Health News

REPORTING POINT 06-03

HEALTH NEWS

“Live healthy...live well”

by Larry Kline

SWAPA Voice Mailbox 511/email: skyguy737@cox.net

FAT IS NOT THE ENEMY - for years, the official message was to cut back on all fat. Studies by researchers in the department of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University have shown that diets very low in total fat may not be as healthy as diets that include some good fat. They have found that diets generous in foods rich in unsaturated fats, like peanuts, olive oil, or avocados, turn out to be healthier as long as you don’t overdo the calories consumed.

While very low-fat diets do lower total cholesterol, they also lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the good cholesterol that helps keep the harmful low-density lipoprotein from collecting in blood vessels. Additionally, very low-fat diets raise levels of triglycerides, or fat particles in the blood, increasing the risk of heart disease. A diet rich in monounsaturated fats lowers total cholesterol without dragging HDL levels down, and it keeps triglycerides from climbing.

This means that you don’t have to avoid all fats; but can enjoy moderate amounts of healthy fats like olive oil and canola, nuts, and avocados. Health 7/01.

“My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four...unless there are three other people.” Orson Welles

DIET BASICS - diet promoters almost always claim that you have to eat some special combination of foods and/or avoid certain foods to lose weight. This is NOT true. The facts for weight loss are simple and not surprising - you must reduce the number of calories you consume, burn more calories through exercise, or do both! To keep the weight off, which is the real trick, you have to make these changes permanent. There is no magic bullet, but it can be done.

The basic healthy way of eating that has been recommended in this column for over 13 years can also be adapted for a weight-loss diet. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains should be your main foods, along with low-fat dairy products, fish, skinless poultry, and lean meats. Such a way of eating helps protect against heart disease, diabetes, and several cancers. It can also help with weight control, especially if you limit portion sizes and start to exercise more. It is not a crash diet, but an eating plan for the rest of your life.

The following advice is for virtually everybody, and especially for those who may have insulin resistance:

Eat plenty of high-fiber foods - like fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. These are the “good carbohydrates” - nutritious, filling, and relatively low in calories. Fiber slows the absorption of the carbohydrates, so there is less effect on insulin and blood sugar.

Limit the intake of sugary foods, refined-grain products such as white bread, and salty snack foods. Sugar, our No. 1 additive, is added to a vast array of foods. High-fructose corn syrup - an increasingly common form of sugar, especially in soft drinks - now supplies nearly 10% of ALL calories consumed in the U.S. Just one daily 12-ounce can of soda (160 calories) can add up to 16 pounds over the course of a year. Many sugary foods are also high in fat, so they are “calorie-dense.” Plain pasta and bread are not very high in calories, but what we usually add to them - meat or cream sauces, butter, cheese) can double or triple the calories. Potatoes are a problem largely because most are eaten as high-calorie fries or chips.

Cut down on animal fat. Choose lean meats, skinless poultry, and nonfat or low-fat dairy products.

Cut way down on trans-fats. They are supplied by hydrogenated vegetable oils used in most processed foods in the supermarket and in many fast foods. The act similar to saturated fats in the body, increasing LDL (bad cholesterol), lowering HDL (good) cholesterol and increasing blood lipids (triglycerides).

Eat more fish and nuts, which contain healthy unsaturated fats. Substitute olive or canola oil for butter or stick margarine.

Keep portions moderate, especially of high-calorie foods. In recent years serving sizes have ballooned, particularly in restaurants. Choose a starter instead of an entree, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything.

Exercise and be active - Successful weight control and ultimately good health also depend on the other side of the energy equation - the calories you expend in physical activity. Good healthy is a function of an active lifestyle, which should include some form of aerobic exercise for cardio-health, strength training to increase lean muscle-mass, and stretching to protect muscles and connective tissues after vigorous exercise.

Set realistic goals that lead to slow, steady weight loss - no more than one or two pounds per week are reasonable. Studies have shown that people are more likely to keep the weight off if they lose it gradually.

If you do go on a crash diet, Atkins’ or another, to “jump start” your weight loss, do it for only a few weeks or months, and then switch to the healthy diet described above. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 11/02.

COOKING WARNING - partially precooking meat before final cooking makes certain bacteria, if present, hardier and thus more difficult to kill. In a recent study USDA scientists used ground beef containing a dangerous strain of E.coli bacteria. Cooked normally in a skillet, it took 8 minutes to kill the bacteria in the tainted beef. But when the meat had been preheated at low temperatures, it took 12 minutes to kill the bacteria during the final cooking. This 50% extra cooking time made the internal temperatures hot enough to kill the hardier germs. If, for any reason, you partially precook meat, remember to cook it longer later on. Also, if you use a slow-cook pot, make sure you follow the directions for adequate heating. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 3/02.

PROTECTING THE ROTATOR - Sandy Koufax, Tommy John, Orel Hersheisher, and Kevin Brown are all famed pitchers who have had their shoulders “rebuilt” due to rotator cuff injuries. The surgeon who has performed all of these repair surgeries feels that athletes who over use the body are particularly vulnerable to rotator injuries.

The injury-prevention plan that is now recommended by this physician consists of preventing overtraining, strengthening the rotator cuff, and avoiding extreme ranges of motion while weightlifting.



Strengthening the shoulder joint by working the neglected rotator cuff muscles: the most common injuries in sports are to the shoulder. The overhead (military) press and deep dips both put huge amounts of stress on the shoulder. Also causing great stress are throwing sports such as baseball, swimming, rowing, or swinging a racquet - anything that repeatedly puts the arm over the head, or raises it out to the side or pulls it in, exerting lots of extra force on the shoulder joint.

