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

Teens’ Music Makes Them Worse Drivers; Blood Worms Invade Tap Water

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 24, 2013 through August 31, 2013) Lab Notes items. To see today’s items, visit Lab Notes. http://dietfoods.keepsblogging.com/causes-of-vaginal-discharge.html1. Teens’ Music Makes Them Worse Drivers

To the list of things that cause teenage drivers, especially males, to commit errors behind the wheel — alcohol, texting, horseplay, etc. — now add “listening to their favorite music,” which among teens tends to mean rock, dance, rap and hip-hop.
2. Blood Worms Invade Tap Water

Blood worms have been found in water glasses and water filters in the city of Colcord, Oklahoma.
3. Fast Food Workers Go on Strike for Higher Pay

Fast-food workers from nearly 60 cities have gone on strikes and walkouts, forcing some restaurants to temporarily close.

4. Kids’ Fast Food Ads Push Toys, Not Food

Fast food ads targeted to kids emphasize giveaways and not the food, say researchers who call for oversight of fast food marketing.
5. SAD Less Common Than Thought

Seasonal affective disorder is less common that previously thought, say OSU researchers who compared data on depressive symptoms in 762 participants against weather patterns.
6. Starbucks Won’t Cut Benefits for Obamacare

Starbucks, a company that offers health insurance even for part-time employees, says that the company’s benefits will continue, despite possible increases in insurance costs. http://dietcauseacne.stylelists.net/symptoms-of-contamination.html7. New York Daily News Calls Christie Fatso

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been called “fatso” on the cover of the New York Daily News!
8. Boozing Costs U.S. $223 Billion a Year

A new CDC report adds up the annual economic price of heavy drinking in America, especially binge drinking, due to costly side-effects ranging from health problems to accidents and violence, and puts the total at $223.5 billion annually.
9. Supply Exceeds Demand for Veterinarians

Last year, there are about 11,250 excess full-time veterinarians, finds a new study.
10. Poor Sleep Triggers Junk Food Cravings

U.C. Berkeley researchers have discovered the link between a lack of sleep and weight gain: sleep-deprived brains both seek rewards and lack self-restraint, and are most attracted and least resistant to sugary, fatty, calorie-laden foods. http://weightloss.snackblogger.com/symptoms-of-contamination.html11. Good Oral Hygiene May Lower Cancer Risk

Good oral hygiene could reduce the risk of HPV-related oral cancers, says new research.
12. Whole Foods Opens Records Shops Inside Stores

Should We Really Define Obesity As a Disease?

The answer may depend on what we want to accomplish

Nikhil Dhurandhar and I don’t have a lot in common. He is a vice president and key researcher with The Obesity Society, while I am just someone who writes about people such as Nikhil Dhurandhar. He works at the imposing Pennington Biomedical Research firm in Louisiana, while I am on the team of the far more layman-accessible CalorieLab. Say my name aloud, and people might think “German”; say his name aloud and they might think “gesundheit.” But we both have an issue with the recent decision of the American Medical Association to designate obesity as a disease. We simply disagree on what it should rightly be called. http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/09/leo/intlblogday/forum/read.php?1,2274

Dhurandhar believes that “obesity” is actually shorthand for “a number of different diseases.” My view is that obesity will come to be seen not so much as a disease or even a cluster of diseases but as a symptom. A symptom of what, you ask? Of all kinds of things. There are plenty of symptoms like that already. Got a sore on your tongue? Could be a sign of anything from herpes to cancer to a dental misalignment to too many four-alarm jalapeños. Sudden reddish patch of skin that appears out of nowhere? Could be an allergy to any one of scads of things, or a chemical reaction, or a genetic condition, or a dermatological disorder. Headache? Possible causes run to several pages, without even mentioning ice cream or sexual avoidance.

We could go on like this for awhile, but you get the point. The point, which Dhurandhar and I agree on, is that obesity is far more complicated and idiosyncratic than simply the result of too much food and too little physical activity. (It might seem that the difference between Dhurandhar’s position and mine is hair-splitting, but he regards all obesity as some form of illness or clinical condition, while my take is that a considerable amount of obesity is simply due to indifference or self-indulgence on the part of people who frankly don’t care if they’re obese, or what medical science or other people think about it if they are.)

