Each week, DietsInReview.com will recap the hottest headlines in weight loss, diet and health news to keep you informed of news you can really use.
How to Avoid a Calorie Festival This Fourth of July
Meet our new dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield as she introduces some savvy tips for not only minding your diet this 4th of July weekend but still managing to let food play a small role in these memorable events. She reminds “it’s not about the food - it’s about the people you’re with.”
Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Yields Frightening Nutrition Facts
No matter how much you overeat this weekend, it can’t be anywhere near as bad as what the contestants at the annual hot dog eating contest will ingest. Take a look at the nutrition facts for 66 hot dogs and buns if you need any kind of reassurance that seconds at the picnic aren’t a good idea!
You can breathe a little easier now… that is, if you start eating soy. Researchers have found that if you consume soy products, such as tofu and soy milk, on a regular basis you can improve your lung function and lower the chances of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Ninety percent of the time, COPD is caused by long-term smoking. The condition is characterized by a progressive decline in lung function which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Put down that PB&J on white bread and listen to this: In a just-released landmark study, researchers at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine and the Heart Institute of Sheba Medical Center found that high carbohydrate foods can be extremely dangerous to the health of your heart. Implicated foods include the “bad” carbs like white bread, sugary cereals, cookies and cakes.
While this isn’t exactly new news, this important study provides a direct reason why these high glycemic foods wreak havoc on the heart and increase risk of heart disease. The researchers showed that after you eat a carb-laden food like a bowl of corn flakes or a Twinkie, your brachial arteries become distended, or swollen, for several hours. While it’s important for the arteries to have a certain amount of elasticity in them, over time, a sudden expansion of the arteries, which follows after noshing on a carb-filled snack, can cause a number of negative health effects, including reduced elasticity, which can cause heart disease or sudden death.
Once in a while there emerges health news that makes everyone scratch their heads. Here comes one of those moments…
If you are overweight - but only a little bit - congratulations, you are probably going to live the longest of any of us. That’s right, according to a new study people who were overweight, but not obese, were in prime position to outlive everyone else.
In the study, published in the journal Obesity, experts followed people 25 and older for 12 years. What they found was that people in the body mass index range of 25-29.9 were 17 percent less likely to die than those who were normal weight (a BMI of 18.5-24.9). Those who were underweight, a BMI less than 18.5, were 73 percent more likely to die than those who were normal weight.
We’re all aware of the massive problem of childhood obesity. However, kids aren’t quite aware of its magnitude, or at least how much they actually weigh.
In a study of mostly African American adolescents, nearly 40 percent were overweight or obese, and 27 percent of them underestimated their weight.
Of the 448 5th to 8th graders, more than 62 percent of the overweight boys and about 31 percent of the overweight girls listed their weight as normal or even underweight, reports Dr. Youfa Wang and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. That’s an interesting comparison. Since women are generally more conscious of their weight, it goes to show that girls aren’t as misguided about the number on the scale as their male counterparts.
I credit my German heritage for my love of lip-puckering sour foods. I like anything pickled, mustards, horseradish, and I love vinegar on salads.
Apple cider vinegar has long been a folk remedy for many ailments, many of which are unproven or have been disproved. But some studies have shown that it may help with diabetes and obesity.
Even your standard table vinegar that’s used on salads is showing signs of being a fat fighter. It appears to turn on genes that produce proteins that help the body break down fats, according to Japanese researchers. The research has also suggested that acetic acid, the main chemical in vinegar, can help control blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
In an economic climate where the common business news is bankruptcy and closings, one business is doing well enough to expand. Medifast, the popular weight loss brand, has plans to open ten of its weight loss centers in Florida and Texas, markets where the company is experiencing positive growth. They are continuing to examine markets where they might further grow their business in 2010.
Currently customers can visit Medifast in person at 19 franchise-owned locations and 20 corporate-owned locations. A new Tucson-based franchisee plans to open three locations during the next five years.
The evidence has long supported the notion that men are at a greater risk for fatal heart disease than women. Not so, at least in Canada. While deaths and hospital visits related to heart disease have dropped 30 percent, more women are dying from the ailment than men.
The Canadian study came to its conclusion by analyzing the country’s national death registry. It started in 1994, and ended in 2004. While the overall number of deaths and hospitalization have decreased significantly, women have slightly edged out men at the end of the study at 50.7 percent of total heart-related deaths, whereas they accounted for 49.3 percent in 1994. Even with that number, the difference between men and women is much closer than one might think.
Everyone should have a steady diet of fruits, vegetables, and music. That’s right, music is good for the soul, and the rest of your body. Authors of the latest study on music’s health benefits claim that the best type is opera, which may help particularly with stroke rehabilitation.
Researchers tested various combinations of music with silence on volunteers and found that songs that emphasized alternating between fast and slow tempos were most effective in improving circulation and heart health.
“We have seen enormous benefits in people who have had strokes or heart attacks. The power of music is just incredible,” says Diana Greenman, chief executive of Music in Hospitals, a UK-based charity that provides live music to hospital patients.
Each week, DietsInReview.com will recap the hottest headlines in weight loss, diet and health news to keep you informed of news you can really use.
Suicide Risk Increases for Overweight Teens
This is alarming news that parents, educators and even teens should take to heart. Recent research shows a great suicide risk for teens that are overweight or believe that they are, regardless of gender. Our mental health professional, Brooke Randolph, asks how we can work together to get teens on board with living healthy lifestyles.
Prevention is a Healthier Route Than Treatment
As President Obama’s health care plan starts gaining traction, there is more and more discussion taking place about health care in our country. Nutritionist Kinsey Lowrey explains how disease prevention costs less in the long run - both financially and on our health - and how it’s simple to implement small changes toward that goal.
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