Tag Archive for 'Exercise'

Statistics concerning diet and exercise appear unfair to women

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Jana
on May 12, 2010
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Once again, mother nature seems to be harder on women than men. New research has come out revealing that women need lots of exercise to keep off the extra pounds as they age.

For older women who aren’t dieting, at least an hour of moderate exercise each day is recommended just to maintain a healthy weight. And for those of us who are already pleasantly plump, which is the majority of American women, even more exercise is suggested to keep from gaining weight without eating less, according to the study.

John Foreyt, a behavioral medicine expert who evaluated the study but wasn’t involved in the research, said “we all have to work at it. If it were easy to be skinny, we would all be skinny.”

So what is considered moderate exercise? Some examples are brisk walking, leisurely bicycling and golfing. Don’t get upset if you can’t commit to this for at least an hour a day. The researchers kindly reassured us that even a sprinkling of exercise is good for our health, even if it won’t make us thin.

The findings in this report were based on 34,079 non-dieting middle-age women that were observed for around 13 years. During the study, the women gained an average of 6 pounds.

The ones who began the study at a healthy weight, with a body mass index less than 25, and who also gained little or no weight in the study regularly got around an hour of moderate daily activity. There were only 13 percent in this group of women. A few women who were already overweight exercised the same, but it wasn’t enough to keep them from gaining weight. The results show just how hard it is to maintain a healthy weight in our society.

The results support a 2002 Institute of Medicine report that stressed the importance of balancing diet and exercise and recommended at least 60 minutes of daily moderate activity for adults as well as children. In addition, the study claimed that the 2008 U.S. guidelines urging around 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week will not keep the pounds from creeping on as we get older unless some calories are also cut out.

The study reaffirms some inescapable things about aging. Men and women often add weight, to some extent, because their metabolism slows down with age. Dr.I-Min Lee, the study’s lead author, said it possibly has less to do with that than the natural tendency to get more sedentary, without changing eating habits as we age.

Women are prone to gain weight, especially in the belly area, due to hormonal changes in menopause. Even so, Lee stressed that the benefits of exercise go beyond what you see visually. Exercise helps the heart stay healthy and protects against chronic disease, even if you don’t exercise enough to lose weight.

One-third of breast cancer cases may be avoidable

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on May 1, 2010
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Supporters of eating less and exercising have won yet again as results from a new study have been divulged. According to researchers, around a third of all breast cancer cases in Western countries could possibly be avoided if women consumed less food and exercised more.

Even though early diagnosis, mammograms and better treatments have helped to slow the disease, experts are now focusing on changing unhealthy behaviors like overeating and being too sedentary.

This new study only adds to a string of existing findings that lifestyle changes in areas such as smoking, eating, exercising and sun exposure can have a crucial effect on all kinds of cancer rates.

The head of epidemiology, Carlo La Veechia, emphasized the importance of  taking these findings seriously when he said “what can be achieved with screening has been achieved. We can’t do much more. It’s time to move on to other things.” He spoke last month at a European breast cancer conference in Barcelona.

Michelle Holmes, a cancer expert at Harvard University, warned that people might mistakenly believe that their likelihood of getting cancer leans more on their genes than on their lifestyle.

Breast cancer is currently the most common cancer among women. In Europe, around 421,000 new cases and almost 90,000 deaths occurred in 2008. Last year in the United States, there were more than 190,000 new cases  and  40,000 deaths.

During an average woman’s lifetime, her chance of developing breast cancer is around one in eight. According to a 2006 study by British researchers, obese women are up to 60 percent more likely to develop any cancer than normal-weight women.

Numerous breast cancers are encouraged by estrogen, which is a hormone manufactured in fat tissue. This is why experts believe that the more fat a woman has, the more estrogen she is likely to produce, which could initiate breast cancer. This said, even slim women can help reduce their cancer risk with exercise by converting more of the body’s fat into muscle.

The American Cancer Society now recommends that women get 45 to 60 minutes of physical activity for five or more days a week to reduce their chances of getting breast cancer.