According to Dhurandhar, who discovered a virus that is present in obese people three times as often as it is in slender people, various researchers, himself included, have identified some 85 different factors that may cause or contribute to obesity. Being the author of an e-book titled “115 Reasons Why It’s Not Your Fault If You’re Fat,” I am gratified to have him validate its premise that obesity is far more complicated that you might expect. It certainly proved more complicated than I expected. http://uchem.berkeley.edu/forum/read.php?26,500745
I originally intended “115 Reasons” to be a bunch of tongue-in-cheek items that were unscientific and/or exaggerated and designed more as amusing excuses than actual reasons. It was also just going to be “99 Reasons.” But because I did not want to seriously mislead any possible book purchasers, I decided to include those genuine contributing factors that I did come across in my research. As it turned out, there are so many legitimate obesity-linked elements in the human environment that they totally crowded out all but a handful of the jocular “reasons,” which are now little more than occasional comic relief. Indeed, I only stopped at 115 because I had to stop at some point. If I were to publish the book today, it would be more like “130 Reasons.”

All of which leads me to take a position on a controversy regarding the AMA’s obesity-as-disease announcement. Some critics have accused the AMA, which after all is an association representing the interests of practicing physicians, of using the “disease” label to generate more business for doctors, which that label very well might do. Even so, and while I’m not sure that obesity should rightly be designated as a disease (not that my opinion is in any way relevant), if giving it that designation winds up motivating obese people to consult a physician about losing weight, I’m all for it.

It is, after all, the physician’s job description and specific skill to diagnose symptoms, to determine their cause and prescribe an appropriate treatment program. And although eating too much and exerting oneself too little are obviously the primary mechanisms of weight gain, in those cases where the root cause of the obesity is hormonal or biochemical or hereditary or environmental, for example, the latest fad diet or herbal concoction or exercise device is not going to seriously address it. https://secure.web.emory.edu/forums/read.php?9,2118,2118#msg-2118
Being fat may not be an illness as we generally define the term, but if you are fat and would like to be less so, “Consult your physician” is pretty good advice.
- See more at: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/forums/range/read.php?9,26993

Eating Junk Food Can Decrease Performance

I recently wrote about how overthinking can decrease performance. Well, here’s another thing that can decrease performance: eating junk food.

It is well established that eating the typical, high saturated fat, omega-6 vegetable oil, sugary Western diet can be a path to many health issues, including the never-popular erectile dysfunction (ED). The usual medical recommendation for preventing this body part from going on vacation has been to eat better, with compliance in that area being about as tardy as Mr. Happy has become when you want him there. Because of this, researchers Christopher Wingard and his colleagues at East Carolina University decided to look into the other half of the health equation, exercise, to see if that might be helpful for you and your better half to start smiling again. http://www.sarticles.net/article/lose-weight-delicious-and-easy
These scientists devised a study feeding poor, overworked lab rats an altered rat chow diet that simulated Western junk food fare. Over a 12-week period, half the rats ate this unhealthy high fat and sugar diet and half ate the usual healthy chow. Half of the animals in each group ran on a treadmill five days a week. At the end of this period, the rats were put to sleep and their erectile function or dysfunction was measured by electrically stimulating the nerves which increase blood flow and cause an erection.

(At least Woody Allen was awake for his experience with this.)

(Woody didn’t look too good after his stimulation, but at least he was smiling.)

The rats that ate the unhealthy Western diet but did not exercise developed erectile dysfunction. The somewhat smarter rats who foolishly still ate the poor diet but did exercise were able to function better. Best of all, the very wise rats who ate the healthy chow were, for the most part, able to avoid erectile dysfunction, unless they had inhibiting psychiatric issues like Woody Allen used to.

The happy scientists feel that these findings suggest that exercise should diminish these negative erectile effects of the Western diet provided that you do a lot of exercise. https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/forums/range/read.php?9,26992
“The finding that exercise prevents Western diet-associated erectile dysfunction and coronary artery disease progression translates to an intensively active lifestyle throughout the duration of the ‘junk food’ diet,” according to Wingard, but “it remains to be seen if a moderately active lifestyle, or an active lifestyle initiated after a prolonged duration of a sedentary lifestyle combined with a ‘junk food’ diet is effective at reversing functional impairment.”

