Final Flush

 
Fast Tips for Your Health

The Club that I train my clients at, Pacific Corporate Towers, puts weekly fitness tips from various fitness publications in the bathroom stalls. I always enjoy reading the new tips each week and I'm sure you will too.

May 7 - 13, 2007

Lean Red Meat

Inflammation and free radical damage are linked to poor health, disease and premature death.  Clinical markers of inflammation, such as C-reactive protein, have become standard measurements during periodic medical exams.  Legions of Americans take antioxidant supplements to prevent free radical damage, which are highly reactive chemicals produced naturally during metabolism that damage cell membranes and DNA, and suppress the immune system.  Some researchers suggest that red meat might increase the risk of coronary artery disease and type-2 diabetes—conditions that are sometimes linked to oxidative damage and inflammation—by raising iron levels.  Australian researchers found no relationship between red meat consumption and markers of oxidative damage or inflammation.  Lean red meat is high in protein and relatively low in calories, and may be helpful for people on weight-loss diets because it prevents hunger.  This study showed that people could safely replace dietary carbohydrates with protein from lean red meat without triggering oxidative stress or inflammation.  (Muscular Development Magazine; Journal Nutrition, 137: 363-367, 2007)

Vitamin C and CRP

Vitamin C reduced the risk for heart disease in a new study.  As reported in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, doctors in Britain recruited 3,258 men, aged 60 to 79, who had not been diagnosed with a heart attack (myocardial infarction), stroke or diabetes.  Researchers measured the levels of fruits, vegetables and vitamin C in the diet through a food questionnaire.  To determine heart disease risk, doctors measured blood levels for C-reactive protein or CRP, that signals acute inflammation; and a type of enzyme (tissue plasminogen activator or t-PA), which indicates that blood vessels may be stiffening.  Compared to men with the lowest fluid (plasma) levels of vitamin C, men with the highest plasma levels of vitamin C were 44% less likely to have elevated CRP levels, and 21% less likely to have elevated t-PA.  Compared to men who ate the fewest fruits, men who ate the most fruit were 24% less likely to have elevated CRP or t-PA.  Men who ate the most vegetables were less likely to have elevated t-PA levels compared to men who ate the fewest vegetables.  The doctors noted that blood was less likely to abnormally thicken and clot in men with the most plasma vitamin C. (Lindberg Newsletter; Reference: Journal of Medicinal Food; 2006, Vol. 9, No. 3, 440-2.)

 Zinc and Infection

Zinc supplements may help prevent colds, flu and similar infections in older people.  Researchers randomly assigned 49 healthy people aged 55 to 87 to take either zinc gluconate (45 mg of zinc a day) or a placebo.  After one year, more of the placebo takers (88 percent) had been diagnosed with a cold, the flu, or other infections than the zinc takers (29 percent).  One study isn’t enough evidence to justify taking 45 mg of zinc a day.  However, it is worth making sure that your multivitamin-and-mineral supplement has the daily value (15 mg) for zinc. (Nutrition Action Health Letter; Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 85: 837, 2007)

Body Mass Index (BMI)

You can’t judge a body by its cover.  In a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, some women with a healthy body-mass index (20 to 24.8) were found to have body-fat percentages over 30, the level considered obese.  The extra fat is linked to a higher risk for obesity-related ills like heart disease.  Avoid yo-yo dieting—you tend to lose muscle and regain fat—and exercise regularly.  (SELF Magazine, May 2007)

May 14-20, 2007

Exercise Induced Weight Loss

People who lose large amounts of weight through dieting alone usually look emaciated and unhealthy.  The body feeds on its own tissues during starvation.  People who follow extremely low-calorie diets will lose almost as much muscle weight as fat weight.  Guess what?  They can lose the same amount of weight by exercising and end up more fit and toned.  Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reported that people who lost weight through diet alone for 12 months experienced large decreases in muscle mass, strength and exercise capacity.  In contrast, another group that followed a year long exercise program without dieting lost the same amount of weight, but maintained muscle mass.  They also increased aerobic capacity by nearly 30 percent.  At 12 months, people lose the same amount of weight dieting or exercising.  However,  dieting decreases physical fitness while exercise increases it.  (Muscular Development Magazine; Journal Applied Physiology, 102: 634-640, 2007)

