Diet Pop Debunked.....Again.

"Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not!"
~ Author Unknown

Diet pop and artificial sweeteners took yet another beating in a study conducted by Psychologists at Purdue University. The researchers feed some rats yogurt sweetened with glucose, while other rats were feed yogurt sweetened with a zero-calorie sweetener called saccharin.

"The saccharin-eating rats ate a greater number of calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat and didn't make caloric allowances for the extra calories they consumed."
~ www.cbc.ca

When humans and animals are about to eat our core body temperature rises as does our metabolic rate. The core temperature of the rats that consumed the saccharin rose less than their glucose consuming companions. Slower metabolism, equals weight gain.

The researchers didn't test any of the more common sweeteners, but theorize that:

"artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame K may have similar effects to saccharin's." ~ www.cbc.ca

The study is published in the February issue of Behavioural Neuroscience.

Knee News

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." ~ Lance Armstrong

As a person dealing with ongoing knee pain caused by arthritis, due to multiple past knee injuries and surgeries, I'm always on the lookout for new information that might be helpful.

Here are some tidbits that I read about recently:

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The best over-the-counter pain reliever for joint pain and arthritis is Naproxen.
- Men'sHealth ("Clutch Relievers", April 2006)

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"Keep your joints forever young: In a study of nearly 1,000 men and women, University of North Carolina scientists found that people with the highest blood levels of selenium are nearly half as likely to develop arthritis."

- Men'sHealth ("Ageless Knees", April 2006)

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Eating cherries are a great way to reduce joint pain. Why you ask?

"A team of researchers led by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service fed tart cherries to a group of people with arthritis, the fruit's antioxidants and natural COX-2 inhibitors reduced several markers of joint inflammation."

- Men'sHealth ("Fix It With Food", April 2006)

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New research has uncovered a possible way to repair cartilage damage in the future:

"Stem cells may be the best thing to happen to sports injuries since the ice pack. For the first time, researchers at the University of Bristol have successfully grown human cartilage using stem cells derived from bone marrow. The Discovery may eventually enable doctors to replace damaged cartilage with tissue grown from a patent's own stem cells, reducing rejection risk.

- Men'sHealth ("New Knees In No Time", April 2006)

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Hopefully you find this information as useful as I did....better yet I hope it's useless to you because your knee's are in perfect shape.

Junk Food Addiction?

"Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town." ~ George Carlin

Caramel Cashew Toffee Crunch ice cream, SunChips, Smartfood Popcorn, Strawberry Rhubarb pie, date squares, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...these are some of my favorite and most tempting treats.

What bursts your bubble? Sweet chocolate treats, salty chips, greasy burgers, sugar candy (pictured left)?

A recent broadcast on CBC's Marketplace asks the question "Can We Be Addicted to Junk Food?". Of course we have all joked at one time or another about being 'a junk food addict', but now a growing number of scientists say there might actually be something to that.

"On Long Island, New York, psychiatrist Dr. Nora Volkow scanned the brains of several of her patients — all big overeaters. She wanted to try and figure out why they eat so much.

Volkow suspected addiction played a part. She found the brains of the obese look a lot like the brains of drug addicts. It all has to do with dopamine — a brain chemical that controls pleasure."

- CBC Marketplace

Personally I don't find the possibility of junk food addiction far fetched or even surprising. As consumers where bombard by advertising, and we have almost unlimited access to inexpensive, unhealthy, food products from snacks to fast food...its everywhere.

The broadcast mentioned an obese 13 year old from Mississauga, Ontario that had 92 fast food outlets with-in a 3km (1.86 miles) radius of his home.

"The food industry, of course, wants to sell, so they optimize the taste and composition of food, so to maximize the likelihood that will generate the compulsive urge to eat more. And we know that because we’ve all had it.”

- CBC Marketplace (Dr. Nora Volkow)

Ultimately, addiction or not, we have a very serious problem on our hands. Personally I believe this problem is a direct result of one very important fact:

• Food is no longer about survival,it's about convenience and pleasure. And due to this fact, we are now dealing with issues that in the past we never need worry about:

1. Modern society has seen a steady decline in physical activity.
   
2. Sugar consumption is out of control and has been for far too long.
   
3. Corporations are not ethically responsible and their only accountability is to their share holders -- or more importantly the money the corporation makes them.
4. Government agencies are too easily influenced by multinational corporations and their needs/wants, at the expense of public health/interest (see #3).
   
