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FitnessMantra Weekend: Exercise Is The Best Medicine

01

July

Linkfitnessmantra10:35 pmAdd comment

Fitness Mantra del.icio.us page 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.

In the highly-encouraging-news-item-of-the-week category, children playing football soccer rugby chalk down this little gem: doctors could soon write out prescriptions to patients that read like their gym class schedules.

In Rx: Get Active, one of my favorite columnists, Sally Squires of the Washington Post writes that doctors from two large and influential medical groups: The American College of Sports Medicine and The American Medical Association are trying to encourage doctors to literally “prescribe fitness” by encouraging their patients to exercise regularly.

More than half of Americans fail to get the 30 minutes of physical activity recommended daily to provide health benefits, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cars, elevators, remote controls and other modern devices all help to engineer physical activity out of daily life. Extended work days and long commutes add to the problem.

Sedentary Death Syndrome? Well that’s a new term doctors have come up with to describe the life-threatening effect of leading highly inactive lives. Did you also know that by some estimates close to 250000 lives are annually affected by this problem? Or that, on average, a sedentary person spends $1500 more than his active counterpart?

It’s absolutely no wonder, then, that Dr. Robert Sallis, a California physician who recently became president of the American College of Sports Medicine, says:

“Exercise is medicine. We know that it works very well. We just don’t have the proper way to administer it.”

While you get a refill on your prescription to get active today, read some of the week’s top health and fitness stories:

Way to Shrink, Grow Fat Is Found: Scientists reported yesterday that they have uncovered a biological switch by which stress can promote obesity
Exercise Stimulates The Formation Of New Brain Cells: Experiment studies show both exercise and antidepressants increase the formation of new cells in an area of the brain that is important to memory and learning.
Late starters can live longer if they get moving: Even in middle age, adopting a healthy lifestyle can lower the risk for heart disease and premature death within years of changing habits, researchers reported on Thursday.
Pill to make dieters ‘feel full’: Italian scientists have developed a pill that expands in the stomach to make dieters feel full. They liken the effect to eating a bowl of spaghetti and say the pill can stop hunger for a few hours.
Superfood ‘ban’ comes into effect: Products claiming to be superfoods will be banned under new EU rules coming into effect on Sunday - unless the claim can be proved.
Dietary calcium protects bones better: Which source is better: calcium-rich foods or supplements? A preliminary study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine suggests dietary calcium may be better at protecting bone health.
Vitamin C ‘benefits diabetics’: Vitamin C could help reduce some of the complications associated with diabetes, research suggests.
Obesity to fuel Alzheimer’s rise: Rising rates of obesity will lead to dramatic increases in the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease, experts have predicted.
The myth of the weekend warrior: The new findings may just be one more sign that we really are a nation of slugs.
No trans fats? No problem for NYC: Across the city, most fast food chains say they’ve already made the switch days before the July 1 deadline, which is Sunday.
Spike in kids’ health issues foretells problems: More time in front of the television and use of other electronic media, decreased physical activity, increased time spent indoors, increased consumption of fast foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, and changes in parenting are all likely to blame
U.S. Diabetes Rate Soars: The U.S. diabetes epidemic is picking up speed like a “runaway train,” the CDC says
Sugary Drinks Fattening Up Preschoolers: Canadian researchers found that 2- to 4-year-olds who regularly drank sugar-sweetened beverages such as soft drinks and fruit drinks between meals were more than twice as likely to be overweight at age 4 1/2, compared to kids who didn’t drink these bevera
Americans doing better managing diabetes: Americans appear to be doing a better job of managing diabetes, with more than half of diabetics reaching recommended targets for controlling blood sugar last year
Whole grains may help heart: Eating plenty of whole grains can help keep your arteries healthy, potentially warding off heart disease and stroke, a new study shows.
Soy to boost bone density?: Italian researchers found that a combination of genistein, calcium and vitamin D helped protect postmenopausal women’s bone density better than calcium and vitamin D alone.
FDA urged to review sweetener’s safety: Italian researchers published a new study last week that showed aspartame, widely used in soft drinks, might cause leukemia, lymphoma and breast cancer in rats.
Rx: Get Active: “We’re trying to get every physician to prescribe exercise at every visit.”
Plate aids diabetes weight loss: Using a simple portion control dinner plate can help people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and decrease reliance on medication, research shows.
American Kids Shaping Up With Trainers: With many high school students not getting exercise at school unless they play a sport, more parents are turning to trainers to help their children stay fit
Can Shots Safely ‘Melt Away Fat’?: A growing number of doctors, nurses and even spa personnel are offering the procedure known in medical circles as injection lipolysis — and more colloquially as the “flab jab.”

