Diets
Back Clinic Diets. The sum of food consumed by any living organism. The word diet is the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight management. Food provides people with the necessary energy and nutrients to be healthy. By eating various healthy foods, including good quality vegetables, fruits, whole-grain products, and lean meats, the body can replenish itself with the essential proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals to function effectively.
Having a healthy diet is one of the best things to prevent and control various health problems, i.e., types of cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Alex Jimenez offers nutritional examples and describes the importance of balanced nutrition throughout this series of articles. In addition, Dr. Jimenez emphasizes how a proper diet combined with physical activity can help individuals reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce their risk of developing chronic diseases like heart disease, and ultimately promote overall health and wellness.
by Dr Alex Jimenez | Diets, Fitness
One-third of the world’s population is overweight, with the prevalence of obesity doubling in 70 countries since 1980, and bulging waistlines are driving up health problems such as cardiovascular disease, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In the United States, 13 percent of children and young adults are obese, the most of any other country, CNN reported.
Worldwide, 2.2 billion people were obese or overweight in 2015.
“People who shrug off weight gain do so at their own risk — risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions,” said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, who worked on the study, according to CNN.
“Those half-serious New Year’s resolutions to lose weight should become year-round commitments to lose weight and prevent future weight gain,” he added.
In 2015, about 4 million people died of health problems linked to excess weight, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported, noting that death rates related to being overweight rose 28 percent since 1990.
Poor diets and sedentary lifestyles brought on by urbanization and economic development have spread the obesity epidemic worldwide.
“People are consuming more and more processed foods that are high in sugar and fat and exercising less,” said Boitshepo Bibi Giyose, senior nutrition officer at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, according to CBC.
The study was completed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and funded by the Gates Foundation, The New York Times noted.
Nearly 604 million adults and 108 million children worldwide are obese, meaning they have a body mass index of 30 or higher.
“This study shows what we know: No country in the globe has reduced overweight or obesity levels,” said Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, according to the Times. “This is astounding given the huge health and economic costs linked with overweight and obesity.”
Adam Drewnowsk, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington, said solutions aren’t easy.
“It is all very nice to talk about the need to eat less unhealthy foods and more healthy foods,” he said, according to the Times. But “unhealthy foods cost less; healthier foods often cost more. People eat what they can afford.”
by Dr Alex Jimenez | Diets, Fitness, Pregnancy
Women who drink diet drinks while pregnant almost double the risk that their child will be overweight or obese at 7 years of age, says a study lead by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. Childhood obesity is known to increase the risk for health problems later in life, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers.
Researchers found that as the volume of amniotic fluid increases, pregnant women tend to increase their consumption of fluids. To avoid extra calories, many women replace sugar-sweetened soft drinks and juices with beverages containing artificial sweeteners.
Previous studies of adults have found that artificially sweetened beverages encouraged weight gain, and the study authors sought to discover if drinking diet beverages during pregnancy had an effect on the weight of children.
“Our findings suggest that artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy are not likely to be any better at reducing the risk for later childhood obesity than sugar-sweetened beverages,” said the study’s senior author, Cuilin Zhang, Ph.D.
“Not surprisingly, we also observed that children born to women who drank water instead of sweetened beverages were less likely to be obese by age 7.”
The researchers limited their analysis to data from more than 900 pregnancies that were complicated by gestational diabetes, a type of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy.
Approximately 9 percent of these women reported consuming at least one artificially sweetened beverage each day. Their children were 60 percent more likely to have a high birth weight, compared to children born to women who never drank sweetened beverages.
At age 7, children born to mothers who drank an artificially sweetened beverage daily were nearly twice as likely to be overweight or obese.
Drinking a daily artificially sweetened beverage appeared to offer no advantages over consuming one sweetened by sugar. At age 7, children born to both groups were equally likely to be overweight or obese.
Women who substituted water for sweetened beverages, however, reduced their children’s obesity risk at age 7 by 17 percent.
Scientists aren’t sure why drinking artificially sweetened beverages compared to drinking water may increase obesity risk. The authors cited an animal study that associated weight gain with changes in the types of bacteria and other microbes in the digestive tract.
