Be Wary of ‘Whole Grains’ Claims

There seems to be little doubt that a diet rich in whole grains is healthy in several ways. Just last month, the American Society for Nutrition added its imprimatur to this principle, in a report confirming that a diet which includes whole grains rich in fiber lowers the risks of heart disease and diabetes. Unfortunately, this fact comes with some crucial “howevers.” Such as that not all “whole grain” foods really contain fully nutritional whole grains. And that the key phrase “rich in fiber” does not always apply to whole grain products. http://calories.blooming.me/persons-with-diarrhea-or-vomiting.html
Here are some possibly unsettling facts for the healthy eater to ponder.

When nutritionists use the phrase “whole grain,” they are referring to a reproductive kernel called the germ, plus an endosperm, both of which are still encased in a coating of bran. The bran is where the fiber is. But when the food industry uses the phrase “whole grain,” it’s employing a definition that was created by food scientists who work for that industry and are members of the American Association of Cereal Chemists, and that has been accepted by the Food and Drug Administration.

By that definition, “whole grain” means a combination of bran, germ and endosperm in basically the same proportions as natural whole grain, but which have been processed in one or more of a variety of ways, mostly involving the separation, grinding and remixing of the three grain elements. One result of this is that while such products may contain the same proportion of germ, endosperm and bran, the processing procedure has left them with less fiber and fewer nutrients than unprocessed whole grain.

Unfortunately, the product label generally fails to inform the consumer of this distinction. And the distinction is fairly critical, since the studies that show whole grain to be beneficial are based on unprocessed grains where either the bran has not been ground or the fiber content remains high. Processed whole grain products, by comparison, have not been shown to help prevent heart disease or diabetes. http://kyleleon.thepopular.me/diarrhea.html
When it comes to the disease-preventing value of whole grains, the fiber seems to be the key, and there are legions of “whole grain” food items that are anything but rich in fiber. According to nutritionists with the Department of Agriculture, you’d have to put away most of a loaf of whole-wheat bread, 16 slices, or 10 whole bowls of multi-grain Cheerios, just to get the recommended amount of fiber per adult per day. And there’s more. Grain processing can also involve converting the grain to flakes or puffs, which not only results in reduced fiber and less effective antioxidants, but in grain that is more rapidly absorbed by the body.

Since the body does not have to break down the intact outer bran, the grain’s natural sugars hit the system sooner, creating the kind of blood sugar peaks that may increase hunger later on. One food product that is particularly unhealthy in this regard is instant oatmeal, which delivers the same amount of fiber and calories as regular oatmeal, but causes dramatic spikes in blood sugar, one result being that instant oatmeal eaters consume some 50 percent more calories at their next meal than regular oatmeal eaters.

There are other reasons to be suspicious of the “whole grains” label. For one, the designation does not distinguish between grains that have been unprocessed, those that have been partly ground, and those that have been completely processed. For another, nutrition researchers at Harvard tested over 500 grain products and found that those bearing the official “Whole Grain” stamp, meaning that they contain at least 8 grams of such grains per serving, also delivered more sugars and calories than those without the stamp. The label has in effect become a license for many products to fatten up, as it were.

So, what is the consumer to do? Until the FDA changes the rules to require that “Whole Grain” items contain a significant proportion of fiber, it’s up to the buyer to check out the nutritional contents on their own, and researchers recommend buying only those products whose ratio of Total Carbohydrates to Dietary Fiber is less than 10 to 1. The Harvard team found that such products packed less sugar and trans fats than other “whole grain” items. http://michaelallen.photofolio.org/diarrhea.html
And finally, steer clear where possible of anything composed of “refined” grains. When it comes to grains, “refined” all too often boils down to “nutritionally worthless.”

