 5 pounds of excess weight gain.)

The findings held up regardless of whether the students, from Minneapolis, St. Paul and Osseo, were overweight at the start of the study. This was an important nuance because it's otherwise logical that overweight kids would be more likely to try extreme dieting -- and to end up with proportionately more weight gain than slimmer peers.

The study doesn't address the "why" question, but lead author Dianne Neumark-Sztainer has a theory.

"It's probably that these [risky dieting] behaviors are being substituted for healthy behaviors. They're probably going on and off and on and off these behaviors, as opposed to implementing an ongoing routine of healthier eating and physical activity."

The greatest increases in BMI were noticed among students who attempted skipping meals or eating very little, girls who tried diet pills, and boys who sought to replace food with powders and special drinks.

"We really want to help kids stay away from this sort of short-term dieting," Neumark-Sztainer said, "and the use of unhealthy weight-control behaviors."

An inherent problem in this type of research is that findings often come out years after the studies were completed. Some of the "children" in this study now have their own children. But Neumark-Sztainer said she will be publishing additional research shortly showing that today's teens face the same pressures and temptations to diet as teens from a decade earlier.

Jeremy Olson --612-673-7744

©2012 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

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Eat Real Food and Healthy Fats

Posted Feb 9, 2012

Diet is such an unpleasant word. (Anything that starts with “die” can’t be good, right?) But what if you just removed it from your vocabulary? According to some experts, not only should you stop dieting, you should eat more fat.

That wasn’t a typo.

“I always tell women you need fat like you need oil in your car,” said Beth Aldrich, a certified health counselor and author of “Real Moms Love to Eat: How to Conduct a Love Affair with Food, Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous.” “Fat gives you essential vitamins, but it also makes you feel full.”

Aldrich said when you try to fill up on fat-free or low-fat items, you wind up eating more.

“Your body intuitively knows what it needs,” she said. “So if it doesn’t get the necessary nutrition it will keep eating until it’s satisfied.”

Dr. William Lassek, co-author of the book “Why Women Need Fat,” said another big contributor to our country’s weight gain is the overconsumption of foods rich in omega 6, such as fried foods or bakery goods, which make it harder for a person to store healthy fats like omega 3. His research found women in Japan eat foods rich in omega 3 and low in omega 6, while Americans have done just the opposite.

“Back in the early ’70s only one American woman in seven was considered obese,” Lassek said. “Now twice as many fall into that group. If you compare that to Japan, only one in 20 is obese. Our chickens and cows are now being fed corn, which has 20 times more omega 6 than omega 3. If we had a balanced diet of omega 6 and omega 3 it would be OK, but we are way off balance.”

He said dairy and sugar aren’t the enemy – it’s processed foods and high fructose corn syrup that add on the pounds. “The Danish diet is rich in fat, dairy and sugar, and only one Danish woman in 14 is fat compared to one in three in the U.S.,” Lassek said.

“We have to go back to the basics,” Aldrich said. “I tell women, if your great-grandmother ate it, it will probably be good for you.”

Here are Lassek’s and Aldrich’s tips to avoiding weight gain while eating fat.

Hydrate. “We’ve gotten so used to not drinking water these days, but we need water,” Lassek said. “Kids used to drink milk and water and now we all have sodas. This is pure high fructose corn syrup. And diet sodas aren’t a good option. There’s lots of data that suggests that diet drinks may promote weight gain.”

“I tell people to start the day with a glass of water with lemon,” Aldrich said. “It helps to flush out the toxins.”

Load up on omega 3s and DHA. “If you can’t get quality seafood, fish oil capsules or capsules high in DHA and omega 3s are very important,” Lassek said. “Australia gets half of their DHA (docosa hexaenoic acid) from grass-fed beef and lamb. You can also put flax seeds in your salad. Eggs are also a good source of omega 3s.”

“I drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil on things all the time,” Aldrich said. “And coconut oil is getting a bad rap lately, but it’s one of the good fats too.”

Eat small portions often. “If you put both fists together, that’s about the size of your stomach,” Aldrich said. “I eat every three hours, and try to keep the portions under control.”

Read labels. “People are reading the calorie count and not the actual ingredients, which is more important,” Aldrich said. “It’s about understanding the different types of fats. Butter isn’t as bad as something that’s ‘polyunsaturated.’ ”

Eat real food in moderation. “We eat fat because it tastes good,” Aldrich said. “When we eat real ingredients we take the time to really enjoy it – and wind up eating less because it’s more satisfying. We have to think of food as a long-term relationship and get into a love affair (with it).”

Diet is such an unpleasant word. (Anything that starts with "die" can't be good, right?) But what if you just removed it from your vocabulary? According to some experts, not only should you stop dieting, you should eat more fat.

That wasn't a typo.

"I always tell women you need fat like you need oil in your car," said Beth Aldrich, a certified health counselor and author of "Real Moms Love to Eat: How to Conduct a Love Affair with Food, Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous." "Fat gives you essential vitamins, but it also makes you feel full."

Aldrich said when you try to fill up on fat-free or low-fat items, you wind up eating more.

"Your body intuitively knows what it needs," she said. "So if it doesn't get the necessary nutrition it will keep eating until it's satisfied."

Dr. William Lassek, co-author of the book "Why Women Need Fat," said another big contributor to our country's weight gain is the overconsumption of foods rich in omega 6, such as fried foods or bakery goods, which make it harder for a person to store healthy fats like omega 3. His research found women in Japan eat foods rich in omega 3 and low in omega 6, while Americans have done just the opposite.

"Back in the early '70s only one American woman in seven was considered obese," Lassek said. "Now twice as many fall into that group. If you compare that to Japan, only one in 20 is obese. Our chickens and cows are now being fed corn, which has 20 times more omega 6 than omega 3. If we had a balanced diet of omega 6 and omega 3 it would be OK, but we are way off balance."

He said dairy and sugar aren't the enemy - it's processed foods and high fructose corn syrup that add on the pounds. "The Danish diet is rich in fat, dairy and sugar, and only one Danish woman in 14 is fat compared to one in three in the U.S.," Lassek said.

"We have to go back to the basics," Aldrich said. "I tell women, if your great-grandmother ate it, it will probably be good for you."

Here are Lassek's and Aldrich's tips to avoiding weight gain while eating fat.

Hydrate. "We've gotten so used to not drinking water these days, but we need water," Lassek said. "Kids used to drink milk and water and now we all have sodas. This is pure high fructose corn syrup. And diet sodas aren't a good option. There's lots of data that suggests that diet drinks may promote weight gain."

"I tell people to start the day with a glass of water with lemon," Aldrich said. "It helps to flush out the toxins."

Load up on omega 3s and DHA. "If you can't get quality seafood, fish oil capsules or capsules high in DHA and omega 3s are very important," Lassek said. "Australia gets half of their DHA (docosa hexaenoic acid) from grass-fed beef and lamb. You can also put flax seeds in your salad. Eggs are also a good source of omega 3s."

"I drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil on things all the time," Aldrich said. "And coconut oil is getting a bad rap lately, but it's one of the good fats too."

Eat small portions often. "If you put both fists together, that's about the size of your stomach," Aldrich said. "I eat every three hours, and try to keep the portions under control."

Read labels. "People are reading the calorie count and not the actual ingredients, which is more important," Aldrich said. "It's about understanding the different types of fats. Butter isn't as bad as something that's 'polyunsaturated.' "

Eat real food in moderation. "We eat fat because it tastes good," Aldrich said. "When we eat real ingredients we take the time to really enjoy it - and wind up eating less because it's more satisfying. We have to think of food as a long-term relationship and get into a love affair (with it)."

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One in Ten to Have Diabetes by 2030

Posted Jan 8, 2012

The International Diabetes Federation predicts that one in 10 adults could have diabetes by 2030, according to their latest statistics.

In a report issued on Monday, the advocacy group estimated that 522 million people would have diabetes in the next two decades, based on things like aging and demographic changes.

The figure includes both types of diabetes. The group expects the number of cases to jump by 90 percent even in Africa, where infectious diseases have previously been the top killer. Without including the impact of increasing obesity, the International Diabetes Federation said its figures were conservative.

According to the World Health Organization, there are about 346 million people worldwide with diabetes, with more than 80 percent of deaths occurring in developing countries. The agency projects diabetes deaths will double by 2030 and said the International Diabetes Federation’s prediction was possible.

“It’s a credible figure,” said Gojka Roglic, head of WHO’s diabetes unit. “But whether or not it’s correct, we can’t say.”

Roglic said the projected future rise in diabetes cases was because of aging rather than the obesity epidemic. Most cases of diabetes are Type 2, the kind that mainly hits people in middle age, and is linked to weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle.

Roglic said a substantial number of future diabetes cases were preventable. “It’s worrying because these people will have an illness which is serious, debilitating, and shortens their lives,” she said. “But it doesn’t have to happen if we take the right interventions.”

Online:

http://www.idf.org

http://www.who.int

The International Diabetes Federation predicts that one in 10 adults could have diabetes by 2030, according to their latest statistics.

In a report issued on Monday, the advocacy group estimated that 522 million people would have diabetes in the next two decades, based on things like aging and demographic changes.

The figure includes both types of diabetes. The group expects the number of cases to jump by 90 percent even in Africa, where infectious diseases have previously been the top killer. Without including the impact of increasing obesity, the International Diabetes Federation said its figures were conservative.

According to the World Health Organization, there are about 346 million people worldwide with diabetes, with more than 80 percent of deaths occurring in developing countries. The agency projects diabetes deaths will double by 2030 and said the International Diabetes Federation's prediction was possible.

"It's a credible figure," said Gojka Roglic, head of WHO's diabetes unit. "But whether or not it's correct, we can't say."

Roglic said the projected future rise in diabetes cases was because of aging rather than the obesity epidemic. Most cases of diabetes are Type 2, the kind that mainly hits people in middle age, and is linked to weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle.

Roglic said a substantial number of future diabetes cases were preventable. "It's worrying because these people will have an illness which is serious, debilitating, and shortens their lives," she said. "But it doesn't have to happen if we take the right interventions."

Online:

http://www.idf.org

http://www.who.int

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Is the Paleo Diet For You?

Posted Dec 28, 2011

The contents of Mike and Ashley Bledsoe’s refrigerator would make a vegetarian swoon.

The Cordova couple polish off 10 pounds of meat and five dozen eggs each week.

It’s part of a high-protein diet, to which the couple feel they largely owe their trim and muscular physiques.

While people searching for better health are increasingly turning to vegetarian and vegan diets, there is a group of health hunters taking a more primal route.

Followers of the Paleo Diet and lifestyle, also known as the Caveman Diet, strive to recreate not only the diet, but also the physical routine and sleep patterns of their Paleolithic ancestors.

The idea behind the trend is that foods alien to our bodies have wreaked havoc on our systems, introducing diseases unknown to our ancestors, such as obesity, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

Eating like a caveman, means depending on freshly killed animals and readily available vegetation.

That means no dairy, grains, legumes, processed food or refined sugars.

Instead, the proponents consume unlimited quantities of lean meat, as well as seafood, eggs, fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts.

“I’m only going to call it Paleo if it’s as close to natural as possible,” said Mike Bledsoe, 30, who went

paleo two years ago.

Emphasizing high-quality food, Paleo followers search out fresh produce and meat, he said.

Trainer and co-owner of Faction Strength & Conditioning, home of CrossFit Memphis in Cordova, Bledsoe has a local farm make regular deliveries of vegetables and grass-fed beef to the gym.

With his encouragement, nearly all of the gym’s 135 members follow the diet to some degree, he said.

It’s created a tribe of Paleo fanatics, with members swapping recipes and throwing around nicknames like “Grok.”

CrossFit gyms across the country have been among the biggest converters of people to the Paleo lifestyle.

The CrossFit workout fits well with what many envision as the caveman’s routine — climbing, jumping, running and lifting weights.

“There’s no machines, there’s no unnatural movements that go on,” Bledsoe said.

Paleo extremists will run barefoot, lifting large objects found in the wilderness.

Bledsoe simply opts for minimally padded sneakers and sticks to an indoor workout.

The intensity at which Paleo followers practice the lifestyle varies widely.

Some believe the human body wasn’t meant to ingest cooked food and so they eat a completely raw diet. Some give blood regularly to mimic blood loss that might have occurred while hunting their dinner.

Like many people who go Paleo, Ashley Bledsoe, 29, says she’s seen a lengthy list of health improvements.

“My skin looks better, my hair grows better,” she said.

Most significantly, Bledsoe’s digestive problems that would leave her in agony after a meal have evaporated, she said.

Paleo critics, however, worry about the long-term effects of cutting out entire food groups.

“I guess cavemen didn’t live long enough to acquire osteoporosis,” said Marian Levy, associate professor at the University of Memphis and director of the master of public health program.

“For people living into their 60s and 70s, they need calcium for osteoporosis and food high in fiber and low in fat to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” she said.

A heavy protein diet can also put stress on the kidneys, she said.

Michael McGoldrick, 25, a manufacturing sales representative, who participates in CrossFit competitions, is considered a dedicated Paleo among his caveman comrades.

With the pectorals of a silverback gorilla, McGoldrick’s competitions include lifting more than 250 pounds.

To live out his primal side, the Cordova resident will steal away to his father’s log cabin in Arkansas, where he swims in the river and runs up hills, lugging heavy stones and logs.

“At first I wanted to look better, and that moved into I wanted to feel better,” McGoldrick said.

He had experimented with The Zone Diet, but got burned out calculating his food portions, he said.

“I liked not having to measure my food and just eating until I was full,” he said.

Much as caveman are believed to have waited long stretches between eating large meals, every so often, McGoldrick will do a five-day fast, when he drinks only a concoction of palm tree juice.

McGoldrick has been satisfied with the improvements he’s seen in his body, but its the shift in mood that has kept him hooked.

“I’m balanced. I don’t get that crash in the afternoon,” he said. “I sleep better and I wake up more refreshed.”