Another animal study suggested that artificial sweeteners may increase the ability of the intestines to absorb the blood sugar glucose. Other researchers found evidence in rodents that, by stimulating taste receptors, artificial sweeteners desensitized the animals’ digestive tracts, so that they felt less full after they ate and were more likely to overeat.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of obese children has more than tripled since the 1970s. Today, 1 in 5 children between the ages of 6 and 19 are obese.
In addition to increased health risks as adults, obese children also have an increased risk of chronic health problems, such as asthma and Type 2 diabetes. They are also more likely to be bullied, and to suffer from depression and lower self-esteem.
by Dr Alex Jimenez | Diets, Fitness
For years, you probably have been told that wheat bread is far better for you than its white counterpart, but a small, new study suggests that maxim may not hold true for everyone.
Researchers looked at how quickly blood sugar levels rose after eating (a process called the glycemic response) either white bread or sourdough-leavened wheat bread. The researchers found that the response seemed to vary by person, and that some people didn’t have a bad glycemic response to white bread.
“Our study suggests that, in terms of glycemic responses, different people respond differently to even the same meal,” explained study author Eran Segal, from the Weitzman Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.
“In the context of white bread, this means that some people respond badly to white bread and should probably avoid it, while others have a healthy response to it, given what we measured,” Segal said.
“In a broader sense, what this means is that the ‘one-size-fits-all’ diets that are given to the population as a whole, without personalization, are probably not optimal for everyone,” added study co-author Dr. Eran Elinav, who’s also from the Weitzman Institute.
The researchers theorized that differences in the gut microbiome (the natural bacteria living in a person’s intestine) may explain why people respond differently to different breads. The researchers added that they were able to predict what a person’s glycemic response would be to a particular bread based on the makeup of their microbiome.
Both Segal and Elinav did report they are paid consultants for a company that offers personalized dietary advice based on an individual’s gut microbiome.
At least one nutritionist wasn’t convinced that people should give up on whole grains.
“This small, short-term study does not offer a free pass to eating tons of highly processed white bread,” said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist from New York University Langone Medical Center.
“Epidemiological research has shown that people who eat more whole grains, such as whole grain breads, crackers, cereals, brown rice and quinoa, have a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, inflammation, obesity and certain cancers,” Heller noted.
In addition, she said, whole grains have a balance of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that white bread doesn’t. Plus, Heller said, fiber is the “preferred meal for gut microbiota.”
The study included 20 people from Israel. They were between 27 and 66 years old. Eleven were female, the researchers said.
Each volunteer spent a week eating white bread and a separate week eating artisanal sourdough-leavened whole wheat bread.
They ate bread first thing in the morning. Half the time, they were allowed butter on their bread. They couldn’t eat anything else beginning the night before, and then for two hours after eating the bread. They also weren’t allowed to exercise for two hours after eating, because all of these things can alter the glycemic response.
Across the groups, the researchers found a similar response to the breads when averaged together. There were no significant overall differences based solely on the bread and glycemic response. The researchers also said there didn’t seem to be a difference in the gut microbiota based on which bread was eaten.
“Our study challenges the common belief that types of food that are considered healthy are indeed healthy. We know that people are different in their genetic makeup and lifestyle, and here we show that people have rather stable and person-specific microbiomes,” said Avraham Levy, one of the study’s researchers. He’s also from the Weitzman Institute.
“These differences between people affect how they respond to even the same meals, which means that foods which are considered healthy may not be as healthy for everyone, and vice versa,” Levy said.
The scientists noted that more research needs to be done. Funding for the study came from the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, as well as from private foundations and donors.
In the meantime, a number of groups recommend eating whole grain foods instead of processed white foods. These groups include the U.S. federal government, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The study was published June 6 in the journal Cell Metabolism.
by Dr Alex Jimenez | Diets, Fitness
Packaged foods and store-bought drinks are blamed for adding a lot of salt to U.S. diets, but a new study suggests those foods and beverages don’t contain as much sodium as they once did.
The amount of salt brought into U.S. households through packaged food and store-bought beverages fell by about 18 percent from 2000 through 2014, researchers found.
Still, they say, the vast majority of U.S. children and adults consume well over the recommended amount of sodium every day.
“Households are getting less sodium form the grocery store, but I think it’s important to know sodium in packaged foods is still way too high,” said lead author Jennifer Poti, of the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “So we have a long way to go.”
