REPORTING POINT 1-06
HEALTH NEWS
“Live healthy...live well”
Dedicated to providing pertinent information on health, fitness, and nutrition to foster a culture of wellness among Southwest Airlines flight crews and their families.
by Larry Kline
SWAPA Voice Mailbox 4337/email: livehealthy-livewell@cox.net
Past issues of “Health News” are available at http://health.theballfamily.org. It includes a search engine, just enter a key word to find past articles. LK
THE COST OF BEING SEDENTARY – nearly 40 percent of Americans are completely sedentary in their leisure time. The average sedentary male loses one pound of muscle and gains 1.1 pounds of fat each year. Men’s Health 11/01, University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 10/02.
TANNING BOOTH TRUTHS – the only difference between a salon and a day at the beach is that in a salon, the skin gets its deep-fry in minutes rather than hours. Compared with the radiation you get from the sun, tanning beds emit 90 to 100 percent more UVA radiation – the ones responsible for wrinkles and skin cancer. There is no such thing as a healthy tan. A tan is the infusion of melanin in the skin as a protective mechanism against further sun. Any sign of color should be interpreted as initial damage. Bottom line: Don’t use tanning salons. Men’s Health 11/01.
MODERATION IN ALL THINGS – researchers in Stockholm have found that moderate alcohol consumption lowers the risk of Type 2 diabetes. In a study of 23,000 twins, researchers found that individuals who had one or two drinks a day were up to 40 percent less likely to develop diabetes than individuals consuming less than one drink daily were. Previous research has linked alcohol consumption to increased insulin sensitivity (the body uses insulin more efficiently.)
The key is moderation – in a separate study, researchers found that binge drinking may increase the risk of colorectal cancer threefold. Men’s Health 1/04.
GAS-BE-GONE? – does Beano work? The enzyme in this and similar products can help prevent gas caused by eating beans. It must be taken along with the beans or added to them. Swallowing it in advance will not work.
Recent research reviewed existing studies and found that Beano is effective in reducing or preventing gas and flatulence. Beano has been around for at least a decade and has less expensive generic competitors. The active ingredient is an enzyme called alpha-galactosidase, which breaks down some of the complex sugars (oligosaccharides.) Humans have no intestinal enzymes to digest oligosacchrides, so they may ferment in the large intestine and cause gas. Mold produces Alpha-galactosidase.
The enzyme in Beano will not prevent gas caused by dairy products or plant fiber. Also high heat deactivates the enzyme, so you cannot cook with it. Beano also appears to diminish the action of acarbose, a drug used in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.
You can reduce the gas problem by throwing out the soaking water and adding fresh water before cooking dried beans. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 10/02.
HFCS = ticket to Fat City – high-fructose corn syrup is making America fatter by shutting off the brain’s appetite control. HFCS is more easily turned into fat than any other carbohydrate. It is very inexpensive for food producers to add this sweetener, and it is found in many unlikely foods besides the obvious like soft drinks. Different from other sugars and sweeteners, HFCS can make you fat indirectly. The fructose in HFCS – a sugar that occurs naturally in fruit and honey – is combined with corn syrup. Corn syrup is primarily made up of a sugar called glucose, which can be burned as a source of immediate energy, stored in the liver and muscles for use later, or stored as fat. Corn syrup by itself is not as sweet as other sugars, but HFCS is doubly sweet and very cheap.
The fructose found naturally in fruit or honey is not the culprit as fruit is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber – all part of a healthy eating plan. But HFCS delivers fructose in unprecedented amounts in the American diet – mainly through soft drinks. Annual soda consumption has doubled from 25 to 50 gallons per person from 1975 to 2000. HFCS is about 20 percent cheaper than cane sugar. Both contain a combination of fructose and glucose, but the low cost of HFCS has made it easier for manufacturers to supersize their portions. This would not be a problem, but the average American is consuming more fructose and therefore more calories per day (200 calories) than we did in the 1970’s.
Normally, when you eat a food that contains glucose or starch, or any other carbohydrate, the body releases insulin, a hormone that does a series of important jobs to regulate body weight. First it tries to push the carbs into the muscle cells to be used as energy and facilitates carb storage in the liver for later use. Then it suppresses the appetite, telling the body that it is full and it is time to stop eating. Finally it stimulates the production of another hormone, leptin.
Leptin is manufactured in the fat cells and acts as nutritional control tower. It helps regulate storage of body fat and helps increase metabolism when needed to maintain body weight. However, fructose doesn’t stimulate insulin and therefore does not increase the production of leptin. Without insulin and leptin, the appetite has no shutoff mechanism. A person can consume a six-pack of soft drinks without having the body respond to the caloric intake. Consuming a like number of calories in a balanced meal with protein, carbohydrates, and fat, the body responds to the calories consumed and the individual feels full and satiated.
A 2002 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at whether soft drinks themselves, or the HFCS in soft drinks was the problem. The study took two groups of overweight people – one group consumed regular soft drinks while the other drank diet soda for 10 weeks. The regular soda group gained weight and increased their body fat, not surprisingly, given that they consumed 28 percent more calories than normal while on the regular soft drink regimen. Worse, they also saw an increase in their blood pressures.