5. We are inundated with advertising. Especially advertising aimed at our youth (see #3).

These 5 points by no means represent a complete list...I'm sure you have already thought of a few more that could easily be added, and/or have thought of reasons to remove/edit the five I posted. The point is that I believe regardless of how long/complete this list is, the real problem is that food is no longer about survival, it's about convenience and pleasure.

Sure we need to eat to survive. You can survive (for at least awhile) eating nothing but Oreo cookies, but why is it that some people don't just settle for survival? You know who I'm talking about...those people that are out there jogging come rain or shine. The people that 9 times out of 10 skip desert or chose a side salad as a substitute for french fries when they eat out. Why is it that they eat properly and exercise successfully seemingly without struggling?

First off I think that last comment is a common misconception... or at least I think it is since I can't include myself as part of their group. I think that even fit, healthy people, who watch what they eat and exercise regularly still struggle from time to time... everyone does.

My main concern is how do I become one of these healthy people, as I so desperately want to? Why do I find it so hard to break free of my old patterns? Why can't I seem to form the healthy patterns required to be part of their group long enough for them to become habit forming?

The answer...I don't know, but I'm trying.

China is Getting Fat Too.

"It's simple, if it jiggles, it's fat." ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

Over the last month I've commented on different news reports/articles about the rising obesity problem in Canada, England & the U.S.......well now its China's turn to be added to the list.

According to an article posted on MSNBC nearly 1 in 5 Chinese are overweight or obese.

"Nearly one in every five of China's more than 1.3 billion people are overweight or obese and the problem is getting worse among children, especially boys, according to a study.

The study, to be published in the Aug. 19 issue of the British Medical Journal, found that 10 million children from the ages of 7 to 18 were overweight in 2000, up 28 times from 1985.

Four million children were obese in that same age group in 2000, four times more than in 1985."

-MSNBC

According to the World Health Organization, China could suffer loses

of over $558 billion dollars over the next decade, due to premature deaths from heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

I was really surprised that the article didn't mention anything in regards to the influence of the western nations. China for years now has had a growing fascination with the western world trying to emulate clothing trends, celebrities, lifestyles, and even fast food.

It seems that China is becoming more like the western nations ever day, albeit in ways that they would rather avoid. The growing obesity problem in China should be setting off alarm bells everywhere, because if one of the leanest populations in the world is starting to succumb to obesity, something is definitely wrong and needs to be addressed.

The Best Supplements For Men

"Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork" ~ English Proverb

So if you eat right are you missing out on anything from a nutritional point of view? Ever wondered if there is a legitimate supplement to help with knee pain? While reading this month's Men'sHealth magazine, I came across a plug for their website advertising a few of the online articles available (one of which was on supplements).

"The Best Supplements For Men" was an interesting read. I was particularly happy to read the following (Since I use this one):

"Green tea is a bona fide fat burner because it contains epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant that increases resting metabolism and stimulates thermogenesis -- the process by which your body burns fat. In a Dutch study, researchers helped 76 people successfully lose weight, and then asked them to consume either a placebo or a 270 mg capsule of green tea daily for the next 3 months. The group who supplemented with green tea continued to lose weight, but the placebo poppers soon regained their flab."

- Men'sHealth

Here's a list of the supplements that I'm currently taking:

- GNC's: Natural Blend Green Tea Extract
- GNC's:The Total EFF (Omega 3-6-9)
- GNC's: Mega Men Multivitamin

England Bloating

"The future is plump with promise" ~ Maya Angelou

And apparently so is the waistlines on the British. Today a BBC News headline stated "England to have 13 million obese by 2010". Their report stated:

"More than 12m adults and one million children will be obese by 2010 if no action is taken, a report by the Department of Health is predicting. The Health Survey for England also warns 19% of boys and 22% of girls aged two to 15 will be obese."

- BBC News

This news report isn't much different than the reports that I've covered over the last few days, and neither is the advice; be aware of what you eat and obtain regular exercise.

Update: BBC News has just posted another article titled "Obesity Predictions: Reactions" featuring the reaction to this study by various health organizations.

BMI can BMA......again!

