Love the Java

Whoa. Check this out. Coffee is actually kind of good for you. According to an article from the Associated Press, a recently study concluded that:

the average adult consumes 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants daily from coffee. The closest competitor was tea at 294 milligrams. Rounding out the top five sources were bananas, 76 milligrams; dry beans, 72 milligrams; and corn, 48 milligrams. According to the Agriculture Department, the typical adult American drinks 1.64 cups of coffee daily.

Building A Strong Foundation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - What you feed a newborn baby during the first week of life could be critical in deciding whether that baby grows up to be obese, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

They found that formula-fed babies who gained weight rapidly during their first week of life were significantly more likely to be overweight decades later.

"It suggests that there may be a critical period in that first week during which the body's physiology may be programed to develop chronic disease throughout life," said Dr. Nicolas Stettler, a pediatric nutrition specialist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The study also helps reinforce recommendations that mothers breast-feed their babies.

"For a variety of health reasons, the American Association of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breast-feeding during a baby's first six months of life," Stettler said. Breast-fed babies are less likely to be overweight.

In a special issue on obesity, the Heart Association said childhood obesity is such a critical public health problem that it could reverse the gains made over the last 50 years in reducing heart disease and death.

An estimated 16 percent of U.S. children are overweight and carry a significant risk of developing heart disease and diabetes while young adults.

"Only 64 percent of mothers initiate breast feeding, and only 29 percent of babies are still being breast fed when they are six months of age. Rates of initiation and duration are even lower among African-American women," said Dr. Stephen Daniels of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

The Heart Association published a statement calling for a multi-pronged approach to preventing childhood obesity involving families, the health care system, private insurers, government agencies, schools and the food and entertainment industries.

"If you think about all the environmental factors that have contributed to excess weight gain, then prevention has to take an across-the-board approach that doesn't just happen in the physician's office," Daniels said.

All children should have weight, height and body mass index -- used to calculate obesity -- tracked each year, the Heart Association recommended.

Facts are Facts, Except When They Change

I was recently listening to A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and in it he reflected on how some people feel that our kids are no longer being taught "facts" in school.

Zinn interprets the lack of "facts" in our schools as being a reflection of the times; that we has new perceptions and understandings of what have happened and are able to look at things in completely new ways, much as the article by Anna Quindlen (posted yesterday) indicated. Sometimes, what was once accepted as fact is now understood in a new light and that former "truth" is a fallacy.

For example, once upon a time, Christopher Columbus was a hero to be hailed by all red-blooded Americans. Eventually we were able to take another percpetive of the events, one that revealed a completely different aspect of his "discovery" of the New World.

History isn't the only thing that gets revised. For quite some time (my research shows that this started in 1991), there's been a campaign to encourage Americans to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. "They" (the government, I think) have done fairly well with this campaign. So well, in fact, that most people in my age group pretty much accept "five-a-day" as a "fact."

Well, this fact has now been revised. It's now nine servings a day. Actually, men are supposed to "shoot for 9," while women are encouraged to "aim for 7."

One might wonder where they get any of these numbers to begin with. Why was five servings considered enough at one time, but inadequate at another time? I have some theories, most of which involve the government cowing to certain well-endowed lobbyists (pun intended). Why was "five" revised to nine or seven? Good question. Will it be revised again in the future? Another good question....

Coffee, Coffee Everywhere!

A study conducted in Japan and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has suggested that drinking coffee can decrease the risk of certain types of liver cancer.

As Associated Press reporter Randolph E. Schmid writes:

A study of more than 90,000 Japanese found that people who drank coffee daily or nearly every day had half the liver cancer risk of those who never drank coffee. The protective effect occurred in people who drank one to two cups a day and increased at three to four cups.

They found the likely occurrence of liver cancer in people who never or almost never drank coffee was 547.2 cases per 100,000 people over 10 years.

But for people who drank coffee daily the risk was 214.6 cases per 100,000, the researchers report in this week's issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Bad News for Low-Carb Diets

A couple of days ago, I was talking to someone about low-carb diets and how many of the diet plans may not be very wholistic in their approach, thus requiring those that follow the diets to exclude some foods that are good for you, while asking those same people to induldge in other foods that may not be considered so healthful.

Well, here's some more evidence:

According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, older women who eat a relatively large amount of protein from red meat or dairy products may have an elevated risk of dying from heart disease.

The investigators found that among more than 29,000 postmenopausal women, those who reported the highest intake of protein from red meat and dairy products had a roughly 40 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease over the next 15 years compared with women with the lowest intake of these foods.