Whey Before and After

The timing of whey protein has been shown to be an important variable for maximizing its effects.  Prior studies indicated that when free-form amino acids plus carbohydrate were taken before resistance exercise, it resulted in a more anabolic (muscle building) response compared to consumption after resistance exercise.  This was an exciting find because it showed the value of ingesting amino acids before a workout for maximizing protein synthesis.  However, no work had validated theses findings using an intact whey protein  (not free-form).  A recently published study in the American Journal of Physiology examined whether the timing of whey protein was important in terms of promoting anabolism.  Healthy subjects were placed in a group that received 20 grams of whey protein immediately before a bout of resistance exercise, or a group that received the same whey protein immediately after.  The anabolic response (muscle protein balance) was increased in both groups whether taken before or after exercise.  Some subjects had significantly greater anabolic response when whey protein was consumed before exercise, but the average responses were similar.  The researchers suggested a better time to ingest whey protein before exercise might be 30 to 45 minutes prior to exercise in order to allow for the digestion and absorption of the amino acids.  The logical conclusion from this research is to consume whey protein at both time points (both pre and post-exercise) for maximizing protein synthesis and protein balance. (Lindberg Newsletter; Reference: American Journal of Physiology—Endocrinology and Metabolism; 2007, Vol. 292 (1), E71-76)

Blood Clots and Meat

Eating less red or processed meat and more fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of a venous thromboembolism (a blood clot that starts in a vein and travels to the heart, brain or lungs).  In a study of nearly 15,000 healthy middle-aged men and women, those who reported eating at least 1.5 servings of red or processed meat a day had twice the risk of blood clots compared to those who ate no more than 1 serving every other day.  people who ate at least 4 servings of fruits and vegetables a day had a 40 percent lower risk of thromboembolism than those who ate less than 2.5 servings a day.  It’s too early to draw conclusions about thromboembolism and diet after only one study, but it’s worth eating less red meat and more fruits and vegetables to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and colon cancer.  (Nutrition Action News Letter; Circulation 115: 188, 2007)

May 21-27, 2007

Caloric Expenditure

Most fitness experts recommend aerobic exercise to boost caloric expenditure and place less emphasis on weight training.  While intense weight training takes considerable effort, the time it takes to do 1 to 15 repetitions during a set is minimal.  Researchers from the University of New Mexico, led by Robert Robergs, found that the energy costs of doing bench presses and squats were higher than previously thought.  They measured oxygen consumption in people doing these exercises at different intensities and developed mathematical equations to estimate the caloric costs of weight training.  Training at 65 percent of maximum effort, for example, burned approximately 15 calories per minute.  At that rate, weight training for only 2 hours per week would cause an energy expenditure of 1,800 calories.  Weight training causes healthy changes in cellular metabolism, such as improved blood sugar control, and can be an important source of energy expenditure in people trying to lose or maintain weight.  (Muscular Development Magazine; Journal Strength Conditioning Research, 21: 123-130, 2007)

Vitamin D

The risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) decreased significantly as the level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D increased in a new study from Harvard University.  Doctors examined stored blood samples from more than 7 million U.S. military personnel and found that those who had the highest blood-fluid (serum) levels of vitamin D were 62% less likely to have MS than those who had the lowest levels.  MS, a disease in which the immune system attacks rather than protects the body, is more prevalent in northern latitudes where there is relatively little sunlight—the main source of vitamin D—during the winter.  This is the first large-scale study of vitamin D and MS.  (Lindberg Nutrition Newsletter; Reference: Journal of the American Medical Association; 2006, Vol. 296, No. 23, 2832-8)

 Diet Debate

An Atkins diet (low-carb, high protein) may work better than some others.   Researchers assigned roughly over 300 overweight premenopausal women (they averaged 187 pounds) to one of four diets:

Atkins: no more than 20 grams of carbs a day for the first 2 to 3 months and 50 grams a day later.

