Drink Water Before Meals Aids Weight Loss

The Claim: Drinking Water Before Meals Aids Weight Loss

By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

Published: November 15, 2010

THE FACTS Late November marks the start of the gluttonous holiday season. But a simple step might help keep food intake in check: a glass of water before meals.

Dieters have been encouraged to employ this trick for ages, with the reasoning quite simple: the water fills the stomach, thus reducing hunger. But only in recent years have studies borne this out.

In the most recent, a randomized trial published in the journal Obesity in February, scientists at Virginia Tech followed a group of overweight subjects age 55 and up on low-calorie diets for about three months. Half the people were told to drink two cups of water before every meal. At the end of the study, the water group had lost an average of 15.5 pounds, compared with 11 pounds in the other group.

A 2008 study showed a similar effect, finding a 13 percent reduction in calorie intake in overweight subjects who consumed water before breakfast. But a third study, this one in 2007, had a peculiar finding: drinking water 30 minutes before a meal reduced calorie intake and feelings of hunger in older adults, but had little effect on subjects under 35. It’s not clear why, but the researchers pointed out that because older adults are at increased risk of being overweight and obese, further studies should determine whether this is effective for the aging population.

Studies show the average person gains about a pound between Thanksgiving and January. Most adults gain one to two pounds a year over a lifetime, so staving off the holiday pound can go a long way.

THE BOTTOM LINE Drinking water before a meal can reduce calorie intake, though the effect seems most prominent in older people.

8 fat fighting foods

Healthy Living – Yahoo, Thursday, November 12, 2009

8 fat fighting foods – Veronica Byrd


Combat fat! Your allies in battling bulge? Foods that do the work for you. These edibles have proven lipid-melting powers that help you slim. That’s a win.

Almonds - Almond joy! Dieters who ate 3 ounces of these nuts every day reduced their weight and body-mass index by a solid 18 percent compared with an 11 percent drop in the no-nut group, a study in the International Journal of Obesity found. Almonds are high in alpha-linolenic acid, which can speed the metabolism of fats. Stick to 12 per serving.

Berries Vitamin C–loaded fruit such as strawberries and raspberries can help you sizzle up to 30 percent more fat during exercise, suggests research from Arizona State University at Mesa. Blend a vinaigrette of 1 cup berries and ¼ cup balsamic vinegar.

Cinnamon - This spice could make your waistline nice. Sprinkling ¼ teaspoon on your food may prevent a postmeal insulin spike—this increase normally occurs after you eat and “signals the body that it should store fat rather than burn it,” explains Lauren Slayton, R.D., of New York City. Add a dash to your oatmeal, yogurt or coffee.

Mustard - Hello, yellow. The spice that gives mustard its color, turmeric, may slow the growth of fat tissues, a study in the journal Endocrinology notes. Eighty-six mayo in favor of any mustard; sprinkle turmeric on cauliflower and roast for a tangy side.

Oranges - Prevent pound creep with this citrus star: It contains fat-torching compounds called flavones. Women who ate the most flavones had a significantly lower increase in body fat over a 14-year period, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds. Snack on slices or drink freshly squeezed OJ (with pulp!) for the biggest payback. Soybeans These green gems are rich in choline, a compound that blocks fat absorption and breaks down fatty deposits. Add ½ cup edamame to a salad.

Sweet potatoes - Trade up to sweet taters. They’re high in fiber, which means no drastic insulin jumps and thus less fat packed onto your hips. Bake a small sweet potato—think of two bars of soap as a portion size—and top with a dollop of lowfat or nonfat cottage cheese.

Swiss cheese **- Holy cow: “Calcium-rich foods reduce fat-producing enzymes and increase fat breakdown,” says Michael B. Zemel, Ph.D., director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Put toe to toe with some of its cheesy counterparts, Swiss is a heavy hitter in the calcium department; layer a slice on a lunchtime sandwich, or stack some on high-fiber crackers.

-----------------------------------------

** dairy products ( are high in animal proteins) make our body acidic
after metabolism.
Cheese is one of the most acidic food around.
Our body has to restore the pH back to normal (slightly alkali) by
utilizing the calcium in our bones to neutralise the acidity.

We end up with a net loss of calcium instead of stronger bones.
Countries with the highest consumption of dairy products have
highest rate of osteoporosis.
- further info from www.drmcdougall.com under the video topic
"marketing of milk" .

Teenage Obesity Links to Future Multiple Sclerosis

BBC NEWS / HEALTH
05:00 GMT, Monday, 9 November 2009

Being obese as a teenager may be linked with an increased risk of multiple sclerosis as an adult, researchers say.

A 40-year study of 238,000 women found those who were obese at 18 had twice the risk of developing MS compared to women who were slimmer at that age.

Yet body size during childhood or adulthood was not found to be associated with MS risk, the US researchers report in Neurology.

But an MS charity warned more research was needed to confirm the findings.

"Our results suggest that weight during adolescence, rather than childhood or adulthood, is critical in determining the risk of MS" - Dr Kassandra Munger, Harvard School of Public Health

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health used data from nurses taking part in a large study on diet, lifestyle factors and health.

Over the course of the study, 593 women were diagnosed with MS, a condition caused by the loss of nerve fibres and their protective myelin sheath in the brain and spinal cord, which causes neurological damage.

The researchers compared the risk of the disease with body mass index (BMI) - a ratio of weight to height - at age 18.

Participants were also asked to describe their body size using a series of diagrams at the age of five, 10 and 20.

The study showed that those with an "obese" BMI of 30 or larger at age 18 had more than twice the risk of developing MS.