The risk would seem to stem from the protein intake itself, according to lead author Dr. Linda E. Kelemen, because her group considered the subjects' overall diet -- including intake of fat, fiber and total calories -- and factors such as exercise, smoking and body weight.

High-protein and fatty foods are staples of Atkins-style diets that shun carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta. Though these diets have been shown to spur weight loss and dips in blood cholesterol in the short term, many experts worry that if people stick with such a menu over time, it could spell trouble for the blood vessels and heart. [from Reuters - Health]

And, in another study, researchers found that a particular compound in carrots may be a potent cancer fighter, reducing malignancies in rats by a third.

"Perhaps the single most significant implication of this study is that it reaffirms dietary common sense in our era of dietary silliness," said Dr. David L. Katz, an associate clinical professor of public health and director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

Katz noted that some of the popular "low-carb" diets actually banish carrots because they have a high glycemic (sugar) index. "[This study] helps reveal the folly of this oversimplified and rigid interpretation of what constitutes good food," he said. [from HealthDay]

Diet Lowers Cholesterol

A diet rich in fiber and vegetables lowered cholesterol just as much as taking a statin drug, Canadian researchers reported on Monday.

David Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto and colleagues created what they called a diet "portfolio" high in soy protein, almonds, and cereal fiber as well as plant sterols — tree-based compounds used in cholesterol-lowering margarines, salad dressing and other products.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jenkins and colleagues said the low-fat diet lowered LDL — the low-density lipoprotein or "bad" cholesterol — by 8.5 percent after a month. Statins lowered LDL by 33 percent and the "portfolio" diet lowered LDL by nearly 30 percent. A quarter of the group, got their lowest LDL levels from being on the portfolio diet.

The portfolio was rich in soy milk, soy burgers, almonds, oats, barley, psyllium seeds, okra and eggplant.

[From Reuters - Health]

When a Blueberry isn't a Blueberry

Well, this is interesting. Check out this survey, sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The funny thing is, what you'll learn from this survey isn't so much about an anomaly of the food industry, but about a trend. For those interested in such things, I would recommend reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.

[To borrow from the book, the food industry homogenizes food with lots of "interesting" solutions in order to provide us consistent and uniform food from season to season and in all geographic locations (among other reasons). And then they'll still tell us they are selling us blueberries, even though they are really selling us figs.]

Plenty of Protein

Recently, I read in one of Renee's pregnancy magazines that it is recommended for pregnant women to increase the amount of protein they consume to at least 60 grams per day. This is a fairly healthy increase, as the amount of protein one should consume is figured out to be about .37 grams of protein for every pound the person weighs, and this goes up to .5 for pregnant women, plus an additional 25 grams.

The most popular way this is expressed — and admittedly much easier to remember — approximates 56 grams of protein as the recommended daily intake for men and 46 grams for women. The catch is that these numbers are based on a 154-pound man and a 127-pound woman.

I weigh 165 pounds and based on the formula, it's recommended that I should get about 60 grams of protein per day. Which is also the amount that is recommended for pregnant women (via the wholesale method).

We primarily eat vegetarian in our household, although Renee does occassionally eat meat. But to reassure anyone who may be worring, Renee is getting enough protein (as am I). Here's a sample of what Renee or I might eat during the day (although I usually prefer toast with peanut butter in the morning); all of the protein totals come from the USDA:

Breakfast
1 cup of cereal, with 8 oz skim milk: 9g
orange juice - 8 oz: 2g
Breakfast: 11g
Running Total: 11g

Snack
plain, low-fat yogurt - 8 oz: 12g
Snack: 12g
Running Total: 23g

Lunch
mixed fruit (pre-packaged, sweetened) - 8 oz: 4g
fast-food salad, with cheese and egg (no dressing) - 1.5 cups: 9g
Lunch: 13g
Running Total: 36g

Snack
Cottage cheese, lowfat, 2% milkfat. mixed with fruit - 1 cup: 33g
Snack: 33g
Running Total: 69g

Dinner
spaghetti, cooked - 1 cup: 7g
ready-to-eat marinara sauce - 1 cup: 5g
garlic bread - 1 slice: 2g
Dinner: 14g
Running Total: 83g

Snack
peanuts, all types, dry-roasted - 1 oz: 7g
Snack: 7g
Grand Total: 90g

The above sample menu, which is representative of what we would normally eat, gives us the equivalent of what is recommended for an intermediate/advanced level exerciser of roughly 165 pounds. The average 165-pound person (which I am) and most pregnant women (which Renee is) are recommended to get 60 grams. We hit that mark easily.

If you are eating meat, you are probably hitting the 60 gram mark very easily. But that's not necessarily a good thing. There are indications that excessive protein intake is at best wasteful and potentially harmful. For example, excessive protein intake has been linked with kidney problems and dehydration.

