Healthful Bites

    31 Jul 2010

    Eats to Sleep Sounder; Fat or Obese?

    It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done my usual Good for you news post—it’s about time to get with it, don’t you think? Away we go!

    Nod Off Noshes

    Over the years, you’ve probably heard countless tips about foods that will induce sleep. That Thanksgiving feast makes you drowsy? Must be the turkey! Can’t put your mind to rest at the end of the day? Sip on a tall, warm glass of milk. While this advice won’t harm you, it is sometimes not based in science.

    A Washington Post reporter recently delved into this topic and discovered that many more foods keep us awake then put us to sleep. The women involved in a recent Sleep Medicine study who ate more fat in their diets slept less at night, took more naps and racked up fewer minutes of restful sleep during the experiment than women who took in less fat. Being obese was also associated with fewer quality zzz’s, possibly linked to a case of sleep apnea, researchers said.

    Here are a few tricks to remember so your sleep comes easier:

    • Avoid caffeine if you are sensitive to it. Some forms can stay in your system and affect sleep up to 12 hours after consumption!
    • Ditch the alcohol if you need restful slumber. It may interfere with restorative REM sleep.
    • Popping a cup of red grapes may boost melatonin (an important hormone involved in sleep) levels a bit.
    • Warm beverages such as herbal teas or heated milk will probably help you feel more relaxed, but probably don’t have any chemical components that make you nod off.
    • You would need to consume about one full pound of turkey to accumulate a siesta-inducing amount of tryptophan. 

    Exercising often and strenuously is a sure-fire way to help me to doze off in a short amount of time. What works for you?

     (Image from Karrels)

    I could not stop laughing at this! Holy smokes, could this puppy be more adorable?!?


    Chubby Connotations 

    England’s public health minister is on a mission to ban “obese” from the vocabulary of health professionals, the BBC reports. Anne Milton says that “fat” is more likely to initiate action to improve health than obese, which she claims is less direct, more medical and less likely to encourage “personal responsibility.” It’s all about connotation, isn’t it?

    Opponents have fought back, asserting that calling someone fat is more likely to offend them than to spur them to action. Obesity is a condition, while fat is an adjective describing an individual, one public health professor says. 

    With all of the focus on political correctness these days, what is your opinion on this topic? Should doctors be very direct and possibly stigmatize their patients by saying fat or stick with the more clinical term obese?

     (Image from Zazzle)

    I guess it’s all about the way you think about it! Either way, this guy certainly is in no need of this shirt…


    Water cooler conversation starter: In an attention-seeking shocking health news story, a U.K. study has declared that cell phones are, on average, 18 times dirtier than public restroom flushing handles. While the germs on either generally don’t make us sick right away, they do illuminate areas that display poor hygiene of the user(s). Researchers claim that about one in every four cell phones in the U.K. could actually make the owner sick. 

    I’ve taken to giving my phone a quick wipe with a disposable disinfectant wipe every few days (avoiding all electronic in/out holes), especially now that I am often grabbing subway handles and other grimy items around the city. Do you pay attention to the cleanliness of your electronics, or just hope that the bugs will die off eventually/ be too weak to cause illness?

    1 Apr 2010

    Drive Thru News

    Forget the Drive Thru Diet, pull right up to order some drive-thru health highlights! (Or Carry Out if you’re Justin Timberlake and TImbaland ;) ) Browse the menu below and make your order by clicking on the links to learn more. You can’t make a bad choice…

    • Take off some body padding and pad your bank account— that’s the idea behind European bicycle tour brand Digngo’s new client activity incentive plan. You burn a calorie? You earn three-and-a-half cents! Participants could easily make more than 50 dollars during the usual four hour tour (Los Angeles Times, March 30). 
    • Get this: you can slash your risk of dying from heart disease by 30 percent by taking small steps each day. Simply eat three plus servings of vegetables and your heart will be happy! (Women’s Health, April 2010). Frozen veggies count too!
    • You’d think that looking more like the Michelin Man than the crash test dummy would be a good thing in the event of a car crash. But new research says you’d be wrong! Obese males are more likely to experience upper body injuries during auto accidents than “normal” weight males due to center of gravity and shape differences. No matter what size, everyone should buckle up though! (Los Angeles Times, March 29).

