Wellness Weekly

Okay, here is a little story. Today while I was running I came upon another woman runner. We were going in opposite directions and sharing a sidewalk. We did the hi and nod and as soon as she passed she said, “bitch.” NOW. For real. The funny thing is, I am pretty sure a lot of us runners have thought that from time to time. It is usually when a really fast young person passes us, but we don’t say it OUT LOUD. So when she did, I yelled back, “hey, that’s not nice!”. As I ran on though I kept thinking, “what the hell?!” And it is real funny too because I am 1) still getting my legs back under me after my first marathon, 2) have tight hamstrings from last night’s Yoga class and 3) have one wicked head cold… so I was running at a ridiculously slow 11 minute pace when she passed me. Anyhoo… so there you go… your health educator is apparently a bitch.

Calories Key for Weight Loss NOT Heart Health: Research released this week supports my tag line that it is about energy in and energy out, or calories. Another study compared diets and found that the food isn’t the primary factor in weight loss, but the amount of it. I do not doubt this at all. What I want to make very clear however is that the study ONLY looked at who lost weight and what those individuals had in common. There were not a lot of long term losers by the way. Exercise appeared to help with maintenance. So yes, if you want to lose weight and if you are overweight then you should, the key is eating less calories and before you can eat less, you have to know what you are eating now. Chances are you have no idea. [this is why I support all legislation on including calorie content on menus!] If you want to reduce your chances of heart disease and many cancers, however, it is WHAT you eat that matters. Again and Again, the experts tell us.. while watching your calories, you should be consuming lean proteins, very little red meat, lots of certain fruits and vegetables, legumes, fiber and some fish!

Off Label and Off the Mark: Another drug company is under scrutiny and facing charges for encouraging doctors to use a medication to treat an illness that the medication was not approved to treat. Again, the use of it is not illegal, the encouragement or marketing of it for something besides its approved us is. This time though the issue is more alarming as the company, Forest Laboratories is accused of pushing adult antidepressant medications Celexa and Lexapro to treat pediatric depression. It is worse because a study found the drugs to be ineffective and they come with significant side effects. This case also involves doctors being paid fees for what appears to be kickbacks. Some government insurance programs, i.e. Medicare/Medicaid paid for the medicines, which would be ok if a physician independently determined that the medicine would be beneficial, but that is not what happened here, the Justice Department alleges. The company and a host of others are being sued for illegal promotion.

Calcium: I was excited to read a report on this recent research study from the National Cancer Institute and Duke University (run by NIH and AARP). This is not the gold standard for research where you take two like groups and offer a treatment to one and a placebo to another and try to control for everything else and follow for years, but it was not an observational study either. These scientists reviewed the histories of almost a half a million people who were enrolled in a study for seven years. Throughout the study the participants filled out food questionnaires and the scientists reviewed them when they followed up on new cancer cases in the population. What they found is that calcium in FOOD is protective for several diseases while calcium in pills only protects men from colon cancer and women from the very rare, liver cancer. There was a significant reduction in colon cancer for both genders who consumed the highest amount of food based calcium. There is ample calcium in low and no fat milk, cheese and yogurt products. I was dismayed by the newspaper writer’s statement that one could get the calcium in a few glasses of milk or from calcium fortified orange juice. NO NO .. the orange juice, holy cows, four glasses… loaded with sugar.. not a good idea.

Alcohol: Geez is it or is it not health promoting. Even in the one drink a day recommendation it seems that problems can occur. I failed to keep a copy of the story I read this week but I do recall that some oral cancers are much more common in smokers who add alcohol to their daily routine. Alcohol can also increase blood pressure so people and apparently women, need to be very mindful of alcohol intake.

Mediterranean Diet: I had not intended to discuss this study today because I pretty much recommend this type of eating all the time. However, this study from Harvard and reported in journal Circulation tells us something new. This study confirms that people who eat this way are less likely to DIE from heart attack and stroke and ADDS that people who eat this way are less likely to get the diseases that cause those outcomes (fatal heart attack and stroke). That is true prevention and prevention is my passion. Also in this Heartwire story the lead researcher, Teresa Fung, describes the types of foods one should eat with an extra twist, it may sound like something I would say, but I will quote the quote, “a minimally processed, mostly plant-based diet, with an abundance-not just in terms of quantity but in terms of variety – of different plant foods and fish.” So that is my point in regards to the first blurb… calories are one thing, what you eat is another. Both are needed to prevent disease and improve quality life years. Furthermore, having a great metabolism and not gaining weight does not mean one is healthy if they do not consume health promoting foods!

OPP. Long time readers will know what that stands for, newer readers let me say just briefly, it is the initials for an idea I came up with during my master’s program and stands for the Obesity Prevention Project. I still think that many of my concepts and constructs are correct in addressing the problem of obesity in our children. I bring it up today as I just reviewed a power point presentation by a Dr. Lawrence Cheskin of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Program. He talked about prevention and treatment and the amount of kids who just don’t keep the weight off with the current strategies. He ended by saying that “the education of children is critical.” Yes sir, yes sir it is and I know how to do it.


Happy Weekend!