The anatomy of the shoulder makes it particularly vulnerable to this type of injury. The humerus (upper arm bone) has a large range of motion only because it “dangles” precariously off the edge of the body. The humeral head is pulled sideways against the socket of the scapula (the shoulder blade) by a series of four small upper-back muscles collectively called the rotator cuff. These muscles are the foundation of the shoulder joint. When these muscles are weak or overpowered, the humerus becomes misaligned and great stress is placed on tendons and ligaments resulting in a painful shoulder.

It is easy to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles, but most power lifters and amateur athletes neglect them - until it is too late. The rotator muscles are referred to as “precision” muscles as they precisely center the humeral head. They are invisible from outside the body and easy to overlook.

Most weight lifters develop a lifting regime that emphasizes the “outside” muscles - triceps, biceps, delts, lats, pecs - that show mass progress the best. The stronger these muscles get relative to the rotator cuff, the more at risk you are of pulling the humerus out of its socket, injuring the AC joint (the juncture of the clavicle and the acromion, the front of the shoulder blade) and tearing tendons - resulting in a “torn” rotator cuff.

The following three exercises will strengthen the four rotator cuff muscles. Start with two or three pound weights in each hand and work up slowly. Do three sets of 10 to 15 reps twice a week.

1. SUPRASPINATUS - the muscle that helps the deltoid raise the arm to the side and aids outward arm rotation.

Exercise: hold dumbbells by the sides in a sitting position (1a), then raise both hands straight out to the sides (1b) - lower slowly.

2. INTRASPINATUS/TERES MINOR - two muscles that help pull the arms downward (as in a pull-up).

Exercise: lie on your side on a bench with weight in hand, the elbow touching the hip and the arm bent at a right angle (2a). Rotate the arm upward, pivoting the elbow as you lift the weight away from the bench (2b). Slowly lower.

3. SUBSCAPULARIS - a muscle on the front of the shoulder blade that assists with inward rotation of the arm.

Exercise: with the elbow at the side and the forearm at a 90 degree angle, turn sideways (3a). Push/pull elastic bands in a parallel arc across the body (3b). Turn and repeat on the opposite side.



Avoiding extreme ranges in certain at-risk weightlifting exercises: extreme ranges of motion can overstress any joint, which is especially true for the shoulder, which bears the brunt of upper body weightlifting stress. Reaching the arms too far backward on a pectoral contraction, for example, is risky for an obvious reason - at the farthest point, the shoulder joint is not supported by muscles anymore - only tendons and ligaments. With the pressure of heavy weights, rotator cuff injuries are likely.

Therefore the key to weight-room safety is not necessarily avoiding certain exercises altogether, but avoiding going too far. Weightlifters should follow one general rule: keep the elbows and the press/pull bars in front of the body on all exercises. Anytime the body is placed in front or below the elbows, the rotator is strained as it is an unnatural position. This creates excess leverage on the head of the humerus bone, stretching the connective tissue around the shoulder joint.

Given these parameters, the list of at-risk exercises is long. It starts with the riskiest weight-room maneuver - the military press, and includes dips and pushups.

1. MILITARY PRESS - targets shoulders, upper back, and triceps.

Avoiding injury - use lighter weight and higher reps (heavier weight can cause one to compromise form and creates shearing forces at the shoulder joint), and try to keep the upward thrust slightly forward. Don’t let the elbows go behind the body. Try using a bench with a slight incline, which will keep the bar in front of the body at all times. (Be sure to keep your lower back flat on the bench, as well, to avoid arching it, which could lead to lower back injury).

2. BENCH PRESS - targets chest, shoulders, triceps.

Avoiding injury - to ensure that the body remains in front of the arms, lower the bar to the point where the elbows are level to, not lower than, the horizontal plane of the body. (By keeping the elbows out away from the body, you can bring the bar down closer to the chest for a greater range of motion - further risking injury). Placing your knees up and your feet flat on the bench helps to protect the lower back, which again can be injured if good lifting form is compromised.

3. PUSH UP - targets chest, shoulders, triceps.

Avoiding injury - this exercise is risky when you lower your chest all the wy to the ground, below the elbow, because this position again puts the upper arm behind the body. Some exercise therapists recommend a “push up plus” - from a moderate depth, push yourself up, maintaining a straight body line. Then spread the shoulder blades apart and try to create a little hump between them. This strengthens the scapular muscles of the shoulder blades, which support the humerus joint.

4. DIP - targets chest, shoulders, triceps.

Avoiding injury - this exercise is risky because you start with your arms in an unnatural position - behind the body. Dips can put shearing force on the shoulder joint, and can eventually damage the rotator cuff if you dip too low and are weak and heavy. Machine dips are safer because the arms are positioned in front of the body.

5. MACHINE FLYE - targets chest and shoulders.

Avoiding injury - risky in the extreme hands-back version - too much leverage on the head of the humerus. Start the exercise with the pads even with the chest. Men’s Fitness 3/02.

GREEN, RED, AND YELLOW - ounce for ounce, green peppers have three times as much vitamin C as oranges. Red and yellow peppers have twice as much vitamin C as green ones: over 170 milligrams in just 3 ounces. Green peppers also supply some beta carotene, but the amount increases greatly as a pepper matures and turns red or yellow. A red pepper has nine times as much beta carotene as a green one. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 11/02.

ATTACK PLAQUE – try using a toothpaste with silica. A new study found that after 6 months of twice-daily use, patients brushing with silica toothpaste had 44 percent less plaque and tartar than patients using pastes without the ingredient. Men’s Health 7/02.