It doesn’t take a fancy study to realize there’s an epidemic of childhood obesity in this country – a drive past any school yard offers proof enough.  The question is what we do about it?  A new study offers some suggestions.

Researchers in Massachusetts evaluated infants three times between the ages of six months and two. (1) At each visit, they recorded the amount of time the child slept and the amount of time they spent watching TV.

At three years of age, they evaluated the children for obesity, measuring body weight and height as well as skin fold thicknesses.  The findings are noteworthy.

Infants who slept less than 12 hours were almost twice as likely to be overweight at age 3 (12% vs. 7%).  If the low-sleep children also watched more than 2 hours of television a day, their risk of obesity rose to 17%.

Many factors contribute to the rise of obesity in America.  Of course diet and exercise are important but research increasingly points to other issues as well.

Previous studies have shown an association between short sleeping hours and obesity in older children and adolescents (2).  This study shows that association begins even in infancy.

Experts debate about the mechanism by which sleep affects weight.  Some researchers postulate that being awake longer simply gives a child more time to eat.  Another possibility is that decreased sleep leads to decreased activity while awake.

Others wonder if certain studies in adults apply to children as well.  These studies show that lack of sleep has an adverse effect on hormones that influence appetite. (3, 4)

Whatever the cause, more and more evidence demonstrates the importance of adequate sleep for people of any age.  Make getting adequate sleep a priority – both for yourself and for any children under your care.

1) Short Sleep Duration in Infancy and Risk of Childhood Overweight
Taveras, Elsie M MD, MPH et al.  Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(4):305-311.

2) Seicean A, Redline S, Seicean S; et al. Association between short sleeping hours and overweight in adolescents: results from a US Suburban High School survey. Sleep Breath. 2007;11(4):285-293.

3) Spiegel K, et al. Brief communication: sleep curtailment in healthy young men is associated with decreased leptin levels, elevated ghrelin levels, and increased hunger and appetite. Ann Intern Med. 2004;141(11):846-850.

4) Taheri S, Lin L, Austin D, Young T, Mignot E. Short sleep duration is associated with reduced leptin, elevated ghrelin, and increased body mass index. PLoS Med. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0010062. 2004;1(3):e62.

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You may have heard about lycopenes before.  These are compounds found mainly in brightly colored vegetables and especially in tomatoes.  There have been studies in the past suggesting that men who ate several servings of tomato products a week had a lower risk of prostate problems than those who didn’t. 

Now there’s a study from Germany showing even stronger proof of the benefit of adding lycopene to your diet.

Benign prostate hyperplasia is a condition in which the cells of the prostate are starting to become a little abnormal.  They aren’t cancerous yet, but it’s considered a precancerous condition.  Men who have it are at and increased risk of cancer in the future.

In the study, forty men who had this condition (proven by biopsy of their prostate) were divided into two groups.  One received 15 mg of lycopene daily in a capsule for six months.  The other group received a look-alike placebo.

After only six months, the results were astounding.

As you probably know rising PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels can reflect developing prostate cancer.  In the group receiving the lycopene, PSA levels decreased.  There was no change in the placebo group.

The researchers measured size of the prostate in all the men by both digital rectal exam and trans-anal ultrasound (women who complain about mammograms might want to consider how the prostate is examined).  Prostate enlargement by both measures progressed in the placebo group.  Prostate size stabilized in the lycopene group.

Very importantly, the symptoms of prostate disease, as measured by the International Prostate Symptom Score questionnaire, improved more in the lycopene group than in the control.

All in all, these are very impressive findings, especially since they were achieved using an extremely safe dietary supplement.

This study was done in men who already had a dangerous situation developing in their prostate.  Why wait ‘till you have that problem?  I recommend getting lycopene in your diet now.

You can take a supplement like the studied used, but why not get it from food?  One cup of tomato juice, or a tomato-based vegetable juice (like V-8) has over 20 grams of lycopene – more than the 15 used in the study.

