Pearls of Wisdom

Most of us have the basics ingrained in our brains. Eat less, eat healthy and exercise more. If only it were that easy. Having the right knowledge can make a big difference in how you act and react when it comes to your weight. Here are 10 things you may not know (but should) about your weight.

1. Some People Just Have More Fat Cells
And the range is enormous, with some people having twice as many fat cells as others have, says Kirsty Spalding, PhD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Even if you’ve lost a few pounds (or gained some), your fat-cell count remains, holding tight to the fat already inside and forever thirsting to be filled up with more. (To add insult to injury, the fat cells of overweight and obese people hold more fat too.)

New fat cells emerge during childhood but seem to stop by adolescence. Those of us destined to have a lot of these cells probably start producing them as young as age two. The cells’ rate of growth may be faster, too-even if kids cut way back on calories.

Strangers have written to Spalding, telling her how depressed they are by her research. But she says her news isn’t all bleak. You’re better off with more fat cells, she says, than with fewer fat cells that become overstuffed and enlarged. (New research suggests that the overstuffed group are more vulnerable to obesity-related health complications.) So while you can’t reduce your total number of fat cells, there are things you can do to keep them small. (See next point.)

2. You Can Change Your Metabolism
Another Scandinavian team looked into what happens at the cellular level when you gain weight. Kirsi Pietiläinen, PhD, an assistant professor of nutrition at Helsinki University Central Hospital, studied sets of twins where one was fat and the other thin, and learned that fat cells in heavier twins underwent metabolic changes that make it more difficult to burn fat. Pietiläinen’s team suspects that gaining as little as 11 pounds can slow metabolism and send you spiraling into a vicious cycle: As you gain more fat, it becomes harder to lose it.

How to get back on track? “The more I learn on the job, the more I’m convinced we need physical activity,” Pietiläinen says. Once a chubby child herself, she now runs regularly and is at a healthy weight.

3. Stress Fattens You Up
The most direct route is the food-in-mouth syndrome: Stressful circumstances (your bank account, your boss) spark cravings for carbohydrate-rich snack foods, which in turn calm stress hormones. (When researchers in one study took away high-carb food from stressed mice, their stress hormones surged.)

Stress hormones also ramp up fat storage. For our prehistoric ancestors, stress meant drought or approaching tigers, and a rapid-storage process made sense; we needed the extra energy to survive food shortages or do battle. Today we take our stress sitting down-and the unused calories accumulate in our midsection.

To whittle yourself back down to size, in addition to your usual workout routine, make time for stress relief-whether it’s a yoga class or quality time with family.

4. Mom’s Pregnancy Sealed Your Fate
A mother’s cigarettes increase the risk of low birth weight, and alcohol can damage her baby’s brain. So why wouldn’t unhealthy foods wreak similar havoc? A growing body of science suggests that sugary and fatty foods, consumed even before you’re born, do exactly that. A Pennington study on rodents reports that overweight females have higher levels of glucose and free fatty acids floating around in the womb than normal-weight ones do. These molecules trigger the release of proteins that can upset the appetite-control and metabolic systems in the developing brain.

What’s true for mice is often true for humans too. Doctors from State University of New York Downstate Medical Center compared children born before their mothers had gastric bypass surgery with siblings born later. Women weighed less after the surgery, as expected, but their children were also half as likely to be obese. Because siblings have such similar genetic profiles, the researchers attributed the weight differences to changes in the womb environment. Moms-to-be, take note: You can give your kids a head start by eating well before they’re born.

5. Sleep More, Lose More
When patients see Louis Aronne, MD, past president of the Obesity Society and author of the forthcoming book The Skinny, they’re as likely to have their sleep assessed as their eating habits. If patients are getting less than seven to eight hours, Dr. Aronne may prescribe more shut-eye rather than the latest diet or drug. With more sleep, he says, “they have a greater sense of fullness, and they’ll spontaneously lose weight.”

Why? University of Chicago researchers reported that sleep deprivation upsets our hormone balance, triggering both a decrease in leptin (which helps you feel full) and an increase of ghrelin (which triggers hunger). As a result, we think we’re hungry even though we aren’t-and so we eat. Indeed, sleep may be the cheapest and easiest obesity treatment there is.

