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October 2008 - Posts
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The Cure & The Culprit gets off to a great start and helps us realize that we are on a life long journey to become healthier individuals and recognize that certain behaviors and lifestyle choices will improve the quality of our overall life.
Chapter 1 provides an excellent overview of the cause and effect relationship between a lack of exercise, a poor diet, unhealthy lifestyle practices and the onset of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and ultimately premature death. Steven Aldana drives home his argument by showing us the percent of colon cancer (71%), strokes (70%), heart disease (82%) and diabetes (91%) that can be avoided if people consumed a diet with more fruits/vegetables, whole grains, less red meat and exercised regularly in a smoke free environment (no tobacco use). He actually shows us the extra years of life we can add by adopting these healthy habits and maintaining a normal body weight.
Aldana also reminds us that changing our lifestyle to promote healthy living is not easy because of the mixed messages we get about the latest diet, exercise craze or most recent research on the cause of disease. Although new research will always be published and debated in the scientific journals and the public media, the fundamental components of 1) a good diet, 2) 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day and 3) the avoidance of tobacco use will always be the foundation to build upon. Even more important than the awareness and knowledge of this information is the contemplation of making a change in your daily routines. Taking a small step to change or improve a lifestyle behavior is a positive movement towards a lifetime goal. Aldana puts it in very simple terms: increasing your daily diet intake of fruits and vegetables from 2 servings to 5 servings can reduce the likelihood of getting cancer by 50%.
In Chapters 2-3 Steve Aldana helps us better understand the science behind research studies on health promotion and disease prevention. He uses an excellent analogy and compares health care information to a complex puzzle and the need to see the entire picture before we can find where all the puzzle pieces fit. The book actually helps us find the missing pieces of the health care mysteries and interpret them in a way that makes good sense. Ultimately, we begin to realize that our “youthful attitudes of immortality” must be overcome to understand that a chronic condition like heart disease or cancer can actually start when we are very young and we feel no pain whatsoever. On a more positive note, Steve Aldana provides us with the concept of “compression of morbidity”: you live a healthy/ productive life to the very end and never experience the suffering of a chronic disease. Hopefully, that will be the last piece to everyone’s puzzle.
Enjoy your journey to better health,
Dr. Tony Linares
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Halloween is party time and here are some tricks for this season’s treats to make it a healthier holiday.
What Halloween party is complete without bobbing for apples? It’s a fun activity for kids and adults alike. The best part is that the reward is good for you. For those who don’t want to put your head in a tub of water, cut some apples into slices and serve with fat free caramel dip.
You can also make over those famous rice krispie treats. This variation is just as sweet and adds fiber for a healthier twist. First, substitute a reduced fat butter or margarine for the full fat butter or margarine you would normally use – melt 3 tablespoons in a saucepan over low heat. Then add the 10 oz of miniature marshmallows and melt as usual. Remove from heat and, in place of the rice cereal, use a combination of whole grain flake cereal, whole grain puffed cereal, nuts, and raisins. Just make sure the dry ingredients total the same amount as the rice cereal you’d normally use (6 cups). Also, remember to watch the portions of the nuts and raisins as the nuts are high in fat and the raisins are high in sugar. The last step is to put the mixture in a greased 9 x 13” pan, allow to cool and cut into bars. The bars are a great source of energy and the raisins add a fall-like color for seasonal flair.
Candy corn and popcorn balls are other familiar holiday treats and this recipe combines the best of both. Weighing in with only 1.8 grams of fat per serving, these balls are a healthy dream for adults – and the kids won’t even notice a difference.
Candy Corn Popcorn balls
(adapted from Kraft Foods, Inc)
1/4 c light margarine
12 c air-popped popcorn
10.5 oz miniature marshmallows
1.5 c candy corn
3 oz orange gelatin powder
In a microwavable bowl, combine margarine and marshmallows. Microwave on high for 90 seconds, or until marshmallows are puffed. Stir in dry gelatin powder until well blended. Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn and candy corn in large mixing bowl. Mix until well coated. Shape into 15 balls with greased hands and wrap each ball in waxed paper.
