Nutrition Frenzy

Study finds what people have known for years.

The largest study of its kind finds that older Americans who eat large amounts of red meat and processed meats face a greater risk of death from heart disease and cancer.

The federal study of more than half a million men and women bolsters prior evidence of the health risks of diets laden with red meat like hamburger and processed meats like hot dogs, bacon and cold cuts.

Calling the increased risk modest, lead author Rashmi Sinha of the National Cancer Institute said the findings support the advice of several health groups to limit red and processed meat intake to decrease cancer risk.

The findings appear in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine.

Over 10 years, eating the equivalent of a quarter-pound hamburger daily gave men in the study a 22 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease. That’s compared to those who ate the least red meat, just 5 ounces per week.

Women who ate large amounts of red meat had a 20 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease than women who ate less.

For processed meats, the increased risks for large quantities were slightly lower overall than for red meat. The researchers compared deaths in the people with the highest intakes to deaths in people with the lowest to calculate the increased risk.

So watch out for how much red meat you eat. If you have concerns, contact your dietician, health care physican or nurse.

Most eating-related side effects of cancer treatments go away after the treatment ends. Sometimes side effects such as poor appetite, dry mouth, change in taste or smell,trouble swallowing, or significant weight loss may last for some time. If this happens to you, talk to your health care team and work out a plan to address the problem.

As you begin to feel better, you may have questions about eating a healthful diet. Just as you wanted to go into treatment with the necessary nutrient stores that your diet could give you, you’ll want to do the best for yourself at this important time. There’s very little research to suggest that the foods you eat will keep your cancer from coming back. But eating well will help you regain your strength, rebuild tissue, and feel better overall. And certainly, what you eat can help reduce risk for other cancers.

Suggestions for healthy eating after cancer

Check with your doctor for any food or diet restrictions.
Ask your dietitian to help you create a nutritious, balanced eating plan.
Choose a variety of foods from all the food groups. Try to eat at least 5 to 7 servings a day of fruits and vegetables, including citrus fruits and dark-green and deep-yellow vegetables.
Eat plenty of high-fiber foods, such as whole grain breads and cereals.
Buy a new fruit, vegetable, low-fat food, or whole grain product each time you shop for groceries.
Decrease the amount of fat in your meals by baking or broiling foods.
Choose low-fat milk and dairy products.
Avoid salt-cured, smoked, and pickled foods.
If you choose to drink, drink alcohol only occasionally.
If you are overweight, consider losing weight by reducing the amount of fat in your diet and increasing your activity. Choose activities that you enjoy. Check with your doctor before starting any exercise program.

FDA: Peanut Plant Knowingly Shipped Contaminated Products

Officials at the food plant in Blakely, Ga., responsible for the nationwide salmonella outbreak, knowingly shipped contaminated peanut butter and did not do anything to correct the mold growing on their walls and ceilings, Agence France-Presse reported.

The outbreak, which took place between Sept. 1 and Jan. 9, infected more than 500 people in 43 states, and one person in Canada, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC, along with the Food and Drug Administration, is conducting an investigation.

The recent salmonella outbreak may have contributed to eight deaths, according to the CDC.

According to the FDA, people became sick or died after consuming food products containing peanut butter produced at the Peanut Corporation of America.

“PCA distributed potentially contaminated product to more than 70 consignee firms, for use as an ingredient in hundreds of different products, such as cookies, crackers, cereal, candy and ice cream,” the FDA said on its Web site.

A report by the FDA released Wednesday revealed 12 instances between June 2007 and September 2008 where the plant’s testing discovered its products were contaminated by salmonella. However, the company still shipped the product.

What is this world coming to? Is the “bottom line” so all exclusive that Executives are now willing to put peoples lives at harm? Maybe China has the right idea by instituting the death penalty for Executives that harbor dangerous plans and willfully carry them out by executing them.

There would be more oversight and ‘playing by the rules’ if they company executives were actually held accountable, with their own lives.

Some people may simply be hard-wired to overeat, brain scans show.

Brian Alexander on MSNBC health wrote about an interesting idea that many claim that gives answers. Some people’s brains are just wired so they overeat and out of their control.