Long Commutes Bad for Health & Marriage; Americans Choose Low Weight over No Debt

On our Lab Notes page CalorieLab’s editors select and rank the day’s essential health news items in real time. Readers can suggest, vote and comment on items. Below are brief summaries of this past week’s (August 10, 2013 through August 17, 2013) Lab Notes items. To see today’s items, visit Lab Notes.
1. Long Commutes Bad for Health & Marriage. http://newbodyreview.theclever.me/cause-infection-and-germs.html

According to several recent studies, people who spend inordinate amounts of time commuting to work risk health and marital problems, including higher rates of neck and back pain and obesity, and a 40% higher divorce rate.
2. Americans Choose Low Weight over No Debt

Half of U.S. men and 38% of women say that how much they weigh is more important to them than how much debt they’re in, 35% of all adults worry more about their weight than their debt, and 72% would not gain 25 pounds to be totally debt-free.
3. Exercise, a Common Prescription for Insomnia

Exercise may be the best medicine for people with sleep problems – but give it time to kick in.

4. Induced or Sped-Up Births Linked to Autism

Women whose labor is induced are 13% more likely to bear an autistic child, while those whose labor is speeded up are 16% more likely, but doctors note that labor is induced to soothe distressed babies who are otherwise 27% more likely to be autistic. http://venusfactor.thecrazy.me/cause-infection-and-germs.html5. San Diego Mayor Not Welcome at Hooters

Downtown San Diego Hooters chain restaurant has announced that Mayor Bob Filner, 70, isn’t welcome.
6. New Biomarker Found for Alzheimer’s Disease

Researchers have identified a new biomarker that could detect Alzheimer’s disease years before onset.
7. Elders with Anemia Are More Dementia-Prone

Some 25% of people over the age of 65 are anemic, and a new study finds that being anemic makes you 40% more likely to develop dementia. The key: anemic blood carries less oxygen to the brain, which can lead to memory loss and mental problems.
8. When and Where We’re Most Depressed

Based on a mega-analysis of Google searches for health-related information on depression, Americans are most depressed on February 27, especially if they live in either of our two most depressed locales: North Dakota, or Presque Isle, Maine.
9. OxyContin Keeps Database of Suspect Docs

OxyContin maker compiled database of doctors suspected of prescribing the drug to dealers and addicts. They have yet to release info to authorities.
10. Soda Industry Reeling Under Sales Declines

The fortunes, or at least the U.S. sales, of the soda industry seem to be in decline, with PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper all suffering significant reductions in the sales volume of their sugary and diet drinks alike over the past decade.
11. Americans’ Bodily Toxins Vary By Wealth

Rich and poor Americans alike experience buildups of environmental toxins in their bodies, but the toxins differ based on economic status and associated lifestyle elements such as seafood consumption, cigarette smoking, and sun bathing. http://dietfoods.likeapro.me/persons-with-diarrhea-or-vomiting.html
12. More Couples Turning to Surrogacy

Jimmy Fallon revealed that his infant daughter was born via surrogate, a practice that has become more accepted recently.

Overthinking Can Decrease Performance

One of the most challenging tasks a student pilot can face is landing the airplane. Or, perhaps I should say safely landing the airplane, as in no damage to either the pilot or his machine!

It’s an interesting process. We practice landing from our very first lesson with an instructor by our side. Of course the instructor initially shows us what to do while they are telling us what they do, and of course we pay very close attention to every detail. Then we assume more of the controls, and even though we saw what to do and were told what to do, it seems for most of us that we still don’t do it. Until we do, of course. http://customizedfatloss.isourchurch.com/form-of-transmission.html
There seems to be this void between the knowing what to do and the doing it. I remember quite clearly that I just couldn’t get it right at first, and I couldn’t figure out why. My instructor wisely told me, although it didn’t make sense at the time, that with practice, eventually I would be able to do it. And he was right! Something happened; even now I don’t know what exactly happened, but I went from not being able to land a plane to being able to. Everything just came together when I relaxed and rather than thinking about every little thing I needed to do to land an airplane, I just did it!

A recent study called “Disruption of Dorsolateral But Not Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex Improves Unconscious Perceptual Memories” was just published in the Journal of Neuroscience and suggests that overthinking can actually be detrimental to human performance. It may explain why I was able to land the plane when I stopped thinking so much and got out of my own way!