6. Your Spouse’s Weight Matters
When Jodi Dixon’s six-foot-two, 360-pound husband lost 125 pounds, she had mixed feelings. She was the one who always watched her weight and exercised; she was always the one trying to get her husband to be more active. Mort, a medical sales rep, was always the life of the party, says his wife, a 43-year-old mother of two in Freehold, New Jersey. But when he lost the weight, it was different.

“Men and women would flock to him, drawn to his charisma,” she recalls. “I felt jealous.” Dixon comforted herself with food and gained 20 pounds before she decided to take action. She began biking with her husband and enrolled in a diet program. Eventually she trimmed down, too, shedding 30 pounds, and has her sights on losing more.

Dixon credits the weight gain, and the loss, to her jealousy. But research shows that weight gain and loss can be, well, contagious. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that if one spouse is obese, the other is 37 percent more likely to become obese too. The researchers concluded that obesity seems to spread through social networks.

As in Dixon’s case, slimming down seems to be catching, at least within the family: When Dixon launched her weight-loss plan, her eldest daughter, also overweight, followed her mom’s healthy habits and lost 40 pounds.

7. Cookies Really Are Addictive
While food is not addictive the way cocaine or alcohol is, scientists in recent years have found some uncanny similarities. When subjects at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia were shown the names of foods they liked, the parts of the brain that got excited were the same parts activated in drug addicts. It may have to do with dopamine, the hormone linked to motivation and pleasure, say researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. If obese people have fewer dopamine receptors, they may need more food to get that pleasurable reaction.

8. Ear Infections Can Taint Your Taste Buds
For years, the team at Linda Bartoshuk’s taste lab at the University of Florida wondered why people who tasted food less intensely than others seemed more likely to be fat. Researcher Derek Snyder had a theory: Could an ear infection, which can damage a taste nerve running through the middle ear, be the missing link? After tabulating 6,584 questionnaires, the team discovered that those over 35 who had suffered several ear infections had almost double the chance of being obese.

Responses to additional questions provided clues as to why. Former ear-infection patients were a little more likely to love sweets and fatty foods-perhaps because the damaged nerve causes them to have a higher threshold for sensing sweetness and fattiness. Even a small increase in calories from bad food choices adds up over time.

Childhood ear infections are as hard to avoid as the colds that tend to bring them on, but limiting passive smoke seems to drive down incidents of ear infection. If you’re an overweight adult who suffered a severe ear infection as a child, it may be worth paying attention to the taste and texture of your food. Simply finding healthier substitutes, such as fruit instead of candy, or olive oil instead of butter, may help drive you toward eating better and weighing less.

9. Antioxidants Are Also Anti-Fat
Free radicals are now blamed not only for making you look old but also for making you fat. Zane Andrews, PhD, a neuroendocrinologist at Monash University in Australia, says these oxidizing molecules damage the cells that tell us we’re full. Free radicals emerge when we eat (something even the keenest dieter must do to survive), but they’re especially prevalent when we gorge on candy bars, chips, and other carbohydrates. With every passing year, these fullness signifiers suffer wear and tear-causing the “stop eating!” signal to get weaker and appetites (and possibly our stomachs) to get bigger. The best way to fight back? Avoid the junk and load up on colorful, antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables.

10. You Can Be Fat and Fit
A growing body of literature suggests that size doesn’t matter when it comes to your health. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine surveyed 5,440 American adults and found that 51 percent of the overweight and almost 32 percent of the obese had mostly normal cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, and other measures of good health.

Further defying conventional wisdom, the article also reported that 23.5 percent of trim adults were, in fact, metabolically abnormal-making them more vulnerable to heart disease than their heavier counterparts.

The latest U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report corroborates what our doctors have said all along: You need about 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five days a week for health. And you don’t even have to do your exercise in one fell swoop-ten-minute stints of walking are just as effective. That means if you forgo the elevators for the stairs, get off one train or bus stop earlier, and park your car a few blocks away, chances are you’ll be good for the day.