As far as I know, Woody is now much less dysfunctional and happily active in this area of his life!
- See more at: http://www.clevelandstatecc.edu/talkgreen/viewthread/10651/

New Exercise Program Can Delay Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

A new exercise program has been designed to delay the hindering effects of Parkinson’s disease. A gym in Columbus, Ohio is helping Parkinson’s sufferers beat symptoms, which include tremors and difficulty walking and walking, with a program called Delay The Disease. “Let’s just say for a short gait, you see that stooped posture, practice with a longer stride and erect posture, and you get better at it, so the brain figures it out,” said David Zid, the designer of the exercise program. Research has shown that exercise can help Parkinson’s patients both delay and lessen their symptoms. Zid says the programs helps remind the brain how to perform everyday movements, like walking and talking. http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/09/leo/intlblogday/forum/read.php?1,2274

The program uses strength training to help ease tremors, but is in no way meant to replace medical treatment. “We’ve had people get rid of their wheelchairs, walkers [and] canes,” Zid said. Kathy Cooper was diagnosed with Parkinson’s almost a decade ago, and has found a way to fight certain aspects of the disease through the exercise program. “I was not going to lay down and take it. I was going to do something about it,” Cooper said, adding that she had trouble getting out of her car and walking. “At the rate I was going, I was gonna be in a wheelchair, and my husband is convinced I’d be dead.” - See more at:http://uchem.berkeley.edu/forum/read.php?26,500745

Exercising Just Once a Week Can Benefit Older Women

A new study suggests that older women only need to exercise once a week. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) found that women over the age of 60 can improve their strength and endurance by exercising just one day a week. The study, which was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, was conducted by monitoring 63 women who performed aerobic exercise training (AET) and resistance exercise training (RET) for a total of 16 weeks. The participants were divided into three groups: the first did the exercises once a week, the second did them twice a week and the third did the exercises three times a week. Each group had a significant increase in muscular strength, cardiovascular fitness and functional tasks. However, there was no significant difference between the three groups. http://www.sarticles.net/article/lose-weight-delicious-and-easy

A new study suggests that older women only need to exercise once a week. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) found that women over the age of 60 can improve their strength and endurance by exercising just one day a week.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, was conducted by monitoring 63 women who performed aerobic exercise training (AET) and resistance exercise training (RET) for a total of 16 weeks. The participants were divided into three groups: the first did the exercises once a week, the second did them twice a week and the third did the exercises three times a week.
Each group had a significant increase in muscular strength, cardiovascular fitness and functional tasks. However, there was no significant difference between the three groups.
“One of the biggest barriers to exercise training for the older female population is adherence, and one of the key findings in this study is that doing a little bit of exercise can go a long way,” said Gordon Fisher, Ph.D., the primary investigator for the study. “Telling people that they need to do at least three to five days of exercise to improve their overall health can be a major obstacle. Lack of time is the most often-cited barrier to exercise adherence. This study demonstrates that doing as little as one AET and one RET workout each week can provide a lot of benefit for older women’s overall quality of life and health.”
Fisher added that the study goes against what most healthcare professionals believe — that high frequency, duration and intensity of exercises equates to a healthier and stronger body. While this is certainly true for younger adults, older adults, specifically women, do not see those same results.
“Before I saw the data, if anyone told me that the group that only exercised once a week would improve their leg press more than 45 pounds during a 16-week period, I would have been quite surprised,” said Fisher. “We were also surprised that all three groups increased their lean muscle mass but did not have any significant decreases in body weight.”
The increase of lean muscle is probably most significant in this study, since the aging process comes with a loss of skeletal muscle mass. It is also important to note that weight loss was not the study’s goal and the participants were not asked to change their diet.
- See more at: http://calorielab.com/news/2013/09/06/exercising-just-once-a-week-can-benefit-older-women/#sthash.ObfJfbAP.dpuf