And now science is apparantly backing up those claims.

recent U.S. government study found that the number of obese American adults now outweighs the number of those who are merely overweight. While many factors contribute to excessive weight gain — from diet and cultural changes to decreased physical activity — there’s still a prevalent attitude that obesity is the fat person’s fault.

The researchers Andrew Calder, Luca Passamonti and James Rowe were trying to determine why some people are more likely to overeat. What they found was, “people who appear to be more sensitive to food signals have different wiring in their brains,” said obesity expert Marc-Andre Cornier, M.D., a University of Colorado endocrinologist who was not associated with the trial.

In the small study, just published in the January Journal of Neuroscience, brain scans showed how 21 participants reacted to three sets of images: appetizing food, bland food, and unrelated images of other subjects. The volunteers were of normal weight because obese people have already undergone “neurohormonal changes” that affect how their brains function, according to researcher Andrew Calder.

The participants were quizzed to determine their susceptibility to food cues. Then they fasted for two hours. At that point, their level of hunger was assessed. When researchers checked the brain scans, the results were clear.

What do you think?

Health Insurance would rather pay for diabetes, heart and other symptoms of Obesity but not bariatric or obesity treatment.

A sign of the times: Insurance companys would rather fork over payments to keep diabetes and heart disease treated than pay for stomach stapling or other bariatric treatments, thus eliminating the need for diabetic or heart medications and tests. Better yet: pay for preventative measures, such as full health club memberships and supplements.

About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, putting them at an increased risk for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, osteoarthritis, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems and even some cancers.

The direct and indirect costs of obesity is $117 billion each year, according to a 2000 report by the U.S. Surgeon General.

Christine Ferguson, associate professor at George Washington University School of Public Health and the director of STOP Obesity Alliance, said the stigma surrounding obesity and belief that it is not a disease are keeping the government from addressing the crisis.

“At the root of this is that people still have a real problem thinking about obesity as anything other than a willpower issue,” said Ferguson. “It is still perfectly acceptable to think about excluding treatment.”

In Mississippi, rated the nation’s fattest state for the third consecutive year, a bill that would have banned restaurants from serving obese customers died almost immediately after it was introduced in February.

The Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit group that focuses on disease prevention, reported that adult obesity rates rose in 37 states in the past year, while no state saw a decrease.

In its 2008 report: ‘F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America’, the Trust said Mississippi has per capita medical costs that are among the highest in the nation. It also has a Medicaid policy that specifically excludes coverage for bariatric surgery.

Newsweek posted an article on the six worst diets of 2009 so far.

As we all know, and say it with me, there’s no such thing as a diet! Newsweek has taken the trouble to research and find the worst of the worst. Without further ado:

1. The Fat-Free Diet
The theory: Eat whatever you want as long as it has no fat. If your diet contains no fat, you won’t get fat.
Reality check: While it’s true that extra fat in your diet adds calories, just sticking to foods touted as fat free doesn’t necessarily help. Supermarket shelves are crammed with products advertised as fat free that are loaded with sugar and empty calories and that offer little in the way of fiber, vitamins or minerals. Check product labels before you buy.

2. The Snack-Pack Diet
The theory: Cookies and chips sorted into 100-calorie packs help limit the damage from an attack of the munchies.
Reality check: The dozens of 100-calorie snack pack foods on the market now may offer a lower-calorie alternative, but few of them are truly healthy choices, and they aren’t likely to be very filling or fiber rich, which can send you running for another bag or something less healthy.

3. The Couch-Potato Diet
The theory: Who needs exercise? You can lose weight without working out! Cutting back on calories is enough.
Reality check: Who needs exercise? You do. Studies have shown that dieters who change what they eat and increase their regular activity are more likely to lose and keep weight off. Increasing activity has other health benefits as well, such as lowering your risk of heart disease, the leading killer of women. Even a brisk 20- to 30-minute walk most days of the week can make a big difference.