Books and blogs by paleo gurus, like Robb Wolf and Dr. Loren Cordain, have been key in teaching modern-day paleos how to take on the caveman lifestyle.

Tyler Wainright, an East Memphis resident and manager at Medtronic, has been chronicling his journey into the Stone Age-lifestyle over the past few months on his blog PaleoMemphis.tumblr.com.

The father of two young girls, Wainright, 34, started noticing a little pudge around the middle, when he decided to make a big lifestyle switch.

With a family history of weight gain, heart disease and cancer, he began researching diets.

“It fits my lifestyle,” said Wainright, who loves that he can still eat bacon.

Unlike the intense Crossfit workout, he’s been doing light running and walking, he said.

Since the summer, Wainright has lost 20 pounds and 10 percent of his body fat, he said.

But 21st century living doesn’t always lend itself to the caveman’s ways.

To simulate the sun, lights should be dimmed 90 minutes before bedtime, Bledsoe said, and you should get roughly nine hours of sleep without sunlight or a blinking alarm clock.

“We try to, but modern life gets in the way,” he said.

And many Paleos have their moments of weakness.

“One to two hours a week I cut loose. I drink beer, I eat pizza,” Bledsoe said.

He often feels something similar to a hangover afterward, he said, but it only reinvigorates him to get back to clean living.

Bledsoe envisions pulling together a documentary paralleling the life of the caveman with modern-day man. Where the caveman’s life was threatened by hungry animals and foul weather, today’s human is being killed off by processed food, he said.

On the other hand, McGoldrick doesn’t spend time philosophizing over Paleolithic ancestors.

“I’m an extremely religious person, so I don’t know if I believe that,” Goldrick said. “What I do believe is how It makes me feel.”

Paleo Diet resources

Robb Wolf: robbwolf.com

Dr. Loren Cordain: thepaleodiet.com

Tyler Wainright, Memphis blogger:

paleomemphis.tumblr.com

Faction Strength & Conditioning, Home of CrossFit Memphis: 7740 Trinity Rd, Cordova, (901) 246-9451, factionsc.com.

©2011 The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)

Visit The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.) at www.commercialappeal.com

The contents of Mike and Ashley Bledsoe's refrigerator would make a vegetarian swoon.

The Cordova couple polish off 10 pounds of meat and five dozen eggs each week.

It's part of a high-protein diet, to which the couple feel they largely owe their trim and muscular physiques.

While people searching for better health are increasingly turning to vegetarian and vegan diets, there is a group of health hunters taking a more primal route.

Followers of the Paleo Diet and lifestyle, also known as the Caveman Diet, strive to recreate not only the diet, but also the physical routine and sleep patterns of their Paleolithic ancestors.

The idea behind the trend is that foods alien to our bodies have wreaked havoc on our systems, introducing diseases unknown to our ancestors, such as obesity, diabetes and Alzheimer's.

Eating like a caveman, means depending on freshly killed animals and readily available vegetation.

That means no dairy, grains, legumes, processed food or refined sugars.

Instead, the proponents consume unlimited quantities of lean meat, as well as seafood, eggs, fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts.

"I'm only going to call it Paleo if it's as close to natural as possible," said Mike Bledsoe, 30, who went

paleo two years ago.

Emphasizing high-quality food, Paleo followers search out fresh produce and meat, he said.

Trainer and co-owner of Faction Strength & Conditioning, home of CrossFit Memphis in Cordova, Bledsoe has a local farm make regular deliveries of vegetables and grass-fed beef to the gym.

With his encouragement, nearly all of the gym's 135 members follow the diet to some degree, he said.

It's created a tribe of Paleo fanatics, with members swapping recipes and throwing around nicknames like "Grok."

CrossFit gyms across the country have been among the biggest converters of people to the Paleo lifestyle.

The CrossFit workout fits well with what many envision as the caveman's routine -- climbing, jumping, running and lifting weights.

"There's no machines, there's no unnatural movements that go on," Bledsoe said.

Paleo extremists will run barefoot, lifting large objects found in the wilderness.

Bledsoe simply opts for minimally padded sneakers and sticks to an indoor workout.

The intensity at which Paleo followers practice the lifestyle varies widely.

Some believe the human body wasn't meant to ingest cooked food and so they eat a completely raw diet. Some give blood regularly to mimic blood loss that might have occurred while hunting their dinner.

Like many people who go Paleo, Ashley Bledsoe, 29, says she's seen a lengthy list of health improvements.

"My skin looks better, my hair grows better," she said.

Most significantly, Bledsoe's digestive problems that would leave her in agony after a meal have evaporated, she said.

Paleo critics, however, worry about the long-term effects of cutting out entire food groups.

"I guess cavemen didn't live long enough to acquire osteoporosis," said Marian Levy, associate professor at the University of Memphis and director of the master of public health program.

"For people living into their 60s and 70s, they need calcium for osteoporosis and food high in fiber and low in fat to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease," she said.

A heavy protein diet can also put stress on the kidneys, she said.

Michael McGoldrick, 25, a manufacturing sales representative, who participates in CrossFit competitions, is considered a dedicated Paleo among his caveman comrades.

With the pectorals of a silverback gorilla, McGoldrick's competitions include lifting more than 250 pounds.

To live out his primal side, the Cordova resident will steal away to his father's log cabin in Arkansas, where he swims in the river and runs up hills, lugging heavy stones and logs.

"At first I wanted to look better, and that moved into I wanted to feel better," McGoldrick said.

He had experimented with The Zone Diet, but got burned out calculating his food portions, he said.

"I liked not having to measure my food and just eating until I was full," he said.

Much as caveman are believed to have waited long stretches between eating large meals, every so often, McGoldrick will do a five-day fast, when he drinks only a concoction of palm tree juice.

McGoldrick has been satisfied with the improvements he's seen in his body, but its the shift in mood that has kept him hooked.

"I'm balanced. I don't get that crash in the afternoon," he said. "I sleep better and I wake up more refreshed."

Books and blogs by paleo gurus, like Robb Wolf and Dr. Loren Cordain, have been key in teaching modern-day paleos how to take on the caveman lifestyle.

Tyler Wainright, an East Memphis resident and manager at Medtronic, has been chronicling his journey into the Stone Age-lifestyle over the past few months on his blog PaleoMemphis.tumblr.com.

The father of two young girls, Wainright, 34, started noticing a little pudge around the middle, when he decided to make a big lifestyle switch.

With a family history of weight gain, heart disease and cancer, he began researching diets.

"It fits my lifestyle," said Wainright, who loves that he can still eat bacon.

Unlike the intense Crossfit workout, he's been doing light running and walking, he said.

Since the summer, Wainright has lost 20 pounds and 10 percent of his body fat, he said.

But 21st century living doesn't always lend itself to the caveman's ways.

To simulate the sun, lights should be dimmed 90 minutes before bedtime, Bledsoe said, and you should get roughly nine hours of sleep without sunlight or a blinking alarm clock.

"We try to, but modern life gets in the way," he said.

And many Paleos have their moments of weakness.

"One to two hours a week I cut loose. I drink beer, I eat pizza," Bledsoe said.

He often feels something similar to a hangover afterward, he said, but it only reinvigorates him to get back to clean living.

Bledsoe envisions pulling together a documentary paralleling the life of the caveman with modern-day man. Where the caveman's life was threatened by hungry animals and foul weather, today's human is being killed off by processed food, he said.

On the other hand, McGoldrick doesn't spend time philosophizing over Paleolithic ancestors.

"I'm an extremely religious person, so I don't know if I believe that," Goldrick said. "What I do believe is how It makes me feel."

Paleo Diet resources

Robb Wolf: robbwolf.com

Dr. Loren Cordain: thepaleodiet.com

Tyler Wainright, Memphis blogger:

paleomemphis.tumblr.com

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More Like the ‘Freshman 3′

Posted Dec 28, 2011

University of Colorado student Chelsea Jewell said she lost 12 pounds during her freshman year because she didn’t care much for dorm food.

“If I ever went to dinner, it was more of a social thing,” she said.

Turns out, the “freshman 15″ is a bloated myth, according to a new study. Freshmen actually gain between 21/2 and 31/2 pounds — on average — over the course of their first year in college, according to scientists at Ohio State University.

Jewell said her dorm diet was pretty restrictive: “I ate whatever kind of potatoes they were having, like mashed potatoes or Tater Tots.” For lunch, she stuck with soup and salad. She tells freshmen now that they’re fortunate to have the Center for Community, a state-of-the-art dining hall that opened last fall and offers different food stations — including one that cooks up tapas — and rivals nice restaurants.

The survey out of Ohio used data from 7,418 young people from around the country. The findings showed that women gained an average of 2.4 pounds their freshman year, while men gained an average of 3.4 pounds.

Ten percent of college freshmen gained 15 pounds or more. One-quarter of the freshmen surveyed reported losing weight.

“Most students don’t gain large amounts of weight,” said Jay Zagorsky, co-author of the study and research scientist at Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research. “And it is not college that leads to weight gain. It is becoming a young adult.”

Zagorsky carried out the study with Patricia Smith of the University of Michigan in Dearborn. The study appears in this month’s journal Social Science Quarterly.

Health officials have been concerned that the “freshman 15″ myth could trigger eating disorders.

The researchers examined a variety of factors that may be associated with freshman weight gain, including whether they lived in a dorm, went to school full-time, pursued a two-year or four-year degree, went to a private or public institution, or were heavy alcohol drinkers.

None of those factors made a significant difference in weight gain, except for heavy drinking, according to the researchers. Students who drank heavily gained less than a pound more than their peers.

The results show that college students do gain weight steadily over their college years. The typical woman gains between seven and nine pounds, while men gain between 12 and 13 pounds.

“Not only is there not a ‘freshman 15,’ there doesn’t appear to be even a ‘college 15′ for most students,” Zagorsky said.

Alex Seguin, a CU junior studying art history and media studies, said he lost about five pounds when he lived in the dorms. He often ate cereal for dinner, he said. Sophomore year was a different story because he started going out to eat.

Lauren Heising, coordinator for sustainable dining at CU, said that when she began at the university 23 years ago, the myth was called “freshman 10.”

“We have more concern on the Boulder campus with eating disorders,” she said.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com.

©2011 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.)

Visit the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) at www.dailycamera.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

University of Colorado student Chelsea Jewell said she lost 12 pounds during her freshman year because she didn't care much for dorm food.

"If I ever went to dinner, it was more of a social thing," she said.

Turns out, the "freshman 15" is a bloated myth, according to a new study. Freshmen actually gain between 21/2 and 31/2 pounds -- on average -- over the course of their first year in college, according to scientists at Ohio State University.

Jewell said her dorm diet was pretty restrictive: "I ate whatever kind of potatoes they were having, like mashed potatoes or Tater Tots." For lunch, she stuck with soup and salad. She tells freshmen now that they're fortunate to have the Center for Community, a state-of-the-art dining hall that opened last fall and offers different food stations -- including one that cooks up tapas -- and rivals nice restaurants.

The survey out of Ohio used data from 7,418 young people from around the country. The findings showed that women gained an average of 2.4 pounds their freshman year, while men gained an average of 3.4 pounds.

Ten percent of college freshmen gained 15 pounds or more. One-quarter of the freshmen surveyed reported losing weight.

"Most students don't gain large amounts of weight," said Jay Zagorsky, co-author of the study and research scientist at Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research. "And it is not college that leads to weight gain. It is becoming a young adult."

Zagorsky carried out the study with Patricia Smith of the University of Michigan in Dearborn. The study appears in this month's journal Social Science Quarterly.

Health officials have been concerned that the "freshman 15" myth could trigger eating disorders.

The researchers examined a variety of factors that may be associated with freshman weight gain, including whether they lived in a dorm, went to school full-time, pursued a two-year or four-year degree, went to a private or public institution, or were heavy alcohol drinkers.

None of those factors made a significant difference in weight gain, except for heavy drinking, according to the researchers. Students who drank heavily gained less than a pound more than their peers.

The results show that college students do gain weight steadily over their college years. The typical woman gains between seven and nine pounds, while men gain between 12 and 13 pounds.

"Not only is there not a 'freshman 15,' there doesn't appear to be even a 'college 15' for most students," Zagorsky said.

Alex Seguin, a CU junior studying art history and media studies, said he lost about five pounds when he lived in the dorms. He often ate cereal for dinner, he said. Sophomore year was a different story because he started going out to eat.

Lauren Heising, coordinator for sustainable dining at CU, said that when she began at the university 23 years ago, the myth was called "freshman 10."

"We have more concern on the Boulder campus with eating disorders," she said.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com.

©2011 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.)

Visit the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) at www.dailycamera.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Simple Tips for Weight Loss Success

Posted Dec 27, 2011

How can you lose weight in 2012? Let us count the ways. Whether you’ve vowed to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following advice will help make achieving your weight loss resolution a little easier. We scoured research journals and spoke with diet and fitness experts to find a year’s worth of practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, torch fat, and flatten your belly. In this three-part series, we’ll bring you a total of 52 ways to cut the fat.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up.

“When you successfully implement one change, you’re more likely to do another. The more you’re able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you’ll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change,” says Jessica Cassity, author of “Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You.” Over the next 52 weeks, use these strategies in your daily life to help you reach your goal by year’s end.

-Hit the gas early during your workout. College of New Jersey researchers found that men who started a 30-minute running workout at high speed, working at 70 percent of their VO2 max, and then eased up to 50 percent of VO2 max burned 5 to 10 percent more fat than those who started slow and then revved up the pace. The after-burn of the high-intensity workout seems to carry over into the lower-intensity period, increasing overall fat burn.

-Use public transportation. Turns out taking the bus or train is as good for your body as it is for your wallet and the environment. In one recent study from two Pennsylvania universities, researchers found that people who switched from driving everywhere to using a light-rail system lost an average of about 6 pounds in a year.