A new study suggests that older women only need to exercise once a week. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) found that women over the age of 60 can improve their strength and endurance by exercising just one day a week.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, was conducted by monitoring 63 women who performed aerobic exercise training (AET) and resistance exercise training (RET) for a total of 16 weeks. The participants were divided into three groups: the first did the exercises once a week, the second did them twice a week and the third did the exercises three times a week.
Each group had a significant increase in muscular strength, cardiovascular fitness and functional tasks. However, there was no significant difference between the three groups.
“One of the biggest barriers to exercise training for the older female population is adherence, and one of the key findings in this study is that doing a little bit of exercise can go a long way,” said Gordon Fisher, Ph.D., the primary investigator for the study. “Telling people that they need to do at least three to five days of exercise to improve their overall health can be a major obstacle. Lack of time is the most often-cited barrier to exercise adherence. This study demonstrates that doing as little as one AET and one RET workout each week can provide a lot of benefit for older women’s overall quality of life and health.”
Fisher added that the study goes against what most healthcare professionals believe — that high frequency, duration and intensity of exercises equates to a healthier and stronger body. While this is certainly true for younger adults, older adults, specifically women, do not see those same results.
“Before I saw the data, if anyone told me that the group that only exercised once a week would improve their leg press more than 45 pounds during a 16-week period, I would have been quite surprised,” said Fisher. “We were also surprised that all three groups increased their lean muscle mass but did not have any significant decreases in body weight.”
The increase of lean muscle is probably most significant in this study, since the aging process comes with a loss of skeletal muscle mass. It is also important to note that weight loss was not the study’s goal and the participants were not asked to change their diet.
- See more at: http://calorielab.com/news/2013/09/06/exercising-just-once-a-week-can-benefit-older-women/#sthash.ObfJfbAP.dpuf

 “One of the biggest barriers to exercise training for the older female population is adherence, and one of the key findings in this study is that doing a little bit of exercise can go a long way,” said Gordon Fisher, Ph.D., the primary investigator for the study. “Telling people that they need to do at least three to five days of exercise to improve their overall health can be a major obstacle. Lack of time is the most often-cited barrier to exercise adherence. This study demonstrates that doing as little as one AET and one RET workout each week can provide a lot of benefit for older women’s overall quality of life and health.” Fisher added that the study goes against what most healthcare professionals believe — that high frequency, duration and intensity of exercises equates to a healthier and stronger body. While this is certainly true for younger adults, older adults, specifically women, do not see those same results. “Before I saw the data, if anyone told me that the group that only exercised once a week would improve their leg press more than 45 pounds during a 16-week period, I would have been quite surprised,” said Fisher. https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/forums/range/read.php?9,26992

“We were also surprised that all three groups increased their lean muscle mass but did not have any significant decreases in body weight.” The increase of lean muscle is probably most significant in this study, since the aging process comes with a loss of skeletal muscle mass. It is also important to note that weight loss was not the study’s goal and the participants were not asked to change their diet. - See more at:http://www.clevelandstatecc.edu/talkgreen/viewthread/10651/

Chobani Recalls Moldy Yogurt; Fruits Reduce the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

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 31, 2013 through September 7, 2013) Lab Notes items. To see today’s items, visit Lab Notes. 1. Chobani Recalls Moldy Yogurt Chobani founder, Hamdi, has written a letter to consumers which opens with “I’m sorry we let you down.” 2. Fruits Reduce the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Eating five servings of some whole fruits per month lowered the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes by 26%, finds new study. 3. New Definition Boosts Male Depression Rate Women are diagnosed with depression twice as often as men, by a rate of 20% to 10%, but when researchers include such behaviors as anger, aggression, risk-taking and substance abuse as symptoms of depression, men and women both have a 30% rate. http://www.clevelandstatecc.edu/talkgreen/viewthread/10650/

 4. Alaskan Mayor, Stubbs the Cat, Mauled by Dog Stubbs has occupied the mayor’s office at Talkeetna, Alaska for 16 years, and he’s not about to let a dog mauling get in his way. 5. Kids Should Get Flu Vaccine Now According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), now is the perfect time for kids to get their flu vaccines. 6. People Born to Obese Moms May Die Younger Babies born to women who were obese during pregnancy are 35% more likely to die for any reason by middle-age, and 29% more likely to be hospitalized for cardiovascular illnesses such as stroke and heart attack, than persons born to normal-weight women. 7. Overweight Women Can Learn Impulse Control Delayed gratification, or willpower, can be taught through behavioral interventions, says an obesity expert and researcher. 8. Exercise Intensity Matters More Than Duration Exercise intensity matters more than duration for preventing weight gain, find researchers from the University of Utah. 9. How Poverty Leads to Unhealthy Food Choices Low-income groups may make poor food choices, leading to overweight, not just because fattening foods are cheap, but because the simple mental strain of being poor reduces their cognitive function, causing them to make poor choices in general.http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/09/leo/intlblogday/forum/read.php?1,2273

