Posts Tagged "diet"

Wednesday Bubble: all juiced up and ready to go

Posted by Liz on Dec 1, 2010 in heart disease, physical fitness, weight | 0 comments

Did you catch last week’s news about pomegranate juice and kidney disease? It seems that pomegranate juice just might be the next best thing… or not. The same holds true for orange juice, weight loss and heart disease. So before you get too excited about the wonders of the orange, let’s take a look at what research is telling us.

Middle-age is associated with a slow down of metabolism, distribution of weight and of course, an increase in risk for certain diseases, in particular heart disease. For women specifically, hormonal changes – namely a steeply progressive increase in testosterone, can contribute to a risk of developing metabolic syndrome (i.e. the cluster of risk factors — abdominal fat, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels and insulin resistance –that increases the likelihood of developing heart disease and diabetes). In fact, data from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation has shown that women have a a 1.45 times increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome in perimenopause and a 1.25 increased risk after menopause. So, the cards are automatically stacked against us. Let’s add overweight and obesity, poor eating habits and sedentary behavior to the mix and we have a veritable “heart condition in the making” cocktail.

Wondering where this is going?

Across the board, the key ways to improve one’s risk of developing disease include a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and good fats and regular physical activity. The formula isn’t a magic one and but it’s been shown time and again to improve the odds. However, we are a society of instant gratification so it’s easy to fall into the trap of a quick fix, whether that entails botox, diet pills, diet plans, sweating or the like without paying much attention. Hence, when I saw a study setting the stage for the latest and greatest answer to our problems, i.e. orange juice, I had to take a closer look.

Like pomegranate juice, orange juice is rich in flavonoids, naturally-occurring plant and vegetable compounds that have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Orange juice is also an important source of vitamin C, folate and potassium, which have been shown to help protect cells from bad, LDL cholesterol, reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and possibly help lower blood pressure. But, can drinking orange juice help prevent heart disease in middle-aged women who are already at risk?

When researchers compared 26 premenopausal women between the ages of 30 and 48 who were considered overweight or obese, and asked them to engage in a 1-hour aerobic exercise (running) 3 times a week and either drink 2 glasses (16 oz) of orange juice daily or not, they observed the following:

• Regular aerobic exercise led to an average loss of 11% to 15% of fat and 1.2% to 2.5% of BMI depending on the group that women were assigned to.
• Women who drank orange juice along with their thrice-weekly exercise had as much as a 15% decline in LDL-cholesterol and an 18% increase in HDL (good) cholesterol.
• Daily orange juice intake also led to less muscle fatigue and better overall responses to aerobic training.
• Although drinking orange juice added to daily caloric intake, it actually led to a decreased consumption of other foods.

Should you start drinking orange juice to lose weight and save your heart? Not so fast. This study simply shows an potential associated benefit and does not prove that drinking orange juice causes a reduced risk in heart disease,; mind you, these women were only studied for three months. Moreover, the study was small and a much larger group is needed to demonstrate proof of a benefit. Additionally, the results did not show which components in orange juice are specifically linked to a potential risk reduction, or if there are components in the juice that are shared by other juices. On a more positive side, it did demonstrate the benefit of a balanced diet, regular physical activity and improvements in performance, perhaps as a result of extra nutrients and energy provided by the juice.

Time to juice up? Nope, just time to start opening your eyes a bit wider when you see headlines touting the amazing benefits of a quick fix. Rule number 1? There are no quick fixes.

Wednesday Bubble: The “De’s” have it

Posted by Liz on Sep 1, 2010 in new approaches | 0 comments

This week’s Bubble is truly straight out of bubble-land. Flashing? There’s a drink for that. Not on your game? There’s a drink for that. Finding that you can’t handle the demands of daily life? There’s a drink for that too?

Sigh.

Yes ladies, you can ‘deFlash,” deBug” and “deCompress” with EYL – Enrich your Life drinks.

Look, I’m a huge supporter of alternative therapies, Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbal remedies, etc, so long as they are thoroughly studied. But time and again, we see enriched nutritional products that are long on promises and short on delivery. And while functional foods — foods that deliver more than nutritional benefits — are certainly the wave of the future, I do believe that these foods need regulation and evidence behind them. Japan may be one of the few countries that actually regulates functional foods.

So before you spend your hard-earned dollars on drinking your flashes away, why not do some research and see which alternatives actually pack a powerful punch beyond their marketing claims?

The “De’s?” How about “deceptive?”

Wednesday Bubble: long-term effects of the short-term binge

Posted by Liz on Aug 25, 2010 in exercise, weight | 4 comments

Stress, emotions, life.  All of these factors can contribute to binge eating. However, have you ever wondered if the binges that might occur during long vacations or breaks may contribute to a longer-term problem?

This week, I’m bursting the myth that many of us, including myself, like to tell ourselves after a few weeks of the ‘bad food’ binge, “it won’t hurt.”

Guess what?

This bit of information is straight out of BioMed Central‘s nutrition and metabolism section, and it ain’t pretty. However, the good news is that after reading this, lengthy binges may become a thing of your past and hopefully, not your future.

Researchers are saying that individuals who lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle and consume large amounts of energy (not nutrient) dense food over a period of as little as four weeks may end up with more fat mass over the long-term, even if they lose the weight they’ve gained from binging by returning to usual eating and activity levels.