There was also a smaller increased risk in those who were classed as overweight .

The results were the same after accounting for smoking status and physical activity level.
Body shape

When comparing the risk of MS with self-reported body shape, the researchers found no association between childhood obesity and the future chances of developing the disease.

They also found no risk associated with adult obesity.

But women who had a larger body size at 20 years of age also had almost twice the risk of MS compared to women who reported a thinner body size.

Previous research has linked high levels of vitamin D with a reduced risk of MS and the researchers point out that obesity is associated with low vitamin D levels in the body.

The researchers suggest fatty tissue produces substances that affect the immune system, which may also provide a link with the chances of developing MS.

Further research should look at confirming the findings in men and individuals from different ethnic groups as well as comparing with vitamin D levels, they said.

"Our results suggest that weight during adolescence, rather than childhood or adulthood, is critical in determining the risk of MS," said study author Kassandra Munger, ScD, of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

"There's a lot of research supporting the idea that adolescence may be an important time for development of disease, so what we have found is consistent with that."

She added: "Teaching and practicing obesity prevention from the start - but especially during teenage years - may be an important step in reducing the risk of MS later in life for women."

Susan Kohlhaas, research communications officer for the MS Society, said: "This study does not account for several other factors that may play a role in causing MS. Based on that, more work is needed.

"As such, it is difficult to determine whether teenage obesity could be a possible factor in causing MS in women."

Cut Calorie Intake To Slow Down Aging ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/health/8141082.stm

23:02 GMT, Thursday, 9 July 2009 00:02 UK

Proof mounts on restricted diet

Cutting calories may delay the ageing process and reduce the risk of disease, a long-term study of monkeys suggests.

The benefits of calorie restriction are well documented in animals, but now the results have been replicated in a close relative of man over a lengthy period.
Over 20 years, monkeys whose diets were not restricted were nearly three times more likely to have died than those whose calories were counted.
Writing in Science, the US researchers hailed the "major effect" of the diet.
It involved reducing calorie intake by 30% while maintaining nutrition and appeared to impact upon many forms of age-related disease seen in monkeys, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and brain atrophy.
Whether the same effects would be seen in humans is unclear, although anecdotal evidence so far suggests people on a long-term calorie-restricted diet have better cardiovascular health.
The precise mechanism is yet to be established: theories involve changes in the body's metabolism or a reduction in the production of "free radical" chemicals which can cause damage.
Seventy-six rhesus monkeys were involved in the trial, which began in 1989 and was expanded in 1994.
Half had their diets restricted, half were given free rein at feeding time.
The rate of cancers and cardiovascular disease in dieting animals was less than half of those permitted to eat freely.
While diabetes and problems with glucose regulation were common in monkeys who ate what they wanted, there were no cases in the calorie controlled group.
"People would have to weigh up whether they are prepared to compromise their enjoyment of food for the uncertain promise of a longer life"
Catherine CollinsBDA
In addition, while most brains shrink with age, the restricted diet appeared to maintain the volume of the brain at least in some regions.
In particular, the areas associated with movement and memory seemed to be better preserved.
"Both motor speed and mental speed slow down with ageing," said Sterling Johnson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine.
"Those are the areas which we found to be better preserved. We can't yet make the claim that a difference in diet is associated with functional change because those studies are still ongoing.
"What we know so far is that there are regional differences in brain mass that appear to be related to diet."
Earlier this year, German researchers published findings from their study of elderly people which suggested that calorie reduction appeared to improve memory over a period of just three months.
Various studies on the positive effects of calorie restriction on the life spans of various organisms - from yeast to dogs - have been published over the last 70 years
But dieticians sounded a note of warning.
"Monkeys may be a close relation but there are significant differences which means not everything we see in them can be translated to humans," said Catherine Collins, spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association.
"And there should be some serious reservations about cutting calories so dramatically, particularly for anyone under the age of 30. Any such diet would need to be very balanced to avoid malnutrition, and it would be a long-term commitment.
"People would have to weigh up whether they are prepared to compromise their enjoyment of food for the uncertain promise of a longer life, and a life which could be dogged by all sorts of problems - including osteoporosis."

The Most Effective Ways to Prevent Cancers

World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF UK) Report 2007

Our recommendations are based on those in our 2007 Expert Report , which contains the most comprehensive research available on cancer prevention. They outline the diet, physical activity and weight management steps you can take to reduce your risk. Also, choosing not to smoke (or giving up if you do) can play a big role in reducing cancer. Together, these factors have the potential to prevent many cancer cases in the UK and around the world.

1. Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight

Convincing evidence shows that weight gain and obesity increases the risk of a number of cancers, including bowel and breast cancer.

Maintain a healthy weight through a balanced diet and regular physical activity to help keep your risk lower.

2. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day

There is strong evidence that physical activity protects against cancers including bowel and breast cancer. Being physically active is also key to maintaining a healthy weight.

Any type of activity counts – the more you do the better! Try to build some into your everyday life.

3. Avoid sugary drinks. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods (particularly processed foods high in added sugar, or low in fibre, or high in fat)

Energy Dense Foods

(http://www.wcrf-uk/. org/cancer_prevention/energy_density.lasso)

are high in fats sugars and can be low in nutrients. These foods, especially when consumed frequently or in large portions, increase the risk of obesity, which increases the risk of cancer. Fast foods like burgers, chips, fried chicken and most pizzas, and snack foods like chocolate, crisps and biscuits tend to be energy dense.