(more…)

Personal trainer says even a 10-minute workout gets you closer to fitness goals

NUTRITION

Dr. Melina Jampolis, a San Francisco, California, physician nutrition specialist, is the diet and fitness expert for CNNhealth.com. She focuses exclusively on nutrition for weight loss and disease prevention and treatment.

1. Go for very specific goals.

Make an actual list. Don’t be vague. Instead if “looking better,” write down specifics, such as being able to run around with kids at the park or not wearing a baggy T-shirt to the beach. It’s an internal motivator.

2. Volunteer.

Good karma could be good fitness. Volunteer activities such as coaching a youth soccer game, walking shelter dogs or cleaning up a beach encourages movement and exercise, Jampolis said. When it comes to burning calories, think outside the gym.

“Look for active volunteer opportunities with any form of movement,” she said.

Cheryl Forberg is a behind-the-scenes nutritionist for NBC’s show, “The Biggest Loser.” She is a registered dietitian and chef. She has a weekly blog and is the author of the book “Positively Ageless.”

1. Make over your kitchen.

Get rid of foods that have lower nutritional values, such as white sugar, bread and pasta. If junk food isn’t in your kitchen, you can’t be tempted, Forberg said.

2. Healthy snacking helps.

Having a snack sustains healthy blood sugar levels and energy. This way you don’t feel famished and end up overeating. She recommends a piece of fruit with a protein or healthy fat — perhaps a few nuts with an apple, a cheese stick or a carton of yogurt for a snack.

“Combining protein and carbohydrates keeps you full longer and sustains blood sugar longer and keeps your energy levels,” she said.

(more…)

Eat a diet rich in a variety of produce, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy

Food alone can’t protect against the common cold or influenza, and the science isn’t yet clear on which or how much of some nutrients may help bolster immunity to reduce your risk of getting sick. But experts agree that a diet rich in a variety of produce, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy products — along with adequate sleep, moderate exercise, and minimal stress — contributes to a well-functioning immune system and may promote a faster recovery if you do come down with a cold or flu. CookingLight.com: Choose healthful treats this holiday season

Stay hydrated

Water is the largest single constituent of the human body — contributing to at least half your body weight — but it’s “also a forgotten nutrient,” says Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., director of clinical dietetics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. This essential nutrient (meaning it’s one the body can’t produce on its own) promotes healthy muscle, bone, and blood.

Adequate hydration is even more important once you’re sick because fluids lost through sneezing, watery eyes, and a runny nose need replacing. “When you have a mild fever, your body becomes more dehydrated as a result. So drinking plenty of fluids is probably the first line of defense,” Nelson says.

Choose food

While it’s known that certain nutrients like vitamins C, E, and A, as well as the mineral zinc, are associated with immune functions, it’s hard to attribute specific immunity-boosting benefits to any one nutrient because of inconclusive research. “Many studies have been done in nutrition and immune function, involving numerous nutrients — and [they] come out with different, often contradicting results,” says Dayong Wu, Ph.D., a scientist in the Nutritional Immunology Laboratory, the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, and assistant professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition and Science Policy at Tufts University.

Because a nutritional intervention may have different effects on people of different ages or nutrition status as noted in scientific studies, Wu says, it’s difficult to make broad recommendations based on study findings. “In general, it’s easier to see positive, immune-strengthening results by supplementing someone with a vitamin or mineral that he is deficient in,” he says. The same benefits may not confer to “people with adequate intake.”

Scientists bought food from fast-food chains

Researchers traced type of fat used, source of nutrition for the animals

100 percent of sampled chicken, most beef had been fed a corn-based diet

Most of the resulting corn is fed to livestock who didn’t evolve to subsist entirely on corn. In cattle, eating corn increases flatulence emissions of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — and creates an intestinal environment rich in e. coli, a common cause of food poisoning. That necessitates mixing cow feed with antibiotics, in turn producing antibiotic-resistant disease strains.

Many of those livestock end up in high-calorie, low-nutrition franchised fast foods, which have been repeatedly linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Fast food’s biggest selling point is its low price — and that, say industry critics, is largely possible because of corn’s ubiquitous cheapness.