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Have a great weekend!

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FitnessMantra Weekend: How Good Is Your Diet IQ?

03

June

Linkfitnessmantra11:15 pmAdd comment

question mark Now, if I asked you (or any other fitness-conscious person) how many calories you needed to consume everyday to maintain your weight, I am pretty sure you could rattle off the answer right away and you would probably be pretty close to the right answer.

But did you know that on average only11% of Americans would get this right? This and other diet disconnections are discussed in “Diet IQs disconnected from reality“, an MSNBC article that comes to this conclusion based on the results of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation’s second annual Food & Health Survey of 1000 adults.

Among the most striking “disconnects,” was knowledge about good and bad fats. While current guidelines recommend people consume more polyunsaturated fats, found in fish and some whole grain foods, and monounsaturated fats, found in nuts, avocados and vegetable oils, 42 percent of those surveyed said they were trying to eat fewer polyunsaturated fats and 38 percent reported trying to cut down on monounsaturated fats!

However, 70 percent of people said they were trying to cut down on saturated fat, more than last year’s 57 percent. Saturated fats are found in meats, dairy foods, and coconut and palm oils, among other sources, and have been tied to an increased risk off heart disease and stroke.

Also, while a high majority of those surveyed said they were physically active at least once a week for health benefits, only 44 percent said they “balanced diet and physical activity” for weight management, which is the direct concept of “calories in, calories out” - another big disconnect.

You can learn all about understanding calories and using that knowledge to your advantage from “5 links to calorie-conscious fitness“. While each of those links open in separate windows, check out some other interesting stories from this past week:

Half of EU Adults Overweight, Obese: More than half of adults in European Union nations are obese or overweight and the young are increasingly making Europe a fat continent, the EU’s top public health official said Wednesday.
Ice cream craving? Treats to feel good about: With temperatures on the rise and the days growing longer, it gets harder to resist buying an ice cream cone or throwing a pint of Ben & Jerry’s into the grocery cart.
Fitness boot camps taking it to the parks: Fitness boot camps have grown in popularity as people look for a way to enjoy the outdoors while avoiding the hassle of the gym and the cost of a personal trainer.
Making Meals a Family Affair: Most parents look for ways to give their children an edge, but many miss an easy and often inexpensive recipe for success: eating together.
Regular exercise increases “good” cholesterol: Regular exercise appears to modestly increase levels of high-density lipoprotein, or “good,” cholesterol.
Doubts over obesity pill claims: Some of the health benefits claimed for a new weight loss drug may not be justified, say experts.
Soy Nuts Lower Blood Pressure in Postmenopausal Women: Soy nuts may help lower blood pressure in postmenopausal women, a new U.S. study finds.
Junk food ads increasing on kids’ shows: A new Federal Trade Commission study found that half of the ads for junk food, sugary cereals and soft drinks are on children’s programs, double the number 30 years ago.
Lazy ‘can be encouraged to move’: However, advice had to be tailored to individual needs - adopting a “one size fits all” policy would not be as effective …
Diet IQs disconnected from reality: Ninety percent of Americans say breakfast is an important part of a healthy diet, but just 49 percent manage to eat breakfast every day, a new survey shows.
Air hostesses told to shed weight: An Indian court has ruled against a group of female flight attendants who were grounded from the national airline for being overweight.
Shake your way to fitness - or brain damage?: What if you could burn fat while shaking a martini? Actually, it’s your body that shakes like a martini on a new type of fitness machine that’s generating lots of buzz and celebrity use.
New Jersey starting agency to battle obesity: New Jersey’s health department is escalating the battle against the bulge by starting a new Office of Nutrition and Fitness to better coordinate programs to prevent obesity.