Bodies By M.E.

The following article Soy- Miracle food or Hazard, was recently featured in The John’s Hopkins Magazine – Winter 2011.

Soy has been promoted as a miracle food, after all it is low in fat and has no cholesterol. Researchers thought it might decrease breast cancer risk, minimize hot flashes, and increase bone density in women. Then came soy’s backlash.

Dr. Bruce Trock , director of epidemiology division at the Brady Urological Institute, states that soy foods are fine, soy supplements can be hazardous and should be watched. “None of the studies that have looked at normal consumption of soy foods have given any indication of risk, as long as people are trying trying to get their soy from dietary sources, eating things like tofu, soy milk, soy nuts, miso soup etc.” He states it is unlikely that people will experience any real risk from dietary sources. A study recently presented at the American Association for Cancer Research earlier this year, looked at data from more than 18,000 breast cancer survivors, concluded that women can eat soy foods without increasing their cancer risk.

Trock reports the soy supplements can be dangerous because many are highly processed, which might change the biological activity of the soy product. In several animal studies, soy supplements caused an increase in tumor growth, another study found that the more processed the soy product was, the more it increased the rate of growth in tumors of lab animals. With supplements it is possible to get individual nutrients in very high dosages and of different proportions than you would from eating soy foods.

Here’s the deal, soy’s micronutrient, our body uses micronutrients in small doses, and they don’t just work alone, they work in combination with other micronutrients. It not just about the dosage of one micronutrient, but about the balance of micronutrients, Trock says.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
Hippocrates

Losing weight could save the United States lots of money. By now I’m sure we all know that the United States is in economic trouble. Our economic stability is unstable for many reasons raging from housing issues, fighting too many wars, and our jobs being out sourced etc. Billions of dollars are spent on managing our chronic health care conditions such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis and certain cancers.We are one of the richest yet sickest countries in the world. On any given day pick up a magazine or watch TV you will overwhelmed with the amount of health care information available to us. Yet, we still have an ever growing obesity epidemic, the origin of these chronic diseases, crippling our economy.

Our solution may be as straight forward as losing weight. In a recent report published in the September issue of Health Affairs (2011;30[9], 1693-79. Enrolling overweight adults aged 60- 64 in a proven weight loss program if they are diabetic or at risk for cardiovascular disease could save billions of dollars in a lifetime. Medicare savings could rage from $7 billion to $15billion according to the studies authors.

Lifestyle modification programs such as National Diabetes Prevention Program clinical trials has been shown to reduce the incidence of chronic disease, producing a net health care savings. The authors of this study suggest we may need an incentive program such as reimbursements for positive lifestyle management. Good idea!

Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles, suggest that a decrease in muscle mass in associated with increase risk of diabetes. The study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism set out to determine whether average or above average muscle mass improved glucose control. The researchers analyzed data of 13,644 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. After adjusting for age and ethnicity the researchers found that subjects with greater muscle mass presented with less risk factors for diabetes. Each 10% increase in muscle mass resulted in a 11% – 12% decrease in pre-diabetic or diabetic risk factors.

Take home message- My guess is participants with greater muscle mass practiced a healthy lifestyle in general, preventing diabetes in addition to heart disease, cancer and arthritis. This is one more study pointing us in the right direction.

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” —Albert Einstein

What’s healthy for you also helps keep our environment healthy and pure, coincidental or just common sense. Personally I would agree with the latter. What is the best way of reducing our diet related carbon foot print?

Scientists reported in the journal Environmental Science and Technology that replacing meat and/or dairy with other protein sources such as vegetable based dishes a single day per week could have the same climate impact as buying all household food from local providers (Webers and Matthews 2008).

Should we embrace a plant based diet? Absolutely, there is no other way to remedy our current environmental concerns. A United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report addresses this issue and states it’s vital importance.Experts determined that raising cattle for burgers is generating more climate warming greenhouse gases, plus methane, than our transportation system.Care and feeding of the livestock consumes 30% of the earths land, contributing to further global warming.

The United States Department of Agriculture reports that as a nation we consume 200 pounds of beef, poultry, and fish per year ( USDA 2002). The Environmental Working Group reports that if each American skipped meat or dairy one day a week for a year it would be the equivalent to removing 7.6 million cars from the road.

What would happen if we all became vegans?

What are the benefits of a plant based diet? Are health bebefits that significant that we should consider adopting a vegan diet? How does a plant based diet effect our environment? Finally, how does it effect our wallet.

The benefits of a plant based diet on our health are numerous. Take a look around in your daily travels, it seems that most Americans are carrying way to much weight. Obesity is everywhere and we are paying for it in our healthcare costs. Waistlines everywhere would benefit from the plant based diet movement. Here are the results of a few research studies to help send the message home.

Researchers at Boston’s Tufts University compared food questionnaires from 55,000 healthy women, finding that semivegitarians who consume just small amounts of animal based products were 11% less likely to be overweight or obese than those who ate animal products.( Newby, Tucker, and Wolk 2005).

The Journal of the American Dietetic Association study showed that people who ate and drank more calories from animal proteins were at greater risk of being overweight or obese than those who consumed less animal protein.(Murtaugh et al.2007)

The New England Journal of Medicine involving 120,000 men and women determined that a four year weight loss was associated with the intake of fruit, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains, while the consumption of red meat, processed meat, and sugar sweetened beverages was a risk factor for obesity. (Mozaffarian et al.(2011).

Why does a whole food, plant based diet promote weightloss? First, plant based foods are lower in calories (4 cal/gm) compared to fatty animal food (9cal/gm).Second, plant based food is high in fiber which tends to add to satiety . So we are left with a perfect combination of feeling full on less calories. It’s a win-win!

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”

- Albert Einstein (1879-1953)

Want to improve your mood? Take your workout outside; fresh air, open blue skies, the intoxicating smell of honeysuckle is a definite mood enhancer. Add a little exercise and you have found a formula for tranquility.

Research shows that as little as five minutes of outdoor physical activity improves mood and self-esteem.

Five minute mood boosters-

Take a quick lunch time walk to smell the fresh air and see the blue sky.

Run a fast mile, come back to work invigorateated!

Go play with your dog.

Garden

Step out on your patio for a mid-day stretch.

Organize family fun outdoors.

E

A recent study published in American Journal of Human Biology stated one way youngsters can reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors is to participate in high intensity training (HIT). The participants in the study included 47 boys and 10 girls who were 16 years of age. The subjects were divided into three groups: high intensity, moderate intensity, and a control group. Body mass, body composition, and blood pressure measurements were taken before and after intervention. A medical question was also administered.

Individuals in the high intensity group performed 30 second maximal effort sprint four times with a 30 second rest between each sprint; this was performed three times a week. As weeks progressed so did the intensity of the protocol, eventually performing six repititions with a 20 second recovery.

The moderate intensity group exercised at a 70% VO2 max. for 20 minutes three times a week.

The results of this study revealed that the moderate intensity group experienced improvements in BMI, body fat percentage, systolic blood pressure, and HDL and LDL cholesterol levels. The HIT group saw little improvement in BMI and body fat percentage; but experienced improvements in systolic blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

The studies authors stated ” It is not surprising that traditional endurance exercise appears to have the greatest effect on CVD risk factors over a 7 -week period; but brief intense exercise is a time efficient way to improve CVD risk factors in adolescents.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE- Today adolescents are on tremendous pressure to meet the increasing demands of life often at the expense of their health. This study demonstrates another option for our time pressed youth.