“We’re seeing that corn is the number-one reason that fast food is so cheap and available,” said Meredith Niles, a food policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety who was not involved in the study. “U.S. programs are subsidizing obesity in this country.”

Jahren’s team analyzed hamburgers, chicken sandwiches and french fries from multiple McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s restaurants in six U.S. cities. In both types of meat at every location, a telltale configuration of nitrogen and carbon traces showed that the animals had eaten corn-heavy diets; in the case of beef, 150 out of 162 samples came from animals that ate nothing but corn. Fries were prepared in corn-based oil.

The results weren’t surprising, said New York University food studies expert Marion Nestle, but underscored the fact that “most people aren’t aware of the extent to which corn ingredients permeate the food supply.”

Nutrition aside, Jahren urged consumers to consider the implications of what they eat. “When you give a nickel to fast food, invariably it goes right back to the corn industry,” she said.

For Niles, the results are a political challenge.

“We have a new President taking his place in the White House. It’s a great opportunity to rearrange agricultural policy and to think about obesity,” she said. “This study shows that it comes down in a lot of ways to one product.”

There’s nothing like
a little competition to get you motivated—even if it’s only with yourself. That’s the principle behind a whole new array of digital tools that help you get fit, keep fit, or track exactly how you’re doing—whether it’s calorie intake or energy output. The simplest tools, like a pedometer, are always popular. But just tracking the number of steps might become passé if fitness trends continue. Now there are ways to not only count the steps you take daily or hourly, but to compare those numbers over time and share them with others. And that’s just the start. Here are some of the best gadgets in a whole new wave of digital fitness products that use computer games, iPods and social networking applications to help you in your quest for a healthier physique:

1. Upping the Fun Factor. More fitness-centric videogames are cropping up in addition to blockbusters like Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution. My Weight Loss Coach from Ubisoft, for the Nintendo DS, allows users to plug a pedometer directly into the DS and upload information about their weight to access daily fitness advice and objectives, as well as diet tips and health-related trivia games.

2. Connectivity Counts. The FitBit, due out this holiday season, will be able to measure daily exercise and sleep quality, then remotely transmit the information to a computer so users can keep track of their progress online. And there’s a community aspect—users will be able to share their information and goals with family and friends. This, says the manufacturer, is the first generation of health devices that are connected to the Internet in a meaningful way.

3. New Ways to Compete. Stationary-bicycle manufacturer Expresso Fitness has sold about 4,000 bikes equipped with television screens that allow users to ride challenges on different digital terrains and chase a dragon through the sky. Users can also keep track of their workouts on the Web, setting goals for themselves and gaining digital awards for achieving certain distance milestones. Concept2, which manufactures rowing machines, has a model that allows up to eight users to wirelessly race each other.

4. Real-Time Tracking. Weight Watchers recently launched an application that allows members to monitor their daily points wherever they are using their BlackBerry or iPhone. However, Weight Watchers Mobile and WeightWatchers.com, which tally everything from your water intake to the points you earn by exercising, are meant as supplements to the in-person Weight Watchers program. The company says those who use all three ought to see the best results.

Other research showed that high-fat diets rich in processed meats and cheeses may affect measures of heart failure.

Courtesy of Charlene Laino: Failing to eat enough vegetables, soy, and fish can have the same effect, says Longjian Liu, MD, of Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia.

Consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, was associated with improved blood vessel function, other research showed.

Eckel shares these tips for a heart-healthy diet:

Eat fresh, frozen, and canned vegetables and fruits without high-calorie sauces and added salt and sugars.
Increase fiber intake by eating beans, whole-grain products, fruits, and vegetables.
Use liquid vegetable oils in place of solid fats.
Limit beverages and foods high in added sugars. Common forms of added sugars are sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, dextrose, corn syrups, concentrated fruit juice, and honey.
Choose foods made with whole grains. Common forms of whole grains are whole wheat, oats/oatmeal, rye, barley, corn, popcorn, brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat, triticale, bulgur (cracked wheat), millet, quinoa, and sorghum.
Cut back on pastries and high-calorie bakery products such as muffins and doughnuts.
Select milk and dairy products that are either fat free or low-fat.
Incorporate vegetable-based meat substitutes into favorite recipes.
Encourage the consumption of whole vegetables and fruits in place of juices.