"The word "belief" is a difficult thing for me. I don't believe. I must have a reason for a certain hypothesis. Either I know a thing, and then I know it - I don't need to believe it." ~ Carl Jung

Today was a happy day for me. If you remember a while back on July 20th, 2006 I posted "BMA can BMA" out of shear frustration with the BMI model..........Well it finally feels like I'm not alone.

While I was on Fitness Mantra I happened to read a post called "Be overweight during midlife and have fewer years to live" . I'm not going to reiterate the content found there, because you should visit it for yourself......its an excellent read!.

I did however find another article called "Time To Toss The Body Mass Index" posted on MSNBC.com which states:

"The standard measure of obesity known as body mass index, or BMI, is badly flawed and a more accurate gauge should be developed, according to doctors in the United States.

- MSNBC

Its nice to see that some of the more trusted news sources are starting to acknowledge that BMI might not be the best means of measuring ones ideal weight.

Newfoundland is FAT!

"For the first time ever, overweight people outnumber average people in America. Doesn't that make overweight the average then? Last month you were fat, now you're average - hey, let's get a pizza!" ~ Jay Leno

We all know that people in North America are getting fat at an alarming rate. If you haven't heard it yet then you must be living under a rock or in denial. Yes Americans waistlines are growing faster than anyone Else's but now more than ever it is evident in their skinnier neighbour to the north......particularly in Newfoundland.

At hearing a report last night on the local Newfoundland & Labrador "CBC News: Here & Now" they had a report about the growing obesity problem in our province.

"Residents of St.John's are a lot more likely to be obese, than people who live in other Canadian cities. That information today from a new report that's based on actual measurements of height and weight. Past studies show that people underestimated their own weight when asked to provide the information themselves. This report says that the obesity rate in St. John's is thirty-six percent, compared to the national average of twenty-three percent. They found that generally, people who live in cities are thinner than those who live in smaller towns."

- CBC News: Here & Now (Link to daily news: Aug.22nd, 2006. Actual story is 35secs from 8mins 4secs - 8mins 39secs)

CBC News: Canada Now had this to add;

"Obesity is a growing epidemic. One that's driving healthcare costs higher. Now, Statistics Canada has found an intriguing correlation between the size of a city and the likelihood of obesity. The bigger the city, the slimmer the people. And people living outside big cities are more likely to be obese. And time behind the wheel may be a factor."

- CBC News: Canada Now (Link to full report: Aug.22nd, 2006)

Both of these CBC reports are based on a new 'Statistics Canada' report.....but unfortunately they don't name the report and I can't seem to locate it yet, But I'm looking.

Back on July 6th, 2005 released the following report: "Canadian Community Health Survey: Obesity among children and adults", but this information was obtained by the 'Canadian Community Health Study (CCHS)' back in 2004.

"The 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey: Nutrition (CCHS) collected information from over 35,000 respondents between January and December of 2004, and directly measured most respondents' height and weight. As a result, it is now possible to draw a more accurate picture of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Canada."

- Statistics Canada

Because the new data was collected by actual measurements as apposed to the "self reported" data of past studies, it was now possible to compare Canada and the U.S in a more accurate light.

The following chart illustrates the gap in obesity between Canada and the U.S:

Since the U.S is the leader in the Fast Food industry and in the commercial food industry its not surprising that their in the lead in terms of obesity as well.

What worries me in particular is that the levels of obesity that the U.S is seeing is only around the corner for the rest of the western world.

With the increase of world trade and the development of new easy to use communication devices and technology the world is becoming a smaller place, where the end result is a nation of bigger people.....who more often then not tend to be vertically challenged.

The last 10 years has brought enough apocalypse scenario's to make my head spin - Killer meteorites, global warming, killer waves, nuclear war, killer bee's, pandemics.....

Maybe........just maybe it will be obesity that kills us in the end!

Yet Another Reason To Reduce Fat %

"You can be fat and love yourself. You can be fat and have a great damn personality. You can be fat and sew your own clothes. But you can't be fat and healthy. " ~ Susan Powter

Here's a scary tid-bit I came across today.

As your waistline inflates, so does your chance of developing dementia." Apparently a Swedish Univ. hospital conducted a long-term study involving 7400 men. They found that a BMI of 25-27 doubled your chances of developing dementia and a BMI of 30 or more even tripled it. "Lead researcher Annika Rosengren, Ph.D speculates that blood-vessel damage caused by high blood glucose may be to blame. - MensHealth Magazine June 2005.