Some energy-dense foods, such as nuts, seeds and some vegetable oils are important sources of nutrients, and have not been linked with weight gain as part of a typical diet.

4. Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, wholegrains and pulses such as beans

Evidence shows that vegetables, fruits and other foods containing dietary fibre (such as wholegrains and pulses) may protect against a range of cancers including mouth, stomach and bowel cancer. They also help to protect against weight gain and obesity.

As well as eating your 5 A DAY, try to include wholegrains (e.g. brown rice, wholemeal bread and pasta) and/or pulses with every meal.

Sugary drinks, such as colas and fruit squashes can also contribute to weight gain. Fruit juices, even without added sugar, are likely to have a similar effect, so try not to drink them in large quantities. Try to eat lower energy-dense foods such as vegetables, fruits and wholegrains instead. Opt for water or unsweetened tea or coffee in place of sugary drinks.

5. Limit consumption of red meats (such as beef, pork and lamb) and avoid processed meats

There is strong evidence that red and processed meats are causes of bowel cancer, and that there is no amount of processed meat that can be confidently shown not to increase risk.

Aim to limit intake of red meat to less than 500g cooked weight (about 700-750g raw weight) a week. Try to avoid processed meats such as bacon, ham, salami, corned beef and some sausages.

6. If consumed at all, limit alcoholic drinks to 2 for men and 1 for women a day

Since the 1997 report, the evidence that alcoholic drinks can increase the risk of a number of cancers, including breast and colon cancer, is much stronger.

Any alcohol consumption can increase your risk of cancer, though there is some evidence to suggest that small amounts of alcohol can help protect against heart disease. Therefore, if you choose to drink, do so in moderation.

7. Limit consumption of salty foods and food processed with salt (sodium)

Evidence shows that salt and salt-preserved foods probably cause stomach cancer.

Try to use herbs and spices to flavour your food and remember that processed foods, including bread and breakfast cereals, can contain large amounts of salt. Click Here (www.wcrf-uk.org/cancer_prevention/salt_and_cancer.lasso) for tips on how to reduce the amount of salt in your diet.

8. Don’t use supplements to protect against cancer

Research shows that high-dose nutrient supplements can affect our risk of cancer, so it's best to opt for a balanced diet without supplements.

However, supplements are advisable for some groups of people (see our recommendations booklet to learn more).

9. It's best for mothers to breastfeed exclusively for up to 6 months and then add other liquids and foods

Strong evidence shows that breastfeeding (w ww.wcrf-uk. org/cancer_prevention/breastfeeding.lasso) protects mothers against

breast cancer and babies from excess weight gain.

10. After treatment, cancer survivors should follow the recommendations for cancer prevention

The Report found growing evidence that maintaining a healthy weight through diet and physical activity may help to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence.

And, always remember – do not smoke or chew tobacco

Smoking or using tobacco in any form increases the risk of cancer and other serious diseases.

To find out how to incorporate the recommendations into your everyday life visit WCRF UK’s

Guidelines for Cancer Prevention. (w ww.wcrf-uk. org/cancer_prevention/cp/index_physical.lasso)

Weight loss minus the hunger

The Star - Tuesday September 11, 2007

Weight loss minus the hunger

By CHARNICIA HUGGINS


FOODS that fill you up without packing a ton of calories can help in the battle of the bulge, results of a new study suggest.

In the study, obese women who reduced the “energy density” of their diet by cutting their intake of fats and adding more fruits and vegetables lost more weight over a 12-month period, and felt less hungry, than did those who simply reduced their fat intake.

“Incorporating low caloriedense foods into the diet is an effective strategy for lowering calories and reducing hunger when you’re trying to lose weight,” study co-author Dr Julia A. Ello-Martin, of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania said.

“This is an approach that allows you to focus on the foods that you should be eating rather than focusing on restricting calories,” she added.

One of the reasons people don’t stick to a weight-loss diet is hunger. Ello-Martin and her colleagues speculated that a diet that controls hunger by encouraging dieters to fill up on low energy-density foods may improve adherence as well as increase weight loss.

For the study, 97 obese women were randomly assigned to a group that was counselled to decrease their intake of fat or one that was told to decrease their fat intake and increase their consumption of filling, low energy- density foods, particularly fruits and vegetables. The study participants were not forced to meet any daily goals for their total caloric intake or to limit the amount of calories they consumed from fats to a specific amount.

Twelve months later, weight had come off the women in both groups, the investigators report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The women in the fruit and vegetable group, however, lost 7.9 kg, in comparison to 6.4kg among the others.

The women in the fruit and vegetable group also reported experiencing less hunger than did the women who merely reduced their fat intake, study findings indicate.

Although the study lasted only one year, Ello-Martin speculates the dieters may be able to maintain their weight loss and dietary changes over a longer period.

“There is potential for people to sustain the diet and weight maintenance because it is food focused,” she said.

“They are getting to eat foods that are helping them not feel hungry.”

What’s more, the study “didn’t have that hideous approach of having to count calories every day.” – Reuters

Sunday June 29, 2008 - the Star

Less pain without obesity

By LIM WEY WEN

The link between obesity and cardiovascular diseases has been well established. But do you know that being obese can also make your life more painful in other ways?

AS we become desensitised to the countless obesity awareness campaigns organised by health authorities, statistics of people dying of heart disease due to obesity have increasingly become a mere number to most of us.

And that trend could not be emphasised more when consultant endocrinologist Dr Faridah Ismail named her presentation “I’m fat, so what?” at a weight management campaign recently.

There are some among our population who think that children and babies who are fat are cute and cuddly.- AFPphoto.