Here’s what I suggest.  Keep low-salt or no-salt tomato juice in your fridge.  If you want it do be even better, use an organic brand.  Most mornings have a cup of it with a teaspoon of horseradish (horse radish is high in cancer-fighting compounds known as glycosinolates) and a dash of Morton’s potassium chloride salt replacement.

Or take the pill.  Either way, add this prostate-protecting nutrient to your diet.

Lycopene Inhibits Disease Progression in Patients with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia1,2
Silke Schwarz3,4,

J. Nutr. 138:49-53, January 2008
 

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It’s bad enough to decline physically.  Even worse is mental decline. The idea of losing cognitive power frightens everyone.  It’s especially frightening if you’ve witnessed anyone descend into the abyss of Alzheimer’s.   Our ability to think makes us human.  Our memories are the record of our life.  When dementia robs a person of these, they’ve lost something truly precious.

Take the case of Edith, one of my elderly patients.  She had a shuffling gait and a vacant gaze.  Because of her live-in caregiver, she was neatly dressed and groomed.  As she sat, she looked at the woman next to her, her daughter, and asked: “Where’s Kate?  Do you know where Kate is?”  “I’m here Mom.  I’m Kate.”  “No you’re not, my Kate is a little girl.  Where’s Kate?”

Sadly, I’ve seen too many people like Edith.  Fortunately, it doesn’t have to happen.   You can stay mentally clear and crisp well into old age. You know this to be true – you’ve seen it.   I’m sure at some point you’ve met a person with plenty of years who was still sharp as anything.  Aren’t those people a delight?  Don’t they exude life?

It’s possible to grow old and age minimally.  But it doesn’t happen by accident.  Habitual choices carry long term consequences.  Research gives us some pretty strong suggestions on how to stay sharp as we grow old.

Here’s a quick run down of some ways to maintain your mental edge over time.  You’ll see some familiar recommendations.  A healthy lifestyle benefits all of you, including your brain.

Exercise

People who are active are at lower risk for mental decline.  Some studies even show improved mental function in elderly people who start a walking program after years of being sedentary.

Obviously, there are a lot of other reasons you should exercise.  Maintaining your wits just emphasizes the importance of an exercise program.  You can read about several effective, efficient exercise programs in Total Health Breakthroughs.  Pick one and stay with it.

Diet

Eat a healthy diet, especially one high in fruits and vegetables.  The antioxidants and micronutrients they contain go a long way toward protecting brain function.  Researchers are looking at the effects of many different foods.  Here are some of the findings.

Fats
The type of fat in your diet affects brain function.  Omega three fatty acids are an important component in all neural tissue. A diet high in omega 3 fatty acids leads to lower levels of inflammation and improved brain function.  Fish are a good source of these types of fats.  Unfortunately, in today’s world you need to be concerned that contaminants such as heavy metals and PCBs taint fish. Even so, I still eat salmon at least once a week and take fish oil supplements daily.

Other fats affect brain function as well.  It turns out that fats that help your heart also help your brain.   Researchers in Italy examined people several times over an eight year period.  Those who ate less saturated fat and more monosaturated fats (like olive oil) showed significantly better cognitive function at the end of the study.a  In other words, the Mediterranean diet helps your brain and your heart.

Curry
India has a low incidence of dementia.  The obvious question is why.  The answer may be in the diet.  A study from the National University of Singapore documented a much lower rate of dementia in people who ate curry regularly as opposed to those who ate it rarely.

One reason curries may be helpful is that they often contain turmeric. Turmeric has high levels of curcumin, which has significant anti-inflammatory action.  It’s actually been shown to reverse plaque formation in animal models of Alzheimers. 

Other spices in curries, such as ginger, cinnamon and garlic, have health benefits as well.  All in all, it’s a reason to develop a taste for Indian food.

Blueberries
Blueberries contain some of the highest levels of antioxidants of any fruit.   In animal studies, adding blueberries to the diet protects against brain aging and the impairment in learning ability and memory that goes with it. 

Green Tea
A study from Japan has shown that people who drink two cups of green tea a day had a 50% lower risk of dementia compared to those who drank less than 3 cups a week.  Black tea and coffee failed to show this benefit.  