Long term studies of large groups show that a high protein/low carbohydrate diet increases the risk of kidney stones and bone loss. These findings were substantiated by a University of Texas study of 10 volunteers on a high protein/low carbohydrte diet for two weeks. Blood uric acid levels (uric acid is a major cause of kidney stones) rose 90% and urinary levels of citrate (which inhibits kidney stone formation) dropped 25%. And finally, any extra protein Calories (beyond what you are expending per day) are stored as fat, not muscle. [from Cycling Performance Tips]

Thus, if you're worried about someone not getting enough protein, odds are they are getting enough by simply eating enough calories (extremely low-calorie diets may not have the opportunity to provide recommended protein levels). And by eating enough calories, odds are, they will be easily falling within the "safe zone" of 50-100 grams for an average person.

Basically, protein is in virtually everything you eat.

Oh, and for anyone who may be worried about Aidan (yes, he's vegetarian, too), he's also getting enough protein. As a toddler, he only needs about 16 grams of protein (which figures out to be about .5 grams of protein for every toddler pound); two 8-ounce servings of milk — with no other supplements — meets Aidan's needs for protein. He, of course, eats other food as well....

Low-Fat for the Long Term

According to a story reported by the Associated Press, a new study indicates that those who have lost weight by limiting fat rather than cabohydrates are more likely to keep the weight off.

The study was based upon the National Weight Control Registry, which is a ten-year effort to learn the secrets of those who lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year. The registry run by doctors from the University of Colorado, the University of Pittsburgh, and Brown University.

This study followed 2,700 people between 1995 and 2003, their average age was 47, most were women, and they initially lost an average of 72 pounds.

The type of diet — low-fat or low-carb — was irrelevant in how people lost weight initially. However, those who regained the most weight a year later also increased their fat intake, even with reduced carbohydrate levels.

"Only a minority of successful weight losers consume low-carbohydrate diets," [Suzanne Phelan] and the other researchers concluded.

More than half of Americans who have tried a low-carb diet have given up, according to a recent survey by the market research firm InsightExpress. Other published survey information suggests that the number of Americans following such a diet peaked at 9 percent last February and fell to 6 percent by June.

The American Institute for Cancer Research used those trends to issue a statement in September urging dieters to "come back to common sense."

"Eat a balanced diet weighted toward vegetables and fruits, reduce portion sizes and increase physical activity," the institute said.

The Good Life (and food)

It looks like there's more evidence that a diet that follows a traditional Mediterranean diet provides lots of health benefits, such as a healthy blood profile, maintains healthy weight, and increases the odds of longevity.

This is particularly interesting to me as I'm trying to accomplish much of what this study seems to encourage, as by definition it looks like I do have the metabolic syndrom. Additionally, and perhaps just as important to me, it also supports a vegetarian diet:

In an Italian study of 180 people with the metabolic syndrome, those who ate a healthy Mediterranean diet had less inflammation and insulin resistance.

Patients on the Mediterranean diet ate twice as much fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains, olive oil, and omega-3 fats (largely from fish) — and half as much saturated fat — as the control group. Both groups consumed roughly equal amounts of alcohol, total fat, protein, and carbohydates.

After two years, signs of insulin resistance and inflammation (like C-reactive protein and interleukin-6) were lower and blood vessels were more flexible in the Mediterranean dieters than in the control group.

What's more, the Mediterranean group improved more than the control group on all measures of the metabolic syndrome — large waist size, low HDL ("good") cholesterol, and higher-than-optimal blood sugar, blood pressure, and triglycerides.

Although those in the study did get most of their omega-3 fatty acids from fish, there are plenty of vegetarian sources.

Another study in this particular issues of the Healthletter also mentions that those who follow the above mentioned Mediterranean diet are also less likely to die in their 70s and 80s. Throw in a moderate application of alcohol and regular physical activity, and the study group was 65% less likely to die of any cause during their 70s and 80s, including heart disease and cancer.

Whole Grains for General Mills

Kudos to General Mills!

General Mills announced Thursday that it will convert all of its breakfast cereals to whole grain.

General Mills spokesman Tom Johnson said the whole-grain conversion will include 29 cereals, including Trix, Golden Grahams, Lucky Charms and Rice Chex. Other General Mills cereals, such as Wheaties, Cheerios and Total, already were made with whole grain.

Lona Sandon, a nutritionist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said the new whole-grain cereals will be a huge improvement from their predecessors.

Fit for Life

I thought that Jack La Lanne was a nut, sort of like a Richard Simmons on steriods. Well, that may be a little harsh, but I'm trying to bring up an image for those who may not know who Jack La Lanne is.