Experts and dietary guidelines have urged people in the U.S. to cut back on sodium. The current recommendation is to consume less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day, or the amount in about 1 teaspoon of salt.
Too much sodium increases blood pressure by drawing water from the body into the blood vessels, according to the American Heart Association. High blood pressure can damage the blood vessels and lead to serious problems like heart attacks and strokes.
Writing in JAMA Internal Medicine, Poti and colleagues cite a 2010 report form the Institute of Medicine calling for reduced sodium in packaged foods, to bring down the amount in U.S. diets.
For the new study, the researchers analyzed data on packaged food purchased from 2000 through 2014 by 30,000 to 60,000 U.S. households each year. Overall, they had data on about 1.5 million products.
Over the study period, sodium from packaged foods and beverages fell from 2,363 mg per day per person to 1,967 mg per day.
When they examined the nutritional content of the purchased foods, the researchers found that the salt content in the products had fallen about 12 percent over the study period.
In seven of the 10 biggest sources of salt among packaged foods and beverages, sodium content declined at least 10 percent. Those included items like condiments, sauces and dips.
The new study can’t say why the amount of salt from packaged foods and beverages declined. Poti said people didn’t seem to drastically change their purchases during the study.
“Potentially some of these changes are due to the removal of sodium from products by manufacturers,” she told Reuters Health.
Despite the progress in reducing sodium, less than 2 percent of households were buying foods and beverages considered to contain an acceptable amount of salt, the study found.
Still, the results are encouraging, said Lisa Harnack, who was not involved with the new study but recently published research on salt in food.
“It suggests that Americans are decreasing sodium intake form packaged food, which is important,” said Harnack, of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis.
She also told Reuters Health that U.S. diets have a long way to go.
“People should read labels and aim for lower sodium products to support their own health and increase demand for lower sodium options,” she said.
Poti said the results suggest the U.S. needs more concerted efforts to reduce the amount of salt in diets.
“We really need to have more environmental-level efforts to remove sodium from the products so consumers have more choices and that there are lower sodium options in the marketplace,” she said.
SOURCE: bit.ly/2s9ZHsx JAMA Internal Medicine, online June 5, 2017.
by Dr Alex Jimenez | Diets, Fitness
With summer officially just weeks away, many of us are dreading bathing suit season because we’ve packed on pounds — especially around the mid-section. But you won’t get those washboard abs by doing sit-ups, say experts. Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym, as the saying goes.
In other words: It’s what you put into your gut that helps banish belly fat.
“Visceral fat, or what we commonly call belly fat, is more than the fat you see on your body and can pinch between your fingers,” notes Tara Gidus Collingwood, the team dietitian for the Orlando Magic basketball team.
“It’s the layer of fat deep inside the body that forms between your organs. And even though you can’t see it, if you have an increased amount of subcutaneous fat, the fat you CAN see and pinch, it’s likely that that you also have a large amount of visceral fat.
Collingwood, co- author of the “Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies,” tells Newsmax Health the more belly fat you have, the more dangerous it is to your health.
“Visceral fat is so toxic that research has linked it to everything from an increased risk of heart disease, to metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, gallstones, certain cancers, and even dementia,” notes.
Now for the good news: Gidus says that science has uncovered foods that actually help blast away belly fat. Here are her top 10 choices:
Salmon. Inflammation caused by an imbalance in your gut which can turn on your fat genes, leading you to gain weight around your belly. Salmon is a super anti-inflammatory food and also contains omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to reduce belly fat storage. It also helps to control the hormone levels like cortisol, a common culprit of increased fat storage in the midsection.
Apples. These summer and fall favorites are great belly-fat fighters because they are high in fiber. This allows foods to be slowly digested, which controls the response of insulin and helps stabilize blood sugar — giving an added boost to the fight against fat.
Almonds. Not all fats are created equal, and some are actually helpful in reducing belly fat. Stock up on almonds for snacking because they are high in monounsaturated fat which reduces the accumulation of fat around the belly.
Popcorn. Here’s another handy snack food that is a great belly-flattening treat and you can eat a lot of it. Purchase loose corn kernels or low-fat and low- sodium microwave popcorn to help reduce your sodium intake and keep calories in check for a flat belly all season long.