Some good news for women who have survived breast cancer and want children; a separate study has found that breast cancer survivors who have children later, do not seem to be at any more risk for dying from cancer. For a long time, doctors have been troubled that pregnancy could ignite hormonal changes which could cause the disease to return. For this reason, many women have been told to avoid getting pregnant after they recover from cancer. The European breast cancer conference had experts who announced that cancer survivors who get pregnant are safe and it does not appear to be linked to the disease’s recurrence.

Why excess belly fat is a health hazard

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on April 19, 2010
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Having too much belly fat is definitely a bummer when you are trying to shop for new jeans or put on that swimsuit for that first day at the pool. This said, it is also linked with a smorgasbord of health problems like increased blood glucose levels, Type 2 diabetes, elevated blood pressure and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Dr. Donald Hensrud, the chair of the division of preventive medicine at the Mayo Clinic diet, said “There’s an increased risk of heart disease with increasing waist circumference or abdominal fat, and increased risk of overall mortality.”

So basically,  if you can lose the belly, you’ll be happier and healthier.

According to Hensrud, there are two kinds of belly fat; subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Inside the abdominal wall you have visceral fat and outside the abdominal wall is subcutaneous fat, which is the fat that you can actually grab. It is usually assumed that visceral fat is more dangerous and is linked with more health risks.  Most of the time, this is true, but there’s some evidence that subcutaneous fat can be harmful as well.

So what do you do if you are extra thick around the middle? Well there are steps you can take. First of all, if you drink alcohol, try to stop or cut down, especially if you like beer. If you can’t stop cold turkey, at least switch to light beer and try to limit your drinking to the weekends.

There is some evidence that points to skipping breakfast as being a culprit in visceral fat accumulation, according to Hensrud. He also said that some dietary patterns tend to affect fat distribution. One study revealed that a diet with 25 percent of calories coming from fructose was connected with a surge in weight gain.

I’m sure I don’t have to remind you to exercise when you are trying to reduce that belly, but forget about spot-reducing. Hensrud said “Either doing specific exercise, crunches, or wearing one of these belts around the middle things, it doesn’t work.”

The good news is that once you do begin to lose weight, you may notice it first in your belly area. According to Hensrud, visceral fat appears to be more metabolically active, so it’s accumulated and broken down more rapidly that fat in other areas.

Hensrud also said that two studies found that people who failed to lose weight during an exercise program still lost visceral fat in their abdomens.

Is it O.K. to run if your nose is running?

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on March 24, 2009
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Shazia Khan, an assistant professor at Loyola University Health System, says yes, you can work out moderately as long as you do not have a fever and all your symptoms are above your neck, such as a sore throat or sinus infection. She says “It’s important to stick to your regular exercise routine if you’re feeling energetic enough.” This said, you shouldn’t push yourself too much and make sure you get plenty of fluids.

Common sense should tell you that it is not a good idea to go exercising if you are achy, have diarrhea or are vomiting. If you are bent on going to the gym with a cold, please clean the equipment that you use and stay out of the pool. Dr. Harley Rotbart, the author of Germ Proof Your Kids” (ASM Press, $29.95) says that if your mucus comes into contact with other swimmers, it could give them a cold as well. A sneeze can cause droplets to travel up to 3 feet. On the brighter side, Dr. Rotbart says that although hands are the main offender when it comes to spreading the cold virus, it is unlikely that they will have enough virus on them to inoculate into the nose or mouth when they are underwater.

Don’t forget that over-training can cause one to feel run down and have cold-like symptoms. If you usually love working out and you suddenly don’t want to go to the gym, you are probably over-trained. Just take a day off and you’ll be ready to hit the gym again soon.

Study finds cholesterol drugs not needed for most teens

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on February 23, 2009
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A new study provides some encouraging news concerning childhood obesity. It found that less than 1 percent of American teens are anticipated to need cholesterol drugs.

Alarming new guidelines were announced last year by the American Academy of Pediatrics: Doctors were called on to consider cholesterol medicine for more kids, sometimes as young as 8, if they had elevated levels of “bad cholesterol,” or LDL, accompanied by other health issues such as obesity and high blood pressure.

the academy did not talk about the amount of children that be included in that group. A study that was announced on February 16 in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation helps diminish anxiety about many children that might need to be on cholesterol medicine, according to Dr. Stephen Daniels, who is the main author of the pediatric guidelines.

