of 8
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shaping up:CALORIES IN
VS
CALORIES OUT
healthy children:
MORE FRUITS
& VEGGIES,
PLEASE!
research:
APOE GeneLinked to
Alzheimerssenior life:
THE DOG DAYS
OF SUMMER:
HYPERTHERMIARISK
PROTOTYPE August 2010
healthy living fighting addiction diabetes check fitness by the numb
healthsourcesouth jersey
prevention:
HEART
HEALTHY
LIFESTYLE
FREE
sjhealthsource.com
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Conventional wisdom on dietary fats has
changed. Once, all fats were deemed un-
healthy, and responsible for all manner ofdiseases, from cardiovascular disease to
diabetes. But years of research have
changed our thinking. We now start with
the premise that all fats are not createdequalthat there are good fats, bad fats,possibly-not-so-bad fats, and very bad fats.
Let's take a closer look:
The Good: Unsaturated FatsAs oxymoronic as it sounds, there are actu-ally good fatsthe unsaturated kind that
help fight the very diseases that consuming
excess fat was said to cause. These unsatu-rated fats are divided into monounsaturated
fats and polyunsaturated fats, and bothtypes are thought to have beneficial effectson cholesterol levels.
Monounsaturated fats help lower LDL
(bad) cholesterol while also boosting HDL
(good) cholesterol. Polyunsaturated fats
are also thought to help lower total and badcholesterol. But monounsaturated fats tend
to be favored over polyunsaturated fats
because some research suggests that poly-
unsaturated fats are less stable, and can
reduce levels of good
cholesterol as well asbad.
But let's not ignore
polyunsaturated fats.
These are often a goodsource of omega-3 fatty
acids, found mostly incold-water fish, nuts,
oils and seeds, and alsoin dark leafy greens,
flaxseed oils and some
vegetable oils. One kind
of omega-3fatty acid is an
"essential fatty acid,"
which cannot be manu-factured by our bodies,
so eating these foods is
the only way to getthem. Omega-3 fatty
acids are thought to
lower blood pressure,
combat LDL (bad) cho-lesterol, fight inflamma-tion and protect the
brain and nervous sys-
tem.
Most cooking oils aremade up primarily of unsaturated
fats. When it comes to choosingcooking oils, each type of cook-
ing oil varies in its ratio of
monounsaturated to polyunsatu-
rated fats. Two oils stand out for their high
levels of monounsaturated fats: canola oil
and olive oil. Other than nonstick cookingspray, these two oils should be in your
pantry.
At the end of the day, a good fat is still a
fat in terms of calories. Any labels oncooking oil that describe the oil as "light,"are referring to the taste or color, not the
fat or calorie content. All oils are 100 per-
cent fat and are worth around 120 calories
per tablespoon.
The Bad: Saturated FatsThen there are the bad fatsthose artery-
clogging saturated fats from meat anddairy products. These fats are solid at room
temperature. Saturated fats not only clogour arteries, they also directly raise totaland LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Avoid
them as much as possible.
But, we are told, some saturated fats may
not bad at all: some argue that coconut oil
and palm oil may actually be beneficialbecause their particular fatty-acid make-up
means they are metabolized differently in
the body. Stearic acid, found in animal
products and in some foods such as choco-
late, gets a pass because much of it is con-
verted by the body into oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated fat. So it could be that some
saturated fats may be more beneficial, or at
least more neutral, than we think, but there
is no broad consensus on this yet. Andwhile coconut oil and palm fruit oil have
been rehabilitated in the eyes of some,there are fewer proponents of palm kernel
oil.
The Worst: Trans FatsFinally, there are what are now describedas the really bad fats: trans fats, also
known as hydrogenated fats. Trans fats are
created during a hydrogenation process,
where liquid vegetable oils are convertedinto solid fats. Trans fats are thought to beworse for us than saturated fats because
they not only raise total and LDL (bad)
cholesterol, they also lower HDL (good)
cholesterol.
Trans fats lurk in all kinds of processed
foods, from French fries to cookies.Thanks to new food-label laws, which
came into effect in January 2006, trans
fatsonce described as hidden fatsare
now listed on all packaged foods. And in
the year or two before these label lawscame into effect, there was a lot of mediaattention focused on trans fats, and what
food manufacturers were doing to reduce
trans fats in their products. But has this
increased our awareness of these bad fats
made an impact on our eating habits?
In a survey by the NPD Group, a marketresearch firm, 94 percent of us are aware
of trans fats, and 73 percent of us are con-
cerned about them. But although most con-
sumers were aware that french fries andother fried foods contained trans fats, theywere less aware of the trans-fat content in
other processed goods such as cakes,
doughnuts, and snack foods. Indeed, 65
percent of consumers believed restaurant
food was more likely to contain trans fatsthan food eaten at home. And despite con-
sumers expressing a desire to avoid trans
fats while eating out, sales of foods con-taining trans fats, such as fried chicken, are
still increasing. Either we're as confusedas ever, or we choose to disregard what weknow. It's hard to pass up those delicious
fast-food fries or refuse to buy our favorite
packaged cookies or doughnuts. But with
many restaurants switching to alternative
cooking oilsvoluntarily or otherwise, itlooks like trans fats are finally on their
way out.