10. SpaghettiOs with Meatballs Recalled Campbell’s Soup officials have decided to recall 1,920 cans of SpaghettiOs with Meatballs that have the label for Swanson’s 100 percent Natural Chicken Broth. 11. The Trend in U.S. Dieting: Plan-It-Yourself The trend in dieting is toward self-management and away from commercial plans. Of a total of some 108 million dieters, 82% followed free or low-cost do-it-yourself plans using the Net or diet books in 2012, significantly above the historic rate of 70%. - See more at:http://uchem.berkeley.edu/forum/read.php?26,500711

20 Food Bugs Join Growing Genome Database

wenty food bugs have been added to the growing database of genomes. Scientists have discovered the genomes in 20 microorganisms that can cause food poisoning. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food-related illnesses infect around 48 million people a year, killing around 3,000 people in the U.S. Researchers have been sequencing genomes in the hopes of speeding up the process of diagnosing and treating foodborne illnesses. They are also hoping to shorten the overall duration of illnesses and outbreaks. The new sequences include isolates of salmonella, listeria and campylobacter. “These finished genome sequences represent the highest quality standard, with each strain closed in a single bacterial chromosome and the associated mobile DNA,” said Bart Weimer, director of the 100K Genome Project. “They also contain complete associated phage or plasmid elements, which are critical for understanding pathogenicity, drug resistance, and other biologically important traits that are linked to survival.” http://www.sarticles.net/article/rhythmic-breathing-the-most-important-thing

 Researchers hope that officials will be able to use this information to better inform and treat patients. “This will ultimately speed outbreak investigations, reduce illness, and facilitate the development of new rapid test methods to detect pathogens,” said Marc Allard, an advisor on the 100K Genome Project. The 100K Genome Project was launched in March 2012 as a partnership between the US Food and Drug Administration, UC Davis and Agilent Technologies. They deposited their first data in June of this year. The project used Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) Sequencing technology to determine the new genomes. - See more at: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/forums/range/read.php?9,26991

The 5 Unhealthiest Cities in America

If you’re looking to move to a new city, you should probably avoid these five. The American College of Sports Medicine graded the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country, and gave each an Annual Fitness Index (AFI) grade, based on obesity rates to activity levels of residents. “These communities just don’t have the right environment to support people who want to be physically fit,” said Walt Thompson of Georgia State University, who oversees the annual AFI. Cities with high AFI scores are ones that have infrastructure such as parks, swimming pools and other community facilities that make physical activity easy for residents. The American College of Sports Medicine based this year’s scorings on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, as well as information from public and private agencies. Each city was ranked on a number of factors and were given a score based on the average of those rankings. 5. Memphis, Tennessee: 36/100 Memphis has the highest rates of obesity in comparison to the other 49 communities studied by AFI researchers. https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/forums/range/read.php?9,26990

They also have the highest death rate caused by cardiovascular disease or diabetes. And, when it comes to residents engaging in physical activity in the last 30 days, Memphis came in very last. Except for golf courses, Memphis has a below average rate of local fitness facilities. 4. Louisville, Kentucky: 35.2/100 Louisville is the smoking capital of America, with the highest smoking rate of any metropolitan area at 28.1 percent. So, it should come as no surprise that the city also has the second highest rate of angina and heart disease. Louisville has a below average rate of fitness infrastructure, with less than 1 swimming pool for every 100,000 residents. 3. San Antonio, Texas: 35.1/100 San Antonio is an unhealthy city because it rates below average on almost all personal-health factors. It has a 32.8 percent obesity rate, the fourth worst compared to 49 other metropolitan areas involved in the study. San Antonio also rates low when it comes to fitness infrastructure — they have a low number of parks and tennis courts. 2. Detroit, Michigan: 33.6/100 Residents of Detroit aren’t very dedicated to their personal physical fitness. They also have a high rate of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and have a low rate of physical fitness facilities. For example, Detroit doesn’t have a single dog park. 1. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: 31.2/100 Oklahoma City is the least healthy city in America. Residents do not get enough physical activity, nor do they have enough fruits and vegetables in their diet. http://uchem.berkeley.edu/forum/read.php?26,500688

They also rank in last place for residents who take public transportation to work. Oklahoma City also does not provide enough fitness facilities for the community, except for golf courses. AFI experts actually met with the city’s mayor last year to suggest ways they can improve the health of residents. Thompson said they have taken some suggestions into account, “but it takes awhile for policy changes to take effect.”https://secure.web.emory.edu/forums/read.php?9,2116,2116#msg-2116