He said that there was a worry that a rising amount of obesity cases would lead to an increase in cholesterol levels. He said that they don’t seem to be increasing.

The new pediatrics guideline was established from indicators that damage leading to heart disease starts in early life. Simultaneously, current research has revealed that drugs used to lower cholesterol are basically safe for children.

Dr. William Scott, a cardiologist and pediatrics professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said that as long as a child does not have an inclination to high cholesterol, regular exercise and a healthy diet should keep the cholesterol under control. Scott said, “You really are empowered by your diet and activity.

Combination of green tea and exercise may decrease belly fat

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on February 16, 2009
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If the size of your abdomen is more than ideal, you might want to try some green tea. There have been some studies that have indicated that green tea can help to increase exercise-induced weight loss. There is another study, which was published in the Journal of Nutrition, that reinforces this connection and reveals that fat around the middle is usually the first to disappear.

This study looked at 132 obese adults. They all ate a diet that had the same daily calories and did 180 minutes a week of modestly intense exercise. Each day they also drank a drink that had 39 milligrams of caffeine, although one group drank green tea with 625 milligrams of catechins, which is an antioxidant and the main ingredient of green tea.

After just 12 weeks, the group that drank green tea had more success at losing weight-4.4 pounds. The control group dropped only a little over 2 pounds. Also, the green-tea group had more decreases in total abdominal fat, subcutaneous abdominal fat and triglycerides.

Just how green tea does this is not yet fully known, but scientists think that it revs up the speed at which fat is broken down in the body. Also, those affected by diabetes may also be interested to know that it might assist in the body’s sensitivity to insulin, which could lower the risk of diabetes.

Social isolation can have an adverse effect on health

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on January 14, 2009
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The connections that you have with other people may just be the key to a long and healthy life. A neuroscientist, John Cacioppo, at the University of Chicago and co-author of a new book called “Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection” has done research on how our relationships can affect our physical health.

He worked on a study to try to understand how important our social interactions are to our biology. We know that in early human history, our survival demanded the protection of families. Back then, isolation usually meant death. Loneliness is a painful feeling that urges us to reconnect with others.

In the study, loneliness was found to affect stress hormones, immune function and cardiovascular function. Lonely adults tend to drink more alcohol and exercise less than those who are not lonely. They usually have a diet that is higher in fat, their sleep is not as solid, and they tend to be more tired during the day. Also, loneliness can disrupt the regulation of cellular processes deep inside the body, which can make the body more vulnerable to premature aging.

Unfortunately, the answer is not as simple as having lots of people around us. Some people can be surrounded by lots of people but feel completely alone, because they don’t have any strong connections. So, in human beings, feeling isolated is more serious than physical isolation.

Cacioppo says that there are things we can do to combat our feelings of loneliness such as making positive everyday comments to people such as “It’s a beautiful day isn’t it!?” Comments like these can usually bring us a friendly response that makes us feel good.

He also says that we don’t have to be liked by everyone to not feel lonely. One to three good friend is all some of us really need. Having 5000 friends on Facebook is not a guarantee that you will not be lonely. He says that virtual connections such as Facebook can sometimes even make you lonelier, unless of course it is your only means of connecting due to being disabled.

John Cacioppo says there are three main ways that we are linked with each other. First of all, people need to be together up close and personal. This is usually seen in marriage, but people who don’t marry can still find connections in other ways. Secondly, we have a strong desire for a broader group of friends and family, but we all know that this is often a bittersweet endearment. And thirdly, there is belonging to a bigger group. This may be why people who go to church regularly tend to live longer. They feel in touch with the group, the church and to God.

Sadly, a large number of us fail to consider the collective part of social connection until there is an event or tragedy such as 9-11, when we feel more like we are part of something huge or magnificent.

The hula hoop popular again, but for adult exercise

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on December 31, 2008
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The hula hoop isn’t just for kids anymore. Now adults are reliving part of their childhood by twirling a hula hoop.

They are not only having fun but getting health benefits by hooping, performing tricks and rolling their hips with the hula hoop. Hula hooping has been shown to improve flexibility and it works the abdominal muscles. It also works the muscles in the legs and arms for people who can spin a hoop around them.