Stress
Stress raises levels of hormones that inhibit brain function and actually damage brain cells.  Therefore it’s important to learn techniques to deal with stress that defuse this risk.  Practices such as meditation, guided imagery and especially HeartMath all help in this area

Mental training
Physical exercise is good for you, and so is mental exercise.  The brain is remarkably “plastic” even into old age.  This means that new connections can be formed between brain cells at any age.  You can stimulate this type of growth by doing new things.

Dr. Willis and her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania showed that cognitive training improved function and that the improvement persisted over the five years of the study. 

Learning a foreign language, working on challenging puzzles, reading fascinating books all stimulate cognitive development.  Not to mention the fact that they make life more enjoyable.
said that, consider these supplements to give yourself an extra edge.
Supplements.  

I believe your diet should be your main source of nutrients.  Having Fish oil
 As I mentioned, omega three fatty acids are critical for brain function.  They suppress inflammation, which is partly responsive for deterioration of the brain as well as a lot of other problems.  There are several good reasons to supplement with fish oil, and helping your brain is one of them.

Ginko Bilboa
This herb has had a lot of publicity as a memory aid.  It seems to work by improving blood flow.  Most studies have shown moderate effectiveness and it has a good safety profile.

Curcumin
If you can’t develop a taste for curries (my recommendation), curcumin is available as a supplement. 

Alpha Lipoic Acid and Acetyl L Carnitine
Alpha lipoic acid is a powerful antioxidant.  Acetyl L carnitine protects the mitrocondria (the energy producing “powerhouses” of the cells) from age related damage.  Together, they protect the brain.

Phosphatidylserine
Another supplement that has generated a lot of interest is phosphatidylserine.  Acetylcholine is an important neurotransmitter that is reduced in Altzheimers and other forms of dementia. Phosphatidylserine is a precursor of acetylcholine.  Taking it as a supplement improves acetylcholine levels and has shown benefit in both animal and human studies.

Do you think you might be able to develop a taste for green tea?  And would it be possible to keep some blueberries to your diet?  Small changes can have large benefits.

I’ve given you many suggestions to consider.  As you can see, there’s a lot you can do to stay sharp as you age.   Following these suggestions will do more than just help your brain.  You’ll improve your overall levels of vitality while reducing your risk of disease. 

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I’ve had a number of bad habits to overcome over the years.  A relatively minor but significant was eating way too fast. 

I’m not sure why I developed this habit, but it sure wasn’t my Mom’s fault.  As I was gulping a meal down, she’d be saying “Slow down.  Chew your food”.  Despite that good advice, it’s only been in recent years that I actually tried to heed it.

There are a lot of reasons why eating more slowing and chewing food well is the way to go.

The minor ones have to do with digestion.  The digestive process actually begins when you’re chewing.   The process of chewing mechanically breaks the food down into smaller particles that are more easily digested and absorbed.

As you chew, the chemical digestive process begins as well.  Enzymes in your saliva mix with food and start the digestive process even before it reaches your stomach.

There’s a big difference between how your stomach responds to well-chewed food and food that arrives in big, coarse chunks.

That’s the functional reason for eating more slowly and chewing well.  Other reasons are more important.

Ideally, you eat a lot of your meals with family and friends.  Sharing food and family meals creates social bonds that are a precious part of human relationships. Rushing through these meals to rush on to something else lessens the experience.

Good food is a pleasure.  It should be enjoyed.  Eating slowly and savoring adds to the enjoyment of our meals.  It’s one of life’s grace notes.  Rush through a meal and we miss it.  As we chew, we can enjoy and appreciate the food.

Eating more slowly and chewing well also helps us eat more prudently. Ideally, we come to a meal moderately hungry.  We know that eating will sate our hunger.  However, it takes time for the food to be digested and enough of it absorbed that the message of satiety is generated. 

If we eat quickly, we can eat right by the point of adequate nutrition.  We wind up eating more that we need.  We feel uncomfortable later and those extra calories become body fat.  Not too many of us need more of that.