It seems that under certain circumstances, paying full attention and trying too hard can actually impede performance, according to the study by lead author Taraz Lee, a postdoctoral scholar at UC Santa Barbara. This is because we need to access our working memories to be able to perform. Like the jokes about people, scientists presently feel that there are two kinds of long-term memory: implicit, which does not require conscious thought and is expressed by means other than words, and explicit, which is formed consciously and can be described in words. Scientists consider these two distinct areas of function both behaviorally and in the brain. http://fatloss.photographist.me/care-for-infected-children.html
Long-term memory is stored in various regions in the prefrontal cortex, which is the newest part of the brain evolutionarily and the part of the brain responsible for planning, executive function, and working memory. “A lot of people think the reason we’re human is because we have the most advanced prefrontal cortex,” said Lee.

Two previous brain studies have shown that disrupting the second type, explicit memory resources, improved our implicit memory without our being conscious of this.

These results suggested that improved implicit perceptual memory can aid performance on recognition tests. So Lee and his colleagues decided to test whether the effects of our consciously paying attention, which is associated with explicit memory, could directly interfere with our expression of the subconscious implicit memory.

The study used a series of kaleidoscopic images and the subjects were given memory tests while using continuous theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to temporarily disrupt the function of the prefrontal cortex.

“After they gave us that answer, we asked whether they remembered a lot of rich details, whether they had a vague impression, or whether they were blindly guessing,” explains Lee. “And the participants only did better when they said they were guessing.”

The results indicated that paying strict conscious attention can be a distraction and affect performance outcomes. “If we ramped down activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, people remembered the images better,” said Lee.

Lee intends to continue his studies in this area, focusing on why highly motivated athletes choke under pressure, among other things.

“I think most researchers who look at prefrontal cortex function are trying to figure out what it does to help you and how that explains how the brain works and how we act,” said Lee. “I look at it at the opposite. If we can figure out the ways in which activity in this part of the brain hurts you, then this also informs how your brain works and can give us some clues to what’s actually going on.” http://sixpacksabs.thenerd.me/care-for-infected-children.html
And if you think this is not significant to real life, think about the last time you flew in an airplane. Then you will realize that, although the second greatest thrill a person can have may be flying, there is no doubt that the greatest thrill a person can have is a good LANDING!

Trace Tracks Activity for Extreme Athletes

Lovers of extreme sports are getting a brand new toy to help them on their adventures. ActiveReplay released a new gadget called Trace, which tracks your activity while skiing, surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding. Trace is both shockproof and waterproof and straps easily to your board of choice while it monitors your speed, tricks and even air time. http://darwinsmith.mobilewebpage.net/predominant-symptoms-are-diarrhea.html
The gadget is not unlike FitBit or FuelBand, but takes things a step further. Trace is equipped with GPS and Bluetooth, making it easy to sync it with your phone and share your personal stats with friends. At just 2 inches in diameter, it’s small and discreet, and it can even be glued to your board or helmet.

“Bikers and runners have all these little gadgets that tell them their mile splits and how far they’ve gone, but surfers and skaters have none of that,” said product VP David Lokshin. “You always want to come home and say, ‘I rode the longest wave ever!’ Or come home from the mountain and say, ‘I just went off this jump!’” http://kyleleon.justgotmarried.net/predominant-symptoms-are-diarrhea.html
Trace’s metrics include lost calories, distance trekked, and a slew of algorithms that are able to track lines, height, distance, rotation, flips, and keep track of all the tricks you perform.

ActiveReplay has put Trace on Kickstarter in the hopes of raising $150,000. The company hopes to produce and begin shipping the product by February 2014.
- See more at:http://cellulitereview.willgetmarried.com/form-of-transmission.html

New Campaign Hopes to Reignite France’s Love for Bread

Bread has been a staple at most dinner tables in France, but it seems the French are beginning to lose interest in one of their favorite foods — so much so that a new campaign has been launched to remind the French of how great a fresh baguette can be.

Back in 1900, the average Frenchman would consume three baguettes. In 1970, the number was reduced to almost one full baguette. Nowadays, the people of France are eating just half a baguette a day. Women, who serve as the main grocery shoppers in France, consume about a third less bread than men. Meanwhile young people are eating a little less than 30 percent of what they did 10 years ago. http://causebadbreath.pagelanding.net/causes-of-vaginal-discharge.html
The decline in bread-eating has actually become a bit of a problem in the country. Observatoire de Pain, the bakers’ lobby, began a campaign back in June which encourages people to continue eating bread to promote good health, conversation and maintain French tradition.