“The theory is that by walking the extra blocks it takes to get to and from bus stops and train stations – instead of pulling up right in front of a destination – you naturally increase your activity level enough to result in weight loss,” says Cassity.

-Drink two cups of coffee, black. A study in the journal of Physiology and Behavior found that drinking two cups of caffeinated coffee can boost your metabolism by 16 percent compared with the decaf kind. Make sure to drink it black though. The 67 calories in a spoonful of sugar and a tablespoon of cream can negate caffeine’s calorie-burning benefits.

-Blot your pizza with a napkin. You’ll dab off about 4.5 g of fat – or close to 30 calories per slice. Of course, depending on the pizza and your toppings, the amount of excess oil you can remove varies, notes Keri Gans, RD, author of “The Small Change Diet.” If you want a healthier slice, she prefers one loaded with veggies.

-Have a glass of wine. Rat studies show that resveratrol, a compound in red wine, may help fight weight gain when eating a high-fat diet. The same seems to hold true in humans. Harvard researchers found that women who drank about two glasses a day gained less weight and were less likely to become overweight than teetotalers.

-But avoid vodka. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that drinking even as little as 1 ounce of vodka can slow your metabolism by as much as 73 percent.

-Douse your food in Tabasco. Capsaicin – the spicy compound found in the white membrane of chili peppers – has been shown to rev up your metabolism and can torch somewhere near an extra 50 calories. Eating salsa may boost fat burn a little bit, says Cassity, but don’t let that give you license to pile on the chips and guac. You still need to watch out for overall calorie intake.

-Fuel up on fiber. In addition to making you feel full, longer (and therefore helping you eat less), fiber can help you burn through as much as 30 percent more calories, according to a study in the Journal of Nutrition. “Fiber has roughage,” says Gans. “And roughage takes a longer time for your body to break down and requires more energy to digest.”

-Sleep more. Researchers found that dieters who logged 8.5 hours of shut-eye burned more fat than those who slept 5.5 hours. While both groups lost a similar amount of weight (6.6 pounds), the ones who got a full night’s rest dropped the majority of their weight from fat while those who slept less lost most of theirs from muscle.

-Increase physical activity outside of the gym. In a recent U.K. study, 34 overweight women completed the same 150-minute-a-week exercise program, and while some women lost up to 7 pounds of body fat, others gained up to 5. The researchers think that the women who lost the most were the ones who maintained or increased their physical activity beyond the gym; those who gained weight had cut back on their everyday activity. “If you’re going to the gym, you don’t want to negate it by eating a lot afterward or no longer taking the stairs,” says Cassity. “You have to live the same life – if not improve on it – when you pick up exercise.”

-Eat breakfast. A study conducted by the U.S. Navy found that people who ate breakfast daily helped boost the metabolisms of its personnel by as much as 10 %.

-Pump iron. Lifting weights can help you torch a few more calories even after you finish your session, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Women who did an hour-long strength-training program burned 100 more calories in the next 24 hours than when they didn’t hit the weights.

-Choose tuna swimming in water. Stick to tuna packed in water not oil. Three ounces of water-packed chicken of the sea contains 109 calories and 2.5 g of fat compared with 158 calories and 6.9 g of fat in the oil-soaked kind. Plus, it’s a good protein source that’s rick in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce your risk of heart disease and help prevent depression, says Gans.

-Drink chocolate milk. McMaster University researchers compared the effects of downing low-fat chocolate milk, fat-free soy protein drink, and a traditional carbohydrate recovery drink after exercise. Not only did the milk drinkers gain more muscle than those who drank the soy and carbohydrate beverages, but they also lost twice as much fat.

-Drink cold water. German researchers found that your metabolism can increase by as much as 30 percent during the 10 minutes after you drink a cold glass. Why? They speculate that your body burns more calories as it tries to warm the water.

-Brew a cup of green tea. A 2010 Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics study found that after 3 months, people who drank two glasses of decaf green tea a day lost 2.6 more pounds than those who drank an herbal brew. Researchers believe that catechin compounds in green tea may prevent fat formation and stimulate your metabolism.

-Say yes to yogurt. A study in the International Journal of Obesity found that eating yogurt as part of a low-calorie diet may help burn more fat. People who tucked in three 1-cup servings a day lost 22 percent more weight and 61 percent more fat than those who dieted without including yogurt. Even better – most of the fat lost was from the belly.

For more tips and tricks, visit Fitbie.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

How can you lose weight in 2012? Let us count the ways. Whether you've vowed to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following advice will help make achieving your weight loss resolution a little easier. We scoured research journals and spoke with diet and fitness experts to find a year's worth of practical and effective methods to rev your metabolism, torch fat, and flatten your belly. In this three-part series, we'll bring you a total of 52 ways to cut the fat.

The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up.

"When you successfully implement one change, you're more likely to do another. The more you're able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more chance you'll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can add up to a lifestyle change," says Jessica Cassity, author of "Better Each Day: 365 Expert Tips for a Healthier, Happier You." Over the next 52 weeks, use these strategies in your daily life to help you reach your goal by year's end.

-Hit the gas early during your workout. College of New Jersey researchers found that men who started a 30-minute running workout at high speed, working at 70 percent of their VO2 max, and then eased up to 50 percent of VO2 max burned 5 to 10 percent more fat than those who started slow and then revved up the pace. The after-burn of the high-intensity workout seems to carry over into the lower-intensity period, increasing overall fat burn.

-Use public transportation. Turns out taking the bus or train is as good for your body as it is for your wallet and the environment. In one recent study from two Pennsylvania universities, researchers found that people who switched from driving everywhere to using a light-rail system lost an average of about 6 pounds in a year.

"The theory is that by walking the extra blocks it takes to get to and from bus stops and train stations - instead of pulling up right in front of a destination - you naturally increase your activity level enough to result in weight loss," says Cassity.

-Drink two cups of coffee, black. A study in the journal of Physiology and Behavior found that drinking two cups of caffeinated coffee can boost your metabolism by 16 percent compared with the decaf kind. Make sure to drink it black though. The 67 calories in a spoonful of sugar and a tablespoon of cream can negate caffeine's calorie-burning benefits.

-Blot your pizza with a napkin. You'll dab off about 4.5 g of fat - or close to 30 calories per slice. Of course, depending on the pizza and your toppings, the amount of excess oil you can remove varies, notes Keri Gans, RD, author of "The Small Change Diet." If you want a healthier slice, she prefers one loaded with veggies.

-Have a glass of wine. Rat studies show that resveratrol, a compound in red wine, may help fight weight gain when eating a high-fat diet. The same seems to hold true in humans. Harvard researchers found that women who drank about two glasses a day gained less weight and were less likely to become overweight than teetotalers.

-But avoid vodka. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that drinking even as little as 1 ounce of vodka can slow your metabolism by as much as 73 percent.

-Douse your food in Tabasco. Capsaicin - the spicy compound found in the white membrane of chili peppers - has been shown to rev up your metabolism and can torch somewhere near an extra 50 calories. Eating salsa may boost fat burn a little bit, says Cassity, but don't let that give you license to pile on the chips and guac. You still need to watch out for overall calorie intake.

-Fuel up on fiber. In addition to making you feel full, longer (and therefore helping you eat less), fiber can help you burn through as much as 30 percent more calories, according to a study in the Journal of Nutrition. "Fiber has roughage," says Gans. "And roughage takes a longer time for your body to break down and requires more energy to digest."

-Sleep more. Researchers found that dieters who logged 8.5 hours of shut-eye burned more fat than those who slept 5.5 hours. While both groups lost a similar amount of weight (6.6 pounds), the ones who got a full night's rest dropped the majority of their weight from fat while those who slept less lost most of theirs from muscle.

-Increase physical activity outside of the gym. In a recent U.K. study, 34 overweight women completed the same 150-minute-a-week exercise program, and while some women lost up to 7 pounds of body fat, others gained up to 5. The researchers think that the women who lost the most were the ones who maintained or increased their physical activity beyond the gym; those who gained weight had cut back on their everyday activity. "If you're going to the gym, you don't want to negate it by eating a lot afterward or no longer taking the stairs," says Cassity. "You have to live the same life - if not improve on it - when you pick up exercise."

-Eat breakfast. A study conducted by the U.S. Navy found that people who ate breakfast daily helped boost the metabolisms of its personnel by as much as 10 %.

-Pump iron. Lifting weights can help you torch a few more calories even after you finish your session, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Women who did an hour-long strength-training program burned 100 more calories in the next 24 hours than when they didn't hit the weights.

-Choose tuna swimming in water. Stick to tuna packed in water not oil. Three ounces of water-packed chicken of the sea contains 109 calories and 2.5 g of fat compared with 158 calories and 6.9 g of fat in the oil-soaked kind. Plus, it's a good protein source that's rick in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help reduce your risk of heart disease and help prevent depression, says Gans.

-Drink chocolate milk. McMaster University researchers compared the effects of downing low-fat chocolate milk, fat-free soy protein drink, and a traditional carbohydrate recovery drink after exercise. Not only did the milk drinkers gain more muscle than those who drank the soy and carbohydrate beverages, but they also lost twice as much fat.

-Drink cold water. German researchers found that your metabolism can increase by as much as 30 percent during the 10 minutes after you drink a cold glass. Why? They speculate that your body burns more calories as it tries to warm the water.

-Brew a cup of green tea. A 2010 Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics study found that after 3 months, people who drank two glasses of decaf green tea a day lost 2.6 more pounds than those who drank an herbal brew. Researchers believe that catechin compounds in green tea may prevent fat formation and stimulate your metabolism.

-Say yes to yogurt. A study in the International Journal of Obesity found that eating yogurt as part of a low-calorie diet may help burn more fat. People who tucked in three 1-cup servings a day lost 22 percent more weight and 61 percent more fat than those who dieted without including yogurt. Even better - most of the fat lost was from the belly.

For more tips and tricks, visit Fitbie.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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The Real Danger of Apple Juice

Posted December 6, 2011

It’s true – apple juice can pose a risk to your health. But not necessarily from the trace amounts of arsenic that people are arguing about.

Despite the government’s consideration of new limits on arsenic, nutrition experts say apple juice’s real danger is to waistlines and children’s teeth. Apple juice has few natural nutrients, lots of calories and, in some cases, more sugar than soda has. It trains a child to like very sweet things, displaces better beverages and foods, and adds to the obesity problem, its critics say.

“It’s like sugar water,” said Judith Stern, a nutrition professor at the University of California, Davis, who has consulted for candy makers as well as for Weight Watchers. “I won’t let my 3-year-old grandson drink apple juice.”

Many juices are fortified with vitamins, so they’re not just empty calories. But that doesn’t appease some nutritionists.

“If it wasn’t healthy in the first place, adding vitamins doesn’t make it into a health food,” and if it causes weight gain, it’s not a healthy choice, said Karen Ansel, a registered dietitian in New York and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says juice can be part of a healthy diet, but its policy is blunt: “Fruit juice offers no nutritional benefit for infants younger than 6 months” and no benefits over whole fruit for older kids.

Kids under 12 consume 28 percent of all juice and juice drinks, according to the academy. Nationwide, apple juice is second only to orange juice in popularity. Americans slurp 267 ounces of apple juice on average each year, according to the Food Institute’s Almanac of Juice Products and the Juice Products Association, a trade group. Lots more is consumed as an ingredient in juice drinks and various foods.

Only 17 percent of the apple juice sold in the U.S. is produced here. The rest comes from other countries, mostly China, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, the association says.

Television’s Dr. Mehmet Oz made that a key point a few months ago when he raised an alarm – some say a false alarm – over arsenic in apple juice, based on tests his show commissioned by a private lab. The Food and Drug Administration said that its own tests disagreed and that apple juice is safe.

However, on Wednesday, after Consumer Reports did its own tests on several juice brands and called along with other consumer groups for stricter standards, the FDA said it will examine whether its restrictions on the amount of arsenic allowed in apple juice are stringent enough.

Some forms of arsenic, such as the type found in pesticides, can be toxic and may pose a cancer risk if consumed at high levels or over a long period.

All juice sold in the United States must be safe and meet U.S. standards, said Pat Faison, technical director for the juice association. As for making good nutrition choices, “a lot of the information that people need about fruit juices is on the label,” she said.

So what’s on those labels?

Carbohydrates, mostly sugars, in a much higher concentration than in milk. Juice has a small amount of protein and minerals and lacks the fiber in whole fruit, the pediatrics academy notes.

Drinking juice delivers a lot of calories quickly so you don’t realize how much you’ve consumed, whereas you would have to eat a lot of apples to get the same amount, and “you would feel much, much more full from the apples,” Ansel said.

“Whole fruits are much better for you,” said Dr. Frank Greer, a University of Wisconsin, Madison, professor and former head of the pediatrics academy’s nutrition committee.

He noted that the WIC program – the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children – revised its rules in 2005 to replace juice with baby food fruits and vegetables for children over 6 months. More than half of all infants born in the U.S. are eligible for WIC, and the government “really cut back severely on the ability of mothers to get fruit juices” through the program, Greer said.

If you or your family drinks juice, here is some advice from nutrition experts:

-Choose a juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D-3.

-Give children only pasteurized juice – that’s the only type safe from germs that can cause serious disease.

-Don’t give juice before 6 months of age, and never put it in bottles or covered cups that allow babies and children to consume it throughout the day, which can cause tooth decay. For the same reason, don’t give infants juice at bedtime.

-Limit juice to 4 to 6 ounces per day for children ages 1 to 6, and 8 to 12 ounces for those ages 7 to 18.

-Encourage kids to eat fruit.

-Don’t be swayed by healthy-sounding label claims. “No sugar added” doesn’t mean it isn’t full of naturally occurring sugar. And “cholesterol-free” is silly – only animal products contain cholesterol.