Finally, here are some other healthier snacks you can hand out to trick-or-treaters or at a party:
Single-serving boxes of cereal
Packaged fruit rolls
Mini boxes of raisins
Single-serving packets of microwave popcorn
Cheese sticks
Pretzels
Peanuts in the shell
Cheese and cracker packages
Packages of trail mix
Juice boxes
Ginger snaps
Graham crackers
Vanilla wafers
Happy Halloween!
Rebecca
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Today we’re kicking off a review of the new Book Club selection – The Culprit & The Cure. If you’d like a refresher on why we chose this book, please visit Dr. Tony’s blog.
In Chapter 1 (Introduction) we learn what this book is going to teach us. The chart on page 6 looks at how different lifestyle behaviors affect lifespan (for example, eating nuts 5 times per week adds 2.5 years to one’s lifespan and maintaining a normal weight adds 11 years). However, Dr. Aldana’s perspective is that it’s not just about lifespan and delaying death, it’s about living healthier for longer without health events.
He provides a noteworthy refresher about how Americans got where we are in terms of our health: basically, there was a move away from physical labor jobs and walking places toward using machines to do labor and driving. He says that we don’t make changes because we don’t learn how and the book will offer the skills, ideas and practical experience to help us make changes.
Chapter 2 (Let Science Be Your Guide) offers up Dr. Aldana’s philosophy of using science to guide us (you’ll see footnoted research throughout the book). He offers information on three kinds of studies and it’s clear we will hear about many of these throughout the book: a cohort study, a case control and a randomized clinical trial. He reminds us that there are thousands of studies running all the time, but that only a small number are published and reported on, which means the average consumer only sees those seen as newsworthy. Dr. Aldana considers all kinds of research in this book, but reminds us that even his findings may change over time. Currently he believes the best research supports exercising 30 minutes per day at moderate intensity and eating per the current food pyramid recommendations (found on page 11).
The title of Chapter 3 (I-don’t-care-it is) is a clever term for “individuals with no interest in adopting a healthy lifestyle”. He says that we change a dangerous behavior when we learn the negative consequence (for example, falling off a bike we ride too fast). However, in health, the consequences of our dangerous behaviors (not eating healthy and not exercising) are much more far removed – so in essence, it’s not as clear until we’re older that we need to change our behaviors. He closes the chapter by offering a physician perspective on the US health care system – that it is treatment-based (vs. prevention-based), since that is how doctors are taught. He believes that as consumers, we need to think about the long-term consequences for our health when we make daily choices.
This Thursday, Dr. Tony will offer his unique perspective on Chapters 1, 2 and 3. And next Tuesday, we’ll delve into Chapters 4, 5 and 6.
And don’t forget that you can still vote in the Health Poll (until October 31) for a chance to win one of 10 copies of the book!
Kerry
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Recently, Michael Pollan, author of bestselling books, In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, published a letter in The New York Times – it is a letter to the next President about the nation’s food. It offers an interesting perspective on how food, and how it is grown, will play an increasing role in the world’s issues. Pollan uses the letter to tie food to issues of health, energy independence and the environment. Since the focus of Ignite is on health, I thought I’d look at the way food is grown and transported and how it may be affecting our overall health.
One of the most interesting statistical comparisons Pollan offers up is that since 1960, the US spending on health care has increased from 5 to 16% of national income while at the same time spending on food decreased from 18 to less than 10%. In the most basic way, Pollan is showing that we’re spending less on food but health costs are going up – and much of these costs are due to the fact that our health is getting worse.
Pollan makes a rather convincing argument that changing the way we grow food can change our overall health. Possibly the most important point is that much of the food grown in our country is corn, soybeans and wheat – products that are ultimately used to create fast food meals. He argues for crop diversity (where different crops are farmed, rather than just one) rather than monoculture (producing just one type of crop). He believes the way to achieve this is by not using fossil fuels to grow and fertilize crops, but to use sunlight. This would mean a very different way of farming, processing and transporting food for our country.