There are some among our population who think that children and babies that are fat are cute and cuddly, Dr Faridah said. “Usually we perceive obese or slightly chubby children as lovely, nice or well fed. But that is not the correct perception anymore.”

With around 30% Malaysians falling into the overweight and obese category, doctors have a good reason to be concerned.

Obesity brings with it a plethora of other complications that further burdens our healthcare system.

Among the well-documented complications are the increased risk of a heart attack, stroke, diabetes and hypertension – all chronic diseases that require long-term management and care.

“We as health professionals are faced with these problems (associated with obesity) every day. (Now), medical chits are given out because of problems associated with obesity,” Dr Faridah said.

But not many people realise that the medical chits given out are not just for those who have chronic diseases such as heart disease or hypertension. There are other complications of obesity that could make a person’s life painful and miserable, Dr Faridah said.

One of those problems is joint pain. If you are obese, your uric acid may get elevated. When your uric acid is elevated, you can get gout, Dr Faridah explained. In gout, uric acid crystals deposit in your joints, tendons and surrounding tissues, causing the affected area to swell and cause pain.

For an obese person, panting after walking up a flight of stairs is not just a matter of fitness. “When a person is obese, the fat in the abdomen restricts and blocks the lungs where it has no space to expand,” Dr Faridah said.

With breathing difficulties and joint pain, people who are obese often do not exercise and that, in turn, makes them put on more weight, setting off a vicious cycle, Dr Faridah said.

Besides, the risk of developing gallstones and acid (gastroesophageal) reflux are increased in people who are obese. “The pain of having gallstones is like (the pain of) a woman in labour,” says Dr Faridah, adding that it is difficult to operate on obese patients, which are also predisposed to infection and other problems.

Senior lecturer in clinical psychology Dr Alvin Ng said the prevalence of mental disorders is higher in people who are overweight and obese.

“A few studies have shown that the higher your BMI is, the higher risk of you getting some sort of mental disorder at any one time,” he added.

That is why prevention is still the best in dealing with the obesity epidemic, because it is a lot tougher to get out of obesity than preventing it.

“We must remember that losing weight is not an easy or quick fix? It is a very slow and gradual process. We can’t expect (people who are obese) to lose 10 kilograms in one month, if they take 10 years to gain that weight,” Dr Faridah said.

Losing weight for obese people may seem to be an uphill task, but studies show that losing even 5 -10% of your current weight yields many health benefits. According to Dr Faridah, even if you lose 5% of your current weight, you reduce your chance of dying from diabetes related deaths and obesity related cancers by 30% and 40% respectively.

She advised people who wish to deal with their weight problems to first self-evaluate. “It is important for these people to determine their readiness and commitment to lose weight.”

You have to lose weight for yourself and for your health, said Dr Faridah, adding that physicians often have to evaluate patients for their readiness to lose weight because if they are not ready, they are less likely to listen to their doctor’s advice.

If you have the resolve to lose weight, see your doctor to get recommendations based on the evaluation of your health and risk factors you have, she added.

“There are no shortcuts (in weight loss). You still need to diet and exercise to lose weight ... because obesity is a chronic disease, and not just a cosmetic issue.”

At risk of ...

WHEN you are obese, you may increase your risk of developing...

1. Cardiovascular diseases

Hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Coronary heart disease

Stroke

2. Metabolic complications

Type 2 diabetes

3. Gallbladder disease

Gallstones

4. Bone and joint problems

Osteoarthritis

Gout

5. Obstructive sleep apnea and respiratory problems

Breathing difficulties

6. Cancer

Breast, uterus, colon, oesophageal cancer.

7. Gynaecologic abnormalities

Abnormal menstruation

Infertility (both in men and women)

8. Psychosocial problems

Poor self esteem

Depression

References:

1. Obesity and overweight, Introduction, US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention

2. Consultant Endocrinologist, Dr Faridah Ismail.

3. Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology Dr Alvin Ng.

Fast food limits

Sunday July 6, 2008 - the Star

Fast food limits

Navigating the path to your child’s dietary health can be tricky when so many fast food traps line the way. Here are some strategies to help you chart a nutritionally safe course.

POSITIVE PARENTING:By Assoc Prof Dr NORIMAH A.KARIM

LET’S face it. Kids love fast food. They’re attracted to the bright and cheery atmosphere, the toys and collectibles that come along with every order and the awesome taste of some of the “coolest” food ever to come out of today’s lifestyle dining.

And parents can’t be blamed for taking their children there. After all, haven’t fast food joints been touted as wholesome, happy restaurants for all the family?

Behind the delightful packaging.

Now this is where a lot of people can be misinformed. While those delightfully packaged burgers and fries can be a convenient and tasty meal, they’re high in fats, particularly saturated fats, sodium, food additives and flavour enhancers.

At the same time, these foods are low in fibre.

In Western countries where fast food is eaten regularly, research shows that there is an unmistakable link between the high calories of fast food and the alarming rise in obesity, especially among children.

Correspondingly, there has also been a rise in previously adult diseases such as type 2 diabetes in children, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases.

A step in the right direction

Because Malaysia is also experiencing a similar rise in overweight and obesity, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has taken appropriate steps to curtail the escalating problem.

Since the rapid increase of fast food popularity is said to be due in part to their aggressive promotion by the industry, fast food companies can no longer sponsor children’s programmes on television while fast food advertisements targeted at children are now prohibited.