Baltimore hooping instructor Noelle Powers says that some mental flexibility is used as well. She encourages exercisers in her hour-long classes to switch the direction of the hoop, which challenges the brain more than the muscles. This exercise can also bring on a meditative trance, according to Powers.

Her classes usually involve stretching with the hoop and performing different tricks and routines such as waling while hooping, or moving the hoop up the body from the waist.

She says that hooping isn’t that hard and hoops that are custom made and often sold by instructors are larger and heavier than the usual toy-store kind. They are more in proportion to the size of an average adult, so they revolve more slowly and don’t take as much to keep rotating. Powers says it’s even doable with a potbelly “and it doesn’t feel like exercise, it feels silly and childlike.”

Health Department recommends 2 1/2 hours of exercise weekly

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on December 1, 2008
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On October 7, new exercise guidelines from the Health and Human Services Department, or HHS, were set to attain good health. Most adults should get 2 1/2 hours a week. Of course this varies according to how old you are and your level of fitness. If you are a more sedentary adult, a little exercise is fine at first, such as a short walk around the block or a friendly game of softball. Adults who are more fit can scrunch all their week’s requirement into a shorter time period, with 75 minutes of intense exercise like running or a bike race. An hour long walk three times a week works just as well as a 30-minute weekday exercise class. If this doesn’t work out for those who are too busy during the week because of work or other issues, a two-hour bike ride on Saturday or Sunday can do the trick. In other words, if your activity is more intense, you can do less time.

Children and teens need even more activity. The HHS guidelines suggest at least an hour a day. This daily hour should include activities such as bike riding, soccer, skating or running. Muscle-strengthening activities like sit-ups and tug-of-war and bone-strengthening activities like jumping rope or skipping should be done three times a week.

This advice should be taken seriously since many children in the U.S. are considerably less healthy than their parents. Almost one third of children are overweight and 16 percent are obese. Even though young children are usually more active by nature, more and more schools are sadly decreasing the amount of recess and gym time. A recent study found that once in high school, less than a third of teens get an hour of physical activity a day.

Adults, according to the HHS, should do muscle-strengthening exercises such as weight training or push-ups at least two days a week. The good news for some adults is that carrying heavy loads or intense gardening can be included as one of these exercises. Even older adults who can still do these activities are urged to do so.

When doing aerobic activities, try to go at least 10 minutes at a time to increase heart rate enough to count. While doing moderate activity, you should be able to talk, but not be able to sing. While doing intense activity, you should only be able to say a few words before catching your breath.

The HHS hired an expert panel to look at all the information on the question of how much exercise is enough. The panel discovered that consistent physical activity can decrease the risk of heart attacks and stroke by at least 20 percent. This can diminish the possibility of an early death and help people stay clear of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancer, bone weakening and depression. The government studied this scientific report to determine the guidelines for these minimum activity levels.

The guidelines assert that these are minimum goals. Obviously, those who do more than the minimum will get better results.

Women who are obese seem to have more blocking them from exercise

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Jana
on October 22, 2008
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Even though most of us can exercise, some of us just decide against it. Many tend to create their own roadblocks that hinder any willfulness to be active physically. Obese women seem to have even more standing in the way of healthy exercise than most people.

The Obesity Society recently revealed that these women come up with more mental blocks that prevent them from exercising than normal or underweight women.

There were 105 overweight and obese women and 173 normal or underweight women in a home-based exercise promotional trial who were surveyed by researchers from the Center for Obesity Research and Education and the kinesiology department at Temple University in Philadelphia. To summarize, the obese women indicated more barriers than the slender women. 

Some of their blocks included feeling self-conscious about their appearance while exercising, lacking self-discipline, not trying because they hated to fail, having minor aches and pains and feeling too heavy to exercise. 

At the conclusion of the 12-month follow-up, the overweight or obese women with these mental blocks at the beginning, were found to be less likely to exercise.

Melissa Napolitano, a leading author and associate professor of kinesiology at Temple, said more tailored programs are necessary to help overweight women overcome these roadblocks that stop them from being healthy and active.

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