Legumes Help Lower Cholesterol Levels
Other research presented at the meeting suggested that eating a diet rich in pinto beans, chickpeas, and other legumes may help to lower cholesterol levels.

“Based on our findings, [I'd suggest you] consume at least three cups of dry beans and peas, or legumes, a week,” says researcher Lydia A. Bazzano, MD, of Tulane University in New Orleans.

Past research has shown that eating soy-rich products may help to control cholesterol levels, but little was known about the non-soy legumes that are more popular in the U.S., she says.

To fill in the knowledge gap, Bazzano and colleagues pooled and analyzed results of 12 studies involving nearly 300 men and women.

Most of them had “undesirable cholesterol levels,” she says. Their average total cholesterol level was 250 points at the start of the study; their average LDL, or bad, cholesterol was 172 points.

Total cholesterol in those who ate a legume-rich diet for at least three weeks dropped by an average of 14 points compared to those on placebo. LDL cholesterol dropped by an average of 11 points more in the group eating lots of beans.

Looking to entice those hungry for a healthier option, Dunkin’ Donuts will begin offering a new slate of better-for-you offerings.

The menu, which will debut in stores Aug. 6, will feature two new flatbread sandwiches made with egg whites. Customers will be able to choose either a turkey sausage egg-white sandwich or a vegetable one. Both will be under 300 calories with 9 grams of fat or less, the company said.

“We just felt it was important to provide some choice in our menu,” said Will Kussell, president and chief brand officer.

The new menu will be called DDSmart and will include all current and new items that either have 25 percent few calories, sugar, fat or sodium than comparable products or contain ingredients that are “nutritionally beneficial,” the company said.

Current products that will join the new sandwiches on the menu include a multigrain bagel and a reduced-fat blueberry muffin.

Kussell said Dunkin’ will continue to add products to the menu and is currently developing several new offerings, but would not disclose any details.

Kussell said Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands Inc. will spend several million dollars marketing the new menu.

A number of restaurants have added better-for-you options to their menus in the past few years to take advantage of a trend toward healthier eating.

“We’re staying very true to our brand and very true to our heritage,” said the company’s executive chef Stan Frankenphaler. “We’re just growing and evolving.”

Has science overemphasized the danger of a few extra pounds?

Courtesy of Sarah Mahoney: Beyond the BMI
Turns out, I’m not the only one asking these questions. In fact, in light of several new studies, experts are divided on the danger posed by excess weight, especially if the person is, like me, generally healthy and fit. Much of the research linking excess weight and an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, among other chronic diseases (the list goes on and on), has been done on people who are obese, with a BMI of 30 or more. When the merely overweight folks are separated out, the health risks drop and sometimes even disappear.

“Being overweight may not be associated with any risk of heart disease,” says Robert Eckel, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado and past president of the American Heart Association.

Recently, researchers from the CDC and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) caused waves in the medical community with a report analyzing the death records of 37,000 adults. Although obese folks had a greater risk of dying from cancer or heart disease, those who were simply overweight had, surprisingly, no greater risk than normal-weight people. Even more amazing, the findings suggested that being overweight may actually protect against death from a multitude of diseases other than cancer and heart disease. The research made headlines (”Is That Spare Tire a Lifesaver?”). Critics quickly responded that the study failed to consider quality-of-life issues caused by excess pounds and didn’t appropriately control for unhealthy habits like smoking, which can keep people lean but undeniably raise cancer risk. Still, it added fuel to the ongoing debate of whether losing weight is absolutely necessary to reduce disease risk if you’re not obese.

In a nutshell, if your waist is bigger than your chest, you may need to start living a healthier lifestyle. Ask your doctor or health care provider about your optimal healthy weight.

#1: You can reduce cholesterol and blood pressure without using drugs.

#2: Broccoli’s super-chemical, sulforaphane, can cure cancer.

#3: You can reduce cholesterol and blood pressure without using drugs.