Learn: limited calories, 30 percent of calories from fat, more exercise.

Ornish: only 10 percent of calories from fat.

Zone: limited calories, 40 percent of calories from carbs, 30 percent of calories from protein, 30 percent of calories from fat.

Despite those goals, by the end of one year the participants were eating fairly similar diets.  Among the differences that remained: carbs were lower (138 grams a day) in the Atkins dieters than in the others (180 to 200 grams a day).  And fat was higher (44 percent of calories) in Atkins dieters than in the others (30 to 35 percent of calories).

The results: After one year, the Atkins dieters had lost more weight (10 pounds) than those who followed Learn (6 pounds), Ornish (5 pounds), or Zone (4 pounds).  And all four groups had regained some of the weight they lost after the first six months they were on their diets. 

Triglycerides and blood pressure dropped the most in the Atkins dieters, in part because they lost the most weight.  HDL (“good”) cholesterol went up the most in the Atkins dieters and the least in the Ornish dieters.  LDL (“bad”) cholesterol didn’t change significantly in any group.

If you want to lose weight, consider the South Beach Diet, a lower-carb regimen that includes good fats and good carbs.  (It wasn’t tested in this study.)  An Atkins diet may not raise LDL cholesterol while you’re losing weight, but it may clog arteries after you stop losing weight, especially in men or postmenopausal women. (Nutrition Action Health Letter; JAMA 297: 969

Final Flush May 28-June 3

Nicacin Increases HDL - Good Cholesterol

Some blood fats are bad while others are good.  The body transports fats via blood blood carriers called lipoproteins, which are classified according to density, composition and size.  They include very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), the principal triglyceride carrier; low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the principal cholesterol carrier; high-density lipoproteins (HDL), a cholesterol scavenger that gathers free cholesterol and returns it to the liver; and chylomicrons, formed in the intestinal wall, which carry dietary cholesterol and triglycerides.  These major categories are often subdivided into various subparticles (i.e., large and small LDL).  LDL and VLDL increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, while HDL is protective.  Physicians emphasize lowering  cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides to promote health.  Treatment plans usually involve diet, exercise and statin drugs such as Lipitor.  Increasing HDL is equally important for preventing heart attack.  A “miracle drug” called torcetrapib, used in conjunction with Lipitor, was hailed as a major weapon against heart disease.  Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer halted studies on the drug in December 2006 when they found that it increased cardiac deaths by 60 percent.  Physicians are reverting to tried-and-true methods of raising HDL.  High doses of niacin (2,000 milligrams per day) will increase HDL by 30 percent.  The National Institutes of Health is funding a study that will be conducted in  72 sites across the United States to determine if niacin plus Lipitor reduces heart attacks and stroke better than Lipitor alone.  Niacin, when taken at higher levels, can have side effects, such as liver damage and impaired blood sugar control, so people should use it under the direction of a physician.  Endurance exercise, moderate alcohol consumption and healthy diet also improve the balance between good and bad cholesterols.  (Muscular Development Magazine; The New York Times, Jan. 23, 2007)

Nutrients from plants, called phytochemicals, increased white blood cells and reduced cell damage and illness in a new study.  Researchers gave 59 healthy law students capsules that contained a powdered fruit and vegetable juice concentrate or a placebo for 77 days.  They found that, compared to placebo, blood levels of an immune-boosting white blood cell, gamma delta-T, increased 30 % and that there was 40% less damage to other white blood cells (lymphocytes).  Compared to placebo, blood-fluid (plasma) levels of the antioxidants beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene and vitamin C were 50% higher, and symptoms of illness were significantly lower.  (Lindberg Nutrition Newsletter; Reference: Journal of Nutrition; 2006, Vol. 136, 2606-10)