Labelling of specific nutrients on fast food wrappers, brochures and leaflets has also been made mandatory. This is to inform consumers of the amount of specific nutrients in their meals and to forewarn them of the consequences of their eating habits.

But fast food is everywhere nowadays – lined up in shopping malls by the dozen, partnered with gas stations, they’re even in small towns enticing customers with a taste of western culture. How do we live in a fast food world and still ensure we emerge with our children’s health intact?

How to say ‘no’ and when to say ‘yes’

Never say “no” and ban fast foods from your child’s life. Banning only makes him crave the forbidden food more, leading to worse things like gorging, or sneaking the food in behind your back.

Instead, teach him the principles of healthy eating by referring to the Food Guide Pyramid and manage your child’s diet by setting reasonable limits.

Most of all, practise what was preached in the last article in this series on Balance, Moderation and Variety (BMV).

Balance: If your child has had a high-calorie, low-nutrient and low-fibre fast food meal, cut back on the calories in the next meal by topping up on fruits, vegetables and whole grain. Lighten the meal in general and sweat the rest of the calories off with physical activity.

Moderation: It’s not wrong or bad to eat fattening foods once in a while, it’s how much you eat and how often you eat it. Limit fast food to once a month, and all should be well.

Variety: The local cuisine is vast and varied enough to diversify your child’s diet. Introduce new foods often so that he gets the full range of the nutrients needed to grow up strong and healthy.

Fast food now has healthier options - grilled chicken, porridge, fruit juices, soya bean milk, and salads. We can’t control everything our children eat but if we give them good options and teach them to make sound choices, we probably won’t need to.

Tips for navigating your fast food meal

If you must visit a fast food restaurant, try these ordering and eating strategies.

Look before you leap – Check out the nutritional content of the item before you order for your children. And watch the salt. Sodium is a major cause of hypertension. Do opt for healthier options.

Don’t go when you are starving - Eating a light wholesome snack or drinking a large glass of water beforehand will dull even the sharpest appetites.

Hot potatoes – If your child must have fries, down-size the order or order mashed or baked potatoes instead.

Thin is in – For burgers, go for single pattied ones rather than the latest supersized concoctions with the added sauces. For pizzas, try thin-crust rather than the fat ones engorged with cheese.

Undress your food – Going for the salad bar is great but watch the dressing which is loaded with calories.

Savour every bite – Tell your kids to chew their food and eat slowly. This will give time to the stomach to tell the brain that it’s full.

Trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are the latest demons found in fast food. They are liquid vegetable oils with added hydrogen that makes them solid.

Many restaurants and fast food outlets use trans fats to deep-fry foods because the oils are inexpensive as they last a long time and can be used many times over.

Trans fats also give foods a desirable taste and texture. Trans fats raise your bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and lower your good (HDL) cholesterol levels.

Eating trans fats dramatically increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. Another name for trans fats is “partially hydrogenated oils.”

#
This article is courtesy of the Positive Parenting Nutrition Programme by Malaysian Paediatric Association and Nutrition Society Of Malaysia. The programme is supported by an unconditional educational grant from Abbott Nutrition International. For further information, please visit www.mypositiveparenting.org.

Food aimed at kids has poor nutrition value - study

- the Star, July 15, 2008

TORONTO (Reuters) - Most food products aimed specifically at children have poor nutritional content even though more than half of the products are marketed to the contrary, according to a Canadian study released on Monday.

The study, done by the University of Calgary, found that nine out of 10 food items provided poor nutritional value because of high levels of sugar, fat or sodium.

Just under 70 percent of the products - which excluded soft drinks, and confectionary and bakery items - derived a high proportion of their calories from sugar.

One in five had high fat levels, and 17 percent had high sodium levels.

Even so, 62 percent of the products with poor nutritional quality made positive claims on the front of the packaging, amid increasing concerns over childhood obesity.

"Parents may have questions about which packaged foods are good for their children," said lead researcher Charlene Elliott in a statement.

"Yet certain nutritional claims may add to the confusion, as they can mislead people into thinking the whole product is nutritious," she added.

The study, published in the July issue of the British journal Obesity Reviews, found that just 11 percent of the products studied provided good nutritional value according to criteria set by the Center of Science in the Public Interest, a U.S. nonprofit agency.

The study looked at 367 products and included products that had a cartoon on the front of the box or were tied to children's films, television programs or other merchandise.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters

FAT Change ｏｆ Ｃａｎｃｅｒ

The Star Online > Health

Sunday July 13, 2008

Fat chance of cancer

By Dr ALBERT LIM KOK HOOI

The message is now overwhelmingly clear:

Obesity causes cancer.

OBESITY causes cancer, reads the plaque that greets us as we enter the restaurant. The same plaque is displayed at all school canteens and office cafeterias. Mamak shops are obliged to display this sign before their licences can be renewed.

Far-fetched? Hardly.

How soon? Not soon enough.

A report prepared jointly by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) last year details the findings of the most authoritative investigation ever undertaken into the link between lifestyle, diet and cancer. The message is overwhelmingly clear. “Obesity causes cancer”.

Smoking is the most important lifestyle cause of cancer. Obesity ranks a close second. In other words, after smoking, obesity is the highest preventable cancer risk.

We used to say that one third of all cancers can be prevented if smoking were to completely cease. We can now say that two-thirds of cancers – 12 million new cancer cases diagnosed each year in the world – would not occur if we are all transformed to slim, fit non-smokers tomorrow.

What did the report say about the kinds of food we should not eat to avoid cancer? For starters, we should avoid all processed meats, including bacon (bak kua in our local context) and most sausages. It also advises against eating more than 6gm of salt per day. I can’t imagine what 6gm of salt is but I do not add any salt at the table and I would reject all foods that taste perceptibly salty.

