Welcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.

Think of the word “malnourished” and I am sure you see unfortunate images of starving Somalian children in your mind which is why when you look at an overweight person on the street, the last thing to cross your mind would be “My Goodness! He’s so malnourished!” Yet that is precisely what may be the case for many a so-called “fat person”!

Many Britons overweight, malnourished, a surprising article on MSNBC explains this apparent contradiction in terms. Dr. Alastair McKinlay, a gastroenterologist puts it bluntly: “There’s a widely held misconception that if you’re fat, you can’t be malnourished.”

Yet there is apparently no other word for the thousands of Britons who outwardly appear portly and “nourished”, but who, in reality are “medically malnourished” because their diet is largely composed of fat, salt and empty calories. The absence of fruits and vegetables in the popular diet, means there is a grave absence of the essential vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber that together are the hallmark of true nourishment.

There’s more to this than meets the eye:

While malnourished fat people are hardly in danger of starvation, other health problems are possible along with obesity-related complications like diabetes and heart disease. Once they start losing weight, malnourished people may actually burn their own tissue, including muscle, rather than fat.

Do read Many Britons overweight - and malnourished in its entirety to understand why eating well is different from eating right.

More health and fitness stories from this week follow:

1. What Replaces Those Trans Fats May Be Almost as Bad for You: In response to the 2006 FDA requirement that trans fats be listed on nutrition labels, makers of packaged goods from potato chips to Oreos have brought their totals down to zero. Does this mean that junk food is now the new health food? “No!”
2. Yoga tested as back pain therapy: The potential for yoga to be used to treat low back pain is being investigated by researchers.
3. UN health agency calls for ‘trans fat-free Americas’: The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a regional arm of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), called today for the elimination of industrial trans fats from food supplies throughout the Americas in order to prevent heart attacks.
4. Many Britons overweight - and malnourished: It may be obvious that most Britons are overweight. What isn’t so obvious is that at least 2 million of them are likely malnourished - and that includes some of the people who are too fat.
5. French lessons: Eat petite, be petite: Obesity is far less common in France than in the United States, and some researchers contend that smaller French portions are a key reason.
6. Drinking coffee may cut liver cancer risk: Drinking coffee appears to lower the risk of developing liver cancer, according to findings published in the medical journal Gastroenterology.
7. Many Americans do maintain weight loss: Though dieters often see their weight “yo-yo,” a new national survey suggests that many Americans do fairly well at keeping the pounds off.
8. Pupils ‘unaware of green beans’: Some primary school children have never heard of green beans, according to a new study.
9. ‘Exercise after eating’ diet tip: Exercising after meals can help promote weight loss by boosting hormones that suppress appetite, say UK scientists.
10. Losers Are Just Plain Lucky: Why some people struggle more than others to shed pounds is a mystery … but a new report shows that eating according to the glycemic index may be a way for some people to overcome this disadvantage.
11. Omega-3 fatty acids can lower blood pressure: A diet with liberal servings of fish, nuts and seeds rich in nutrients called omega-3 fatty acids can help lower a person’s blood pressure, according to a study.
12. Entertaining TV shows make you eat more: People eat more when they are glued to the television, and the more entertaining the program, the more they eat, according to new research.

Get the best health and fitness stories of the week in your RSS inbox.

Have a great weekend!

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, health news, fitness news, health links, fitness links, del.icio.us

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When people ask me when I was bitten by the fitness bug, I like to tell them the story of “How Fitness became my Mantra“. It’s always entertaining (even to me) to learn that a free audio book deal can make such a profound change in a person’s life (and make the lives of those around that person a living hell as he daily expounds the virtues of eating raw vegetables and banishing sugar!).

The Abs Diet

But in all seriousness, The Abs Diet was truly the inspiration for my embarking on my journey toward fitness. The food and exercise ideas contained within its pages are a treasure trove for anyone seeking to learn a hype-free way to successful weight-management. The name of the book is a little misleading (although I am sure it contributes to loads of sales!).

Now, no diet can promise to give you washboard abs but combine the foods mentioned in the book with the nicely illustrated exercises and you give yourself a great chance of having a defined mid-section - an almost guaranteed indicator of a person’s fitness level. The book also talks about things like “converting” fat to muscle which in reality can never happen because the two are made of different constituents. You really have to burn off fat with cardio exercises and pack on muscle with a combination of strength-training and protein-rich eating. But the book more than makes up for its few faults and its well worth the cost if only because of the detailed section on diet and the foods that it advises we all center our diets around. Meet …

The 12 Powerfoods

The book suggests that a large part of our diets should include foods from the set of 12 so-called power foods. Power 12 Foods: Never Go Hungry is the secret-spilling article on the Men’s Health website that details not only what these foods are, but also how you can include them in your daily meals. A basic understanding with the Abs Diet is that you will eat 6 times a day (3 major meals and 3 snacks - which is what I tend to do as well).

Though you can base entire meals and snacks around these foods, you don’t have to. But do follow these guidelines.

• Incorporate two or three of these foods into each of your three major meals and at least one of them into each of your three snacks.
• Diversify your food at every meal to get a combination of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
• Make sure you sneak a little bit of protein into each snack.

An easy way to remember the 12 powerfoods is to remember the words ABS DIET POWER - the first letters of each of the powerfoods spell these words as you can see:

1. Almonds and Other Nuts
2. Beans and Other Legumes
3. Spinach and Other Green Vegetables
4. Dairy Products
5. Instant Oatmeal
6. Eggs
7. Turkey and Other Lean Meats
8. Peanut Butter
9. Olive Oil
10. Whole-Grain Breads and Cereals
11. Extra-Protein (Whey) Powder
12. Raspberries and Other Berries

While this is not a comprehensive list of all the good foods you can possibly consume, it is still pretty inclusive and I can unconditionally vouch for the veracity and potency of each and every one of these foods. In previous posts I have written about a majority of them including nuts (almonds and walnuts), green vegetables (broccoli), dairy (milk 1,2 and cottage cheese), oatmeal, peanut butter and whole grains (bread). It’s surprising how much my diet now revolves around all of these foods (well almost all - I am vegetarian so #7 is out, which is why I need a whole lot of #11 to make up the protein!)

What else can you ad to this list? Well, there’s flaxseed for one (along with other healthful seeds like sunflower seeds). And of course atleast 2-3 servings of fresh fruits (simply go with whatever is in season - this way you not only get a good variety year-round, you are also assured it is fresh and the cost is probably lower too). Any other super-foods you can think of that don’t fall into one of the 12 categories? Do comment about them.

Finally, incorporating these superfoods into your diet while always being conscious of your total calorie intake will certainly help you maintain an appropriate weight, but distributing that weight and ensuring you build lean muscle while losing fat requires - you guessed it - exercise! The Abs Diet Exercise Plan is a worthy complement to the superfood diet and an excellent place to start. It’s all part of the Abs Diet Plan.

I made a huge, life-altering change to my eating and exercise habits when I learned everything that you have read today. Are you now ready to make that big change?

Technorati Tags: health, nutrition, fitness, exercise, abs diet, powerfoods

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