Remember Steven Blair, the self-described short, fat, bald guy? At age 69, his blood pressure is in check, his cholesterol levels are normal, and his heart is strong. What’s more, he may have even more positive vital signs, according to his recent study in the journal Obesity: Men who are fit (determined by their performance on a treadmill) have a lower risk of dying of cancer than out-of-shape guys, regardless of their body mass index, waist size, or percentage of body fat.

The news is heartening, says Blair: “We don’t have great tools to change people’s weight, but we know we can change their fitness levels

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In “Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It”, Gary Tabues spends a lot of time debunking the theory that to lose weight we need to exercise more.  He details many studies conducted on unsuspecting laboratory rats, of which I’ll spare you the details. But there was one study that really resonated.

Danish researchers took a group of sedentary, overweight men and women and over 18 months trained them to run a marathon. The findings were very telling. Of the men, there was an average weight loss of something like a few pounds but the women in the study averaged no change to their weight. Imagine running 26.2 miles (42km) and not losing anything?

But even if exercise isn’t going to solve your weight-loss problems, there are many other benefits to getting off the couch.  So don’t cancel that gym membership. Just yet.

1. Increases your energy levels. The more energy you use, the more it feels like you have.

2. Improves the quality of your sleep. Exercise not only helps you get to sleep more quickly, it also improves the quality of your sleep.

3. Helps combat chronic disease.  Exercise helps improve your blood pressure and cholesterol levels which decreases your chances of suffering from things like heart disease, type II diabetes and certain cancers. Exercise has also been linked with a delayed onset of dementia.

4. Improves your mood.  Exercise promotes positive brain chemistry which means you’ll feel better.

5. Provides relief from anxiety and mild depression.

6. Makes food taste better.  There’s nothing like physical activity to stimulate your appetite.

Read the original here.

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Exercise helps fight fear of falling

Rolf Krojanker was at The Monday Club in Webster Groves, Mo., on a Tuesday evening wearing two hearing aids and a T’ai Chi Ch’uan T-shirt. Those two details might seem unrelated, but they’re not. The American Geriatric Society recently added Tai Chi as a form of exercise to its list of recommendations for older people who run a high risk of falling. Checking for hearing loss has been on that list for awhile now. In its recent updates, the society recommends that physicians review medications that their elderly patients take, and reduce the use of those that increase the risk of falling, such as anti-depressants and sleeping aids. Previously, it suggested reviewing medications if a patient was taking four or more meds. The recommendations are for patients age 65 and older, which is considered geriatric, who run a high risk of falling.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among older adults in the United States, and the rate of those deaths has risen by more than 50 per cent over the past decade. In 2002, more than 12,800 people over age 65 died and 1.6 million were treated in emergency departments because of falls. In 2007, more than 18,000 people died after falls; in 2009, more than 2.2 million older people visited emergency departments for nonfatal falls. The CDC estimates that one out of 10 falls among older people results in serious injuries that require hospitalization and that many people spend a year or more recovering in long-term care facilities. Some never go home. Those numbers are expected to continue growing dramatically as baby boomers age.

Dr. Dulce Cruz-Oliver, assistant professor of the department of internal medicine and geriatrics at St. Louis University, said older people who have fallen in the past run a particularly high risk of falling again. “There are many factors that contribute to the increased risk, including changes in posture and gait, medical conditions such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease and stroke, poor eyesight and hearing,” Cruz-Oliver said. Your risk of falling increases when the number of these biological and environment factors increase, she said. Family doctors can determine whether you’re at risk. Cruz-Oliver said the best way to maintain a keen sense of balance is to exercise, and to start it in your 50s before you begin losing it. “If you don’t use it, you lose it,” she said. “Balance is something you should continually train and use.” T’ai Chi has been proved to decrease falls in the elderly. Gait-training, physical therapy and dancing help as well, though fewer studies exist on their effectiveness. “You need to do it one to three times a week for more than 12 weeks to really have an impact on decreasing falls,” she said.