In any case, why do you foodies and food aficionados want to adulterate the pristine flavour of food by sprinkling salt on your food? In the same vein, salted or cured meats are out. There is no clear safe dose for salted and cured meats, says Martin Wiseman, project director of the report.

One reason for avoiding processed meats is that they often contain nitrates – preservatives that may contribute to the production of suspected carcinogens called N-nitroso compounds. Processed meats also contain high levels of salt, which is linked to stomach cancer.

The fat and thin of it all is this. If you wish to avoid cancer – lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, cancers of the oesophagus, kidney, pancreas, the list goes on – stop smoking and maintain a body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 to 23 (as per international “European” recommendations) – i.e. the healthy range.

A word or two about BMI. This figure is obtained by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres.

In Asian societies, a woman who is 5 feet tall (1.5 metre) looks suspiciously overweight when her BMI is 23. Endocrinologists and dietitians have come up with our own Asian BMI, which is lower than the accepted BMI.

So, for all you women out there from 15 to 85, please try to achieve a BMI of 18.5 to 21. The nearer the lower figure, the better.

Lots of exercise and a strict low-calorie diet will enable you to achieve many goals: beauty, attractiveness, good mates and a much lower chance of getting cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and heart disease.

What then should we eat? Eat five portions of fruit and non-starchy vegetables (brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, mushrooms to name a few) each day and limit refined starchy food. White meat – chicken, turkey, rabbit – is much more preferable to red meat. Most of all, count your calories.

Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity every day. Brisk walking is the easiest and most accessible activity. Diet and exercise go together. One or the other will not achieve your goal.

The science is there but the interventional methods to achieve a healthy lifestyle are something else. I don’t have the answers. How do you overcome the virtue of white rice (and lots of it) in Malaysian and Asian societies?

They tell me there is “semangat” (spirit or life force) in rice. White rice is an energy-dense food that is diabetogenic, has a high glycaemic index and a major culprit of obesity and getting cancer?

How do you tell the common folk that their 10 favourite foods are a no-no from the scientific health-wise point of view? Nasi lemak, roti canai, curry mee, wanton mee, burger, doughnuts, fries, char kuay teow, chicken rice and mee goreng are out.

How do you politely reject your mother-in-law’s incessant heaping of seconds on your plate? How do you decouple the Asian-African notion of prosperity and a protuberant abdomen?

We spend billions of US dollars a year on research to treat cancer and rightly so. We also spend millions of US dollars on how best to get people to quit smoking and eat wisely and equally rightly so.

I only wish we were more successful in our second endeavour.

Dr Albert Lim Kok Hooi is a consultant oncologist. For further information, e-mail starhealth@thestar.com.my. The views expressed are those of the writer and readers are advised to always consult expert advice before undertaking any changes to their lifestyles.

Glycemic index and obesity

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 76, No. 1, 281S-285S, July 2002
© 2002 American Society for Clinical Nutrition (http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/76/1/281S)

Glycemic index and obesity^1,2,3,4

Janette C Brand-Miller, Susanna HA Holt, Dorota B Pawlak and Joanna McMillan

¹ From the Human Nutrition Unit, School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney, Australia.

Although weight loss can be achieved by any means of energy restriction, current dietary guidelines have not prevented weight regain or population-level increases in obesity and overweight. Many high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets may be counterproductive to weight control because they markedly increase postprandial hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. Many high-carbohydrate foods common to Western diets produce a high glycemic response [high-glycemic-index (GI) foods], promoting postprandial carbohydrate oxidation at the expense of fat oxidation, thus altering fuel partitioning in a way that may be conducive to body fat gain. In contrast, diets based on low-fat foods that produce a low glycemic response (low-GI foods) may enhance weight control because they promote satiety, minimize postprandial insulin secretion, and maintain insulin sensitivity. This hypothesis is supported by several intervention studies in humans in which energy-restricted diets based on low-GI foods produced greater weight loss than did equivalent diets based on high-GI foods. Long-term studies in animal models have also shown that diets based on high-GI starches promote weight gain, visceral adiposity, and higher concentrations of lipogenic enzymes than do isoenergetic, macronutrientcontrolled, low-GI-starch diets. In a study of healthy pregnant women, a high-GI diet was associated with greater weight at term than was a nutrient-balanced, low-GI diet. In a study of diet and complications of type 1 diabetes, the GI of the overall diet was an independent predictor of waist circumference in men. These findings provide the scientific rationale to justify randomized, controlled, multicenter intervention studies comparing the effects of conventional and low-GI diets on weight control.

(visceral adiposity – tendency to gain fats in the space between organs)

Publish Post

Brisk walk can strengthen heart

Brisk walk can strengthen heart

- -Saturday 15^th November, 2003

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3260525.stm

A good brisk walk is enough to strengthen your heart, researchers have found.

Some experts believe that only strenuous activity has any beneficial effect.

But a study of obese adults found moderate exercise was enough to raise the heart beat to recommended levels.

The researchers, from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, reported their findings at a meeting of the American Heart Association.

Advisory groups recommend that exercise must push the heart rate up to at least 55% of its maximum to have any positive impact.

Many believe that vigorous exercise is the only way to do this - but the latest study suggests this is not necessarily true.

Rather than the old adage that there is "no pain, no gain", they believe that "if the pace feels right, it probably is".