Here are some suggestions to slow down eating and enjoy meals more.

One technique is to chew each bit of food for a specific number of bites.  That is, actually count how many times you chew each mouthful of food.  I’ve seen people recommending up to 50 bites for every bit of food.

Others say this approach is too rigid, and that people should just chew until the food is mostly liquid.

For me, I’ve found it helpful to actually count bites.  It gave me a ritual to follow that helped me break my old habits.  I found 25 chews about right for me.  I also noticed that as time went by, I needed to count less because I became used to swallowing more liquid food.

I also was enjoying eating more as I chewed well.  It did help increase my enjoyment of food.

Another easy tip to slow the pace of your meals is to put the implements down between bites.  Instead of holding your knife and fork at the ready so you can take another bite of food as soon as you swallow, set them down between morsels.  You’ll enjoy dinner more and your companions will enjoy the extra attention. 

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Sometimes eating well can seem overwhelming.  Here’s a way to make it easy one meal at a time.

I once read somewhere that the person who prepares food for a family typically has about 10 recipes they use 80-90% of the time.  The family likes them, they usually have the ingredients on hand and they can make them without even glancing at the written recipe.

When I looked at my own experience, that seemed about right.  Here’s how you can use this to reshape the quality of your meals.

Your goal is simply to find ten healthy, tasty nutritious menus that you enjoy.  What appeared to be an overwhelming task is now clearly manageable.

Do it one meal at a time.  Check out magazines and cookbooks and online sources looking for meals that fit your criteria.  In general you want a menu that includes lean protein (chicken breast, fish, etc), at least two servings of vegetables, a small amount of healthy fat (olive oil) and maybe a low glycemic index grain.

When you find a likely candidate, give it a try.  If you like it, add it to your permanent collection. If you don’t, keep looking. 

When you first make a recipe, you might have to shop for a unique ingredient you don’t have, such as an unusual spice.   However once your pantry is stocked, it will be there the next time you.   Preparation will become progressively easier.

With ten menus, you have most of your meal planning for two weeks done before you start.  You’ll also have the foundation to a healthy way of life.

When you find some great menus, I love to check them out – leave them on the site or email them to me.

And here’s separate tip.  When you cook a menu, make enough to have lunch for your family the next day.  I’m not a big fan of plastic storage containers, but I must admit that the containers with compartments in them make it very convenient to pack a healthy lunch.

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It’s post holidays and time for New Years resolutions.  It’s no secret that a lot of people begin the year with the intention of finally losing some weight and getting in shape. It’s also no secret than most people fail.  A big part of that failure is what most people do when they want to lose weight.  They go on a diet.

For most people, going on a diet means making a drastic change in the way they eat.  They eliminate whole categories of foods and cut way back on calories.

At first, the scale does show weight coming off.  But soon the rate of loss slows.  The diet becomes harder and harder to stay on.  Before long the diet is history and the weight is back on.  It’s back on a lot quicker than it went off. 
Apparently, the weight was never lost at all.

What happened?  Why is it so hard to reach a healthy weight?

Well first, consider the good news.  We live in a culture and a time when having adequate calories available to eat really isn’t as issue.  D’Sousa has a telling quote in one of his books.  When he was growing up in India one of his classmates remarked “I want to go to America.  I want to live in a country where even the poor people are fat.”

There’s no doubt about it – calories are easy to come by in America today.  They may not be nutritious calories, but there’s no shortage of them.

For millennia, it wasn’t that way.  Finding enough to eat required constant effort.  The effort wasn’t always successful.

Our ancient ancestors had a word for a situation where calories eaten were less than those needed.  We call it a diet.  They called it starvation.  Survival required than our ancestors develop ways to deal with periods of deprivation.

One way was to store energy from the “fatter” times.  That’s what fat is – stored energy.  We’re very good at storing it when there are extra calories around. It’s a survival mechanism.

Our bodies have another excellent way to survive lean times.  It’s also a big part of why almost all diets fail. 