The Fuss About Fatsby Fiona Haynes
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As a dietitian and a mom of three young
children, I naturally have a bowl of fruit on
the kitchen table. You may
think that this has always
been the case. The truth is
that it wasnt. The practice of
having fresh fruit sitting out
didnt occur to me until I had
a friend from out of townvisit me. This was during the
time when I only had one
young child and was studying
nutrition. The light bulb went
off. I realized fruit wasnt a
big part of our diet. I concen-
trated on vegetables and
whole grains because ironi-
cally, I am allergic to many
fruits.
Of course placing a bowl of
apples, pears, and bananas in
a colorful bowl from Crate
and Barrel isnt enough. True to what I
have learned about childrens eating habits,
slicing fruit and placing it at an easy-to-
reach location right after school does the
trick. Serving dips like ranch dressing or
peanut butter with carrots for dinner also
works. This holds true for adults too.
Imagine being served fresh slices of
peaches and plums right before the end of
dinner. Sounds yummy doesnt it? Thats
right, youll actually eat it vs. just staring
at a lonely whole peach sitting in front of
you. Please, try this experiment at home!
Lonely fruit and vegetables seems to be a
national phenomenon. According to the
USDA, fewer than 15 percent of elemen-
tary students eat the recommended 5 or
more servings of fruits
and vegetables every
day. Furthermore, av-
erage fruit and vegeta-
ble intake among 6-11
year olds is only 3.5
servings a day 1.
Does low fruit andvegetable intake really
matter when children
are young? Chronic illness such as heart
disease, stroke, and cancer are usually con-
cerns for adults. However, life-long posi-
tive eating habits (such as eating low fat
foods, consuming foods with high fiber,
eating less processed foods) are habit-
forming when started young. Furthermore,
certain diseases such as diabetes and high
cholesterol are starting to appear in chil-
dren who are overweight. Finally, fruitsand vegetables have so many naturally
occurring vitamins, minerals, phytochemi-
cals, and fiber that are good for your
health.
Are our busy lifestyles to blame? Cer-
tainly, if you have kids you are getting in
the car to go somewhere (to a restaurant, to
soccer practice, etc.). Packaged food such
as chips or power bars are very convenient
and there is something about opening up a
package that seems so easy compared to
slicing up that lonely piece of fruit. It
really is just a mindset though. Once you
start packing up the fruits and veggies in
Tupperware containers you will get in the
habit. Plus, fruits and veggies are low in
calories and fill you up.
We are constantly bombarded with food
advertisements and not necessarily for
healthy food such as fruits and vegetables.
In
fact, children 2 to 11 years old are exposed
to an average of 150 to 200 hours of com-
mercial messages, or 20,000 commercials
a year and the majority of these advertise-
ment are for cereals, candies, or other
sweets.
So, what is a parent to do? Role modeling
is my motto. If you are eating your fruits
and vegetables, your children will too. In
2002, researchers at Pennsylvania State
University examined parental pressure
(finish your vegetables or do as I say)
vs. role modeling (do as I do) among
191 five year old girls. The results showed
that a daughters fruit and vegetable intake
was positively related to their parents re-
ported fruit and vegetable intake.
healthy children:
More Fruits &
Veggies, Please!By Anne Kolker MS Registered Dietitian
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So what can you do this week?
Get your kids involved:
Have them choose the veggies
and fruit they want when you are
at the store.
Let the kids create a fruit kebob
for a snack. Lay out the different
fruit in an assembly line. Trypineapple, grapes, sliced straw-
berries, and more.
Create a rainbow chart with dif-
ferent colors representing the
different fruit. When you eat
blueberries, mark this down in
the blue section.
Plan to go to the farmers market
this weekend.
Have your kids create a fruit
salad; this is great for building
motor skills in young children
(remember to slice grapes in half
as they can be a choking hazard
for young kids).
Keep a chart and see how easy it
is to get fruit and veggies into
your diet. Here are examples of
one serving of fruit or veggie: a
small banana, 6 strawberries,
cup of raisins, cup of mini
carrots or broccoli.
Grow your own fruit and veg-
gies. Go to your local nursery
and purchase seeds. If you have a
small back yard, just use pots.
Home grown veggies really taste
great.
Buy one less packaged item
(crackers) and replace it with
kiwis or some sugar snap peas.
Add sliced bananas on top ofpancakes.
Try making fresh applesauce
(link to recipe?)
Limit packaged fruit (Jell-O and
fruit) or canned fruit with syrup.
Plan the night before. If you are
off to the zoo tomorrow, get the
lunch boxes out, wash the grapes
and mini carrots.
When your kids get home from
school, have the sliced fruit on
the table and eat this snack to-
gether.
Limit fruit juice as many brands
have added sugar. Although
100% with added vitamin C
seems like a good choice, real
fruit is still a better choice (real
fruit contains fiber, vitamins and
minerals).