La Lanne had a few fitness and exercise shows back in the 1950s. I obviously don't remember those (before my time), but he also had a few infomercials during the 80s and 90s. I do remember those.

He came across as an incredibly happy, gregarious, talkative ... well, Richard Simons-like personality, but with lots of muscles. Jack La Lanne turns 90 years old today and there was a story about him on NPR the other morning. He sounded completely lucid. The reporter described La Lanne as physically fit. This is starting to sound like maybe La Lanne really does know what he's talking about. Maybe getting health advice from a vibrant 90-year old seems to make some sense. Maybe he's not a crack-pot.

As an aside, and on a somewhat related topic, I've been having the strangest food cravings lately. Strange in that this isn't something that has ever really happend for me. Oddly enough, the healthier that I eat, the more I crave healthy food and the less I desire sugary, fatty foods. I"m not sure why that is, but that is what's happening.

Health Update - Thirteen Pounds Gone

I received the lab results from my latest round of blood tests, which were conducted last week. Since my original blood test three months ago, which revealed elevated triglyceride levels, I've been doing my best to eat low-fat. Mostly, that's entailed avoiding cheese and deep-fried foods. During this period, I've lost thirteen pounds (two in the last week).

But weight loss wasn't the main goal; it was to reduce my triglycerides. Thus, here are the results from the lab; I've included my cholesterol numbers from this new round of testing, because my triglycerides were so high last time it rendered the cholesterol readings from the first test inaccurate.

Cholesterol: 144 (should be < 200)
    HDL: 27 (>40)
    LDL: 67 (<130)
Triglycerides: 248 (<160)

So, my triglycerides are down from 420, but are still high. Thus, I'll keep doing what I'm doing, but only more of it (try to throw some exercise in there and still keep away from the fat). I've been a little lenient on the cheese restriction, so I'll have to clamp down on that (pizza once a month and parmesean on some pasta as needed).

My HDL (good cholesterol) is low, and the nurse recommended that I eat more fiber to help get this score higher. I haven't seen too much information on fiber increasing HDL levels, so I'm not sure what her suggestion is founded upon. But more fiber isn't a bad thing, so I'll try to comply. And it probably wouldn't hurt to actually exercise, too (just writing about it doesn't seem to help); there is evidence that exercise alone can increase HDL levels.

But I also found some interesting information in an article from the National Business Review (not exactly a major source of health news, I know; emphasis in the quote below is my own):

A May 2001 study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, using subjects with high triglyceride levels, found a diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids and omega-3 fats was far more effective in producing a healthy blood fat profile than the more commonly advocated low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.

After three weeks of the low-fat diet, serum triglyceride levels increased 63%, "bad" LDL cholesterol 19% and, most worrying of all, "good" HDL levels decreased 12%.

In contrast, after three weeks following a diet high in monounsaturated fats and [omega-3 fats], triglyceride levels dropped 63%, total cholesterol 22% and LDL levels 53% while HDL increased 8%.

Recently, numerous studies have examined the effect of adding nuts (rich in monounsaturated fatty acids) to a typical heart healthy diet. Using walnuts or pecan nuts in amounts as small as a quarter of a cup a day had produced significant positive changes to blood fats. By adding as little as 70g of pecan nuts to a low-fat high-carbohydrate diet the usual decline in protective HDL cholesterol was prevented. HDL levels actually increased 5.6%.

Looks like I should also re-focus some energy on what I'm eating. I'm going to do my very best to eat lots of beans, fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and soy.

I've obviously been able to reduce my triglyceride levels a significant amount by avoiding certain foods, and that was the easiest change in behavior for me. However, I still have some work in front of me, especially now that I know that the HDL score is low, too.

As a methodology, making a few small changes and adding others over time seems to be a good way of changing or altering my habits. If I had to give up cheese, fried food, plus exercise, and add/restrict other foods all at the same time, I think it would be too much for me and I would probably be setting myself up to fail.

Anyway, so far so good. Weight is coming off, I'm feeling good, and it looks like my blood profile is becoming healthier. Retest in 6 months.

Aw, Nuts

The Food and Drug Administration is allowing a qualified health claim on the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids.

Some of the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are:

• improved heart health


• reduced hypertension


• improve depression and symptoms of other mental health problems


• aid cancer prevention and cancer support

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends that fish should be consumed at least twice a week in order to get enough Omega-3 fatty acids. However, as Phil Lempert (food editor from the Today show) says: "The announcement should be considered in conjunction with a report on high levels of toxins in some fish."