Krojanker, 88, has been taking Tai Chi for 10 years. When asked if he’s ever fallen, he said: “Well, of course. When I took Jiu Jitsu.” That was several years ago, when he was in his 70s. But no, he said, he hasn’t fallen since. “How can people balance their bodies if they don’t know where their balance is?” Krojanker asked. “They need to become better aware of their bodies. In Tai Chi, the waist is the commander of balance, not the head.” Two instructors with the St. Louis T’ai Chi Ch’uan Association led a group of about 20 through the class at The Monday Club. At least half a dozen of the participants appeared to be over age 65. Mike David, one of the Tai Chi instructors, has noticed the number of older people coming to class increase significantly during the past decade. “Baby boomers are coming of age, so to speak, so that might have something to do with it,” said David, 63, of St. Louis. In addition to lowering blood pressure, helping with rheumatoid arthritis, increasing breath efficiency and reducing stress hormones, David said Tai Chi employs small muscles that aren’t often used but help with staying upright. “Also you try to keep your center of attention in your core area, which is where your energy should come from,” he said. Several years ago, David recalls, a woman who had two hip replacements and was walking with a four-prong cane began taking Tai Chi lessons with him. “When she came in I thought, ’Oh boy.’ She said she was really afraid of falling,” he said. “After one month, she threw her cane away. “A fear of falling changes not just the way you move but the way you live,” he said. “Then you gain more weight by being docile and there’s more stress every time you have to move and it multiplies from there.”

Reducing risks for falls

Recommendations by The American Geriatric Society and The British Geriatric Society to help reduce the risk of falling. Exercise: Take part in programs that help improve balance, gait and strength training, such as Tai Chi or physical therapy. Environment: Make changes to reduce your fall risk factors in the home and in daily activities, such as keeping high traffic areas clear of furniture or clutter. Vision: Undergo cataract surgery when needed, though not as an individual approach. Fewer meds: Reduce medications, regardless of the number prescribed, particularly those that affect the brain such as sleeping medications and antidepressants. In 2001 this was only recommended for elderly people who were on at least four medications. Blood pressure: Raise low blood pressure and manage heart rate and rhythm abnormalities. Consuming more salt and water and wearing compression stockings can raise low blood pressure. In extreme cases, doctors can prescribe fludrocortisone to control low blood pressure. Sometimes, doctors can control irregular heartbeats by altering medications.

Home safety

Home safety check list from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Avoid slipping: Remove rugs or use double-sided tape or a nonslip backing so to avoid slipping, or remove altogether and attach nonslip rubber treads. Put a nonslip rubber mat or self-stick strips on the floor of bath tub or shower. Tidy up: Always keep objects off the floor and stairs. Cords: Coil or tape cords and wires next to the wall to avoid tripping. Too loose?: Fix loose or uneven steps. If handrails are loose, maybe it’s time to install new ones. Make sure they’re on both sides of the stairs and are as long as the stairs. Lighting: Install an overhead light and light switch at the top and bottom of the stairs. Place a lamp close to the bed so that it’s easy to reach. Consider using a night-light so you can see when you’re walking to the bathroom in the dark. Some night lights go on automatically when it’s dark. Sightlines: Paint a contrasting color on the top edge of all steps so you can see them better. Stepping up: If you must use a step stool, get one with a bar to hold on to. Never use a chair. Getting up: Install grab bars inside the tub and next to the toilet if you need help getting up or out of them.

By Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Read the original here.

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Martial arts has long been touted as a great activity for both kids and adults.  Here are three reasons why training in martial arts is especially great for kids, adolescents and teenagers.

1.  Physical exercise. In the days of the XBox and the Playstation, and with most PE programs in the public school system being drastically cut or eliminated all together, it is even more necessary for kids to have an outlet for physical exercise.  According to a study conducted by the CDC in 2006, children and adolescents are at higher risk for being overweight or obese than previous generations.  One of the main causes the study points out is a sedentary lifestyle.  Training in martial arts can be a very good source of exercise.  Engaging in a martial arts program 3 times a week can build the exercise habit in children that can last the rest of their lives.

2.  Values, values, values! Kids who learn martial arts at a good school rarely abuse their skill.  In fact, training in martial arts leads to respect for self and others.  It will also build confidence, discipline and a positive attitude.  The structured learning environment in most martial arts schools also helps kids get better grades because children who study martial arts learn to focus and achieve goals.