 Build More Muscle

When adding strength and mass,” says Dave DiFabio, C.S.C.S., owner of fitness web site teamspeedfitness.com, “the trick is to add volume without compromising the amount of weight you use.”  To do this, DiFabio recommends the following:  “Let’s say you’ve done three sets of dumbbell bench presses.  Add one more set of barbell presses at the end.”  Since the previous sets were heavy, your central nervous system has been primed to keep lifting heavy, but your stabilizer muscles (which are hit very hard during dumbbell work and are often your weak link) are fatigued, and that might limit your ability to do another good set with dumbbells.  “The barbell requires less balance,” says DiFabio, “so without having to rely on the stabilizers, you can continue lifting heavy and get more reps than you did on your dumbbell sets.”  (Men’s Fitness, June/July 2007)

Final Flush June 4-10, 2007

Obesity Danger

Large individual differences exist in the effects of drugs, weight-loss diets and exercise programs because of our genes.  Environment plays a role, too.  Obesity and high-fat diets can turn drugs that are harmless in lean people into deadly poisons.  Common drugs such as acetaminophen, diuretics and antibiotics can cause liver and kidney damage in the obese and overweight.  Excess body fat causes problems in liver enzymes that can make the organ more susceptible to drug-induced damage.  High liver fat levels can also trigger whole-body inflammation and impair liver metabolism.  Losing weight and exercising can improve the capacity of the liver and kidneys to handle potentially dangerous drugs.  (Paper presented at American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting, Mar., 2007)

Low-Glycemic Diet

Foods that keep blood sugar levels steady make it easier to lose weight, say some diet books.  Wrong, says a small but carefully done study that lasted a year.  Researchers randomly assigned 29 healthy overweight adults to one of two diets that were designed to cut calories by 30%.

·          The low-glycemic diet included foods that keep blood sugar levels on an even keel, like bean and barley stew, wheat berry salad, tomato cucumber bean salad, nuts and kashi cereal.

·          The high-glycemic diet included foods that raise blood sugar levels, like English muffins with jelly, carrots, candied sweet potatoes, couscous, rice, and cookies.

The participants were provided all of their own food for the first six months but were on their own for the second six months.  Despite the study’s rules, people in both groups ate extra food.  Instead of slashing their calories by 30 percent, they had cut only about 17 percent of their calories by six months.

  The results: both groups lost about 10 percent of their body weight (about 17 pounds) after six months, and regained an average of 3 pounds by the end of one year.  Hunger, satiety, triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose, and insulin levels also differed little between groups.  If you’re overweight, cut calories and eat healthy foods.  And don’t believe everything you read in diet books, which are rarely based on solid evidence.  (Nutrition Action News Letter; Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 85: 1023, 2007)

 CLA

Conjugated linoleic acid—a popular  weight loss supplement—is a fatty acid found in meat, cheese and dairy products.  It’s one of the hottest weight-loss supplements on the planet.  Almost every month scientists publish a new study  showing it either breaks down fat or prevents new fat formation.  A University of Wisconsin study found that slightly overweight adults (aged 18 through 44) who took CLA for six months lost body fat and didn’t gain weight during the holiday season (November-January).  Researchers aren’t sure why CLA promoted fat loss, but it might trigger fat cell death, shrink fat cells or speed up metabolism.  If you decide to try this supplement, take the same amount and concentration of CLA used in research studies (3.2 to 5 grams per day; 80 percent CLA).  Taking a low dose of the supplement probably won’t help you lose weight.  (Muscular Development Magazine:International Journal Obesity, 31:

Diabetes Dodge

Diet and exercise can ward off diabetes in overweight middle-aged men and women with high blood sugar, says a new study.  Participants were told to lose at least 5 percent of their body weight, to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, to boost their fiber intake (to 15 grams a day for every 1,000 calories they ate), and to cut their saturated fat (to less than 10 percent of calories).  After seven years , they were 43 percent less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than similar people who got general advice.