The campaign is actually modeled after America’s “Got Milk?” campaign, and has the term “Coucou, tu as pris le pain?” (“Hi there, have you picked up the bread?”) plastered on billboards all over France.

“Eating habits are changing,” said Bernard Valluis, co-president of the lobby. “People are too busy or work too late to go to the bakery. Teenagers are skipping breakfast. Now when you see the word ‘coucou,’ we want it to be a reflex for consumers to say to themselves, ‘Ah, I have to buy bread today.’” http://naturalcure.productzone.net/avoid-the-common-soap.html
The campaign promotes bread as part of a healthy diet, saying it is useful in maintaining a healthy weight and helps dieters avoid foods high in sugar and fat by keeping you satisfied until your next meal. The lobby is also attempting to pull at heartstrings by reminding France’s citizens that a stop at the bakery on the way home from work is a simple way to show your family you are thinking of them.
- See more at:http://whatiscandida.eventpages.org/avoid-the-common-soap.html

Enrich Your Diet With Rituals

Remember when you were two years old and your Mom would go “Here comes the plane…”

I have no idea why, but all my life, when it came to eating, whether meals, snacks, or Halloween candy, I’ve always saved what I liked the best for last. The very end piece of a loaf of sourdough bread would be the final part of the loaf to go. With chocolate ripple ice cream, where veins of dark chocolate syrup were woven through vanilla ice cream, I’d eat around the veins and then go nuts with them at the end. I probably would have my own idiosyncratic approach to eating Oreos — everybody seems to have some pattern they swear by — but I’ve never much cared for Oreos. http://eliminateacne.impressivefood.com/inflammations-of-the-outside-of-the-genitals.html
Not only do I have my particular eating rituals, but if the behavioral scientists are right, so do you and everybody else. I don’t know how well that principle applies to the far too many people worldwide whose main food ritual is just hoping to God they can get some that day, but in places where obesity is a health issue, i.e. everywhere but the Third World, I think it probably holds true.

And it may be that in places where obesity is a health issue, the fact that we are ritual eaters might have the potential to turn us into healthier eaters. This might be especially important in the case of young children, most of whom are still trying on eating rituals like they were socks, until those that feel right are determined. We are, in fact, talking about nothing less than a possible answer to the question, “How do I get my kid or kids to eat their vegetables?”

Researchers at Harvard and the University of Minnesota may have hit on one, which they summarize in one word: involvement. They conducted a number of experiments wherein people were required to go through certain steps while consuming a food item, and they found that the more steps required, the more the people reported enjoying the food item. The steps could be things like unwrapping and systematically breaking up chocolate bars, or they could involve knocking on a table and pausing and breathing between bites of baby carrot.

They could make no sense whatsoever. It didn’t matter. Whatever the ritual, it made the food seem tastier and more interesting to the eater. Even lemonade tasted better when they made it than when they watched somebody else make it. And this “involvement increases pleasure” principle was strongest when the ritual was repetitive. What the lead researcher called “doing nice systematic gestures” over and over raised the eaters’ level of anticipation and the time they spent savoring the food. In other words, ritual made them enjoy the food more and eat it more slowly. http://causesacne.biglaunch.net/inflammations-of-the-outside-of-the-genitals.html
Parents of young children can already see where we’re headed with this. The more you can get them involved with the preparation and consumption of the food, from helping in the kitchen with special family recipes, to laying out the napkins and utensils in a particular way, to the order in which items go on the plate, the better your chances of making those items which are good for them fun and interesting and

more flavorful for them as well. As for the items that are not so good for them, at least by encouraging them to slowly savor such treats instead of shoveling them down you might actually lower the amount they wind up consuming.

A number of studies have found that families that take their meals together and prepare most of what they eat with their own hands have fewer weight-control problems, and the reason for this might boil down to simple involvement, established through family kitchen and dining rituals. The kind of rituals that the kids have grown up with for as long as they can remember. Rituals that add a special zest and pleasure even to green beans, peas, and broccoli.