—

Marilynn Marchione can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Online:

Academy of Pediatrics on juice: http://tinyurl.com/qtkls

FDA: http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm271394.htm

WIC program advice: http://bit.ly/sYXqAi

Industry: http://www.fruitjuicefacts.org

It's true - apple juice can pose a risk to your health. But not necessarily from the trace amounts of arsenic that people are arguing about.

Despite the government's consideration of new limits on arsenic, nutrition experts say apple juice's real danger is to waistlines and children's teeth. Apple juice has few natural nutrients, lots of calories and, in some cases, more sugar than soda has. It trains a child to like very sweet things, displaces better beverages and foods, and adds to the obesity problem, its critics say.

"It's like sugar water," said Judith Stern, a nutrition professor at the University of California, Davis, who has consulted for candy makers as well as for Weight Watchers. "I won't let my 3-year-old grandson drink apple juice."

Many juices are fortified with vitamins, so they're not just empty calories. But that doesn't appease some nutritionists.

"If it wasn't healthy in the first place, adding vitamins doesn't make it into a health food," and if it causes weight gain, it's not a healthy choice, said Karen Ansel, a registered dietitian in New York and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says juice can be part of a healthy diet, but its policy is blunt: "Fruit juice offers no nutritional benefit for infants younger than 6 months" and no benefits over whole fruit for older kids.

Kids under 12 consume 28 percent of all juice and juice drinks, according to the academy. Nationwide, apple juice is second only to orange juice in popularity. Americans slurp 267 ounces of apple juice on average each year, according to the Food Institute's Almanac of Juice Products and the Juice Products Association, a trade group. Lots more is consumed as an ingredient in juice drinks and various foods.

Only 17 percent of the apple juice sold in the U.S. is produced here. The rest comes from other countries, mostly China, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, the association says.

Television's Dr. Mehmet Oz made that a key point a few months ago when he raised an alarm - some say a false alarm - over arsenic in apple juice, based on tests his show commissioned by a private lab. The Food and Drug Administration said that its own tests disagreed and that apple juice is safe.

However, on Wednesday, after Consumer Reports did its own tests on several juice brands and called along with other consumer groups for stricter standards, the FDA said it will examine whether its restrictions on the amount of arsenic allowed in apple juice are stringent enough.

Some forms of arsenic, such as the type found in pesticides, can be toxic and may pose a cancer risk if consumed at high levels or over a long period.

All juice sold in the United States must be safe and meet U.S. standards, said Pat Faison, technical director for the juice association. As for making good nutrition choices, "a lot of the information that people need about fruit juices is on the label," she said.

So what's on those labels?

Carbohydrates, mostly sugars, in a much higher concentration than in milk. Juice has a small amount of protein and minerals and lacks the fiber in whole fruit, the pediatrics academy notes.

Drinking juice delivers a lot of calories quickly so you don't realize how much you've consumed, whereas you would have to eat a lot of apples to get the same amount, and "you would feel much, much more full from the apples," Ansel said.

"Whole fruits are much better for you," said Dr. Frank Greer, a University of Wisconsin, Madison, professor and former head of the pediatrics academy's nutrition committee.

He noted that the WIC program - the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children - revised its rules in 2005 to replace juice with baby food fruits and vegetables for children over 6 months. More than half of all infants born in the U.S. are eligible for WIC, and the government "really cut back severely on the ability of mothers to get fruit juices" through the program, Greer said.

If you or your family drinks juice, here is some advice from nutrition experts:

-Choose a juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D-3.

-Give children only pasteurized juice - that's the only type safe from germs that can cause serious disease.

-Don't give juice before 6 months of age, and never put it in bottles or covered cups that allow babies and children to consume it throughout the day, which can cause tooth decay. For the same reason, don't give infants juice at bedtime.

-Limit juice to 4 to 6 ounces per day for children ages 1 to 6, and 8 to 12 ounces for those ages 7 to 18.

-Encourage kids to eat fruit.

-Don't be swayed by healthy-sounding label claims. "No sugar added" doesn't mean it isn't full of naturally occurring sugar. And "cholesterol-free" is silly - only animal products contain cholesterol.

---

Marilynn Marchione can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Online:

Academy of Pediatrics on juice: http://tinyurl.com/qtkls

FDA: http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm271394.htm

WIC program advice: http://bit.ly/sYXqAi

Industry: http://www.fruitjuicefacts.org

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Make Regular Fitness a Habit

Posted Dec 5, 2011

From Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, the diet of the average American is easily corrupted for even the most disciplined. Let’s face it, turning away a slice of gravy-smothered turkey or capon, a mound of seasoned, mashed potatoes or a heap of herbed, breaded stuffing only can be accomplished by the most regulated fitness-minded advocates of self-control. And then the coup de grace — refusing a piece of freshly made Waldorf Astoria pumpkin cheesecake, replete with two tablespoons of Southern Comfort.

It seems almost un-American to deprive yourself of these pleasures. So you succumbed — now what?

You fell briefly from the wagon of hope onto the ground of excess but redemption is at hand if you are resolved to do so. What to do?

Maybe a reflection on how the benefits of physical

activity can offset your recent fall from grace before it becomes habitual. Adjustments in a person’s lifestyle can be made at any time and replaced with corrective physical measures, which could lead to a more healthy future.

Instead of watching Sylvester Stallone in Rocky for the 10th time, why not tear yourself away from that award-winner and try walking, swimming, jogging or some other form of exercise? And if it’s not important, make it important.

“If you rest, you rust,” Ruidoso Athletic Club (RAC) personal fitness trainer Avril Coakley admonishes.

Consider this: Regular physical activity increases quality of life as well as reduces the risk of developing or dying from some of the leading causes of illness and death in the United States.

–Helps to control weight.

–Helps maintain balance and posture.

–Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.

–Helps reduce the overall cost of medical care.

–Promotes psychological well-being.

–Reduces the risk of dying prematurely from heart disease.

–Reduces the risk of developing diabetes.

–Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure.

–Helps reduce blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure.

–Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer.

–Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.

–Helps increase energy levels as well as increase the quality of sleep.

> Non-movement of the body leads to low energy, weight gain, chronic diseases, sleep disorders and muscle imbalances. If you let muscles and joints stop moving, over time the overall body loses the ability to move with any sort of balance or efficiency regardless of age.

Life is motion. When we stop moving, we stop living, which is why staying active is the number one desire of people as they age.

When you talk to healthy people older than 80, they will almost unanimously say their secret is “keeping active.” Motion is vital for health and aging well.

“Exercise is not scary,” Coakley said. “When people let their muscular system fall apart, their balance and posture then suffers. This is true of men and women, young and old.

“Our bodies and our muscles work best when they are worked. The body has a need to move.

“If you are typing at a computer for an hour, when you stand up your first instinct is to stretch. When people undergo surgery, they are now required to get up and move around as soon as possible.

“Studies show people heal much better when you get them moving. Exercise in general is simply moving your body.

“In addition to the obvious muscular and cardiovascular benefits of moving, motion and physical activity pump vital fluids within the body.

“Cells and tissues with little direct circulation receive nutrition and have their waste products removed by the physical compression and stretching that occurs with motion and exercise.

“This is why incorporating regular exercise is so vital to an individual’s health and well-being.”

For those who choose to modify their lifestyle and incorporate physical activity into a consistent regimen of living, other facets of improved health should also be considered in conjunction.

Proper nutrition can greatly aid sports recoveries in such events as baseball, basketball, running, swimming, etc., before and after such performances.

Qualified, personal training experts can get you in suitable shape for such competitions as skiing, racquetball and cycling.

Improper sleep habits and sleep disorders can affect an athlete’s conduct on the field of play as well as influencing a person’s emotional and/or mental capabilities in his or her job.

And lastly, how the benefits of aquatic exercise may improve your overall health through the use of all muscles in the body.

The last four mentioned phases of creating a healthy lifestyle will be covered individually in upcoming articles in the Ruidoso News sports section.

Editor’s note: RAC personal fitness trainer, Avril Coakley, contributed greatly to this article.

©2011 the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.)

From Thanksgiving through New Year's Day, the diet of the average American is easily corrupted for even the most disciplined. Let's face it, turning away a slice of gravy-smothered turkey or capon, a mound of seasoned, mashed potatoes or a heap of herbed, breaded stuffing only can be accomplished by the most regulated fitness-minded advocates of self-control. And then the coup de grace -- refusing a piece of freshly made Waldorf Astoria pumpkin cheesecake, replete with two tablespoons of Southern Comfort.

It seems almost un-American to deprive yourself of these pleasures. So you succumbed -- now what?

You fell briefly from the wagon of hope onto the ground of excess but redemption is at hand if you are resolved to do so. What to do?

Maybe a reflection on how the benefits of physical

activity can offset your recent fall from grace before it becomes habitual. Adjustments in a person's lifestyle can be made at any time and replaced with corrective physical measures, which could lead to a more healthy future.

Instead of watching Sylvester Stallone in Rocky for the 10th time, why not tear yourself away from that award-winner and try walking, swimming, jogging or some other form of exercise? And if it's not important, make it important.

"If you rest, you rust," Ruidoso Athletic Club (RAC) personal fitness trainer Avril Coakley admonishes.

Consider this: Regular physical activity increases quality of life as well as reduces the risk of developing or dying from some of the leading causes of illness and death in the United States.

--Helps to control weight.

--Helps maintain balance and posture.

--Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.

--Helps reduce the overall cost of medical care.

--Promotes psychological well-being.

--Reduces the risk of dying prematurely from heart disease.

--Reduces the risk of developing diabetes.

--Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure.

--Helps reduce blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure.

--Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer.

--Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.

--Helps increase energy levels as well as increase the quality of sleep.

> Non-movement of the body leads to low energy, weight gain, chronic diseases, sleep disorders and muscle imbalances. If you let muscles and joints stop moving, over time the overall body loses the ability to move with any sort of balance or efficiency regardless of age.

Life is motion. When we stop moving, we stop living, which is why staying active is the number one desire of people as they age.

When you talk to healthy people older than 80, they will almost unanimously say their secret is "keeping active." Motion is vital for health and aging well.

"Exercise is not scary," Coakley said. "When people let their muscular system fall apart, their balance and posture then suffers. This is true of men and women, young and old.

"Our bodies and our muscles work best when they are worked. The body has a need to move.

"If you are typing at a computer for an hour, when you stand up your first instinct is to stretch. When people undergo surgery, they are now required to get up and move around as soon as possible.

"Studies show people heal much better when you get them moving. Exercise in general is simply moving your body.

"In addition to the obvious muscular and cardiovascular benefits of moving, motion and physical activity pump vital fluids within the body.

"Cells and tissues with little direct circulation receive nutrition and have their waste products removed by the physical compression and stretching that occurs with motion and exercise.

"This is why incorporating regular exercise is so vital to an individual's health and well-being."

For those who choose to modify their lifestyle and incorporate physical activity into a consistent regimen of living, other facets of improved health should also be considered in conjunction.

Proper nutrition can greatly aid sports recoveries in such events as baseball, basketball, running, swimming, etc., before and after such performances.

Qualified, personal training experts can get you in suitable shape for such competitions as skiing, racquetball and cycling.

Improper sleep habits and sleep disorders can affect an athlete's conduct on the field of play as well as influencing a person's emotional and/or mental capabilities in his or her job.

And lastly, how the benefits of aquatic exercise may improve your overall health through the use of all muscles in the body.

The last four mentioned phases of creating a healthy lifestyle will be covered individually in upcoming articles in the Ruidoso News sports section.

Editor's note: RAC personal fitness trainer, Avril Coakley, contributed greatly to this article.

©2011 the Ruidoso News (Ruidoso, N.M.)

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Dr Says Gluten Cause of Many Ills

Posted Dec 3, 2011

The last few decades have not been good for wheat.

Some of the world’s most popular diets (Atkins, South Beach and the Dukan Diet) have urged followers to ditch bread and other carbs to slim down, while a rising number of celiac and gluten sensitivity sufferers have dropped bread in the name of health.

For cardiologist William Davis, this is no coincidence. The author of the new book “Wheat Belly” (Rodale, $25.99) believes that modern wheat – including whole wheat – has become so uniquely destructive to multiple body functions that more than 80 percent of us could benefit from giving it up all together. Forty to 50 percent of us, he says, could see and feel results almost right away.

His book, which has spent time this fall on The New York Times best-sellers list for advice books, posits that when traditional wheat was genetically altered to become semi-dwarf wheat in the last century, it was assumed, without any testing, that the modifications would not change the way it affected those who ate it.

But Davis theorizes that those genetic changes could be responsible for the rise in celiac disease and gluten sensitivity we are seeing today. He further pinpoints unique compounds in wheat such as gliadin, amylopectin A and others as triggers of hunger, sharper blood sugar spikes, behavioral disorders and destructive inflammation.

Though admitting that some of his conclusions are drawn from anecdotal evidence, the Wisconsin cardiologist says he has watched thousands of patients effortlessly lose weight, relieve joint pain, eliminate their need for inhalers and improve their blood numbers with the simple removal of wheat.

But the whole world does not agree. Shortly after Davis’ book was announced through Rodale Publishing in late summer, the Grain Foods Foundation, a trade group, launched a campaign to challenge his claims, noting, among other things, that removing wheat from one’s diet could result in nutrition deficiencies.

Davis acknowledges this danger, but only if dieters replaced the wheat with unhealthful foods instead of the foods he recommends. And though GFF representatives acknowledged that no human studies were done on the safety of genetically altered wheat, they did reject his mantra that if you “lose the wheat, you lose the weight.”

“It’s not supported by the literature,” says Glenn Gaesser, the director of the Healthy Lifestyles Research Center at Arizona State University and member of the GFF advisory board. “If you lose the calories – and most of our grain calories come from wheat – you lose the weight.”

For more on the debate, Davis has responded to the challenges on his blog (wheatbellyblog.com) and the GFF has responded to readers’ questions on its blog (sixservings.org).

We recently chatted with Davis about the controversy and tips for those interested in applying his theories to their life.