(Nutrition Action News Letter; The Lancet 368:1673, 2006)

June 11-17, 2007

Thirsty

Deaths from heatstroke were common in sports like football, soccer and cycling before the 1970s and still occur occasionally today.  The advent of popular sports drinks, such as Gatorade, increased public awareness about the dangers of dehydration.  People perceived that active people couldn’t get enough water—particularly when exercising in the heat.  They were wrong.  Drinking too much water is dangerous and can lead to water intoxication (hyponatremia), which can cause brain swelling and death within a few hours.  During the past few years several deaths occurred from water intoxication during fraternity hazing.  The excess water diluted the electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium) in the cells, which destroys the body’s capacity to manage body water.  The following principles will ensure that you consume the correct amount of water:

·          Let thirst be the major trigger regulating fluid intake.

·          Most athletes should drink 7-10 ounces of fluid for every 20 minutes of activity.

·          Drink 24 ounces of fluid within 2 hours of activity.

·          Coffee, tea and carbonated drinks contribute to hydration but shouldn’t be your primary fluid replacement beverages.

·          Salted fluids help replace lost electrolytes.

·          Weigh yourself during workouts: limit weight loss to 3 percent; weight gains suggest overhydration and water intoxication.

·          Take frequent water breaks.

·          Don’t drink too much water.  Weight increase and swelling (bloating) during practice or competition can mean you are drinking too much.

(Muscular Development Magazine; British Journal Sports Medicine, 41: 111-113, 2007)

 Salty Mortality

Cutting back on salt doesn’t just lower blood pressure.  Now researchers have hard evidence that it also curbs the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, coronary bypass, angioplasty, or other “cardiovascular event.”  In the late 1980s and early 1990s, two Trials of Hypertension Prevention (TOHP) randomly assigned roughly 3,000 people aged 30 to 54 with prehypertension to eat their usual diet or to cut back on sodium—the average reduction was 800 to 1,000 milligrams a day—for 1.5 to 3 years.  (All the participants were overweight and had diastolic blood pressures between 80 and 89.)  Ten to 15 years after the trials ended, researchers found that the risk of a cardiovascular event was 25 to 30 percent lower in those who had been told to cut sodium.  The results were similar, regardless of the participants’ weight, race, sex, or age.  So what should you do?  Eat less salt.  The participants averaged 3,600 mg of sodium a day when they entered the study, so they cut back to 2,600 to 2,800 mg a day during the first 1.5 to 3 years of the study (intakes weren’t measured afterwards).  That’s feasible (If you don’t eat out too often).  (Nutrition Action Newsletter, June 2007)

Vitamin K

Adults who consumed higher levels of vitamin K were less likely to have coronary heart disease (CHD) than were those who consumed lower levels, according to a new study.  Researchers from the Netherlands analyzed the diets of 4,807 men and women aged 55 or older without a history of heart attack (myocardial infarction) and found that compared to those who consumed lower levels, those whose diets contained about 45 mcg of vitamin K per day were 42% less likely to die from CHD, were 17.5% less likely to die from all causes and were 40.5% less likely to have severe calcium buildup in the large artery (aortic calcification), a risk factor for CHD.  Sources of vitamin K include spinach, broccoli and leaf lettuce.  (Lindberg Nutrition Newsletter; Reference: Journal of Nutrition, 2004, Vol. 134, No. 11, 3100-5)

June 18-25, 2007

 Fatty Liver

Overeating is normal when dining at an all-you-can-eat buffet.  How do you say no to chocolate cake, prime rib, mashed potatoes and salad draped in blue cheese dressing?  High-priced gourmet buffets in Las Vegas cost nearly $50 a head, which encourages people to “eat till they drop.”  Have you ever stopped to think that your liver has to cope with this avalanche of calories and fat?    Physicians around the world are reporting an alarming increase in the incidence of cirrhosis of the liver in obese people who overeat.  Many of these patients do not over-consume alcohol.  Obesity is becoming the number one cause of liver disease.  Unfortunately, people may be without symptoms until they have advanced liver failure.  As many as 10 percent of Americans have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease caused by obesity and overeating.  The problem is increasing at an alarming rate.  Other causes of liver disease include alcoholism and hepatitis, but these pale in comparison to obesity.  Give your liver a break!  Do not consume excessive calories in a single setting, and try to maintain a healthy, normal weight.   (Muscular Development Magazine; New Scientist, March 31, 2007)