All of a sudden, that age-old mom-and-toddler game where the spoonful of squash is the airplane and the child’s mouth is the hangar makes perfect sense. Parents of young kids, start your engines.
- See more at: http://bodyodor.campaignsites.net/causes-of-vaginal-discharge.html

Exercise, Anti-Veggism, “Other” Americans, and Twinkies

My my, how time flies. In just a few days it will be September, and I think we all know what that means. Right: It’s time for another round of “Late Night TV Jokes About Food And Fatness, And What They Say About Us As A Society.” With no further ado, here is a sampling of recent jocularity… http://acnedisorder.isintofashion.com/antibiotics-and-chemotherapy.html
“A new study found that Americans are exercising more than ever but still not losing much weight. That’s not good. In fact, it’s all I could think about on my jog to Dunkin’ Donuts.” — Jimmy Fallon.

Most jokes are based on some cliche, and this one definitely is, the cliche being the self-defeating belief that burning off a handful of calories (the jog) gives them permission to balance things out with a treat of some kind (the donut). Less amusing are the hard weight-loss truths: That the only way to seriously shed weight is to take in significantly fewer calories than you now do; and that, while exercise is essential to keeping weight off once you’ve lost it, it’s of only marginal benefit in the actual reduction of poundage.

“A worldwide survey shows that 1 in 10 people believe the world is going to end soon. A Chinese inventor has even designed a survival pod. He says it can hold 14 people comfortably, or roughly three Americans comfortably.” — Jimmy Kimmel.

“A new study has found that leafy greens are the leading cause of food poisoning. In other words, Americans have nothing to worry about.” — Conan O’Brien.

This is approximately the ninth or tenth of these “fat jokes” posts I’ve written, each of which contained from several to a dozen gags about how fat Americans now are, or how insanely unhealthy Americans eating preferences have become. That’s a lot of ridicule heaped on fat or overfed Americans. But the gags always get big laughs from a studio audience that is about 90 percent composed of Americans, two-thirds of whom are overweight. Of course, that might indicate that we are a mature society, able to laugh in acknowledgement of our own flaws or foibles. http://acnedisorder.isintofashion.com/antibiotics-and-chemotherapy.html
But my vote goes to an alternative theory, that when we hear jokes about the stupid or irrational behavior of Americans we automatically think “other Americans.” Probably the same Americans who elect the politicians we can’t stand, or watch those TV shows we find maddeningly annoying, or are brainlessly bad drivers. I suspect that when fat Americans hear jokes about fat Americans, the image that they laugh at is not of themselves, but of really really FAT Americans, defined as persons who, whatever they weigh, are measurably heavier than the laugher, however heavy the laugher might be.

That might explain a lot of unhealthy behavior that persists on the part of people who should know better. Those terrible health issues only happen to other smokers, or other heavy drinkers, or other pre-diabetics. To paraphrase the brilliant Pogo Possum, “We have met the enemy and fail to recognize that he is us.”

“An elementary school here in New York City has become the first school in the country to serve only vegetarian food. That’s right, a school is serving only vegetarian foods, like tofu. Now, when bullies say, “Give me your lunch money,” students are like, “Here, take it.” — Fallon.

Again, that’s more of a cliche than a joke, Jimmy, but thanks for promoting the notion that it’s actually better to be mugged than to eat vegetables. That will certainly be to the long-term benefit of any school kids who might be watching. In the meantime, we adults should take it as a reminder that, for the most part, kids learn to dislike certain kinds of food by observing grown-ups disliking certain kinds of food — sometimes, by making fun of it.

“Hostess Twinkies are coming back. Hostess has announced that the new Twinkies will have a longer shelf life. The CEO said, “Let me put it this way. Our goal is for Twinkies to outlast people who eat Twinkies.” — Conan O’Brien.

Twinkies have for years epitomized the phrase “junk food.” The word has become shorthand for food products so unhealthy you shouldn’t even look at them in supermarkets. A rational society would have cheered Twinkies’ demise. In the U.S., by contrast, when the end of Twinkies was announced whole multitudes went into absolute mourning. Many became itchy, or lost sleep. Armies of devotees ran right out and stocked up on the remaining Twinkies; the shelves were largely bare nationwide in mere hours. Conversely, when the product’s resurrection was announced, the media played the news like it was a cure for the common cold, and there was a kind of national sigh of relief.
- See more at:http://skindisorder.restaurantpages.net/antibiotics-and-chemotherapy.html