The diet soda group consumed fewer calories than they normally would and lost weight, reduced body fat, and lowered blood pressure.
Soft drinks are the main dietary source of HFCS, but it is found in many other diverse products – even some whole wheat breads. The best defense is to become a nutritional label reader. If the label list “sugar” or “cane sugar,” the product contains sucrose, which is a 50-50 blend of fructose and glucose, which should trigger an insulin and leptin response. If HFCS is listed as the first or second ingredient, look at the chart that accompanies the ingredients to see how much sugar is in the food. Anything more than 8 grams per serving of sugar and HFCS and the food has “empty calories” where you are consuming foods probably with very little nutritional benefit.
Foods found to be high in HFCS, besides regular soft drinks, include commercial candy (jelly beans), apple juice, pancake syrup, popsicles, frozen yogurt, fruit-flavored yogurt, ketchup, highly sweetened cereals, pasta sauce (Ragu), and canned soup. Again, read the nutritional labels and make wise choices which limit your intake of these “empty calories.” Men’s Health 4/03
HEART ATTACK OR HEARTBURN? – it is a matter of pressure, duration, and location. A heart attack feels as if someone is sitting on your chest. It is pressure, as opposed to sharp pain, and it may radiate to the jaw, the left shoulder, the left arm, or the area between the shoulders. If discomfort is measured by minutes instead of sensations, have someone take you to the hospital immediately. Under no circumstances should you drive yourself, especially if you are also feeling queasy, sweaty, or fatigued and are short of breath.
There are other causes of chest pain are:
Heartburn – sloshing stomach acid can cause a painful burning sensation behind the breastbone. You also get a bitter taste in your mouth, usually a couple hours after eating.
Panic attack – starting with escalating fear, physical symptoms include rapid heartbeat and chest pain.
Pleurisy – this is a sharp, localized chest pain that increases when you breathe in or cough and is caused by an infection in the sac around one of the lungs, causing a big pain on one side.
Sore muscles – if it hurts when you twist from side to side or when you raise your arms, you probably have muscle-related chest pain.
Injured ribs or pinched nerves – a bruised or broken rib or a pinched nerve can cause chest pain that tends to be localized and sharp. Men’s Health 4/03.
TRIGLYCERIDES – the two main lipids (fats) in the bloodstream are triglycerides and cholesterol. Triglycerides provide energy for the body. They come from the food we eat; the liver also assembles them. Scientists believe that high levels of triglycerides can increase the risk of coronary artery disease, but the exact link remains uncertain.
High triglycerides may be accompanied by other lipid abnormalities, such as low HDL (good) cholesterol and increased levels of small particles of LDL (bad) cholesterol, which also increase the risk of coronary artery disease. In some studies, when the HDL level is taken into account, the link between triglycerides and heart disease is greatly reduced, therefore, it is possible that a high triglyceride level does not endanger the heart by itself – that it does so only if you also have a low HDL level or other risk factors.
Studies have also found a connection between high triglycerides and an increase in the thickness, or viscosity, of blood, which increases the risk of clots and heart attacks.
The bottom line is that elevated triglyceride levels tend to go along with other risk factors for coronary artery heart disease – including abdominal obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Whether they help cause these serious health problems or are merely a marker for them, elevated triglycerides are a warning sign you or your physician should not ignore.
A desirable triglyceride level, measured after fasting, is less than 150 mg/dl. As people age (and often gain weight), the triglycerides tend to rise, along with cholesterol levels; women also tend to have higher levels, especially after menopause. A level between 150 and 199 is defined as a borderline-high elevation, and 200 or more is a high level. (Some newer studies indicate that a desirable level should be 100 rather than 150.) Very high triglyceride levels –above 1,000-are known to increase the risk for a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas.
Since food boosts triglycerides levels, blood tests for triglycerides are measured after a 12 to 14 hour fast. Some studies have found that a relatively high triglyceride level six to eight hours after a meal can also be a sign of coronary risk.
If your triglyceride levels are high, it is relatively easy to lower it – easier than to raise HDL.
Loosing weight, reducing alcohol, quitting smoking, and exercising on a regular basis can lower triglycerides. People who exercise regularly, even if only moderately, experience a far smaller rise in triglycerides after meals than those who are sedentary.
Several dietary factors that affect triglycerides, but not total cholesterol levels. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish help lower triglycerides while alcohol raises them. The same foods that boost blood sugar most (such as sugars and certain starchy foods) also boost triglycerides. This does not mean that you should go on a low-carbohydrate diet, but that you should eat more complex carbohydrates such as those in whole grains and vegetables and cut down on sugary foods like soda and candy. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 5/02.
WHICH IS WORSE? – in comparing the fats in a steak with those in French fries, the saturated fat in a strip of steak is better for you than the trans fatty acid in a serving of fries. Researchers in the Netherlands put healthy adult test subjects on a two-month long diet in which 10 percent of calories came from either trans fats or saturated fats. Compared with the saturated fat diet, the trans fat diet led to a 29 percent greater loss of blood-vessel function and a 20 percent greater decrease in levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol that lowers heart disease risk). Men’s Health 11/01.