But you don't need fish to get your omega-3 fix. There are other safer (and cheaper) food items that are very good sources of omega-3:

Oils
Soybean oil
Walnut oil
Flaxseed oil
Canola oil
Hemp oil

Dark-green vegetables
Kale
Collard greens
Chard
Parsley
Wheat and barley grass

Plants grown in cold climates
Hard red winter wheat
Cold-climate nuts (walnuts in particular)
Flaxseeds
Grains
Legumes
Pumpkin Seeds

Soy and tofu

Health Check Up

I haven't lost any weight in the last two weeks, but I also have been less strict about what I'm eating. For example, I had some pizza and (gasp) some cookies yesterday.

I've been trying to exercise more, and Renee and I have made a promise to each other to try and get out at least once on the weekend to go hiking, or biking or something. We did that yesterday (went on about a three-mile walk), and I was very tired and sore at the end of the day. Heck, I still am sore.

But tomorrow is my follow up appointment to get my triglycerides checked out. Hopefully I'll see an improvement!

Eleven Pounds Gone

I lost another pound over the last two weeks; that brings the total to eleven. I can't remember exactly what I ate during this period, but I am fairly certain that I wasn't very strict. I don't think there was any cheese, but there was probably some fried-something. I think. And I haven't been doing any extra exercising — just mowing the lawn.

Anyway, I'll be scheduling my doctor's appointment in the next week or so, and expect to have my results by the end of September, so I'll finally get a read on what my triglycerides are doing...

Low-fat, More Fruit, Less Weight

This six-year study found that adults who boosted their intake of fruit during the research period put on less weight and body fat than those whose fruit consumption dipped. The same benefit was seen among men and women who started drinking more skim or low-fat milk, or who cut back on fatty foods.

Ten Pounds Gone

[someone spammed my site and removed the first section of text here with a bunch of nasty link to other sites. I apologize to my readers for this and am now removing comments (and hopefully access to spammers) from all posts.

What follows below is all that remains of the original text.]

Yet somehow, (maybe it was that one trip to the pool?) I did manage to loose another two pounds (ten total). I wasn't particularly vigilant these last two weeks; I did have some pizza, and I think I did end up with a small amount of deep-fried tofu in one dish.

At least I'm still going in the right direction, at least in terms of weight loss; I only hope that my tryglicerides are also following suit.

We're going to try and get to the pool this week, but I do need to mow the lawn again (hopefully tonight and also maybe some more tomorrow night). But there's got to be an opportunity to exercise!

Diet Update

It's been a little over a month-and-a-half now since I've received the news about my high triglyceride levels. My basic strategy has been to limit my amount of fat intake by mostly focusing on eliminating cheese and deep fried food. Since doing so, I've lost about eight pounds but have seemed to have plateaued over the last two weeks, as I've maintained my loss of eight pounds.

The main goal here is to reduce my triglyceride levels, but there's no practical way of monitoring this on a frequent basis. I plan on going back to the doctor's for a new blood test in September, but until then the best I can do is use weight loss (which is also a good thing) as a way to measure progress.

To that end — and since I've plateaued in terms of weight loss — I'm going to have to change up what I'm currently doing.

Knowing how I am and what my habits are, when I learned that I needed to change my lifestyle for health reasons, I overtly choose to remove bad portions of my habits instead of adding new beneficial routines. That is, I was essentially prescribed to do two things: change my diet and exercise.

However, adding exercise to my routine has never really worked out for me in the past because my schedule can be so hectic and varied. I can never really depend on having any one moment available. As I've mentioned in other posts, mowing the lawn has been pretty much my sole means of exercise for some time.

But removing "bad" things, like cheese and deep fried food, was relatively easy and require no serious investment in time (other than trying to think of what I was going to eat).

However, now seems as good a time as any to try and add a little more exercise. Renee loves to swim and Aidan usually does (although the last couple of times we took Aidan to the pool he pretty much hated it). Hopefully, the three of us can go to the community pool and have fun together and then I can throw in a couple of laps to boot (Renee has also expressed interest in doing laps).

If we can do this three times a week, this will be a major boost to my activity and will hopefully contribute to additional weight loss (and help toward lowing my triglycerides).

Cheese is the Devil

It has been a little over a month since I have stopped eating cheese and fried food. Not only have I lost some weight, but I am also feeling less tired. I no longer have that late afternoon craving for sleep.

I didn't really make a connection of this increase in energy with my new diet until I read an article that spelled it out for me.

In the article, they say, "If you're always gobbling down foods such as muffins, pizza, french fries and donuts, you may not be getting the vitamins and minerals needed to fuel your brain."

Well, that was me. And this further goes to support my theory that if any food really is evil, it has to be cheese. It is just so tasty and yet there really aren't very many redeeming qualities (nutritionally) that cheese offers. As personal evidence, I've lost at about eight pounds in four weeks with only two modifications to my lifestyle: no cheese, no fried food.