Q:One of the most surprising statements in your book is that whole-wheat products aren’t that much better than white when it comes to blood sugar and certainly not when it comes to appetite stimulation, inflammation and other issues. So if we must eat bread, does it not really matter if we go for whole grain or not?

A:This genetically altered form of wheat has been transformed into such a destructive “food” that any amount has the potential to trigger undesirable consequences. For instance, there’s what I call the “I had one cookie and gained 30 pounds” effect. … One day, you go to a dinner party and they’re serving some delicious looking bruschetta hors d’oeuvres. You say, “What the heck!” … Before you know it, the floodgates of appetite have been reopened by exposure to the gliadin protein of wheat, the component responsible for triggering appetite – and you promptly gain back 30 pounds.

Others go wheat-free, then have a sandwich and suffer a food- poisoninglike reaction: diarrhea, cramps, gas for 24 to 48 hours, while others experience asthma, joint pains, sinus congestion or emotional effects like anxiety or rage. This is not a benign grain that “only” causes increased appetite and weight gain, it is incredibly disruptive for health across a spectrum of conditions.

Q:Can someone gain prorated benefits by eliminating some wheat from their diet?

A:You’d think that with elimination of, say, 80 percent of wheat, you’d obtain 80 percent of the benefit. Not true. Eighty percent elimination leads to something far less, e.g., 30 to 40 percent of the benefit. I’m not entirely sure why this is, but it may be … due to the overwhelming inflammation-triggering effect of wheat gluten and lectins, or the appetite-stimulating effects of the gliadin protein unique to wheat. But, yes, even reduction does yield benefits, just not as dramatic as elimination.

Q:What about whole barley, brown rice and even spelt?

A:Those are three different foods with different implications. Barley is a potential gluten exposure, so it can introduce inflammation and autoimmune implications in the susceptible.

Brown rice is immunologically benign, but it is a carbohydrate; when consumed in more than small quantities, it provokes higher blood sugars which, in turn, provoke glycation, or glucose- modification of proteins, the process underlying diabetes, atherosclerosis, cataracts, kidney disease, etc. I generally advise most people to limit brown rice portion size to no more than a half- cup to avoid these effects.

Spelt is one of the evolutionarily older forms of wheat, along with kamut, emmer and einkorn. They are better, since they lack the most destructive proteins. … However, the older forms of wheat can still trigger many of the same phenomena as modern wheat, just not as severely. They are better … but they are not good.

Q:So what would you advise be done on an agricultural level?

A:The first order of business is to raise awareness and just allow it to be an issue of individual choice. It also might be a good idea to resurrect some of the older forms of wheat but from when? One hundreds years ago? A thousand? We don’t have any clinical studies on this yet.

Editor’s note: Spelt and kamut are gluten-containing grains and should not be consumed by those who cannot tolerate gluten.

The last few decades have not been good for wheat.

Some of the world's most popular diets (Atkins, South Beach and the Dukan Diet) have urged followers to ditch bread and other carbs to slim down, while a rising number of celiac and gluten sensitivity sufferers have dropped bread in the name of health.

For cardiologist William Davis, this is no coincidence. The author of the new book "Wheat Belly" (Rodale, $25.99) believes that modern wheat - including whole wheat - has become so uniquely destructive to multiple body functions that more than 80 percent of us could benefit from giving it up all together. Forty to 50 percent of us, he says, could see and feel results almost right away.

His book, which has spent time this fall on The New York Times best-sellers list for advice books, posits that when traditional wheat was genetically altered to become semi-dwarf wheat in the last century, it was assumed, without any testing, that the modifications would not change the way it affected those who ate it.

But Davis theorizes that those genetic changes could be responsible for the rise in celiac disease and gluten sensitivity we are seeing today. He further pinpoints unique compounds in wheat such as gliadin, amylopectin A and others as triggers of hunger, sharper blood sugar spikes, behavioral disorders and destructive inflammation.

Though admitting that some of his conclusions are drawn from anecdotal evidence, the Wisconsin cardiologist says he has watched thousands of patients effortlessly lose weight, relieve joint pain, eliminate their need for inhalers and improve their blood numbers with the simple removal of wheat.

But the whole world does not agree. Shortly after Davis' book was announced through Rodale Publishing in late summer, the Grain Foods Foundation, a trade group, launched a campaign to challenge his claims, noting, among other things, that removing wheat from one's diet could result in nutrition deficiencies.

Davis acknowledges this danger, but only if dieters replaced the wheat with unhealthful foods instead of the foods he recommends. And though GFF representatives acknowledged that no human studies were done on the safety of genetically altered wheat, they did reject his mantra that if you "lose the wheat, you lose the weight."

"It's not supported by the literature," says Glenn Gaesser, the director of the Healthy Lifestyles Research Center at Arizona State University and member of the GFF advisory board. "If you lose the calories - and most of our grain calories come from wheat - you lose the weight."

For more on the debate, Davis has responded to the challenges on his blog (wheatbellyblog.com) and the GFF has responded to readers' questions on its blog (sixservings.org).

We recently chatted with Davis about the controversy and tips for those interested in applying his theories to their life.

Q:One of the most surprising statements in your book is that whole-wheat products aren't that much better than white when it comes to blood sugar and certainly not when it comes to appetite stimulation, inflammation and other issues. So if we must eat bread, does it not really matter if we go for whole grain or not?

A:This genetically altered form of wheat has been transformed into such a destructive "food" that any amount has the potential to trigger undesirable consequences. For instance, there's what I call the "I had one cookie and gained 30 pounds" effect. ... One day, you go to a dinner party and they're serving some delicious looking bruschetta hors d'oeuvres. You say, "What the heck!" ... Before you know it, the floodgates of appetite have been reopened by exposure to the gliadin protein of wheat, the component responsible for triggering appetite - and you promptly gain back 30 pounds.

Others go wheat-free, then have a sandwich and suffer a food- poisoninglike reaction: diarrhea, cramps, gas for 24 to 48 hours, while others experience asthma, joint pains, sinus congestion or emotional effects like anxiety or rage. This is not a benign grain that "only" causes increased appetite and weight gain, it is incredibly disruptive for health across a spectrum of conditions.

Q:Can someone gain prorated benefits by eliminating some wheat from their diet?

A:You'd think that with elimination of, say, 80 percent of wheat, you'd obtain 80 percent of the benefit. Not true. Eighty percent elimination leads to something far less, e.g., 30 to 40 percent of the benefit. I'm not entirely sure why this is, but it may be ... due to the overwhelming inflammation-triggering effect of wheat gluten and lectins, or the appetite-stimulating effects of the gliadin protein unique to wheat. But, yes, even reduction does yield benefits, just not as dramatic as elimination.

Q:What about whole barley, brown rice and even spelt?

A:Those are three different foods with different implications. Barley is a potential gluten exposure, so it can introduce inflammation and autoimmune implications in the susceptible.

Brown rice is immunologically benign, but it is a carbohydrate; when consumed in more than small quantities, it provokes higher blood sugars which, in turn, provoke glycation, or glucose- modification of proteins, the process underlying diabetes, atherosclerosis, cataracts, kidney disease, etc. I generally advise most people to limit brown rice portion size to no more than a half- cup to avoid these effects.

Spelt is one of the evolutionarily older forms of wheat, along with kamut, emmer and einkorn. They are better, since they lack the most destructive proteins. ... However, the older forms of wheat can still trigger many of the same phenomena as modern wheat, just not as severely. They are better ... but they are not good.

Q:So what would you advise be done on an agricultural level?

A:The first order of business is to raise awareness and just allow it to be an issue of individual choice. It also might be a good idea to resurrect some of the older forms of wheat but from when? One hundreds years ago? A thousand? We don't have any clinical studies on this yet.

Editor's note: Spelt and kamut are gluten-containing grains and should not be consumed by those who cannot tolerate gluten.

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Blame Potato Chips for Weight Gain

Posted Dec 2, 2011

Blame the potato chip. It’s the biggest demon behind that pound-a-year weight creep that plagues many of us, a major diet study found. Bigger than soda, candy and ice cream.

And the reason is partly that old advertising cliche: You can’t eat just one.

“They’re very tasty and they have a very good texture. People generally don’t take one or two chips. They have a whole bag,” said obesity expert Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer of the St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.

What we eat and how much of it we consume has far more impact than exercise and most other habits do on long-term weight gain, according to the study by Harvard University scientists. It’s the most comprehensive look yet at the effect of individual foods and lifestyle choices like sleep time and quitting smoking.

The results are in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Weight problems are epidemic. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Pounds often are packed on gradually over decades, and many people struggle to limit weight gain without realizing what’s causing it.

The new study finds food choices are key. The message: Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Cut back on potatoes, red meat, sweets and soda.

“There is no magic bullet for weight control,” said one study leader, Dr. Frank Hu. “Diet and exercise are important for preventing weight gain, but diet clearly plays a bigger role.”

Doctors analyzed changes in diet and lifestyle habits of 120,877 people from three long-running medical studies. All were health professionals and not obese at the start. Their weight was measured every four years for up to two decades, and they detailed their diet on questionnaires.

On average, participants gained nearly 17 pounds over the 20-year period.

For each four-year period, food choices contributed nearly 4 pounds. Exercise, for those who did it, cut less than 2 pounds.

Potato chips were the biggest dietary offender. Each daily serving containing 1 ounce (about 15 chips and 160 calories) led to a 1.69-pound uptick over four years. That’s compared to sweets and desserts, which added 0.41 pound.

For starchy potatoes other than chips, the gain was 1.28 pounds. Within the spud group, french fries were worse for the waist than boiled, baked or mashed potatoes. That’s because a serving of large fries contains between 500 to 600 calories compared with a serving of a large baked potato at 280 calories.

Soda added a pound over four years. Eating more fruits and vegetables and other unprocessed foods led to less weight gain, probably because they are fiber-rich and make people feel fuller.

For each four-year period, these factors had these effects on weight:

- An alcoholic drink a day, 0.41-pound increase.

- Watching an hour of TV a day, 0.31-pound increase.

- Recently quitting smoking, 5-pound increase.

People who slept more or less than six to eight hours a night gained more weight.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and a foundation. Several researchers reported receiving fees from drug and nutrition companies.

“Humans naturally like fat and sweet,” said Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, who had no role in the study. “That’s why we always tell people to eat their fruits and vegetables.”

Pi-Sunyer, who also wasn’t involved in the research, said the study gives useful advice.

“It’s hard to lose weight once you gain it,” he said. “Anything that will give people a clue about what might prevent weight gain if they follow through with it is helpful.”

The federal government earlier this year issued new dietary guidelines advising people to eat smarter. This month, it ditched the food pyramid – the longtime symbol of healthy eating – in favor of a dinner plate divided into four sections containing fruits, vegetables, protein and grains.

Online:

New England Journal of Medicine: http://www.nejm.org

Blame the potato chip. It's the biggest demon behind that pound-a-year weight creep that plagues many of us, a major diet study found. Bigger than soda, candy and ice cream.

And the reason is partly that old advertising cliche: You can't eat just one.

"They're very tasty and they have a very good texture. People generally don't take one or two chips. They have a whole bag," said obesity expert Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer of the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.

What we eat and how much of it we consume has far more impact than exercise and most other habits do on long-term weight gain, according to the study by Harvard University scientists. It's the most comprehensive look yet at the effect of individual foods and lifestyle choices like sleep time and quitting smoking.

The results are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Weight problems are epidemic. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Pounds often are packed on gradually over decades, and many people struggle to limit weight gain without realizing what's causing it.

The new study finds food choices are key. The message: Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Cut back on potatoes, red meat, sweets and soda.

"There is no magic bullet for weight control," said one study leader, Dr. Frank Hu. "Diet and exercise are important for preventing weight gain, but diet clearly plays a bigger role."

Doctors analyzed changes in diet and lifestyle habits of 120,877 people from three long-running medical studies. All were health professionals and not obese at the start. Their weight was measured every four years for up to two decades, and they detailed their diet on questionnaires.

On average, participants gained nearly 17 pounds over the 20-year period.

For each four-year period, food choices contributed nearly 4 pounds. Exercise, for those who did it, cut less than 2 pounds.

Potato chips were the biggest dietary offender. Each daily serving containing 1 ounce (about 15 chips and 160 calories) led to a 1.69-pound uptick over four years. That's compared to sweets and desserts, which added 0.41 pound.

For starchy potatoes other than chips, the gain was 1.28 pounds. Within the spud group, french fries were worse for the waist than boiled, baked or mashed potatoes. That's because a serving of large fries contains between 500 to 600 calories compared with a serving of a large baked potato at 280 calories.

Soda added a pound over four years. Eating more fruits and vegetables and other unprocessed foods led to less weight gain, probably because they are fiber-rich and make people feel fuller.

For each four-year period, these factors had these effects on weight:

- An alcoholic drink a day, 0.41-pound increase.

- Watching an hour of TV a day, 0.31-pound increase.

- Recently quitting smoking, 5-pound increase.

People who slept more or less than six to eight hours a night gained more weight.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and a foundation. Several researchers reported receiving fees from drug and nutrition companies.

"Humans naturally like fat and sweet," said Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, who had no role in the study. "That's why we always tell people to eat their fruits and vegetables."

Pi-Sunyer, who also wasn't involved in the research, said the study gives useful advice.

"It's hard to lose weight once you gain it," he said. "Anything that will give people a clue about what might prevent weight gain if they follow through with it is helpful."

The federal government earlier this year issued new dietary guidelines advising people to eat smarter. This month, it ditched the food pyramid - the longtime symbol of healthy eating - in favor of a dinner plate divided into four sections containing fruits, vegetables, protein and grains.

Online:

New England Journal of Medicine: http://www.nejm.org

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Genetics and the Best Diet For You

Posted Nov 29, 2011

Imagine a diet that would let you lose weight without cutting calories, or an exercise program that would tell in advance whether you’d get more benefit from pumping iron than walking a treadmill.