Lead researcher Professor Kyle McInnis said: "A large segment of the population still believes exercise must be vigorous, demanding or involve more complicated activities than walking to adequately raise one's heart rate.

"This perception of 'no pain, no gain' can discourage people from starting to exercise at all."

Treadmill tests

The researchers studied 84 obese adults who were seeking professional advice on a safe level of exercise.

At the first visit, researchers measured heart rate and oxygen use, while the subjects walked on a treadmill with a gradually increasing steepness until they felt tired.

On a different day, the subjects walked one mile on the treadmill with instructions to maintain a "brisk but comfortable" pace.

Participants completed the walk in an average of 18.7 minutes, at an average speed of 3.2 miles per hour.

During the self-paced walk, all the participants achieved the recommended levels of exercise intensity, based on their previous heart rate measures.

Thirteen were at moderate intensity (55-69% of maximum heart rate), 58 at hard intensity (70-89%) and 13 at very hard intensity (90-100%).

Professor McInnis said: "Comparison with the treadmill tests showed that when participants self-selected a speed that was comfortable but brisk, their heart rate and level of exertion was in a safe range but high enough to improve their cardiovascular fitness.

"You really can get your heart rate up to the level that your doctor would recommend, and you don't have to jog or run to do it."

Forget the gym

Dr Kevin Channer, a consultant cardiologist at the Royal Hallamshire, told BBC News Online he was concerned that many people thought it was too tough to try to get fit.

"If you do nothing at all then your cardiovascular risk is higher than somebody who takes exercise, but if you are obsessive about exercise and run for 15 miles every day, then your risk starts to rise again," he said.

"Being healthy isn't difficult. People don't need to play sport or go to the gym, they simply need to get out of their cars and go for a walk."

Dr Hugo Crombie, of the Health Development Agency, said everybody should try to take a minimum of 30 minutes moderate activity on at least five days of the week.

He said: "Walking is excellent exercise - not only does it provide the sort of activity to benefit health but it does not need any special skills, equipment or access to a gym.

"The evidence shows that people can be encouraged to walk more and that this increase can be maintained over the years."

A British Heart Foundation cardiac nurse said: "Brisk, regular walking is the ideal way for people to get the exercise they need to benefit their health: it's free and easy for most people to fit into their daily life and can influence weight loss, blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol levels.

"It also provides a cardiovascular workout without putting too much strain on the heart."

Statins - how safe & good are they

Dangers of Statin Drugs:

What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular Cholesterol-Lowering Medicines

14th June, 2004

- Sally Fallon & Mary G. Enig.

Mary G. Enig, PhD is an expert of international renown in the field of lipid biochemistry.

Read up from the following link and be well informed before
your take statin.

http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/statin.html


-----------------------------------

Statins

Thursday 1^st September, 2005, BBC Radio 4

Having an abnormal level of cholesterol in the blood is a proven cause of heart attack.
Cholesterol can be controlled by the use of Statins, drugs that reduce the risk of heart problems by about 30 per cent.

Unfortunately, they usually require long-term use, and they do have side effects including tummy upsets, muscle ache and liver problems.

In addition a recent study by Heart UK has found that up to 50% of patients on statins fail to reach their cholesterol lowering target. They have been called the "Forgotten Fifty". . . . . . . . .

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/checkup_20050901.shtml)

Gift of Life - Avoid Childhood Overweight

Dr. James O Hill

(University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Center for Human Nutrition)

Excess Weight in Childhood Means Health Problems as an Adult

Posted on 10:33AM (EST) on 2007-12-31

A landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows clearly that excess weight in children leads to an increased risk of heart disease in adulthood. The study followed over 270,000 Danish children over time. Those who were overweight - even a few pounds overweight - at ages 7-13 years were much more likely to develop heart disease between the ages of 25 and 71 years of age.

The more overweight the child, the more likely they were to develop heart disease. The risk remained even if the child later lost the excess weight.

This study provides clear evidence that childhood overweight leads to serious adult health problems. This is a wake up call for parents to be concerned about the weights of their children. The best solution is to ensure that your children achieve a health lifestyle and learn the importance of

good nutrition and regular physical activity.

Given that childhood obesity has tripled over the past three decades, how can we expect anything less than a major increase in heart disease in the future?

If your children are normal weight, help them stay there. If they are overweight, see your pediatrician to develop a plan for addressing their weight. Don't wait until they are adults with serious health problems. If you are thinking about New Year resolutions, how about a resolution to improve your family's lifestyle?

Thin People May be Fat on the Inside

Thin People May be Fat on the Inside

Every now and then a story comes along in the media that really supports my belief about the importance of physical activity for overall health. Research from London has used very sophistical imaging techniques to look at where people store body fat.

They report that people who use food restriction (ie. dieting) alone to lose weight may be at a lower weight than before but they appear to still have too much fat, particularly too much fat around their internal organs.

We know that fat around the internal organs is particularly bad and increases the chances of developing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

This work suggests that you can use diet to lose weight but unless you also increase physical activity, you may be thin on the outside and fat on the inside. You may not be as healthy as you think.

This issue of fitness and fatness is vigorously debated in the scientific literature. Some people, such as my friend Dr. Steve Blair, at the University of South Carolina, argues that

many people who are overweight and physically active may be healthier than others who are at a lower body weight but sedentary.

The point here is that weight is important but so is diet and physical activity. Your genes help determine your body weight. You may be someone who is genetically prone to be thin or someone who is genetically prone to be overweight. If you are genetically prone to be overweight or obese, it may be very hard for you to ever be thin. What you can do, however, is to be at the healthiest weight you can be given your genetics. I believe that for most of us, our genes permit us to be at a healthy weight. This may require more work for some people than others.