Another interesting point Pollan makes is that US farms should be decentralized. He believes that by allowing for more localized faming, we can have food that is fresher (due to shorter transportation) and more nutritious (because there is less processing).
Finally, Pollan suggests a need to change “America’s food culture”. He cites how many of us are engrained in lifestyles that include fast/easy-to-prepare and cheap food. He thinks we need to change this mentality, beginning with children – suggesting schools teach programs about growing and cooking food. He also advocates more transparency in foods (e.g., nutritional labels that include information on how the food was processed and grown).
So what does this letter mean for us when it comes to our health? Whether or not we agree with Pollan’s recommendations, we know that the health of our country is an important issue. When we look at some of the major factors in disease – lack of exercise, smoking and obesity – it’s clear that we also need to consider how, where and the type of food that is grown in order to help us all live healthier.
Kerry
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Have you ever thought about using the most sugar filled holiday of the year as an educational aid? If you are anything like me - a parent who dreads having that much sugar in the house at one time, you've probably never thought about this.
I was recently reading an article that encouraged parents and teachers to use the candies collected from Halloween to aid children in understanding addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and even fractions! It's a great way to engage the children with the shorter attention spans. It is also an excellent visual way to help students who are struggling with the concepts. The article also suggested using the candy as positive reinforcement when playing learning games. You can almost guarantee that the children will be more likely to work harder at getting the answers right. So Halloween really doesn't have to be so bad (for parents that is).
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The 21st century lifestyle and dawning of the information age has brought us new challenges in our day to day activities: avoiding sedentary activity, eating a balanced and nutritious diet as well as avoiding tobacco, excessive alcohol consumption and stress. We are faced with these fundamental lifestyle and behavioral choices every minute we are awake and conscious. Even now as I type these words, I am aware that sitting at my desk will burn fewer calories than standing or walking on a treadmill as I type (I just stood up to stretch, stand and move while I work on the keyboard).
This is the level of acute awareness that Steven Aldana, Ph.D. brings to his readers in his book The Culprit & The Cure: Why lifestyle is the culprit behind America’s poor health and how transforming that lifestyle can be the cure. He has devoted years of research to bring the most current scientific evidence developed by the world’s leading exercise scientists, nutritionists, and behavioral psychologists into an integrated strategy to promote a healthy lifestyle.
As a family doctor, I know that heart disease, cancer, strokes, and diabetes are leading causes of death in America. However, many doctors are not trained to support you and your family in the primary prevention of these chronic conditions: by increasing physical activity, improving your nutrition, preventing obesity, avoiding tobacco use, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption and stress. Steven Aldana calls his book a “lifeline for those who grab hold of it, read it carefully and use it to adopt a healthy lifestyle”.
I hope you grab hold of this selection for the next Ignite Book Club reading.
Stay active and healthy always,
Dr. Tony Linares
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Vegetarianism is a practice that goes back to ancient times in Eastern cultures. In the Western world, vegetarianism grew in popularity throughout the 20th century, many times as a result of nutritional or ethical concerns (and, recently, due to environmental concerns as well).
Most vegetarian diets are low in animal products (including eggs and milk) and they are usually lower in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. Many studies have shown that vegetarians seem to have a lower risk for obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and some forms of cancer.
It is important to note that the more restrictive a diet is, the more difficult it is to get all the nutrients your body needs. A vegan diet (no animal products of any kind, including milk and eggs) eliminates most food sources of vitamin B-12 and calcium. It’s important to make an extra effort to get these all nutrients in the diet, especially if you limit types of foods you eat. Here are some alternative ways to get nutrients in a vegetarian diet:
Protein. Sources of protein include soy products, meat substitutes (see sample veggie burger label below), legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
Calcium. Sources of calcium include low-fat dairy, spinach, turnip, collard greens, kale and broccoli, as well as soy milk that is enriched with calcium.
Vitamin B-12. You can find this vitamin in milk, eggs and cheese. Some enriched cereals and soy products have vitamin B-12.
Iron. Sources include dried beans and peas, lentils, enriched cereals, whole grain products, dark leafy green vegetables and dried fruit.