     (Cartoon from BifSniff)

    Ha! This tickles my funny bone.

    • Lately, many have been giving exercise a bad rap when it comes to weight loss and maintenance. While it’s true that it’s way easier to scarf down a Krispy Kreme than run three miles, physical activity plays a big role in overall wellness. Among women who had lost weight through diet and exercise, only the participants who maintained their active lifestyles kept off the more dangerous visceral (deep abdominal) fat. 
    • Cheer up at the spa! Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that massage may help alleviate symptoms of depression. While more research is needed, the relaxing practice could be a wise choice in addition to other treatments, such as  psychotherapy or medication, when necessary. Non-depressed individuals have rough times too—and a simple indulgence like massage can easily brighten anyone’s day! For more all-natural mood boosters, check out this article from the most recent issue of Women’s Health.
    • Time for a movie break! Individuals who saw a funny movie clip ate three cookies less than study participants who didn’t watch anything, says a study from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. You know me: I love a good flick! Who’s up for a movie date? “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” looks good for some laughs :) (SELF, April 2010).

     (Image from Delaware Online)

    Watch a comedy: you’ll laugh, you’ll (hopefully not) cry, you’ll be well!

    Water cooler conversation starter: I thought video cameras were getting small by being the size of a deck of cards! Little did I know, scientists have been hard at work developing technology for a camera in a pill. That’s right, you swallow the period-sized camera and it passes through your system after recording its location (eventually, the developers hope to make it dissolvable). The University of Florida researchers hard at work on this project say it could be a solution to the prevalent misuse of prescription medication issue since doctors and/or family members can “keep an eye” on whether the patient has taken their drugs. In your opinion, is this technology at its best or a little too big brother?

    4 Feb 2010

    Size Matters

    Weighing Perfect Performance

    Many consider it a big fitness performance boon to be as light as possible—less drag on bikes, less weight to carry while running or less opponent to go up against in wrestling. But a new book is confirming what some athletes have been privy to for years: skinniest is not always best.

    When you weigh less, you do reduce gravitational pull. In fact, researchers at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut found that each one percent drop in weight corresponds to a one percent improvement in athletic performance. However, dropping the pounds seems to only improve your exercise output up to a certain point. After you lose too many el-bees your body starts almost “eating” your muscle tissue for energy. This makes recovery much more difficult, plus the muscles are not nearly as efficient because they cannot take in as much oxygen as they can at their optimal performance level.

    Interestingly, this acme is different for everyone. A certain percentage of body fat or weight to height ratio cannot predict at which weight each person will be most athletically capable. Even professional athletes must withstand trial and error, the book “Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance,” reports.

    For the average person seeking health, it probably matters little at which weight you perform your absolute best. Anyways, feeling positive about your body’s abilities (even if you’re not Usain Bolt or Lance Armstrong) is more important than setting world records, right?

    Balance Scale Clip Art (Image from Clker.com)


    Plastic Surgery Surprise

    Before reading on, take a second and guess which elective surgery showed the highest rate of growth in the past year…Perhaps nose jobs? Breast implants? The combo platter?

    It turns out that male breast reduction surgery is tops when it comes to the fastest growing plastic surgery procedures. Why are men worried so much about the “moobs” as some call them? Scientists from the British Association of Plastic Surgery, who have been researching this surgical phenomenon, believe men’s magazines and media images may be to blame.

    While the large majority (about 90 percent) of plastic surgeries performed by members of the Association were for women, the amount of male breast reduction surgeries surged by 80 percent compared to the previous year. It seems that these procedures seem to be recession-proof.

    I understand that this could be an embarrassing situation that some men struggle with, but I would much rather consistently knock out push ups than deal with the recovery pain—not to mention the hospital bill!

    What do you think is the cause for the surge in male breast reduction surgeries? How much pain would you be willing to endure to feel comfortable in your own skin?

    Not just for the ladies…

    (Image from The Los Angeles Times)


    Water cooler conversation starter: A nine-year-old girl (yes NINE, so young Associated Press style says I need to spell it out!) gave birth to a healthy baby boy in China late last month. This baby gave birth to a baby on the same day as abstinence-only sex education programs came under fire due to an increase in teen pregnancies. But another report, released days later, found that abstinence-only programs do successfully decrease sexual activity.

    Your thoughts on this touchy subject?