#4: When your stomach is empty, it produces a hormone called ghrelin, which makes you feel hungry.

#5: Fatter people have higher metabolic rates than thinner people, not the other way around.

#6: Garlic causes the body to relaease nitric oxide into the bloodstream. So does viagra.

#7: Regular users of caffeine suffer withdrawal symptoms when deprived of their favorite drug.

#8: Eating little and often can keep you going for longer.

#9: Most people don’t need to drink two liters of water every day—and coffee, tea and alcoholic drinks do count toward your fluid intake.

#10: Tomato skins are a great source of lycopene, a chemical that helps prevent skin cancer.

Why so much confusion around the topic of food? Because there is so much conflicting information and many of us can’t seem to make sense of it. As Ms. Fullerton-Smith writes in the intro, “Understanding complex research can be hard going; experts disagree; journalists speculate; and old myths die hard. It seems the more we know the more we have to worry about, and the less sure we are of the truth.” I say “Amen” to that.

Dr. Mehmet Oz who wrote the forward adds this; “If food were merely fuel, we could consume a simple, tasteless liquid and be on our way, just as we full up our cars with gasoline to keep us on the road. But nothing about food is simple. Even the most basic signals that tell us we are hungry or full are confused by a host of psychological and physiological triggers that often make it difficult for us to identify when we need to eat or-more importantly for most of us-when we need to stop eating.” This statement alone might have some of you singing the hallelujah chorus.

The Truth About Food is written as a series of “How Tos.” How To: be healthy, be slim, feed the kids, be sexy, be the best, and stay young and beautiful. To support their ideas they use great photos, sidebars, and “top tips.” These are the little take away gems that you don’t want to exclude in your new way of eating.

During their two years of experimenting they managed to prove that you can lower cholesterol and blood pressure without drugs, (no surprise there), that calcium does have some chops in the weight loss category, and that most people do not need to drink two litres of water per day to remain health and hydrated. Water haters rejoice!

Think of this book as evidence that “foods are powerful weapons in our fight to stay healthy,” as Dr. Oz puts it. This isn’t a diet book but can be the basis of a new way of eating for weight loss or weight gain for that matter. You will learn why certain foods produce certain results in some and not in others. The writing is engaging and the science is easy to follow.

More classes tailored for those being treated for cancer, other illnesses

When Patti Kiernan found out she had osteoporosis, she decided it was time to find a more focused workout.

The 61-year-old signed up for a fitness program at her Dallas gym that’s geared specifically for women with health problems. Kiernan liked the four-week Female Focus program so much she’s still in after two years.

“I just felt that this was the right way to go,” said Kiernan, who also began taking medication and saw her bone density improve after a year. “Plus, there were other women in the program who had the same problem.”

More and more clubs are offering exercise programs fine-tuned for people coping with a variety of ailments, said Joe Moore, head of the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. He said the number of programs has grown along with the number of studies showing the health benefits of exercise.

Medical and fitness experts say that exercise not only elevates the mood and energy levels, but helps control weight — a contributing factor for many diseases.

For breast cancer patients, “being overweight or gaining weight post diagnosis is a huge risk factor” for recurrence, said Colleen Doyle, director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society.

Her group and the American College of Sports Medicine are devising a special certification for people who work with cancer patients on exercise programs.

Julie Main developed such a program after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36 in 1993. She was inspired after her doctor mentioned that she seemed to be going through treatment better than other patients.

She told him one thing she was doing was continuing to exercise.

“He said, ‘Most of my other patients don’t do that.’ I said, ‘Well, maybe they should,’” Main said.

Experts say such programs can also serve as a support group.

“There’s no substitute for the camaraderie that forms among those that know what the other is going through,” said Brown of the Santa Barbara center.

Dr. John Pippen, a cancer specialist at Baylor University Medical Center, said that he tells his breast cancer patients to try to walk three to five hours a week.

“To me, it’s killing several birds with one stone — preventing osteoporosis, reducing cancer risk, perhaps most important of all, reducing cardiovascular risk,” Pippen said.

And while joining a fitness club might help keeping up with an exercise routine, he said it’s not necessary.