Remember that the key to eating nutritiously, whether or not you practice vegetarianism, is to enjoy a wide variety of foods, since no single food provides all of the nutrients that your body needs.
Rebecca
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We’re excited to announce the next Book Club discussion on Ignite – The Culprit & The Cure by Steven Aldana, PhD. This book comes highly recommended by several of our previous Book Club authors and Live Chat moderators because of the author’s real-world perspective on healthy living. All of the discussions and recommendations are based on research and facts, rather than the author’s opinions on healthy living. In fact, the book includes more than 15 pages of study references.
The Culprit & The Cure discusses the issues around lifestyle behaviors and gives healthy tips that everyone can follow. One reviewer (from The Compulsive Reader online) says, “The Culprit and the Cure clearly connects the dots between a healthy lifestyle and the prevention of chronic diseases, a prolonged life, and a higher quality of life. It also shows you what you need for a healthy lifestyle and how to achieve it.” And the book jacket says that applying the information in the book can help you reach a healthy weight, help you feel better and help you to have a higher quality of life.
As with previous Book Clubs, we’ll be discussing the chapters each Tuesday in our Health Blog. We’ll begin next Tuesday, 10/28 by discussing Chapters 1, 2 and 3. In these chapters, we’ll take a look at how the author uses scientific facts throughout the book as well as how apathy toward living healthy is one of the biggest problems we need to overcome. Dr. Tony Linares will join us again to provide a fresh perspective on the chapters each Thursday.
You can find the book at most bookstores or online retailers. We’re also giving away 10 free copies of the book – just participate our newest Health Poll by October 31st and you’ll be entered to win one of 10 copies of The Culprit & The Cure.
So vote in the poll today for your chance to win the book and happy reading!
- Kerry
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Health care is an important issue in our country. The United States spends more on health care than any other industrialized country and yet, there more than 46 million Americans without health insurance and millions more without adequate coverage. In addition, health care costs have risen steadily over the past 10 years and will continue to rise. With a need for reform, both Presidential candidates have put forth their plans on how to improve the health care system.
Barack Obama’s plan would mandate health care coverage for all children. The plan would provide affordable health insurance for every American, regardless of illness or pre-existing conditions. The plan would offer a new federal public health insurance program, similar to the health care program for federal employees, available to individuals and businesses that do not have coverage. The plan would also require employers to contribute to workers' health care insurance and offer small businesses a refundable tax credit.
John McCain’s plan would include providing a variety of insurance choices for people to choose from. The policies would be portable, following the individual, not the job. McCain’s plan would also offer tax credits of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to help pay for insurance coverage. He would also establish an access plan to develop a model that States could follow to ensure high-risk patients have access to health coverage.
Obama and McCain have vastly different views on how to improve the system and the health of all Americans. But what is often overlooked is how much of your health care is governed by you. The decisions you make everyday – what to eat for lunch, whether to take a walk after dinner, whether to quit smoking– all have an impact on your health care costs. This is because lifestyle behaviors contribute to your overall health and your overall health impacts your health care costs. So what are your thoughts? With health and health care on the minds of most of us – have you adopted any behaviors to improve your health and lower your health care costs?
Justin
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Last week, we discussed the Mediterranean diet, which is high in heart-healthy goods such as olive oil, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. This week, we’re taking a look at the Asian diet.
Eating in Asia is often closely identified with religious practices or long-standing customs. The traditional Asian diet has been associated with lower rates of chronic disease that are otherwise common in Western countries. In comparing the healthy Asian and Mediterranean diets, research suggests that both diets benefit from being low in saturated fat and high in plant-based foods. However, since the Mediterranean diet is not low in total fat, future research is needed to quantify the value of lower total fat in the Asian diet.
In traditional Asian diets, plant-based food contributes the core of the daily intake, whereas food from animals is more peripheral. Plant-based foods commonly consumed in Asia include rice and other grains, noodles, flatbreads, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, soy, legumes, vegetable and nut oils, herbs and spices. (See below for Nutritional Labels for two common Asian foods.) Additionally, plant-based beverages are frequently consumed including tea, wine and beer. Rice is the world’s number one food crop and provides as much as 25-80% of the calories in the daily diet of Asians.