It may sound like wishful thinking or a late-night TV informercial, but researchers at the University of Miami medical school are studying the theory that nutrition and exercise can be affected by a person’s individual genetic makeup.

“I believe if we look at people at the molecular level we can improve their health,” says Sylvia Daunert, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the UM Medical School. The studies question long-held beliefs about food selection and weight loss. For example, could 1,000 calories of turkey cause more weight gain in some people than 1,000 calories of cashews? If so, could a person lose weight through food selection without cutting total calories?

And could a person’s genes pre-determine whether he or she will benefit from a particular type of exercise — or perhaps be at greater risk of injury from it?

UM researchers are looking into it. “We can’t say this is 100 percent correct,” Daunert says. “This is our hypothesis. This is brand-new science.”

UM Medical School dean Pascal Goldschmidt agrees: “It’s not ready for prime time application yet.” Larger-scale studies must be done and scholarly articles vetted by peer-reviewed medical journals. Still, Goldschmidt, a co-principal investigator in the studies, says some of it could be in general use in two to five years.

The research is another offshoot of the historic 2003 success of the Human Genome Project, which mapped all the DNA, genes and chromosomes that operate the human body. Those results already fuel promising new studies into the causes and potential prevention of diseases from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s. Now, UM researchers hope genetics can lead the way toward creation of more individual, even “designer” programs of diet and exercise.

Genetic help in diet and exercise is crucial, Goldschmidt says, in the push to help the kinds of obese high school and college students weighing well over 300 pounds he sees regularly in the studies.

“They don’t have the discipline or education to make changes,” he says. “If we don’t want to lose them, it’s very important to find exercise routines in which they can see results pretty rapidly.”

It’s also important for older people seeking healthy food choices, he says: “When you’re 20, you can eat everything. Later, some foods work better than others.”

At UM, three studies are looking into the genetics of nutrition and exercise.

First is the role of genetics in food addiction. “Certain foods trigger addictive behavior in some individuals,” says Daunert. “They make you feel like you want more.”

Serotonin, the “feel-good” neurotransmitter, and cortisol, the “stress” hormone, might be involved, she says.

So one person might be able to eat one potato chip and stop while another would devour the whole bag.

“Different people respond differently to different foods,” Daunert says “Celiacs can’t have grain; other people can’t break down fat. It has to do with their genetic makeup.”

It’s not just that an addicted person might eat more of something. He or she also might not digest it as efficiently.

“It’s whether the bacteria in your gut breaks down the food or stores it as fat,” Daunert says.

The second study is into foods produce negative reactions — but not allergies — in the body.

“For some reason, the immune system recognizes some things we eat as foreign invaders instead of food,” says John E. Lewis, Ph.D., associate professor in UM’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science.

“It creates reactions from congestion to headache, upset stomach, bloating, indigestion,” Lewis says. “It creates chronic systemic inflammation, which can bring on serious problems. If you read the literature in the medical field, you see that inflammation is involved in many processes like diabetes, heart problems, cancer.”

UM researchers subjected 120 volunteers to blood tests designed by Immuno Laboratories of Fort Lauderdale, testing their genetic reactions to 115 foods including lobster, milk, cranberries, coconut, tomatoes and others.

Most volunteers reacted to four or five of them, Lewis said, adding that “one poor soul reacted to 40.”

“If you can eliminate these foods you calm the immune system and let the body stop reacting,” Lewis says.

Better digestion can lead to weight loss, the study said: “Subjects who eliminated the foods had reductions in weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, blood pressure and quality of life.” And they did it without greatly cutting calories.

The third study involves the genetics of exercise. UM researchers put 101 volunteers through a 12-week aerobic and resistance training program, measuring their physical fitness before and after with tests of how much oxygen their muscles could consume while exercising at maximum capacity.

They divided the group into “low responders” and “high responders” based on how much their fitness improved. Then they did genetic tests of the two groups and found that 437 of their genes differed — a clue to why they reacted differently to the exercises.

By repeating the tests with different exercises, they could see which volunteers responded best to, say, bike riding and which responded better to long-distance running.

“We all have the same genes,” says Evadnie Rampersaud, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics. “But whether some genes are ‘turned on’ by exercise is predictive of what will work best.”

Adds Goldschmidt, co-principal investigator with Rampersaud on the study: “Some subjects had tremendous results. They lost weight, felt good. Others didn’t improve at all. You may benefit from lifting weights; for me, it’s better maybe to ride a bike. We propose to use genes to identify the individual response to exercise.”

But gene testing is expensive. Will this become merely an exercise aid for the rich?

“Tests are always expensive in the research phase,” says Rampersaud. “We hope the cost will go down when the tests are produced for the mass market.”

UM researchers are working on a new genetic computer chip to reduce the cost of such testing, she said.

Testing for genetic indicators for exercise and nutrition also may get simpler, Goldschmidt says. In the research phase doctors might have to identify hundreds of genes to see which affect outcomes. But once they know which genes to look for, which determine the person’s response to a particular food or type of exercise, they might have to identify only five, he said.

©2011 The Miami Herald

Visit The Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Imagine a diet that would let you lose weight without cutting calories, or an exercise program that would tell in advance whether you'd get more benefit from pumping iron than walking a treadmill.

It may sound like wishful thinking or a late-night TV informercial, but researchers at the University of Miami medical school are studying the theory that nutrition and exercise can be affected by a person's individual genetic makeup.

"I believe if we look at people at the molecular level we can improve their health," says Sylvia Daunert, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the UM Medical School. The studies question long-held beliefs about food selection and weight loss. For example, could 1,000 calories of turkey cause more weight gain in some people than 1,000 calories of cashews? If so, could a person lose weight through food selection without cutting total calories?

And could a person's genes pre-determine whether he or she will benefit from a particular type of exercise -- or perhaps be at greater risk of injury from it?

UM researchers are looking into it. "We can't say this is 100 percent correct," Daunert says. "This is our hypothesis. This is brand-new science."

UM Medical School dean Pascal Goldschmidt agrees: "It's not ready for prime time application yet." Larger-scale studies must be done and scholarly articles vetted by peer-reviewed medical journals. Still, Goldschmidt, a co-principal investigator in the studies, says some of it could be in general use in two to five years.

The research is another offshoot of the historic 2003 success of the Human Genome Project, which mapped all the DNA, genes and chromosomes that operate the human body. Those results already fuel promising new studies into the causes and potential prevention of diseases from Alzheimer's to Parkinson's. Now, UM researchers hope genetics can lead the way toward creation of more individual, even "designer" programs of diet and exercise.

Genetic help in diet and exercise is crucial, Goldschmidt says, in the push to help the kinds of obese high school and college students weighing well over 300 pounds he sees regularly in the studies.

"They don't have the discipline or education to make changes," he says. "If we don't want to lose them, it's very important to find exercise routines in which they can see results pretty rapidly."

It's also important for older people seeking healthy food choices, he says: "When you're 20, you can eat everything. Later, some foods work better than others."

At UM, three studies are looking into the genetics of nutrition and exercise.

First is the role of genetics in food addiction. "Certain foods trigger addictive behavior in some individuals," says Daunert. "They make you feel like you want more."

Serotonin, the "feel-good" neurotransmitter, and cortisol, the "stress" hormone, might be involved, she says.

So one person might be able to eat one potato chip and stop while another would devour the whole bag.

"Different people respond differently to different foods," Daunert says "Celiacs can't have grain; other people can't break down fat. It has to do with their genetic makeup."

It's not just that an addicted person might eat more of something. He or she also might not digest it as efficiently.

"It's whether the bacteria in your gut breaks down the food or stores it as fat," Daunert says.

The second study is into foods produce negative reactions -- but not allergies -- in the body.

"For some reason, the immune system recognizes some things we eat as foreign invaders instead of food," says John E. Lewis, Ph.D., associate professor in UM's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science.

"It creates reactions from congestion to headache, upset stomach, bloating, indigestion," Lewis says. "It creates chronic systemic inflammation, which can bring on serious problems. If you read the literature in the medical field, you see that inflammation is involved in many processes like diabetes, heart problems, cancer."

UM researchers subjected 120 volunteers to blood tests designed by Immuno Laboratories of Fort Lauderdale, testing their genetic reactions to 115 foods including lobster, milk, cranberries, coconut, tomatoes and others.

Most volunteers reacted to four or five of them, Lewis said, adding that "one poor soul reacted to 40."

"If you can eliminate these foods you calm the immune system and let the body stop reacting," Lewis says.

Better digestion can lead to weight loss, the study said: "Subjects who eliminated the foods had reductions in weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, blood pressure and quality of life." And they did it without greatly cutting calories.

The third study involves the genetics of exercise. UM researchers put 101 volunteers through a 12-week aerobic and resistance training program, measuring their physical fitness before and after with tests of how much oxygen their muscles could consume while exercising at maximum capacity.

They divided the group into "low responders" and "high responders" based on how much their fitness improved. Then they did genetic tests of the two groups and found that 437 of their genes differed -- a clue to why they reacted differently to the exercises.

By repeating the tests with different exercises, they could see which volunteers responded best to, say, bike riding and which responded better to long-distance running.

"We all have the same genes," says Evadnie Rampersaud, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics. "But whether some genes are 'turned on' by exercise is predictive of what will work best."

Adds Goldschmidt, co-principal investigator with Rampersaud on the study: "Some subjects had tremendous results. They lost weight, felt good. Others didn't improve at all. You may benefit from lifting weights; for me, it's better maybe to ride a bike. We propose to use genes to identify the individual response to exercise."

But gene testing is expensive. Will this become merely an exercise aid for the rich?

"Tests are always expensive in the research phase," says Rampersaud. "We hope the cost will go down when the tests are produced for the mass market."

UM researchers are working on a new genetic computer chip to reduce the cost of such testing, she said.

Testing for genetic indicators for exercise and nutrition also may get simpler, Goldschmidt says. In the research phase doctors might have to identify hundreds of genes to see which affect outcomes. But once they know which genes to look for, which determine the person's response to a particular food or type of exercise, they might have to identify only five, he said.

©2011 The Miami Herald

Visit The Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com

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Mexico Dealing with Childhood Obesity Too

Posted October 27, 2011

MEXICO CITY – Anghella Torres is just 4 years old, but already she weighs 66 pounds (30 kilos) – twice what she should. Because of her excess girth, her little feet constantly hurt from bearing the extra weight.

Anghella knows she is obese and she doesn’t like it. And now, even though she doesn’t know how to read or count calories, she is on a diet. With the help of her grandmother and caretaker, Elizabeth Sucilla, Anghella is following a modest diet and exercise program established for her by a nurse at a local public hospital earlier this year.

“I have to stop eating candies,” she said.

Her new regimen also requires her to cut down on the deep-fried potato wedges she ate every other day in the streets and spoonfuls of heavy cream she downed like yogurt.

Mexico, which claims to have the fattest children in the world, is trying to encourage others to follow Anghella’s lead. Public schools have banned junk food and are requiring more hours of physical education while the federal government has launched a media campaign that invites families to enroll their kids in a public weight-loss program.

Yet three-quarters of Mexico City’s 2,400 public schools don’t have playgrounds or gyms for exercise. And 80 percent of the schools don’t have water fountains. Experts stress the importance of drinking more water and fewer sugary drinks to prevent and reverse weight gain.

President Felipe Calderon said earlier this year that Mexico had the highest rate of obesity for children ages 5 to 19 in the world. And although he did not cite any source, University of North Carolina nutrition professor Barry Popkin, who has studied childhood obesity in many countries, agrees that it “is the highest I know of in the world.”

While a large number of children in Mexico’s poor, rural villages are still underweight, the country as a whole has seen the second-fastest growth rate for childhood obesity of nine countries examined by Popkin in a 2007 study, including the United States. The fastest growth rate of the nine is in Australia, according to the study, which compares health statistics in the countries over the past two decades.

The problem in Mexico is especially pronounced in the capital, Mexico City, and near the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a study by Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health.

Children and teenagers make up Mexico’s largest age group, representing 39 percent of the country’s 112 million people. More than 28 percent of children between 5 and 9, and 38 percent of preteens and teenagers ages 10 to 19, are overweight or obese, according to statistics from the Mexican Social Security Institute.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 12.5 million, or 17 percent, of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 are obese. First lady Michelle Obama has tackled the issue with her “Let’s Move” campaign, pushing for better school lunches, more access to fruits and vegetables and more physical activity. And Congress last year passed a new law requiring school lunches to be healthier.

In Brazil, a newly industrialized nation like Mexico, 19 percent of children ages 5 to 9 are overweight, and 15 percent are obese, according to government statistics. Officials did not have statistics available for teenagers.

Mexico’s public health institute says the problem lies not just with children: Seventy percent of Mexican adults are overweight or obese as well. Officials have decided to target children and teens first, however, because they are the largest age group and fighting their habits now would prevent large numbers of diabetes cases and other illnesses in the future, the officials said.

“The earlier obesity shows up, the higher the risk the kid will become an obese adult and contract other diseases like diabetes, hypertension,” said Leticia Martinez, chief nutritionist for Mexico’s public health institute. “We see this as an emergency.”

Health officials define obesity as having too much body fat. In Mexico, the U.S. and elsewhere, obesity is determined through BMI, a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

Mexico’s childhood obesity spans social classes, though the poor are less informed and equipped to deal with the epidemic.

Starting this year, pre-kindergarten and elementary schools completely banned the sale of soft drinks and junk food and replaced previous breakfast programs with dishes rich in vegetables, such as squash blossoms and carrots. Middle schools are only selling sugar-free drinks, low-calorie snacks and small bags of chips that appear in new food guidelines approved by the departments of health and education.

During recess at the Republica Italiana elementary school, children run out of classrooms and form three lines, each one of which leads to a different food option.

Their choices include a turkey hot dog on a wheat bun with tomatoes and no mayonnaise; “nopales,” or edible cactus paddles, with sliced peppers on a corn tortilla; sunflower seeds or a scoop of unsweetened lemon sorbet; and slices of cucumbers and carrots.