Try something new: grilled as-
paragus with prosciutto. Try taste testing events with dif-
ferent veggies and dips and dif-
ferent varieties of fruit.
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By comparing genome-wide data and
brain MRIs from more than 700 peo-ple, scientists have confirmed that 4suspect genes are tied to Alzheimersdisease. The researchers also linkedthe disease to 2 new genes, offeringunexpected targets for future research.
Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible,progressive brain disease. It starts withmild memory problems and ends withsevere brain damage. In most affectedpeople, symptoms first appear afterage 60.
Research suggests that Alzheimer'sdisease is up to 80% heritable, but un-til recently only one gene, knownas APOE, had been linked to diseaserisk and age at onset. Last year, ge-nome-wide association studies identi-fied 3 additional chromosome regions,or loci, that affect Alzheimer's risk. Still,the underlying causes of the diseaseremain mostly unknown. In the newstudy, reported in the June 2010 issueof the Archives of Neurology, scientistssearched for connections between
gene variants and specific brain
changes typical of Alzheimer's disease.The researchers drew on publiclyavailable data collected for the Alz-heimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initia-tive. This research consortium con-ducts genome-wide analyses and col-lects neuroimaging and other data onolder adults from across North Amer-ica. The initiative is a public-privatepartnership funded primarily by NIHsNational Institute on Aging (NIA) andNational Institute of Biomedical Imag-ing and Bioengineering (NIBIB), along
with pharmaceutical companies andother organizations.
The scientists analyzed data on 168Alzheimer's patients, 357 people withmild cognitive impairment (a precursorto Alzheimer's disease) and 215 whowere cognitively normal. They scouredMRIs for structural traits in 6 brain re-gions linked to Alzheimer's disease,
including changes in the size of thea-mygdala and hippocampus.
The researchers found that APOE had
the strongest association with clinicalAlzheimer's disease and was linked toall the neuroimaging traits except one.The 3 genes identified last year, alongwith 2 new target genes, had a sign-cant cumulative effect on all 6 neuroi-maging traits. The newly identifiedgenesBIN1 and CNTN5are knownto contribute to neuron function, al-though their roles are poorly under-stood.
"The genes we identified, and othergenes that they interact with, will pro-vide good targets for drug developmentin the future," says study coauthor Dr.Alessandro Biffi of MassachusettsGeneral Hospital and the Broad Insti-tute. "Still, with the information wehave, we're not able to provide anytype of personalized medicine for Alz-heimer's disease, mainly because theeffects of these gene variants are veryweak."
UNRAVELING
ALZHEIMERSBrain Scans Support Genes' Role in Alzheimer's Disease
By Vicki Contie
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Obesity
The term obesity is used to describe the
health condition of anyone significantlyabove his or her ideal healthy weight. A
BMI of 30 or higher indicates obesity. A
BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered
overweight. Don't be discouraged by the
term obesity. It simply means you are 20%or more above your ideal weight and youare not alone. Between 60 and 70% of
Americans are either overweight or obese.
Being obese puts you at a higher risk for
health problems such as heart disease,
stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and
more.
Reduce calories in and in-crease calories out.
Losing weight means changing the balance
of calories in to calories out. If we eat
more calories than we need, we gainweight. If we eat fewer calories than we
use, we lose weight.
So start with good information: you needto know how many calories you should eat
each day for your individual level of activ-
ity, and then you'll need to find ways to
stay within your limits. To successfully
and healthfully lose weightand keep itoffmost people need to subtract about
500 calories per day from their diet to lose
about 1 pound per week.
You might even keep a food journal at first
to help you notice how much you are eat-
ing and whether you're eating out of habitinstead of real hunger. When you are aware
of your roadblocks you can plan alterna-tive choices.
Recognize your roadblocks
A couple days of tracking your calories can
help figure out how to dodge the food
traps.
Decide ahead of time how you will dealwith your habits and temptations to veer
off course.
When you're offered a slab of chocolate
cake, you can politely and firmly turn it
down. Or you might keep some appleslices on hand and opt for those instead.
Educate yourself
And educate yourself. Read up on healthy
food preparation, like steaming your veg-gies and avoiding extra fats. Read food
labels and avoid foods that are high in
sugar, saturated fat, trans fat and calories.Increase calories burned
Regular physical activity, even 30 minutes
a day, has so many proven benefits. Allhealthy adults (ages 18 to 65) should get at
least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity
physical activity at least five days a week,
OR at least 20 minutes of vigorous-
intensity physical activity at least three
days a week.
Besides helping you lose weight, it also
helps reduce your abdominal fat and pre-
serve muscle during weight loss.
The amount any individual person needsfor weight loss can vary, but a good planincludes 30 to 45 minutes of moderate
physical activity, like brisk walking, done
nearly every day. Find something you can
do and find ways to enjoy it. Take a stroll
or a jog with a friend or your dog. Enjoy a
video that gets you moving.
Remember to focus on your goal: feeling
your best and living a healthy life. In the
long run, you'll be so glad you invested in
your health.
Calories
InVS
Calories
Out
weight loss:
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