The Asian diet, when consumed in sufficient amounts, provides all of the known essential vitamins and minerals, fiber and other plant food substances believed to promote health. One exception is that very little dairy is consumed, however, in cultures that consume the traditional Asian diet, there is a low incidence of osteoporosis.
Fish is generally consumed in low to moderate amounts in Asia, except in those areas where fish is not available or vegetarian traditions prevail. Current research suggests that weekly consumption of low to moderate amounts of fish would be compatible with excellent health, though such consumption should be considered optional in an Asian-style diet. It is important to note there is wide variation in consumption of fish and seafood in traditional Asian diets between large land mass areas, such as the interior of China, Korea and India, and the seacoast and island areas, where fish is a daily staple.
Overall, the Asian diet is heart healthy and the main staples for this diet are the plant-based foods. It is important to remember that this diet is not the Americanized Asian diet we may be accustomed to when we eat in American-style Asian restaurants.
 
Rebecca
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If you’re like me, you probably read your food labels fairly often. Sure, I have my go-to foods that I know and love, but I rarely purchase anything new without flipping it over to check out the Nutrition Facts, like calories, fat (saturated and trans), protein and fiber. But I honestly don’t usually consider sodium.
I generally try to limit the salt I add to food I make at home and I try not to add salt to pre-packaged foods, but it turns out, that’s not enough. According to the American Heart Association, more than 75% of sodium in our diet comes from processed foods – and only 25% comes from adding salt to our food.
An article from CNN.com provides a good summary of ways to limit salt intake at home. For example, homemade broth or sauces usually have a lot less sodium than store brands and using marinades helps limit the amount of salt needed to season food. (The article has a bunch of other good tips, too.)
When you’re at the store purchasing the processed foods, the key is to check the label. Previously, our resident Ignite nutritionist, Rebecca, recommended we look for foods that have <5% Daily Value of sodium. If you consider the recommended daily sodium intake of 2,300 mg, that means we should be aiming for servings that have less than 115 mg of sodium. (Note that the 2,300 mg recommendation is for healthy people, not for those who should be limiting sodium, such individuals with high blood pressure.)
Recently I had a can of soup and a green salad for dinner. The soup (Progresso Light Homestyle Vegetable and Rice soup) was a 2-serving can with 120 calories, 1 gram of fat (no saturated or trans fat), 8 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein. Overall, it seems pretty healthy. However I just took a look at the label again and the can has 1,400 mg of sodium (700 mg per serving). That’s more than 60% of my recommended daily intake! Fortunately, the same brand makes a reduced sodium line which has 40-50% less sodium.
So it looks like I have some changes I need to make when I check out food labels. But the good news it, the CNN article cited a study that found that you crave less salt when you eat it less salt.
Kerry
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If you are looking for a heart healthy diet, the “Mediterranean diet” might be the diet for you. The American Heart Association guidelines don’t match this diet exactly, but the Mediterranean-style diet is very close to the Association’s dietary recommendations.
In general, the diets of Mediterranean people contain a relatively high percentage of calories from fat – and this is thought to contribute to the increasing obesity in these countries, which is becoming a concern. However, people who follow the average Mediterranean diet eat less saturated fat than those who eat the average American diet. In fact, saturated fat consumption in the Mediterranean diet is well within our dietary guidelines.
The Mediterranean diet gets a lot of attention due to the notably low incidence of chronic disease and high life-expectancy for those who follow it. The traditional Mediterranean diet delivers as much as 40% of total daily calories from fat, yet the associated incidence of cardiovascular diseases is significantly less. As a monosaturated fatty acid, olive oil does not have the same cholesterol-raising effect of saturated fats. Olive oil is also a good source of antioxidants. People who follow this diet also eat fish a few times per week and therefore receive the heart healthy benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids.
