Food Rules

I'm a big fan of Michael Pollan's Food Rules

Here are just a few of my favorites from his 64 rules discussed in his book:

• Avoid food products that contain more than 5 ingredients
• Avoid food products with ingredients that a third grader cannot pronounce
• Don't eat anything your great-grandmother would't recognize as food
• Eat only food that will eventually rot
• Stop eating before you are full
• Eat mostly plants

Lifestyle Changes for Lower Blood Pressure

• Get moving - with regular exercise

• Focus on nutrition - Dash/Mediterranean Diet - mostly plant based and whole grains, make healthy choices and be mindful of portion sizes 

• Cut the salt - read food labels and aim for 1500mg sodium or less per day

• Take your medication - if you are superscribed medicine for high blood pressure, take it every day

• Check you blood pressure

• Lose weight - losing just 10 pounds can make a big difference

• Cut back on alcohol - men; not more than 2 drinks/day and women; no more than one. 

• Don't smoke - if you smoke, stop!

• De-stress and sleep well

Using weights to target belly fat | Harvard Gazette

I've been stressing this to my patients for a few years now. Great to see that there is a growing body of scientific evidence to support the positive effects of not just Cardio but also strength training (ST).

ST is vital not only for weight loss but to counteract the effects of aging on the body. As we age, we are consistently losing muscle mass. The only way to help counteract this is with ST.  

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/12/using-weights-to-target-belly-fat/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hu-twitter-general

Using weights to target belly fat

Healthy men who did 20 minutes of daily weight training had less increase in age-related abdominal fat than men who spent the same amount of time doing aerobic activities, according to a new study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers and colleagues. Combining weight training and aerobic activity led to the most optimal results. Aerobic exercise by itself was associated with less weight gain compared with weight training.
The study appears online today in Obesity.
"Because aging is associated with sarcopenia, the loss of skeletal muscle mass, relying on body weight alone is insufficient for the study of healthy aging," said lead author Rania Mekary, a researcher in HSPH's Department of Nutrition. "Measuring waist circumference is a better indicator of healthy body composition among older adults. Engaging in resistance training or, ideally, combining it with aerobic exercise, could help older adults lessen abdominal fat while increasing or preserving muscle mass."
Prior studies had been focused on a specific population (e.g., overweight people or type 2 diabetics), were of short duration, and had mixed results. The new study was long-term with a large sample of healthy men with a wide range of body mass indexes (BMI).
Mekary and colleagues studied the physical activity, waist circumference (in centimeters), and body weight of 10,500 healthy U.S. men aged 40 and older participating in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study between 1996 and 2008. Their analysis included a comparison of changes in participants' activity levels over the 12-year period to see which activities had the most effect on the men's waistlines. Those who increased the amount of time spent weight training by 20 minutes a day had less gain in their waistline (-0.67 cm) compared with men who similarly increased the amount of time they spent on moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise (-0.33 cm), and yard work or stair climbing (-0.16 cm). Those who increased their sedentary behaviors, such as TV watching, had a larger gain in their waistline.
"This study underscores the importance of weight training in reducing abdominal obesity, especially among the elderly," said Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH and senior author of the study. "To maintain a healthy weight and waistline, it is critical to incorporate weight training with aerobic exercise."
Other HSPH authors include Anders Grøntved, Walter Willett, Eric Rimm, and Edward Giovannucci.
The study was supported by National Institutes of Health grants.

What to eat...

"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" - Michael Pollan

Testosterone and Heart Disease

There has been much written lately about the potential link between testosterone therapy and heart disease.

Some study's have shown an increased risk of heart problems but others have not. A group of American Endocrinologists recently called for a retraction of one of these papers that showed an increased risk. 

A European Medicines Agency (EMA) has reviewed the evidence and has concluded that testosterone does not increase the risk of heart disease in patients with confirmed hypogonadism. 

The FDA's final review is still pending. But until that time, the EMA's review is reassuring that testosterone treatment is probably safe for men symptomatic hypogonadism. 

Mediterranean Diet: May Reverse Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, a high blood sugar level, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels — that occur together and has been shown to greatly increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

A recent analysis of the PREMIMED trial showed that patients with established metabolic syndrome who adhered to a Mediterranean diet were more likely to reverse their disease. 

The PRIMIMED study placed patient on either:

-  Mediterranean diet—one supplemented with about 1 L of extra-virgin olive oil a week, and one supplemented with 30 g/day of walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds

- diet low in fat intake from all sources.

The researchers found that more of the patients with Metabolic syndrome on the Mediterranean diet had full remission of the disease 

As may of you know, I am a big proponent of the Mediterranen Diet. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating fruits, vegetables, and seeds, many of which contain minerals, polyphenols, and other phytochemicals that combat oxidative stress, inflammation, and insulin resistance,

Heart Healthy Lifestyle Reduces Risk of MI 86%

Researchers from Sweden recently reported that five lifestyle factors were each independently associated with a lower risk of MI in men.

• Frequent physical activity (walking or cycling at least 40 minutes per day
• Mediterranean style diet (fruits, veggies, reduced-fat dairy, whole grains, and fish)
• Moderate alcohol consumption
• Not smoking 
• Waist less than 37.4 inches

When all five of these behaviors were adhered too, the risk of MI was reduced by 86% compared with individuals who did not adhere to any of these behaviors. 

In addition

• Diet and alcohol cut the risk by 35%
• Diet, alcohol, and not smoking cut the risk by 64%
• Diet, alcohol, not smoking and exercise cut the risk by 76%

So what does this show - that by adhering to the 5 above behaviors, we can dramatically reduce our risk of suffering an MI