weekly news

Weekly News Notes

There is a slew of news this week so maybe I'll just hit the highlights.

• Cosmetic Vaginal Surgery: Huh? A procedure that is said to tone the vaginal area after it's been stretched from childbirth and time (use?) is getting a big thumbs down from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It’s dangerous; could lead to nerve damage, infections, loss of sensation and has no evidence based data to support a benefit.
• Go Slow Whoa: You may recall that I really like this traffic light labeling system which encourages people to eat more foods identified as green. There is a lot of this in Sarasota Co Florida and it really helps people make healthful eating choices. (I prefer actual nutrition content labels for my meal choices which can be used in conjunction with this method). A country is introducing this labeling system for foods. New Zealand has quite the problem with half of its population at overweight or obese levels. A government panel, called the Obesity Action Committee, advised mandatory labeling be enacted if the food industry doesn’t do it voluntarily. They mentioned energy dense foods as well. { long term reader note: Volumetrics will be the new Atkins}
• Plastic Progress: Because the H2O industry, or the beverage industry which sells bottled water has taken such a hit lately (bottled tap water and ruining the environment), the top sellers are changing the way they make the bottle. Pepsi, Nestle, and Coca Cola are making lighter bottles, bottles with recycled and more recyclable plastic and are encouraging the consumer to recycle. Some states have deposit laws which encourage people to return their bottles for reuse while also reducing litter. This is in most part for glass and aluminum and is now being considered for plastic. Stay tuned for more environmentally friendly changes because on a positive note, soda sales are down and these companies want you to buy water. (you really CAN skip the protein infused water however, it's highly unlikely that most of us are lacking protein).
• Soda Ad: Never missing an opportunity to blast an ad, here is another. I do drink diet soda, I know it has chemicals or some such nonnutritive ingredients that I could do without, but it's about my only such recklessness. I drink diet drinks without any misconceptions and so manufacturers only perturb me by adding vitamins and minerals to my diet coke. I am not an idiot. Those extras don't make my diet coke suddenly good for me. What is next, fiber? Geez.
• Donuts!: Remember that I shared with you the concept of reciprocal determinism. It means that we shape our environment and it shapes us. We respond to each other. Well the fact that TFAs are seen as bad and people can remember that, if nothing else, has not escaped the food industry. Packages are now sporting trans fat free labels and we are buying. Shame on us for not noticing the 30 grams of sugar in the same product! Oh I digress. Also with NY City law, frying oils changed and no one much complained. So it is now safe (profit wise) and even noble to go transfree. Thus we have influenced Donkin Donuts. Donkin Donuts brands will be virtually trans free. I do laud them for being honest that their foods with less than 1/2 g per serving of TFA are not literally transfree but legally it is. Labels can say TFF when it is less than .5. So be very mindful of the serving size in comparison to the amount you are actually eating and look for TFA code words, like partially hydrogenated oils. Same rule applies with calories except the cut off to call it zero cals is 5.
• Diabetes x 2: Yes, times two. One, my friend the PharmD gave me great info on diabetes and meds to treat it. I believe it all pertains to type 2 in which case your body is resistant to insulin. The first thing I noticed about the various classes of medicines, which act differently, is that they all have side effects. Some drugs increase sensitivity to insulin so that it does its job, some encourage production of insulin and some slow down the digestion or breakdown of starches so that blood sugar levels are more stabilized. Most are oral medications. Some type two diabetics eventually have no or nearly no insulin production and require pills plus insulin coverage. Second part: Last week I responded to the news about weight loss after bariatric surgery and thus decreases in chronic disease like diabetes. I wasn't the only one that saw the key factor as a healthy weight. In other words, obesity can for all intents and purposes, cause diabetes and weight loss can cure it. Dr. Richard Amerling of Beth Israel Medical Center wrote to the Wall St. Journal and included in his letter is this great statement. "A less obsessive preoccupation with normalizing blood sugar coupled with a greater emphasis on carbohydrate restricted diets and exercise will lead to more cures for type 2 diabetes, without surgery." I will add that he means simple carbs. Anyone who reads this newsletter on a regular basis would know that this man gets a top spot with Drs. Willett and Rolls for that comment.
  
• Prevention: I will just combine the last few news stories to save time. Obesity rates have risen across the country, exercise improves survival after angioplasty (cleaning the arteries) and Medicare is making a push for preventative programs. All of this led to some intuitive pondering. Fear vs complacency? Relevancy? Urgency? Misconceptions? Instant gratification? Denial? What is going on here____ Without a doubt, research has given us a mound of evidence that our bodies cannot handle the influx of processed, high fat, high sugar foods and that there is a certain threshold at which excess weight becomes a serious, significant threat to ones health. The consequence is hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, chronic pain, depression and disability at the least, and there is strong evidence that it affects cancer incidence. We must stop this epidemic that is now endemic through prevention. Our children are not going to be able to ride any rides at theme parks for goodness sake (no one with HTN is supposed to ride!). To help the kids we have got to role model. The denial is entrenched and dangerous. This is one of my most passionate and blunt assessments but here it is:
  This fervent refusal to accept that overweight and obesity is caused by any thing but too much of the wrong food and too much food in general has taken on a near schizophrenic level of delusion.
  A person’s weight is a direct consequence of energy in and energy out. One might have a genetic predisposition that requires special attention to that concept, but the concept always holds. Same for pills. Pills do NOT make a person fat. They might change metabolism and or increase appetite, but they do NOT cause one to eat. Nor do pills cause sedentary behavior. Those things can be controlled.
  It's time to accept the science and start doing something different in our lives.
  
  People want to live here and now and readily rely on HTN, DM, and cholesterol lowering meds. I am grateful that they exist and they do save and extend lives, but people take them as if it were a natural thing to do. Twenty years from now will people take chemo drugs with the same alacrity? Think about it. Heart disease is as deadly as cancer. Yes yes, you want your sweets, you DESERVE them. Sweets are considered a RED food item; the Go Slow Whoa or WeCAN program from the NHBLI tells us this:
  
  WHOA foods are the highest in fat and added sugar. They are "calorie-dense" (high in calories), and many are low in nutrients as well. Have WHOA foods only once in a while or on special occasions. And, when you do have them, have small portions.
  If you do not follow the above recommendations then you may get a bad result.
  
  As always, I wish you Wellness