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.

Lot’s of great stories hit the wires this week, but a few of them caught my eye as I bookmarked them. First off, a great article on peas (yes, those green peas): Green Peas: A Vitamin Powerhouse describes the nutritional superfoods these littel green spheres are.

“This green legume is loaded with A, B-1, B-6, C, and a supersized serving of osteoporosis-fighting K. […] Peas are high in fiber and low in fat and contain no cholesterol. Plus, they’re a good source of vegetable protein. Did you know that a 100-calorie serving (about 3/4 cup) has more protein than 1/4 cup of almonds or a tablespoon of peanut butter?” I didn’t!

Then there is the sad, sad story of the three fast-food restaurants that decided to remove what little nutritional information they had available to their consumers. What happened? Well, the city of New York has is making it mandatory for restaurants to list calorie counts of items right next to their price on the display boards, but to begin with they only required this of restaurants that already had publicly available calorie information. Rather than make room on their display boards, Wendy’s, White Castle and Quiznos decided it would just be easier to remove their calorie information altogether. Isn’t that wonderful?

And now … more health and fitness stories from this week:

1. 10 Food Fibs that Make You Fat: When Pinocchio lied, his nose grew. When you lie to yourself about your diet, it won’t be your nose growing.
2. 3 fast-food chains in NYC yank calorie info: Wendy’s, White Castle and Quiznos sandwich shops were among a handful of eateries that yanked nutritional information from some restaurants or their Web sites
3. Pizza rewards for readers called bad idea: You’ve read the book, now eat the pizza.
4. Brushing teeth could prevent heart attacks and strokes: Brushing and flossing can be good for your heart and blood vessels as well as you teeth, according to research.
5. Whole-Grain Cereals Cut Heart Risks: Study: Eating whole-grain breakfast cereal is associated with a reduced risk of heart failure, a new U.S. study says.
6. Weight Loss Supplements Widely Used: Roughly one in seven U.S. adults has used nonprescription dietary weight loss supplements, and few tell their doctors about it.
7. Diabetes and Weight Loss: Finding the Right Path: There’s no question about it: If you’re overweight and have type 2 diabetes, dropping pounds lowers your blood sugar, improves your health, and helps you feel better.
8. Green Peas: A Vitamin Powerhouse: This green legume is loaded with A, B-1, B-6, C, and a supersized serving of osteoporosis-fighting K.
9. Beans: Protein-Rich Superfoods: High in fiber and antioxidants, beans aren’t just good for the waistline, they may aid in disease prevention, too.
10. Painless weight loss, 50 calories at a time: Making tiny changes to your meals can help you win the battle of the bulge
11. Toss out these foods myths: “You get more out of a meal physically and emotionally when it’s a pleasure to eat.”
12. High Blood Sugar Linked to Cancer Risk: Women with high blood sugar may be more likely to develop cancer, even if they don’t have diabetes, a Swedish study shows.
13. Tunes that bring on the burn: Celebrity fitness trainer Jeanette Jenkins says high-energy tunes are key to busting exercise boredom
14. French cracking down on junk food ads: Less fat, less sugar, less salt: Even the mostly svelte French are cracking down.
15. Diabetes Rate May Outpace Predictions: The global diabetes rate may be rising much more quickly than predicted, a Canadian study shows.
16. Internet slimming pills warning: The illicit availability of appetite suppressant pills online is fuelling a slimming obsession and putting lives at risk, experts warn.
17. Warning over bread salt content: The salt intake in some bread is so high it is killing 7,000 people a year, campaigners say.
18. Reduce your BMI, pay less for insurance: Amid a growing obesity epidemic in the United States, an insurance company has started giving customers another reason to slim down by being one of the first in the nation to offer discounts to customers who keep a low body-mass index.
19. Drinking a little wine can help men live longer: Drinking a small amount of wine appears to extend men’s life expectancy by a few years, Dutch researchers said Wednesday in the latest study to find benefits in moderate drinking.
20. Summer May Boost Childhood Obesity: A new study shows that kindergarteners and first-grade students are more likely to gain extra weight during summer break than during the school year.
21. Get that annual check-up, it’s worth it:: The traditional annual physical exam, or “periodic health evaluation,” delivers preventive care and decreases worry for patients, and justifies the costs, according to a new report.
22. Connecticut may ban trans-fats: “Public health in Connecticut can only be improved by eliminating a product which is neither necessary nor healthy,”
23. Low-fat dairy food may hurt fertility: Women who eat low-fat dairy foods may have a higher risk of infertility than those who treat themselves to full-fat ice cream or cheese, surprised U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
24. Antioxidants Don’t Help You Live Longer: Antioxidant vitamins taken by tens of millions of people around the world won’t lead to a longer life, according to an analysis of dozens of studies that adds to evidence questioning the value of the popular supplements.
25. Is Your Social Life Making You Fat?: Don’t let others’ bad habits sabotage your efforts to eat right.
26. A Step-by-Step Executive Workout: The bottom line is this: The healthier you are, the more productive you will be; the fitter you become, the fewer work days you will miss, the less susceptible to stress you will be, and the better you will sleep.
27. Public want food ‘traffic lights’: The public overwhelmingly support “traffic light” food-labelling rather than the system adopted by much of the food industry, a survey suggests.
28. On some menus, one plate has 2,000 calories: Everyone likes to splurge a little when they go to a restaurant, but new research suggests some of those indulgences may be packing way more calories - and, if you aren’t careful, pounds - than you think.
29. Early man ‘couldn’t stomach milk’: A drink of milk was off the menu for Europeans until only a few thousand years ago, say researchers from London.
30. Garlic does not lower cholesterol: study: Eating garlic raw or in supplement form does not lower “bad” cholesterol levels, despite widespread health claims for the pungent plant bulb, researchers said on Monday.
31. Nine secrets to a healthier heart: Here’s a wake-up call: Fact is, heart disease kills far more women each year than cancer does.
32. Black Soya Beans May Help Prevent Weight Gain: New research in rats suggests that black soya beans may be a wonder food of sorts, helping to prevent obesity, lower cholesterol levels and possibly even reduce risks for diabetes.
33. South Pacific is ‘fattest region’: A survey on obesity has shown that the South Pacific is the world’s most overweight region.
34. UK mother retains custody of obese son: A mother who feared she might lose custody of her obese 8-year-old son unless he lost weight was allowed to keep the boy after striking a deal Tuesday with social workers to safeguard his welfare.