If there aren’t enough calories coming in, our bodies use fewer calories.  The number of calories our bodies use at rest is called our resting metabolic rate.  It’s the number of calories we use just to live, without doing any added work.

If we aren’t eating enough calories to meet our metabolic needs, our bodies adapt by lowering our metabolic rate – we use fewer calories to live. 

This is why restricted calorie diets become gradually less effective over time.  People on those diets are actually training their bodies to burn fewer calories.  To continue to lose weight they would need to eat progressively less food.  That doesn’t work for long, and it certainly isn’t healthy. 

It is true that to lose weight you need to eat fewer calories than you use.  However if you try to do this drastically, you’re working against your body’s metabolism.  You won’t win.

You’re designed to survive periods of starvation.  A prolonged period of drastically reduced calories triggers survival mechanisms that make healthy weigh loss almost impossible.

Fortunately, there are ways to work with your body to obtain optimum vitality and a healthy weight.

First realize that you’re not looking for a short term change.  If you’ve been gaining weight slowly but surely with your current choices of food and approach to eating, that clearly isn’t working for you.  You need to change it.  You need to find a way of eating that maintains your vitality and that you enjoy.

It makes no sense to make a temporary change and then go back to a lifestyle you’ve already proven doesn’t work. Instead, realize that you need a long term change in your approach to eating.  Then, take your time gradually changing to an improved relationship with food and activity.

The right approach for you will be your own.  I’ll be making a lot of suggestions for you to try as time goes by.  Right now I’ll tell you how to reduce calories without triggering the survival response that prevents weight loss.  You can apply this tip right away. You’ll find the concept simple.

The key idea is to vary your caloric intake from day to day.  One day you eat a little less than you need and the next a little more. Doing this convinces your body that times are good and there’s no need to go into survival mode.

Your aim is to have the total number of calories you take in over a period of time, say a week, be less than what you need. 

It’s important to avoid prolonged periods of fasting.  Eat regularly – at least three meals and a snack every day.  By doing this and cycling your calories up and down, you keep your metabolic rate high.

Cycling your caloric intake has the advantage of letting you eat food that normally isn’t “diet” food. 

You probably already have a pretty good idea of what types of foods constitute a healthy diet.  You probably also enjoy some foods that aren’t on the healthy list.  Caloric cycling lets you indulge in less healthy foods, in moderation, on your higher calorie days.

Remember that calories do count and that the higher calorie day is not a binge day.  If you need 2400 calories a day, it’s very possible to eat 5,900 in one day – a couple of super-sized fast food meals would do it.  That extra 3500 calories are about what it takes to put on a pound of fat. It won’t come off in a day.

On your low calories days you shouldn’t cut back more than a few hundred calories, so you it’s very possible to overwhelm that on your higher calorie days.

Obviously there’s a lot more to healthy eating.  But for now, plan to eat a healthy diet for just one day.  You can do anything for a day, right? 

The next day eat how you normally do.

Now repeat.  Your year’s off to a great start.

 

 

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I like apples.  That’s no surprise since most people do.  On average, each American eats 17 pounds of apples a year.  Recently, I’ve been trying to increase my personal consumption to at least the proverbial “apple a day”.

An old Welch proverb ( “An apple on going to bed makes the doctor beg for his bread”)  preceded our “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”.  Mounting research supports these old statements.

First, apples are nutritionally sound at the macro level. 

A typical apple has about 80 calories, 20 grams of carbohydrate, 5 grams of fiber, 0 grams of fat and 0 grams of protein.  While the potassium level is relatively low at 170 mg., the sodium level is zero, so the potassium – sodium ration is favorable. 

Apples have a relatively low (moderate) glycemic index, meaning eating an apple doesn’t shoot your blood sugar sky high. 

All of this means that an apple is a good, low-fat source of complex carbohydrates.  But the real health benefit may be the large number of natural compounds contained in apples.

Phytonutrients simply means nutrients derived from plants and fruits. A continual stream of studies demonstrates the value of these nutrients in maintaining health and preventing disease. Apples contain lots of them.