Post Workout Carbs

Typically, we recommend eating rapidly digesting carbs such as white bread and table sugar after training to spike your insulin levels.  Yet according to researchers from the University of Birmingham (Edgbaston, United Kingdom), your post workout nutrition may not be that simple: To really speed up carbohydrate digestion and absorption and further boost insulin levels, it appears that eating a mixture of different kinds of carbs is your best bet to replenish your body.  Researchers performed a series of studies that investigated the effects of combining various carbs such as fructose, sucrose and glucose vs. glucose alone.  Glucose is considered the fastest digesting carbohydrate when you’re talking about single-carb sources.  They found that when taking in a large dose of carbs—as you should after training—combining glucose, fructose and sucrose leads to faster digestion and absorption than eating glucose alone.  The optimum appears to be a 2:1:1 ratio of glucose, fructose and sucrose, respectively.  Stuff these treats in your bag to eat post workout: 1 medium bagel, 1 medium apple and 1 tablespoon of table sugar; or 2 slices of white bread, 1cup of pineapple juice and 1 tablespoon of table sugar.  (Muscle & Fitness hers; Jim Stoppani, PhD)

I'm so afraid of getting sick...

You can’t talk yourself into catching a cold—that depends on being exposed to germs from others.  Negativity can stress you out, though.  And it’s proven that some illnesses (like high blood pressure, ulcers, anxiety, and depression) are directly affected by stress.  Plus, a recent report from Harvard Medical School shows that long-term stress may suppress your immune system, making you more susceptible to colds.  “Thinking affects every realm of health,” says Robert M. Sapolsky, PhD, a professor of neuroscience at Stanford University and author of Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.  How can you help a worrier?  Get them to laugh.  Harvard’s report says preliminary research on laughing shows that it helps lower stress hormones in the body and boosts the immune system.  So stash the tissue and cough drops and watch the Daily Show  instead.  (Health Magazine, June 2007)

June 25-July 1, 2007

You’re eating the same reduced number of calories, but you’ve stopped losing weight.  You can get stuck on this plateau several times while you’re trying to lose weight.  What is the underlying cause?  As you become leaner, your basal metabolic rate (a measurement of energy required to keep the body functioning at rest) slows, which means your body burns fewer calories than it used to, says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, and certified specialist in sports nutrition.  Try to eat five to six small meals a day or one every three to four hours to boost your metabolism.  But most important:  Eat at least 1,200 calories a day, says Jenna Bell-Wilson, PhD, RD, LD, a certified specialist in sports dietetics.  “When you cut calories to the point of depriving your body of the energy it needs, it can go into starvation mode, slowing your metabolism and making those pounds even tougher to shed,” she explains.  (Health Magazine, June 2007)

 Eccentric Contractions

Scientists have argued about the relative merits of concentric, eccentric and static exercises for more than a 100 years.  In these contractions muscles shorten, lengthen or remain the same length as they exert tension.  Most studies measured strength changes resulting from the various kinds of training, but biochemical and genetic studies hold the key to the effects of each type of contraction on muscle growth.  Muscle physiologists—including Ken Baldwin from the University of California, Irvine—found that eccentric contractions (i.e. negatives) triggered the greatest increases in IGF-1 and mechano-growth factor (MGF) and the greatest decreases in Myostatin.  IGF-1 and MGF are essential to muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth), while myostatin prevents growth.  Growth factors also increased in tendons, which suggests that tendon changes are important in boosting strength.  This study showed that eccentric contractions cause greater chemical changes in muscle and tendon than concentric or static exercise.  (Muscular Development Magazine; Journal Applied Physiology, 102: 573-581, 2007)