Additionally, there are other sources of calcium (such as spinach, tofu, chick peas) and other sources of protein (tofu, nuts, beans, eggs). All of which are much lower in fat than cheese and don't affect people who are lactose intolerant. So, really, there's no need for cheese, except as a nice tasty treat.

Anyway, as the article mentions, they recommend a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains such as breads, cereal, pasta, rice and barley in order to increase energy and brain activity. They also recommend foods with omega-3 fatty acids, of which flax seed oil is a very good source (it's very easy to add to a smoothie).

Vitamin C (easily found in citrus fruits, kiwi, broccoli) helps fight fatigue associated with anxiety and stress. Chromium (found in such foods as apples, bananas, potatoes) helps maintain steady blood-sugar levels and helps the body produce energy. Potassium (bananas, seeds, nuts, beans) helps regulate the nervous system, which may boost mental energy.

Omega-3 fatty acids, which as I mentioned can be found in flax seed oil, are believed to enhance communication between brain cells, in turn improving concentration and memory.

Grains are packed with carbohydrates, a source of energy for the body and brain.

Eight Pounds Gone

Since my last update on my new dietary and nutrition habits, I have lost another three pounds, bringing the total number to eight.

As I mentioned in that previous entry, I've been doing this primarily by avoiding cheese (really, dairy in general) and fried food. I will still pan-fry food, so the limitation is really to deep fry. Also, I'm trying to make some other low-fat choices as well, such as not pan frying with butter.

I will have to admit that I did eat some pizza during the last two weeks, which is traditionally part of my company's quarterly kick-off meeting (it's not actually my company, but you hopefully know what I mean). Other than that, I don't think I intentionally "cheated." However, that one pizza-eating moment may explain why I only dropped three pounds during these two weeks as opposed to the five that I lost during the first two weeks.

Five Pounds Gone

Since my physical (about two weeks ago) I've done my best to stay away from fried food and cheese (with the sole exception of a little bit of grated Parmesan on my pasta). I have also tried to choose low-fat options whenever possible.

As of this morning, it appears that I've lost five pounds! I have no idea how my triglyceride levels are, but the positive sign of weight loss is definitly encouraging.

Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit

We humans all obviously need to breathe. Oxygen is the key ingredient. But oxygen can be quite devastating. In fact, for most species on Earth, oxygen is toxic. Even we humans can only take it in small doses. And the little bit that we can tolerate, it is thought, contributes to the deterioration of our cells and may even affect the aging process.

Antioxidants fight damage to cells from oxygen, also known as "free radicals." Thus, eating foods rich in antioxidants is a good thing. So what's to eat?

According to scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the twenty most antioxidant-rich foods are:

1. Small red beans (dried).
2. Wild blueberries.
3. Red Kidney beans.
4. Pinto beans.
5. Blueberries (cultivated).
6. Cranberries.
7. Artichokes (cooked).
8. Blackberries.
9. Prunes.
10. Raspberries.
11. Strawberries.
12. Red Delicious apples.
13. Granny Smith apples.
14. Pecans.
15. Sweet cherries.
16. Black plums.
17. Russet potatoes (cooked).
18. Black beans (dried).
19. Plums.
20. Gala apples.

Here's more from a HealthDay article:

The new Top 20 list, published in the June issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, "is a relative ranking of the capacity of foods to interfere with or prevent oxidative processes and to scavenge free radicals," explained list co-creator Ronald L. Prior, a USDA nutritionist and research chemist based in Little Rock, Ark.

Prior and his colleagues used the most advanced technologies available to tabulate antioxidant levels in more than 100 different types of fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts and spices.

There's "still a lot we haven't learned" about why some foods are richer in antioxidants than others, Prior said. Even though the small red bean came out on top, "we don't have a lot of information on beans," he added.

But Prior cautioned that just because a food has proven to be antioxidant-rich in the USDA's lab, that doesn't mean all those nutrients will be successfully absorbed by the human digestive tract.

"As we learn more and more, we're finding that, depending on the chemical makeup of antioxidants in different foods, some of them aren't apparently absorbed as well, or else they are metabolized in a form where they are no longer antioxidants," he said.