The bottom line is that the scale is important but it is not sufficient. If you are at a healthy weight, make sure you are also eating a good diet and getting regular physical activity. Most people who are overweight or obese would improve their health by losing some weight. To maximize the improvement in health, pay attention not just to your weight but also to your lifestyle. Achieving a lower weight is good but achieving a lower weight and an active lifestyle is even better. This shows that just looking at someone’s outside is not enough to know if they are really healthy on the inside.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

How Excess Fat Tissue Slowly Destroys You

The weight of research into the biomechanisms of fat tissue continues to grow. It just isn't sensible to be overweight - at least if long-term health and longevity happen to be on your list of goals. Here's the latest update on one of the ways in which excess fat tissue slowly destroys you from the inside: a team of University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center scientists reports direct evidence of a link between inflammation around the cells of visceral fat deposits, and the artery-hardening process of atherosclerosis. ... The discovery came partly by chance. He and his colleagues had been studying mice that lack the gene for leptin, a hormone generated by fat cells that plays a role in appetite and metabolism as well as reproduction. In an effort to get these obese mice to produce some leptin, the team developed a technique to transplant clusters of fat cells from normal mice of the same strain, into the leptin-deficient mice. The result surprised them. “In addition to producing leptin and preventing obesity, the fat transplants became inflamed, attracting immune cells called macrophages” Eitzman explains. “Since the mice were genetically identical except for leptin, this shouldn’t have happened. But the inflammation was there, and it was chronic.” The inflammation occurred around individual fat cells, or adipocytes. Further tests showed it was regulated by the same factors that regulate the inflammation that other researchers have seen in the naturally occurring fat deposits of obese mice - specifically a chemokine called MCP-1. But because the fat was transplanted, the inflammation could be attributed directly to the fat, and not to overfeeding of the mice, or the metabolic problems that overfeeding and obesity bring, such as diabetes. Armed with this discovery, the researchers set out to see what was causing inflammation to occur, and what implications it had.... “There appeared to be an interaction between the macrophages causing the inflammation in the visceral fat, and the process of atherosclerosis,” says Eitzman, who notes that blood vessels far from the site of the fat transplant developed increased atherosclerosis. All that excess fat hanging around over the years generates atherosclerosis, which then kills you: Most commonly, soft plaque suddenly ruptures, [causing] the formation of a thrombus that will rapidly slow or stop blood flow, that is, within 5 minutes, leading to death of the tissues fed by the artery. This catastrophic event is called an infarction. One of the most common recognized scenarios is called coronary thrombosis of a coronary artery, causing myocardial infarction (a heart attack). Another common scenario in very advanced disease is claudication from insufficient blood supply to the legs, typically due to a combination of both stenosis and aneurysmal segments narrowed with clots. Since atherosclerosis is a body-wide process, similar events occur also in the arteries to the brain, intestines, kidneys, legs, etc. ... According to United States data for the year 2004, for about 65% of men and 47% of women, the first symptom of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is heart attack or sudden cardiac death (death within one hour of onset of the symptom). This is one of the many reasons why people who keep in shape and stick to the health basics tend to live longer, healthier lives.

Overweight? You might not know it.

Overweight? You might not know it.

Medical Research Council, United Kingdom

11th December 2006

People who look slim and fit may not be as healthy as they appear. New research reveals that many people carry an unhealthy cushion of fat around their internal organs. As part of his research into type 2 diabetes, Professor Jimmy Bell of the MRC’s Clinical Sciences Centre at Hammersmith Hospital used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan more than 300 people to determine how and where the body stores fat.

MRI scan of a slim male, the green colouring shows external fat, the yellow highlights fat deposited around internal organs.

Professor Bell’s team discovered that potentially dangerous fat is often deposited around internal organs. The result is that the carriers appear healthy because they are slim.

The MRI scans suggest that up to 40% of the population could be carrying fat around and even in organs such as the liver, gut, heart and pancreas. Disused muscle may also be streaked with hidden fat that could provoke serious conditions like diabetes and heart disease in later life because the fat has a detrimental effect on chemical functions such as how energy is released from food.

Professor Jimmy Bell warns that looking good is not enough to stay healthy:

"The important message is people shouldn't be happy just because they look thin, it's not about looking fit or looking thin, it is about being healthy. You can look healthy but have a lot of fat internally which can have a detrimental effect. When you exercise you tend to burn the internal fat. Lifestyle changes have to include physical activity, it’s not enough simply to diet."

In fact, evidence suggests that yo-yo dieting could force the body to lay down fat around vital organs.

Professor Bell’s discovery challenges the assumption that a thin body is healthy by virtue of having little external fat. Instead he has shown that some underweight or slim people could actually be storing fat in a dangerous way.

Professor Bell continues:

“Traditional ways of measuring body fat such as Body Mass Index (BMI) give people the wrong idea of how much fat they have as it says nothing about internal storage. People have become obsessed with dieting but doing this without exercise means they may be putting fat in the wrong places.’’

“Through our research we are developing a full understanding of how genetic and environmental factors determine how much fat we deposit and where we put it. In the future we hope to use this information to change people’s lifestyles without going to the extremes of giving people drugs or operating on them.”

Video clip on cancer and obesity

** Obesity may increase cancers **
Soaring obesity levels could result in up to
12,000 cases of weight-related cancer
annually in the UK by 2010, say experts.

< http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6200000/newsid_6208600?redirect=6208690.stm&news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1 >