Watermelon Wonders

Summer means watermelon—a perfect snack for a lazy afternoon or even post workout.  Besides helping your body replenish fluid after a particularly grueling training session, watermelon is a novel source of the essential amino acid arginine, according to a study in the journal Nutrition.  It shows watermelon juice is a rich source of the metabolic precursor for nitric oxide that’s required for muscle growth.  Healthy volunteers were assigned to consume zero, 780 or 1,560 grams of watermelon juice per day by drinking the juice with every meal.  The interventions lasted three weeks and subjects were later rotated after washout periods of 2-4 weeks.  After the three weeks of intervention, researchers reported that fasting blood levels of arginine had increased by 11% and 22% for the 780 grams and 1,560 grams of juice respectively.  These results illustrate the dietary effects of watermelon in regulating whole-body metabolism, improving cardiovascular and immunologic functions, and preventing oxidative stress in tissue, researchers concluded.  So enjoy the season of this juicy melon whether after a workout or with breakfast.  This super source of arginine and the antioxidant lycopene will help prime your muscles for growth and recovery.  (Muscle & Fitness Hers; July-Aug 2007)

Final Flush July 2-8, 2007

Corporate America and Obesity

Obesity is associated with numerous health risks that include diabetes, heart disease, and cancer to name a few.  The perception of risk is often assumed to begin and end with the individual.  Unfortunately, obesity affects everyone and the effects on corporate America’s bottom line have recently been documented.  Researchers at Duke University Medical Center recently reported the results of a study of over 12,000 employees of the university.  The researchers evaluated worker’s compensation claims, medical costs, and lost work time due to injury or illness comparing obese (BMI greater than 40) and non-obese (BMI less than 24.9) workers.  The results are astounding.  The researchers reported that obese workers filed double the number of worker’s compensation claims, or 12 claims per 100 workers.  Medical costs for obese employees exceeded $51K per 100 workers, a 7-fold increase over non-obese workers.  Obese workers lost nearly 184 days due to illness/injury per 100 employees compared to just 14 per 100 non-obese workers, a 13 fold increase.  This study emphasizes the need for employers to target eating behaviors and physical activity for employees in an effort to reduce the costs of business.  If the trend toward greater numbers of obese Americans continues, the economic consequence could be drastic.  (Exercise ETC;  FitBits: Ostbye, T. et al (2007) obesity and workers compensation: Results from the Duke Health and Safety Surveillance System.  Archives of Internal Medicine 167: 766-773)

 Post Workout Cereal

Most dietitians agree that post-workout nutrition is essential to optimize recovery from exercise. An effective post-exercise beverage should include carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores and stimulate insulin production, and protein to rebuild the tissues damaged during the workout. The recommended ratio of carbohydrate to protein ranges from 2:1 to 4:1 with research supporting each depending on the intensity of exercise, the individual and his/her goals.  Despite the variety in protein powders and sports drinks available many people find their taste abhorrent. That excuse is no longer acceptable, as a recent study found that using non-fat milk in post-exercise recovery is equally effective as sports drinks containing soy-protein mixtures. Furthermore, research presented at the 2007 ACSM national conference has found that cereal may be more effective method for optimizing recovery than some sports beverages.  Twelve athletes at the University of Texas participated in the study. Participants fasted for 12 hours and then cycled for 2 hours on two occasions, 5 days apart. Immediately after each exercise session the participants ingested either 100% whole-wheat flake cereal with skim milk or a common carbohydrate dense sports beverage.   Both groups experienced increased glucose and insulin levels. Interestingly, the cereal raised insulin significantly more and attenuated the rise in blood lactate better than the sports drink. These findings represent what could be an interesting future for post-workout nutrition; a move away from beverages and back to real food. As always, the most practical method will be the most effective.  (Exercise ETC; FitBits:Rauscher, Megan (2007) Healthy Cereal Tops Sports Drink after Workout. Reuters Health)

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