In this particular case, 18 young men and women (aged ~26 years) who weighed within the normal healthy ranges were asked to increase their daily energy intake by 70% (including at least two fast food meals per day or foods rich in protein and saturated animal fat) over four weeks and limit physical activity to no more than 5,000 steps a day (which they measured using a pedometer). Thereafter, they could return to normal. The findings?

Compared to a group of men and women who ate and exercised normally, a month of binging led to an average weight gain of 14 pounds! Moreover, only a third of the people studied returned to their normal weigh after 6 months, and on average, they still managed to gain an extra 3 pounds by one year’s time following the study. Even worse was the fact that fat mass increased by as much as 3% of the total body weight by the end of the study. When the researchers looked at this separately, they found an average increase in abdominal/trunk fat by ~17% and leg fat mass by 28%.

The underlying message is that a short-term  excessive binge can possibly change your physiology, making it harder to lose the weight and keep it off.

Granted, this is a small study and was conducted in individuals substantially younger than the readers of this blog. Nevertheless, if the findings prove true, it is likely that the longer term ramifications of binging at our age may pose some serious effects on health.

Just a wee bit of food for thought for a Wednesday. Keep it healthy. And move your body.

Wednesday Bubble: protein, weight and bones – keep it in balance

Posted by Liz on Aug 4, 2010 in bone health, diet | 1 comment

Weight loss improves health, right? Well, yes, and no. Because it turns out that weight loss also increases the rate that the bone loses density, so in midlife and menopause, weight loss can be a double-edged sword.

In two recent studies published in the online edition of the Journal of Gerontology, researchers are reporting that women already at risk for osteoporosis due to their age and menopausal status may want to pay attention to what they eat when they try to lose weight. In fact, consuming large amounts of protein derived primarily from animal sources, e.g. lean meats like pork, beef and chicken, may negatively impact bone density and in turn, further increase osteoporosis risk.

Here’w what you need to know:

• In the first study, women between the ages of 43 and 80 reduced their daily caloric intake by 750 calories. Over three months, about half of the women ate meat-free diets that derived about 18% of their daily protein from vegetarian, dairy and egg sources and other half, ate diets comprised of about 30% protein derived from lean pork.

• In the second study, women between the same ages consumed about 1,250 calories a day in five meals over nine weeks. While the bulk of these calories were from a vegetarian diet, women were asked to eat either 250 calories of carbs daily (shortbread cookies, sugar coated chocolates), chicken (plus 10 grams of butter) or the equivalent in fat/saturated fat but as beef.

• Although women in the first study lost about the same amount of weight (~19 lbs), those eating animal protein has a 1.4% greater loss of bone mass. Likewise, in the second study, all the women lost weight but those women eating animal protein sources lost significantly more bone mass compared to women eating carbs.

• Women in both of these studies were considered overweight or obese based on their body-mass indices (BMI).

Importantly, many of the today’s popular diets for weight loss (e.g. South Beach, Atkins) emphasize increased intake of protein over carbohydrates (although the former also emphasizes good versus bad (i.e. glycemic index) carbs. What this means is that while you are cutting back, you may also be losing more bone mass than you normally would with weight loss.

Consequently, one of best approaches for women who are going through menopause and trying to keep the weight off may be to increase the daily  amount of so-called “good fats,” which as my friend Mollie Katzen, suggests should include nuts, avocados and fatty fish like salmon. Many of these foods are also good sources of protein and while not necessarily working to build bone, may stave off bone mass loss while you are trying to lose a few pounds or maintain your current weight.

At the end of the day, it’s all about balancing the good, the bad and the ugly. Our skeleton is fragile and it’s critical that we do all we can to keep it in one piece.

Want to learn more? I’ve dedicated several posts to osteoporosis, bone loss and bone health.

Flashfree food for thought: lignans and breast cancer risk

Posted by Liz on Jun 7, 2010 in breast cancer | 1 comment

I’ve written previ0usly about the potential benefits of flaxseed in boosting bone health and alleviating hot flashes.  Now, researchers are suggesting that flaxseed and other foods that contain high levels of lignans –  a type of phytoestrogen with both weak estrogen and antioxidant activities – may also help lower the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

In a large analysis of 21 studies examining possible links between lignan intake and breast cancer risk, the researchers found that including large amounts of lignan in the diet reduced the risk of developing breast cancer by as much as 14% in postmenopausal women. What’s more, risk was reduced by as much as 16% in studies that specifically examined levels of compounds called “enterolignans,” which are created with dietary lignan enters the stomach and interacts with bacteria residing in the intestines. The researchers say that lignan may offer moderate protection against breast cancer because it blocks estrogen activity that promotes tumour growth, perhaps mostly when natural estrogen is low (i.e. during menopause). However, the study did not provide details as to what constitutes “large” amounts of the compounds.

Flaxseed is one of the richest dietary sources of lignan, although it is also found in other foods including sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, whole grain breads, muesli, kale, broccoli, white cabbage and brussel sprouts, apricots and strawberries. You can find a full list of the lignan content in foods here.

Should you start eating more lignan? The good news is that the foods that are richest sources of the phytoestrogen are also quite healthy.  And, wth the potentially added benefits of preventing osteoporosis and lessening hot flashes, it seems that boosting lignan intake is a win-win all around!

Want to read more? Reuters Health has an excellent write up with additional information on the study.