3.  Self Defense. While training at a good martial arts school, children and adolescents will learn practical self-defense as well as safety strategies that will teach them to avoid unsafe situations.  In national surveys, most kids and teens say that bullying happens at school.  The confidence that comes from learning martial arts can be an effective tool to teaching kids and adolescents how to avoid a confrontation all together.

Training in martial arts can be great activity for kids, adolescents and teenagers.  For more information about the kung fu program for kids at White Dragon Martial Arts visit:

http://www.whitedragonmartialarts.com/groups/kids.php

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Visit the Baltimore Sun on the internet at www.baltimoresun.com

ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2010) — Regular exercise can reduce around two dozen physical and mental health conditions and slow down how quickly the body ages, according to a research review summarising the key findings of 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010.

The paper provides an invaluable source for both news and feature editors as it is divided into a number of key sections, ranging from: “Why should I exercise” to “I’m too busy, I don’t have time.” Health conditions covered by the review include: cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure.

People who take regular exercise could reduce their risk of developing around two dozen physical and mental health conditions — including some cancers and dementia — and slow down how quickly their body deteriorates as they age.

An extensive research review, published in the December issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice, says that apart from not smoking, being physically active is the most powerful lifestyle choice any individual can make to improve their health.

Physiotherapist and lecturer Leslie Alford from the University of East Anglia reviewed 40 papers covering the latest international research published between 2006 and 2010.

“The literature reviewed shows that how long people live and how healthy they are depends on a complex mix of factors, including their lifestyle, where they live and even luck” says Mr Alford. “Individuals have an element of control over some of these factors, including obesity, diet, smoking and physical activity. Although the focus of my study was on men’s health, the messages on physical activity are relevant to both sexes and all age groups.”

Health benefits identified by the review include:

-Regular moderate to intense physical activity is associated with decreased risk of coronary heart disease and ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.

-A growing body of evidence suggests that increasing physical activity can also reduce the risk of certain types of cancers, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure.

-Evidence of the beneficial effects of physical activity in the primary prevention and management of cancer is growing and there is an association between higher levels of physical activity and lower cancer death rates.

-Research has found that walking or cycling for at least an half-an-hour a day is associated with a reduction in cancer and that when this is increased to an hour cancer incidence falls by 16 per cent.

-Evidence is mixed when it comes to specific cancers. Research has shown a strong relationship between increased physical activity and reduced colon cancer in both sexes. And men who are more active at work — not just sitting at a desk — have lower rates of prostate cancer.

-Other cancer studies show that physical activity after diagnosis can aid recovery and improve outcomes.
Studies have also shown that men who are physically active are less likely to experience erection problems.

-There is growing evidence that physical activity could decrease the risk of dementia in the elderly.

Recommendations identified by the review include:

-Healthy adults aged between 18 and 65 should aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity a week, such as 30 minutes of brisk walking, five days a week. And people who undertake more vigorous intensity exercise, such as jogging, should aim for 20 minutes three days a week.

-Healthy adults should aim for two strength-training sessions a week that work with the body’s major muscle groups.

-Older people can benefit from exercise that helps to maintain their balance and flexibility.

-People who are physically active should continue to exercise even when they become middle aged or elderly and those who aren’t should increase their physical activity.

-Not smoking and following a healthy diet is also important.

“Ideally, to gain maximum health benefits people should exercise, not smoke, eat a healthy diet and have a body mass index of less than 25″ says Mr Alford. “The more of these healthy traits an individual has, the less likely they are to develop a range of chronic disorders. Even if people can’t give up smoking and maintain a healthy weight, they can still gain health benefits from increasing the amount of regular exercise they take.”

“Physical inactivity results in widespread pathophysiological changes to our bodies. It appears that our bodies have evolved to function optimally on a certain level of physically activity that many of us simply do not achieve in our modern, sedentary lifestyles.”

“What is clear from the research is that men and women of all ages should be encouraged to be more physically active for the sake of their long-term health.”

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