Principal Yamile Bobadilla says there’s nothing she can do about vendors who still gather outside of the school gates to sell sodas, greasy pizzas and chips.

Some of the children, and even some parents, have complained about the junk food ban, she said, adding, “They see me as the witch.”

The country’s healthy-weight campaign has other challenges: Officials acknowledge there aren’t enough dietitians in the public schools to help all of the children in need. They also note a prevailing cultural notion that a chubby baby is a healthy baby.

“Any efforts to improve the school environment are very important to combat the epidemic,” said Chessa Lutter, a regional adviser on food and nutrition for the Pan American Health Organization.

Starting in the 2010-2011 school year, education officials began increasing the number of physical education hours from one to three per week based on their conclusion that some children are obese because they don’t exercise. On a recent morning at Republica Italiana, several groups of kids were sent out to the school yard to run, play softball or twirl hula-hoops.

Bobadilla said some children still faint and suffer from extreme fatigue because of their weight problems.

Guillermo Ayala, who leads the food guidelines’ task force at the Education Department, also heads an effort to have every child in Mexico City weighed and measured by a team of physical education coaches and nurses. Schools with a high number of children who have gained or not lost weight will face administrative sanctions, he said.

Outside the classroom, government-sponsored TV spots show kids struggling under heavy sacks of grain, symbols of the extra pounds (kilos) many are carrying around with them. The ads invite parents to enroll their children in a government-run program of diet and exercise. About 5.3 million children participate every year, but officials don’t keep track of how many of them are overweight.

Anghella’s grandmother Sucilla took her to a public hospital in May at the suggestion of the girl’s day care providers, who said something would have to be done about the child’s diet and exercise before she started school in August.

A nurse at the hospital suggested that Anghella start taking regular walks, drinking a lot of water and eating more whole grains, vegetables and fruits.

She goes often to visit the nurse, who weighs her regularly.

At home, when her small hand tries to reach for a sweet roll on the table, Sucilla slaps it and says, “You know why, my little girl.”

Anghella said she doesn’t like it when adults say she’s fat.

“No, sweetheart. You are cuddly,” Sucilla tells her. But she then adds, “I worry because I don’t want my little girl to be an obese girl.”

MEXICO CITY - Anghella Torres is just 4 years old, but already she weighs 66 pounds (30 kilos) - twice what she should. Because of her excess girth, her little feet constantly hurt from bearing the extra weight.

Anghella knows she is obese and she doesn't like it. And now, even though she doesn't know how to read or count calories, she is on a diet. With the help of her grandmother and caretaker, Elizabeth Sucilla, Anghella is following a modest diet and exercise program established for her by a nurse at a local public hospital earlier this year.

"I have to stop eating candies," she said.

Her new regimen also requires her to cut down on the deep-fried potato wedges she ate every other day in the streets and spoonfuls of heavy cream she downed like yogurt.

Mexico, which claims to have the fattest children in the world, is trying to encourage others to follow Anghella's lead. Public schools have banned junk food and are requiring more hours of physical education while the federal government has launched a media campaign that invites families to enroll their kids in a public weight-loss program.

Yet three-quarters of Mexico City's 2,400 public schools don't have playgrounds or gyms for exercise. And 80 percent of the schools don't have water fountains. Experts stress the importance of drinking more water and fewer sugary drinks to prevent and reverse weight gain.

President Felipe Calderon said earlier this year that Mexico had the highest rate of obesity for children ages 5 to 19 in the world. And although he did not cite any source, University of North Carolina nutrition professor Barry Popkin, who has studied childhood obesity in many countries, agrees that it "is the highest I know of in the world."

While a large number of children in Mexico's poor, rural villages are still underweight, the country as a whole has seen the second-fastest growth rate for childhood obesity of nine countries examined by Popkin in a 2007 study, including the United States. The fastest growth rate of the nine is in Australia, according to the study, which compares health statistics in the countries over the past two decades.

The problem in Mexico is especially pronounced in the capital, Mexico City, and near the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a study by Mexico's National Institute of Public Health.

Children and teenagers make up Mexico's largest age group, representing 39 percent of the country's 112 million people. More than 28 percent of children between 5 and 9, and 38 percent of preteens and teenagers ages 10 to 19, are overweight or obese, according to statistics from the Mexican Social Security Institute.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 12.5 million, or 17 percent, of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 are obese. First lady Michelle Obama has tackled the issue with her "Let's Move" campaign, pushing for better school lunches, more access to fruits and vegetables and more physical activity. And Congress last year passed a new law requiring school lunches to be healthier.

In Brazil, a newly industrialized nation like Mexico, 19 percent of children ages 5 to 9 are overweight, and 15 percent are obese, according to government statistics. Officials did not have statistics available for teenagers.

Mexico's public health institute says the problem lies not just with children: Seventy percent of Mexican adults are overweight or obese as well. Officials have decided to target children and teens first, however, because they are the largest age group and fighting their habits now would prevent large numbers of diabetes cases and other illnesses in the future, the officials said.

"The earlier obesity shows up, the higher the risk the kid will become an obese adult and contract other diseases like diabetes, hypertension," said Leticia Martinez, chief nutritionist for Mexico's public health institute. "We see this as an emergency."

Health officials define obesity as having too much body fat. In Mexico, the U.S. and elsewhere, obesity is determined through BMI, a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

Mexico's childhood obesity spans social classes, though the poor are less informed and equipped to deal with the epidemic.

Starting this year, pre-kindergarten and elementary schools completely banned the sale of soft drinks and junk food and replaced previous breakfast programs with dishes rich in vegetables, such as squash blossoms and carrots. Middle schools are only selling sugar-free drinks, low-calorie snacks and small bags of chips that appear in new food guidelines approved by the departments of health and education.

During recess at the Republica Italiana elementary school, children run out of classrooms and form three lines, each one of which leads to a different food option.

Their choices include a turkey hot dog on a wheat bun with tomatoes and no mayonnaise; "nopales," or edible cactus paddles, with sliced peppers on a corn tortilla; sunflower seeds or a scoop of unsweetened lemon sorbet; and slices of cucumbers and carrots.

Principal Yamile Bobadilla says there's nothing she can do about vendors who still gather outside of the school gates to sell sodas, greasy pizzas and chips.

Some of the children, and even some parents, have complained about the junk food ban, she said, adding, "They see me as the witch."

The country's healthy-weight campaign has other challenges: Officials acknowledge there aren't enough dietitians in the public schools to help all of the children in need. They also note a prevailing cultural notion that a chubby baby is a healthy baby.

"Any efforts to improve the school environment are very important to combat the epidemic," said Chessa Lutter, a regional adviser on food and nutrition for the Pan American Health Organization.

Starting in the 2010-2011 school year, education officials began increasing the number of physical education hours from one to three per week based on their conclusion that some children are obese because they don't exercise. On a recent morning at Republica Italiana, several groups of kids were sent out to the school yard to run, play softball or twirl hula-hoops.

Bobadilla said some children still faint and suffer from extreme fatigue because of their weight problems.

Guillermo Ayala, who leads the food guidelines' task force at the Education Department, also heads an effort to have every child in Mexico City weighed and measured by a team of physical education coaches and nurses. Schools with a high number of children who have gained or not lost weight will face administrative sanctions, he said.

Outside the classroom, government-sponsored TV spots show kids struggling under heavy sacks of grain, symbols of the extra pounds (kilos) many are carrying around with them. The ads invite parents to enroll their children in a government-run program of diet and exercise. About 5.3 million children participate every year, but officials don't keep track of how many of them are overweight.

Anghella's grandmother Sucilla took her to a public hospital in May at the suggestion of the girl's day care providers, who said something would have to be done about the child's diet and exercise before she started school in August.

A nurse at the hospital suggested that Anghella start taking regular walks, drinking a lot of water and eating more whole grains, vegetables and fruits.

She goes often to visit the nurse, who weighs her regularly.

At home, when her small hand tries to reach for a sweet roll on the table, Sucilla slaps it and says, "You know why, my little girl."

Anghella said she doesn't like it when adults say she's fat.

"No, sweetheart. You are cuddly," Sucilla tells her. But she then adds, "I worry because I don't want my little girl to be an obese girl."

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10 Things About Breast Cancer Prevention

Posted October 7, 2011

1- A lot of people talk about preventing breast cancer, but the correct term is risk reduction.

“We don’t really know how to prevent breast cancer. We know how to reduce people’s risks,” said Judith Swasey, a nurse practitioner at UNC Chapel Hill’s cancer hospital. The basics: Don’t smoke, exercise a lot, watch your diet, annual screenings.

2- There has been lots of controversy in recent years over the usefulness of annual mammograms for some women. Some researchers suggest they aren’t needed until women reach 50 and that it’s OK for women not at high risk to have scans every other year.

But the American Cancer Society and many breast cancer centers continue to recommend annual mammograms starting at 40. The cancer society also recommends clinical breast exams by physicians annually, beginning at the same age as mammograms.

For those at high risk for breast cancer because of family history, annual screening should begin before age 40. For example, if you have a sister who developed breast cancer at 45, the recommendation is to start mammograms at 35.

Monthly self-exams have also been the subject of debate, but the cancer society recommends them for women starting in their 20s.

Mammograms are controversial partly because they produce both benefit and harm. Awareness and screening have led to more early detection. But critics say that some patients have been harmed by unneeded surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for small cancers that wouldn’t have been found without mammography and wouldn’t have caused problems.

3- Post-menopause weight gain is particularly dangerous when it comes to breast cancer risk. With extra body fat comes more estrogen, which can stimulate breast cancer growth. A normal body mass index is less than 30.

To calculate BMI, multiply your height in inches by that same number; divide that total into your weight in pounds; then multiply the total by 703. A person who is 5-feet-5 (65 inches) and weighs 150 pounds has a body mass index of 25. (Or Google “BMI calculator” for an online tool.)

4- Many studies have looked for a link between diet and breast cancer risk, but results are conflicting.

Experts say it’s good advice to eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and low in fat and red meat. “That’s what I tell my patients,” Swasey said. “Whatever diet is heart-healthy is probably the best one to follow.”

5- Evidence is growing that regular exercise lowers the risk of breast cancer. “It doesn’t have to be high-intensity exercise,” said Rachel Burns, dietitian with Levine Cancer Institute at Carolinas Medical Center. “It can be as easy as just walking, being physically active 30 minutes a day.”

6- Avoid soy supplements, Burns said. Soy contains isoflavones, which can act like estrogen and stimulate the growth of certain types of breast cancer. Supplements usually contain more concentrated doses of isoflavones than whole forms of soy, such as soy milk, tofu or edamame, Burns said. “Three servings a day of those (whole) forms are OK.”

7- Smoking hasn’t been linked specifically to breast cancer risk, but a recent study of women at high risk for breast cancer found that, for those who smoked, the more they smoked and the longer they smoked, the more their risk increased, Swasey said.

8- MRI scans are not recommended as regular screening tools for the general population. But they are used, in addition to mammography, for screening high-risk patients and for diagnosis after mammograms that detect suspicious masses.

9- Women with dense breasts are at higher risk for breast cancer, and mammograms aren’t as effective in detecting cancer in very dense breasts. Ask your doctor whether you have dense breasts and, if so, you might benefit from regular MRI scans or ultrasounds along with mammography.

10- Breast cancer risk goes up with age. The often-repeated statistic that “1 in 8″ women will get breast cancer is calculated over a lifetime to age 95. The National Cancer Institute has created a Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool. Take the test at

www.cancer.gov/bcrisktool.

Copyright 2011 The Charlotte Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

©2011 The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

1- A lot of people talk about preventing breast cancer, but the correct term is risk reduction.

"We don't really know how to prevent breast cancer. We know how to reduce people's risks," said Judith Swasey, a nurse practitioner at UNC Chapel Hill's cancer hospital. The basics: Don't smoke, exercise a lot, watch your diet, annual screenings.

2- There has been lots of controversy in recent years over the usefulness of annual mammograms for some women. Some researchers suggest they aren't needed until women reach 50 and that it's OK for women not at high risk to have scans every other year.

But the American Cancer Society and many breast cancer centers continue to recommend annual mammograms starting at 40. The cancer society also recommends clinical breast exams by physicians annually, beginning at the same age as mammograms.

For those at high risk for breast cancer because of family history, annual screening should begin before age 40. For example, if you have a sister who developed breast cancer at 45, the recommendation is to start mammograms at 35.

Monthly self-exams have also been the subject of debate, but the cancer society recommends them for women starting in their 20s.

Mammograms are controversial partly because they produce both benefit and harm. Awareness and screening have led to more early detection. But critics say that some patients have been harmed by unneeded surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for small cancers that wouldn't have been found without mammography and wouldn't have caused problems.

3- Post-menopause weight gain is particularly dangerous when it comes to breast cancer risk. With extra body fat comes more estrogen, which can stimulate breast cancer growth. A normal body mass index is less than 30.

To calculate BMI, multiply your height in inches by that same number; divide that total into your weight in pounds; then multiply the total by 703. A person who is 5-feet-5 (65 inches) and weighs 150 pounds has a body mass index of 25. (Or Google "BMI calculator" for an online tool.)

4- Many studies have looked for a link between diet and breast cancer risk, but results are conflicting.

Experts say it's good advice to eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and low in fat and red meat. "That's what I tell my patients," Swasey said. "Whatever diet is heart-healthy is probably the best one to follow."

5- Evidence is growing that regular exercise lowers the risk of breast cancer. "It doesn't have to be high-intensity exercise," said Rachel Burns, dietitian with Levine Cancer Institute at Carolinas Medical Center. "It can be as easy as just walking, being physically active 30 minutes a day."

6- Avoid soy supplements, Burns said. Soy contains isoflavones, which can act like estrogen and stimulate the growth of certain types of breast cancer. Supplements usually contain more concentrated doses of isoflavones than whole forms of soy, such as soy milk, tofu or edamame, Burns said. "Three servings a day of those (whole) forms are OK."