Mounting evidence suggests these compounds reduce the risk of a wide spectrum of disorders, including many types of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

This research resulted in current recommendations to increase fruits and vegetables in our diets.

The fiber and pectin in apples offer other benefits.  These lower cholesterol and improve digestion.

In addition to solid nutritional benefits, apples are convenient.  They are widely available and don’t require refrigeration.  They satisfy as a snack, especially if you have one with a few almonds and a glass of water (The healthy, mono-saturated fat in the almonds curb hunger and blunt any effect on blood sugar).

We all should eat more fruit and vegetables – at least nine servings a day and the more varied, the better.  An apple fits nicely into that plan.

By the way, there may be old wisdom behind our “Apple a day…” saying, but it’s popularity probably has more to do with marketing than old wisdom.  In early America, the main use for apples was to make hard cider.  When Prohibition ended that, growers used marketers to encourage general apple consumption.  These marketers emphasized the health value of apples and pushed the catchy slogan we all know today.

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Out of town friends visited last week.  They had stopped at a buffalo farm on their drive
to our home, and arrived bearing a large buffalo roast as a gift.  I made a pot roast with
it for all of us (delicious, if I do say so myself) and remember thinking it was my first pot
roast of the season. 

I was struck by that last comment to myself: “…of the season.”
 
I associate pot roasts, stews, hearty soups and other such foods with fall and winter.
I prefer entirely different foods in summer.  I think we all do.

What struck me about this is that none of the many, many contemporary diet “systems”
out there acknowledge this natural tendency.   Nor do most dieticians.  However, there
is an ancient system that makes seasonal variation in diet a keystone of its approach to
wellness: Ayurveda.

Ayurveda teaches that we all have a unique blend of body characteristics (doshas). 
Our doshas respond to our internal and external environment, becoming stronger or
weaker depending on the sum of all influences.  Ideal health results from maintaining
our personal unique balance despite changing environments.  Being out of balance
results in illness.

The seasons have a major influence on the doshas, and so different seasons require
different foods to maintain balance and health.

Two points: Ayurveda may seem exotic and “fluffy” to some, but the least intuitive and
sensitive among us automatically adjust and shift their diet with the changing seasons.

Secondly, isn’t it interesting that that modern dietary advice neglects this seemingly
obvious aspect of our relationship with food?

Avurveda is a marvelous approach to wellness that’s worth exploring if you’re so
inclined.  The main lesson of this ancient approach is that we’re all unique and it is
ultimately our own responsibility to notice what supports us in maintaining our own
balance, and thereby our vitality.

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During crunch time and under stress, what you eat can either bring your energy level up or down.

When under stress, your body needs more nutrients to maintain its energy level. Stress affects your body’s ability to absorb and increases your daily nutrient requirement. Vitamin C, for example, is most important during stress. Inadequate Vitamin C can lead to stress and fatigue and even lowers the defense of your immune system. During stress, your body is more vulnerable to diseases.

Sugar and caffeine actually aggravate stress.  These may give you a temporary lift, but in the long run it makes you feel more tired. Sugar and caffeine may cause problems in your blood sugar levels and brain chemistry. I’ll be talking about hormonal response to blood sugar quite a bit down the road quite a bit down the road. 

To deal with stress and to avoid falling into fatigue during crunch time, it is best to load up on vitamins and minerals, avoid the simple sugars and stay we unprocessed, slowly digested foods.

Fruits and vegetables are teeming with vitamins and minerals – they can take care of your increased nutrient requirements. For fruits and vegetables rich in Vitamin C in particular, red bell pepper, cucumber and citrus fruits are examples. For other nutrient requirements, colorful vegetables like carrots and green vegetables like broccoli are excellent sources of nutrients.

Foods using garlic, ginger or onion as spices or ingredients are excellent additions to your diet.

It also goes without saying that you should reconsider coffee and sweets as your energy sources. They only give a temporary high but not long-term energy.

And don’t forget the usual energy fuel – carbohydrates. Healthy sources of carbohydrates are whole grains, corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Eat healthy to keep your energy level up!

 

 

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