Change of Diet

I had a physical last week; it's the first physical that I've had in a very long time (I can't remember when I had my last one). Everything is pretty much good and under control; here are the highlights:

• I've been diagnosed with asthma. This usually becomes an issue for me while (or after) mowing the lawn. Since this is my primary means of exercise, I don't really want to give up mowing the lawn, so the doctor prescribed an asthma inhaler for me, as well as some other allergy-type medicine. The asthma itself is pretty mild, so this should help and allow me to continue mowing the lawn. However, we can step up the treatment if necessary and upgrade to a steroid inhaler, but that'll be a future decision made on how things work out.
• My blood test came back with everything at very good levels (my cholesterol is about 146). However, I do have an issue with triglycerides, probably due to the amount of fried food and cheese that I eat. (My triglycerides came back at over 400 mg/dL; normal levels should be at or under 150 mg/dL.) However, since my triglyerides were so high, they really couldn't expect to get a very accurate reading of my cholesterol.

Thus, I'm going to make a conscious effort to eliminate fried food and cheese from my diet and eat as low fat as I possibly can. In addition, I'll need to make sure that I have more reasonable portions (as opposed to super-sized portions) and I'll try to fit in a little more exercise and then get my triglycerides tested again in September.

My vegetarian diet has probably served me pretty well in terms of cholesterol and triglycerides; adding meat to the equation would be yet another source of fat that would have to be monitored and, knowing me, would have contributed a few unneeded trips to the fast-food places. Some low-fat diets also recommend fatty fish, since they are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which is considered "good" fat. Flax seed oil is also a very good source of this, and I usually include some flax seed oil in my smoothies; I guess I'll just be more diligent about how much and how frequently I use it.

Good Eats

McDonald's doesn't necessarily say that its food is "health food," but it doesn't say that its bad for you, either.

Most kids probably dream of eating nothing but McDonald's all day, every day and most parents probably wouldn't let their kids eat with such reckless abandon. Still, a lot of people eat a lot of fast food, if only for the convenience factor. Then we rationalize the frequency of eating fast food by forgetting the "fast" part and remembering the "food" part; since it's "food," it must be nutritious.

What would happen if kids could indulge in their fantasy of eating McDonald's food every day for every meal? We could theorize about it and discuss it to no end, but someone wanted hard evidence. That someone was Morgan Spurlock.

Spurlock decided to make a movie out of the experience and the end result is a film, which will be released on May 7, called Super Size Me. The basic idea was that Spurlock would live on nothing but McDonald's for an entire month with three simple rules:

1) No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!)
2) No supersizing unless offered
3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once

The end result? Spurlock gained about 25 pounds; his cholesterol went up 65 points; he complained of chronic headaches and the doctors who were monitoring him referred to his liver as pâté.

Maybe Spurlock's test environment isn't all that realistic. Other than the blatently irresponsible, no one really does that. Right?

Everything revolved around the student center when I was in college (and it probably is still that way at UT). The student center had (not sure what is there now) a Wendy's and a Taco Bell and a Pizza Hut, to name just a few fast food restaurants. If you were being remotely social at all, you were hanging out at these places. But it was also a convenient location, so if you got hungry at all while on campus, you probably looked for food here.

So, think about needing the convenience of fast food because of a busy college schedule combined with the repressed childhood fantasy of eating fast food all the time. The end result is pretty much what I saw while in college: fast food joints readily available on campus providing virtually every meal to college kids who didn't have the willpower (or desire) to walk away.

An eating pattern is created and it carries through; I still see this with adults, although it isn't nearly as intense. But it's still the "fall back" position; the default behavior. When time is short and there is a certain amount of pressure to find a meal, odds are, it will be fast food. And that probably happens more often than you think.

I have difficulties staying away from fast food and they don't even offer all that much for vegetarians (I usually end up with a Wendy's salad or the Veggie Burger from Burger King). It is a very tough pattern to break.

Maybe Spurlock's scenario really isn't all that far fetched....

Thinnest People Eat a Lot of This Food

[from Netscape news]

A four-nation study of more than 4,000 men and women ages 40 to 59 has produced a stunning conclusion in our Atkins diet-fueled society: The thinnest people on Earth eat the most carbohydrates. Even more alarming, the people who eat the most protein are actually the heaviest.

"Without exception, a high-complex-carbohydrate, high-vegetable-protein diet is associated with low body mass," study leader Linda Van Horn of Northwestern University said in a news conference reported by Reuters. "High-protein diets were associated with higher body weight."

Before you reach for the nearest doughnut, realize that the carbs that do a body good aren't from french fries and white bread that contain lots of sugar. They are complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

In the Northwestern study, more than 4,000 people from the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and China wrote in a food diary everything they had eaten during two 24-hour periods. "Lo and behold, what we did find is that without exception, a high complex-carbohydrate, high-fiber, high vegetable-protein diet was associated with low body mass index Van Horn explained. A low body mass index or BMI is a standard measure of healthy weight.