7- Smoking hasn't been linked specifically to breast cancer risk, but a recent study of women at high risk for breast cancer found that, for those who smoked, the more they smoked and the longer they smoked, the more their risk increased, Swasey said.

8- MRI scans are not recommended as regular screening tools for the general population. But they are used, in addition to mammography, for screening high-risk patients and for diagnosis after mammograms that detect suspicious masses.

9- Women with dense breasts are at higher risk for breast cancer, and mammograms aren't as effective in detecting cancer in very dense breasts. Ask your doctor whether you have dense breasts and, if so, you might benefit from regular MRI scans or ultrasounds along with mammography.

10- Breast cancer risk goes up with age. The often-repeated statistic that "1 in 8" women will get breast cancer is calculated over a lifetime to age 95. The National Cancer Institute has created a Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool. Take the test at

www.cancer.gov/bcrisktool.

Copyright 2011 The Charlotte Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

©2011 The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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Marriage and Divorce Promote Weight Gain

Posted Aug 23, 2011

MARRIAGE and divorce are both bad for your waistline, new research suggests.

But while women tend to gain weight after their wedding day, men are most affected by marital breakdown.

Both kinds of “marital transition” can act as “weight shocks” that put on the pounds, a study has found.

“Divorces for men and, to some extent, marriages for women promote weight gains that may be large enough to pose a health risk,” said study leader Dmitry Tumin.

The likelihood of major weight gain after marriage or divorce increased most for people past the age of 30.

“For someone in their mid-20s there is not much difference in the probability of gaining weight between someone who just got married and someone who never married,” said Mr Tumin, a doctoral student in sociology. “But later in life, there is much more of a difference.”

Researchers used survey data on more than 10,000 people to investigate whether marriage and divorce led to weight gains or losses.

Both men and women who married or divorced were more likely than never-married individuals to experience a small level of weight gain after a “marital transition”.

On the other hand, studies show that married men get a health benefit from marriage, and they lose that benefit once they get divorced, which may lead to their weight gain.

MARRIAGE and divorce are both bad for your waistline, new research suggests.

But while women tend to gain weight after their wedding day, men are most affected by marital breakdown.

Both kinds of "marital transition" can act as "weight shocks" that put on the pounds, a study has found.

"Divorces for men and, to some extent, marriages for women promote weight gains that may be large enough to pose a health risk," said study leader Dmitry Tumin.

The likelihood of major weight gain after marriage or divorce increased most for people past the age of 30.

"For someone in their mid-20s there is not much difference in the probability of gaining weight between someone who just got married and someone who never married," said Mr Tumin, a doctoral student in sociology. "But later in life, there is much more of a difference."

Researchers used survey data on more than 10,000 people to investigate whether marriage and divorce led to weight gains or losses.

Both men and women who married or divorced were more likely than never-married individuals to experience a small level of weight gain after a "marital transition".

On the other hand, studies show that married men get a health benefit from marriage, and they lose that benefit once they get divorced, which may lead to their weight gain.

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Teen Girls Not Making Healthy Food Choices

Posted Aug 16, 2011

RECENT research has shown teenage girls are not meeting their recommended levels of exercise and nutrition.

Only 7% of girls aged 11 to 18 are eating enough fruit and vegetables – which could have a negative impact on their heart health in later life.

The diets of teen girls fall short in a number of key nutrients, which are essential for healthy growth.

Iron intake is especially low, even though teenage girls have an increased need for this important mineral.

A healthy diet and physical activity are both important for young hearts, but only 24% of girls are reported to take part in the recommended level of 60 minutes or more physical activity, seven days a week.

Regular exercise helps increase cardiovascular health by working the heart muscle.

It also prevents excess weight gain, lowers blood pressure and improves the balance of good to bad cholesterol levels in the blood.

Teenage girls can be fussy eaters so cook simple iron-rich meals such as jacket potatoes with baked beans, or grilled, lean steaks or chicken with a green leafy salad of lettuce, rocket and spinach and add some sundried tomatoes.

Boost their nutrient intake and provide snacks such as dried fruit, nuts, fruit juices and smoothies.

Persuade them to eat breakfast cereal fortified with iron or boiled eggs on wholemeal toast.

If your girl is a chocolate lover, try to persuade her to opt for a couple of squares of dark chocolate, containing 70% cocoa solids, which is full of heart healthy antioxidants.

Encourage your teen to try something different, get your games console out of the cupboard and challenge your cousin, daughter or niece to an interactive dance off.

Get the girls together for a fun summer picnic and an energetic game of rounders.

It may be that heart disease more commonly affects people in their middle and later years but the early stages of its development occur during youth, so help your teen to build some healthy foundations to guarantee them a longer wholesome life.

For more information and advice about healthy living, contact Heart Research UK’s lifestyl e team on 0113 297 6206 or email lifestyle@heartresearch.org.uk

RECENT research has shown teenage girls are not meeting their recommended levels of exercise and nutrition.

Only 7% of girls aged 11 to 18 are eating enough fruit and vegetables - which could have a negative impact on their heart health in later life.

The diets of teen girls fall short in a number of key nutrients, which are essential for healthy growth.

Iron intake is especially low, even though teenage girls have an increased need for this important mineral.

A healthy diet and physical activity are both important for young hearts, but only 24% of girls are reported to take part in the recommended level of 60 minutes or more physical activity, seven days a week.

Regular exercise helps increase cardiovascular health by working the heart muscle.

It also prevents excess weight gain, lowers blood pressure and improves the balance of good to bad cholesterol levels in the blood.

Teenage girls can be fussy eaters so cook simple iron-rich meals such as jacket potatoes with baked beans, or grilled, lean steaks or chicken with a green leafy salad of lettuce, rocket and spinach and add some sundried tomatoes.

Boost their nutrient intake and provide snacks such as dried fruit, nuts, fruit juices and smoothies.

Persuade them to eat breakfast cereal fortified with iron or boiled eggs on wholemeal toast.

If your girl is a chocolate lover, try to persuade her to opt for a couple of squares of dark chocolate, containing 70% cocoa solids, which is full of heart healthy antioxidants.

Encourage your teen to try something different, get your games console out of the cupboard and challenge your cousin, daughter or niece to an interactive dance off.

Get the girls together for a fun summer picnic and an energetic game of rounders.

It may be that heart disease more commonly affects people in their middle and later years but the early stages of its development occur during youth, so help your teen to build some healthy foundations to guarantee them a longer wholesome life.

For more information and advice about healthy living, contact Heart Research UK's lifestyl e team on 0113 297 6206 or email lifestyle@heartresearch.org.uk

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Breakfast Key to Weight Management

Posted July 7, 2011

Eat to stay slim. Yes, there’s a catch.

When the diet expert told me, “Start eating,” she totally had my attention.

Unfortunately, her next word was “breakfast.”

Breakfast time is the only time I’m not hungry, so why would I want to eat then?

Studies show that fewer Americans are eating when they wake up, and that’s a mistake, says Angela Ginn, the Baltimore expert who first told me to start eating something in the morning.

Ginn, a registered dietitian at the University of Maryland, says there’s scientific evidence that if you eat breakfast you’re less likely to gorge later. She emailed me the “Breakfast and Health” report by the International Food Information Council (ific.org) – with 153 footnotes.

I’ll save you the trouble: “Eating breakfast may help prevent weight gain” (Footnote 41). “Eating breakfast each day may be a smart strategy for maintaining weight loss” (43). “Skipping breakfast may lead to increased risk for obesity” (40).

There is, however, a huge asterisk to all this. “Breakfast” does not mean eggs slathered in hollandaise sauce with bacon. Even grab-and-go items that sound kind of healthy often aren’t. The cranberry orange scone (fruit, right?) at Starbucks has 460 calories and 17 grams of fat. On both counts, that’s really a lot.

The report advises whole-grain cereal, fat-free or low-fat milk, fruit and 100 percent fruit juices (six separate footnotes). That, sadly, is a lot healthier than a buttery croissant (310 calories; 18 grams of fat).

“Just grab a piece of fruit or a yogurt,” Ginn says.

I’m peeling a banana right now – and pretending it’s a croissant.

Eat to stay slim. Yes, there's a catch.

When the diet expert told me, "Start eating," she totally had my attention.

Unfortunately, her next word was "breakfast."

Breakfast time is the only time I'm not hungry, so why would I want to eat then?

Studies show that fewer Americans are eating when they wake up, and that's a mistake, says Angela Ginn, the Baltimore expert who first told me to start eating something in the morning.

Ginn, a registered dietitian at the University of Maryland, says there's scientific evidence that if you eat breakfast you're less likely to gorge later. She emailed me the "Breakfast and Health" report by the International Food Information Council (ific.org) - with 153 footnotes.

I'll save you the trouble: "Eating breakfast may help prevent weight gain" (Footnote 41). "Eating breakfast each day may be a smart strategy for maintaining weight loss" (43). "Skipping breakfast may lead to increased risk for obesity" (40).

There is, however, a huge asterisk to all this. "Breakfast" does not mean eggs slathered in hollandaise sauce with bacon. Even grab-and-go items that sound kind of healthy often aren't. The cranberry orange scone (fruit, right?) at Starbucks has 460 calories and 17 grams of fat. On both counts, that's really a lot.

The report advises whole-grain cereal, fat-free or low-fat milk, fruit and 100 percent fruit juices (six separate footnotes). That, sadly, is a lot healthier than a buttery croissant (310 calories; 18 grams of fat).

"Just grab a piece of fruit or a yogurt," Ginn says.

I'm peeling a banana right now - and pretending it's a croissant.

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Junk Food Piles On Pounds

Posted July 2, 2011

Dietitians have known for years that eating potato chips isn’t healthy, nor are french fries, hot dogs and bologna.

But now a study shows that such foods also put pounds on faster.

A person who eats one serving of potato chips a day may gain 1.7 pounds every four years, according to a report from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital involving 120,000 adults. The study included men and women ranging in age from 33 to 60 who were of normal weight when research began.

A daily serving of french fries was associated with an extra 3.4 pounds every four years. Also, a daily serving of soda, processed meat or red meat added one more pound.

“There is a lot more obesity associated with eating fast food and processed foods,” said Beth Cecil, a registered dietitian at Owensboro Medical Health System’s HealthPark. “It’s the salt and fat in those products. The salt can promote high blood pressure, and you’ll retain water as a result.”

The study also suggested that some foods appeared to fight weight gain. For each daily serving of yogurt the study participants ate, they gained almost one pound less than expected over a four-year period. And for each daily serving of fruit and nuts, they gained about a half-pound less over the same period.

In short, while the weight gain from chips and processed food doesn’t seem like much, it’s harder getting control of the weight issue as a person ages. Also, once establishing a habit of eating junk food and not exercising, the habit is harder to break the older a person gets. Finally, unhealthy eating can have other effects on the body, not just an extra few pounds.

The study, which appeared in last week’s New England Journal of Medicine, also seemed to contradict conventional wisdom that people should just eat less of everything to maintain a healthy weight.

Cecil said people may not eat fruit, nuts and yogurt for a variety of reasons. For one thing, fast food is easy to grab and eat on the go. Buying fresh fruit may be a little more expensive, and it may take a little longer to prepare, such as cutting up a cantaloupe or skinning an apple or orange.

“We tell people canned or frozen fruit is good, too, provided it’s unsweetened,” she said.

“The study seems to go against what dietitians have been telling people — everything in moderation. It’s not like we’re telling people to eat junk food. I would rather see people get away from processed food, but I’d like to see some follow-up to this study.”

The study also reported that those who increased their exercise gained as much as 1.76 fewer pounds than expected.

To see more of the Messenger-Inquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.messenger-inquirer.com.

Copyright © 2011, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, KY

Dietitians have known for years that eating potato chips isn't healthy, nor are french fries, hot dogs and bologna.

But now a study shows that such foods also put pounds on faster.

A person who eats one serving of potato chips a day may gain 1.7 pounds every four years, according to a report from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital involving 120,000 adults. The study included men and women ranging in age from 33 to 60 who were of normal weight when research began.

A daily serving of french fries was associated with an extra 3.4 pounds every four years. Also, a daily serving of soda, processed meat or red meat added one more pound.

"There is a lot more obesity associated with eating fast food and processed foods," said Beth Cecil, a registered dietitian at Owensboro Medical Health System's HealthPark. "It's the salt and fat in those products. The salt can promote high blood pressure, and you'll retain water as a result."

The study also suggested that some foods appeared to fight weight gain. For each daily serving of yogurt the study participants ate, they gained almost one pound less than expected over a four-year period. And for each daily serving of fruit and nuts, they gained about a half-pound less over the same period.

In short, while the weight gain from chips and processed food doesn't seem like much, it's harder getting control of the weight issue as a person ages. Also, once establishing a habit of eating junk food and not exercising, the habit is harder to break the older a person gets. Finally, unhealthy eating can have other effects on the body, not just an extra few pounds.

The study, which appeared in last week's New England Journal of Medicine, also seemed to contradict conventional wisdom that people should just eat less of everything to maintain a healthy weight.

Cecil said people may not eat fruit, nuts and yogurt for a variety of reasons. For one thing, fast food is easy to grab and eat on the go. Buying fresh fruit may be a little more expensive, and it may take a little longer to prepare, such as cutting up a cantaloupe or skinning an apple or orange.

"We tell people canned or frozen fruit is good, too, provided it's unsweetened," she said.

"The study seems to go against what dietitians have been telling people -- everything in moderation. It's not like we're telling people to eat junk food. I would rather see people get away from processed food, but I'd like to see some follow-up to this study."

The study also reported that those who increased their exercise gained as much as 1.76 fewer pounds than expected.

To see more of the Messenger-Inquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.messenger-inquirer.com.

Copyright © 2011, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, KY

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