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Have a great weekend!

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

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The first post of this year was (naturally) a resolutions-centric one (I think it’s endearing to be predictable!). The list of to-dos for 2007 in 5 Simple New Year Resolutions For A Fitter, Healthier You! began with the expected items: non-processed foods, fruits, veggies, exercise… you know, the good stuff.

However, for #5 I chose to include “Annual Physical Exam” and while some may question whether this is really a “top 5″ item, a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine might just vindicate my choice.

Systematic Review: The Value of the Periodic Health Evaluation is a detailed analysis of PHE (Periodic Health Evaluation is another term for Annual/Regular Physicals) and its benefits and harms, if any. As the study states in the very beginning, PHEs have been a fundamental part of medical practice for decades, despite a lack of consensus regarding its value in health promotion and disease prevention.

For example, opponents of regular checkups cite unnecessary use of medical resources, additional expenses and the use of unrecommended services as some of the reasons to reduce the number of PHEs performed every year.

Defining Periodic Health Evaluation:

The review, however, sought a broader definition of PHEs that could be applied to most clinical practice environments, regardless of patient populations, health care delivery settings, or resource constraints.

We defined the PHE as one or more visits with a health care provider for the primary purpose of assessing patients’ overall health and risk factors for disease that may be prevented by early intervention. […] According to our definition, the PHE did not include the delivery of clinical preventive services that patients could receive during or after their visit for the PHE and that we considered an outcome of the PHE. […] Under our definition, the delivery of clinical preventive services provided both during that visit (such as counseling to stop smoking and a Papanicolaou [Pap] smear) and outside of the visit (such as mammography or colonoscopy) were considered to be a result of the PHE (history, risk assessment, and physical examination) and not part of the PHE.

Sources for the review:

Using these definitios in place, the authors of the review went through previous studies in journals like MEDLINE, Health Tecnology Assessment Database and other National Health System databases published through September 2006, searching for such terms as “annual physical examination” and “periodic health evaluation”. More than 7000 articles were finally narrowed down to 33 studies that were reviewed in detail to obtain the results. To ensure a broad range, these studies were chosen over a period of 3 decades and while two-thirds were performed in the United States, the rest are from countries like Untied Kingdom, Canada and Japan.

Results of the review:

As with any study the results themselves are graded differently based on the type of screening performed at the PHE. Three main groups of results were published:

Clinical preventive services:
High Rating: gynecologic examination, Pap smear and fecal occult blood screening
Medium Rating: evidence on immunizations and cholesterol screening
Low Rating: evidence on counseling and mammography.

Proximal Clinical Outcomes(disease detection, change in patient health-habits):
High Rating: evidence on blood pressure
Medium Rating: evidence on disease detection, health habits, patient attitudes, health status, and body mass index
Low Rating: Evidence on serum cholesterol
The PHE also had a beneficial effect on patient worry (less increase in patient worry over time among persons undergoing the PHE than in those not undergoing the PHE)

Distal Economic and Clinical Outcomes (costs, hospitalization factors):
High Rating: evidence on hospitalization received a high rating.
Medium Rating: Evidence on costs, disability, and mortality

Conclusions:

As can be clearly seen from the results described in the section above, PHEs have great benefits in several areas, particularly:

1. Blood pressure - probably the most easily preventable disease if detected and treated prompty.
2. Gynecologic, pap smears and breast exams - probably the most important of regular exams for women that can lead to early detection of various forms of cancer of other diseases.
3. Cholesterol screenings to ensure supplements or prescription medicine can be recommended in time to prevent the serious effects of high cholesterol like stroke or heart disease.
4. Health habits and patient attitudes to fitness and nutrition, though moderate are still good enough reasons for a PHE.
5. Reduction of patient worry - a significant stress-buster. Knowing you are healthy is a great feeling, but knowing your PHE helped you catch something on time and begin treatment that can lead to a full recovery is an even better feeling!

So pay your good doctor a visit at least once a year even if you are feeling perfectly healthy - he/she can help make sure you stay that way.

When do you plan to get your annual physical examination this year?

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, annual physical examinations, periodic health evaluations, annual physical checkups

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