But also notable is this finding: The more animal protein that was consumed, the higher the person's weight. And the greater risk to his or her health. "I think any diet that recommends increasing the amount of saturated fat poses a risk," said Randal J. Thomas of the Mayo Clinic. "There may be good things about the diet...but any diet that recommends increases in saturated fat could be increasing the risk in the population."

The Pre-Industrial Diet

I heard a fairly interesting story this morning on NPR about a group of people who eat virtually anything they want, yet have an obesiety rate that is far below that of the United States. How do they do it and who are they?

"They," in this case, are the Amish. And they eat a caloric diet that is at least on par with the average american diet, and perhaps has even more calories. But they work it off, and then some. Of this particular Amish population, only 4% are considered obese; one-third of Americans are overweight, and an additional one-third are considered obese.

It is recommended that the average American should walk at least 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles), although the reality is that the average American walks far less than that. The Amish men in this study averaged 18,000 steps a day, the women took more than 14,000 steps. One overacheiver took 50,000 steps, the equivilant of 25 miles.

Here's to walking!

Toddlers Have Bad Eating Habits

Lots of people ask why we are raising Aidan as a vegetarian. There are lots of reasons, one of which is illustrated in a study that was recently commissioned by baby-food maker Gerber Products Co.

Basically, by choosing a vegetarian diet, we are more likely (and encouraged) to offer healthier foods for Aidan, although we do sometimes lean upon some of the same crutches as other parents: Aidan eats his share of pizza and cheese....

We don't succeed all of the time, but generally speaking, I think we do pretty well. At least, it is harder for us to fall into the fast-food trap, if only because they don't offer anything for us, which ultimately is a healthier thing for us as a family and should help Aidan form better habits even if he chooses not to eat vegetarian later in life.

The study basically found that, as the title of this entry indicates, toddlers have bad eating habits. If you would like to read the entire story about the study, you can do so here. Here is an excerpt:

The study involved random telephone interviews conducted in 2002 that asked parents or primary caregivers what their youngsters ages 4 months to 2 years ate that particular day.

Up to a third of the children under 2 consumed no fruits or vegetables, according to the survey. And for those who did have a vegetable, french fries were the most common selection for children 15 months and older.

Nine percent of children 9 months to 11 months old ate fries at least once per day. For those 19 months to 2 years old, more than 20 percent had fries daily.

Hot dogs, sausage and bacon also were daily staples for many children — 7 percent in the 9-to-11 month group, and 25 percent in the older range.

More than 60 percent of 12-month-olds had dessert or candy at least once per day, and 16 percent ate a salty snack. Those numbers rose to 70 percent and 27 percent by age 19 months.

Thirty to 40 percent of the children 15 months and up had a sugary fruit drink each day, and about 10 percent had soda.

Shield said early diets strongly influence children, whose food preferences are generally shaped between ages 2 and 3.

Just in case you are interested in what Aidan consumed so far today:
milk (cow's and mommy's); water; yogurt; bagel; cream cheese; mango (x2), peas; tofu; broccoli; rice; fruiti bootie; two tater tots with ketchup; small piece of veggie burger; one honey roasted peanut; one slice of pickle.

Increased Diabetes Risk

I heard a story on NPR this morning about the possibility of increasing the risk of Type I diabetes by introducing infants to solid foods too early. Pretty interesting.....

Abstract from the Diabetes Journal:

Using a case-control study design, we examined the hypothesis that early exposure to cow's milk and solid foods increased the risk of IDDM. An infant diet history was collected from 164 IDDM subjects from the Colorado IDDM Registry with a mean birth year of 1973, and 145 nondiabetic population control subjects who were frequency matched to diabetic subjects on age, sex, and ethnicity. Early exposure was defined as exposure occurring before 3 mo of age. After controlling for ethnicity, birth order, and family income, more diabetic subjects were exposed early to cow's milk (OR 4.5, 95% CI 0.9-21.4) and solid foods (OR 2.5, CI 1.4-4.3) than control subjects. To examine this association while accounting for the genetic susceptibility to IDDM, we defined individuals as high and low risk by an HLA-DQB1 molecular marker. Early exposure to cow's milk was not associated with elevated risk for IDDM in low-risk individuals. Relative to unexposed low-risk individuals, early exposure to cow's milk was strongly associated in individuals with a high risK marker (OR 11.3, CI 1.2-102.0). Similar findings were observed for early exposure to solid foods. These data indicate that early exposure to cow's milk and solid foods may be associated with increased risk of IDDM. The inclusion of HLA-encoded risk in the analyses demonstrates the combined effect of genetic and environmental factors.

other journals that cite this study (click to read full text):
JAMA
Diabete Journal
Pediatrics
Journal of the American College of Nutrition