The Mediterranean diet contains a high quantity of fruits, vegetables, bread and other cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds, which promote heart health. Olive oil and canola oil are the main staples for fat (see Nutritional Labels below), and dairy products, fish and poultry are consumed in low to moderate amounts. The diet includes very little red meat, which helps keep saturated fat low. Lastly, wine is consumed in low to moderate amounts as well.
 
Rebecca
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When I think of traditional American food, I think of a combination of fast food, apple pie, chips and soda. Maybe that’s not an entirely accurate picture, but the American diet does include a lot of high calorie, fat and sodium items, the hallmarks of fast food.
So when we’re looking at how to make our diets healthier, we often turn to other cultures. An Asian diet contains a lot more fish, vegetables and plant-based, unprocessed foods. And the Mediterranean diet is cited as extremely healthy due to the prevalence of fruit and vegetables, legumes, olive oil and fish. Take a look at the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid below (courtesy of The New York Times) to see how this diet focuses on unprocessed, natural foods.
Recently there have been several articles regarding the Mediterranean diet. The British Medical Journal recently published a review of 12 studies that examined the Mediterranean diet as it relates to health. These studies followed more than 1.5 million people over a period of anywhere from 3 to 18 years. The results showed that individuals following this type of diet had lower rates of death due to cardiovascular disease (9%) and cancer (6%) and a lower incidence of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s (13%). These results reinforce what we’ve been hearing for a long time.
Many credit a study that was published in the early 1990s with the increased prevalence of Mediterranean food in American cooking and eating. Foods like hummus, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, are more widely used and are becoming a staple of many Americans’ diets.
But on the flip-side, we seem to be exporting a lot of our dietary habits to the Mediterranean region. Recent reports show that ¾ of adults in Greece are now overweight (the highest incidence in Europe) and doctors in Greece are reporting soaring rates of obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure among children. The culprit seems to be the introduction of fast food and convenience foods – a very Western phenomenon. The impact, even in such a short period of time, is amazing.
So it seems that while we can glean a lot from the Mediterranean diet, individuals in this region can learn a lot from their history too. And if you know of other cultural diets that are healthy, please share your ideas here.
Kerry
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The results of our second Health Poll are in – when Ignite users overindulge on snacks, 43% said they go light on dinner. But nearly 20% said they’d have to jog home from work to burn off their snacks! Lucky that one voter won a $25 gift card to a fitness store!
The next Health Poll is up and running and this time, we’re asking about veggies. Join the fun between now and October 15, 2008 and you'll be eligible for our next prize drawing – a copy of The Sneaky Chef's second book: How to Cheat on Your Man (in the Kitchen): Hiding Healthy Foods in Hearty Meals Any Guy Will Love. (It has healthier recipes that are great for anyone.) Don’t forget you need to sign in to Ignite to vote.
Vote today!
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As the summer ends, many people forget that there are still great options for fresh fruit and vegetables in the fall. Let’s take a look at what fall harvest has to bring and what nutrition you can get from it. Here is a list of some fall fruits and vegetables along with their key nutrients and easy preparation tips:
1) Apples: Contains vitamin C and fiber; there are 5 grams of fiber in one medium apple. Bake an apple with a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon.
2) Brussels Sprouts: Have fiber, vitamin C and folate; there are 3 grams of fiber in four sprouts. You can simmer those or bake for a sweeter flavor.
3) Cauliflower: Contains vitamin C and folate; very low in calories. Serve with cheese, but watch the amount.
4) Collard Greens, Turnip Greens or Mustard Greens: Supply the body with vitamin A and C, fiber and calcium.
5) Mushrooms: Low calorie, high in riboflavin, good source of niacin. Mushrooms add rich flavors to stews and soups.
6) Winter Squash and Pumpkin: Full of vitamin A and C, potassium, fiber and folate. Try pumpkin in savory dishes, like sides. It's not just for pies. (See label below.)
7) Sweet Potatoes: Supply fiber, Vitamin A and C and potassium. A medium sweet potato has 115 calories and almost no fat. Roast a potato and enjoy it with butter. (See label below.)
Remember, buying fruits and vegetable that are in season is less expensive – and they have the best quality and flavor.
 
Rebecca
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