Green tea. This powerhouse beverage contains the flavonoid quercetin which not only boosts the immune system and promotes heart health but also helps fight belly fat. It works by blocking fat cells from maturing and inhibits the rate of new fat cell formation.
Eggs. One of the best ways to protect yourself against visceral fat is to strengthen and protect your muscles. Muscle burns energy on a regular basis, so it steals energy away from fat cells — especially belly fat cells — to sustain itself. For under 80 calories, an egg provides six grams of muscle-building protein.
Spinach. This leafy green contains a unique long-chain sugar molecule called sulfoquinovose (SQ). According to a study in the journal Natural Chemical Biology, SQ feeds the good or beneficial bacteria, which in turn promotes their growth in the gut. When these bacteria are strong, they provide a protective barrier in the gut preventing the growth of bad bacteria which can cause inflammation and increase belly fat.
Greek yogurt. The Society for Endocrinology presented a study by researchers who found that when protein is digested and broken down into amino acids in your body, one of those amino acids called phenylalanine, triggers hormones that help reduce appetite, which ultimately leads to fat burn and weight loss.
Bananas. When you are sleep deprived, the levels of ghrelin called the “hungry hormone” skyrocket while the levels of leptin, the hormone that signals satiety, plummet. As a result, studies show you are more likely to eat more the next day and the foods you choose are the ones that typically increase belly fat. So if you are having trouble falling asleep, eat a banana which is an excellent source of the muscle relaxing ingredients magnesium and potassium. This handy fruit also contains tryptophan, a chemical which can help summon the Sandman.
Cayenne pepper. This popular spice doesn’t only burn your tongue, it helps burn away belly fat. Daily consumption of one of the compounds found in pepper seeds, called capsaicin, speeds up abdominal loss by boosting the body’s ability to convert food into energy, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
by Dr Alex Jimenez | Gluten Free Diet, Natural Health, Wellness
More and more people are following a gluten-free diet, but if they have no medical reason to do so they could actually be risking their health, a top expert says.
“The evidence is mounting against any health benefits from a gluten-free diet for those people without a medical reason,” John Douillard tells Newsmax Health.
Gluten is a naturally occurring protein present in cereal grains, especially wheat, which is responsible for the elastic texture of dough.
Traditionally, gluten was considered harmless unless eaten by people with celiac disease, whose digestive systems are unable to handle it.
But recently the idea of eating gluten-free has caught on, and the number of people following such a diet tripled in the five years between 2009 and 2014, while the number of those with celiac disease remained stable, research shows.
On the other hand, a pair of large studies, published in the past few months, has found those people who eat little gluten could be at risk of developing coronary heart disease, as well as diabetes.
Douillard is a chiropractor, certified addiction professional, and the author of “Eat Wheat,” along with six previous health books.
An expert in the field of natural heath, he is also former player development director and nutrition counselor for the New Jersey Nets NBA team. He has also appeared on the Dr. Oz Show, and featured in many national publications.
Here are excerpts from his recent interview with Newsmax Health.
Q: How did you get interested in gluten?
A: People would come to me with digestive problems and I’d tell them to get off wheat and they’d feel better for a short time, but after awhile, their problems would return. The same thing happened with dairy, or nuts. The problem wasn’t actual these specific foods. But, as the medical profession started making medical recommendations to get off of wheat, people began treating it like a poison.
Q: Who should not eat gluten?
A: People with celiac disease shouldn’t eat wheat, but that’s only about 1 percent to 3 percent of the population. There also may be those that don’t have celiac disease, but say they are sensitive to it, so they may be right to avoid it. But that’s an estimated 2 percent to 13 percent of the population. This leaves a third of the population that eliminated gluten from their diet under the misperception it is unhealthy. They are the ones missing out on the benefits of wheat.
Q: How did the idea that gluten is bad catch on?
A: Originally, people with celiac disease were told to avoid gluten but the idea caught on that it was good for other people as well, and now gluten-free has become a buzzword and it’s grown into a $16 billion industry. They’re even put “gluten free” on foods that never had any gluten in them, like yogurt.
Q: What’s the problem with gluten?
A: People who promulgate a gluten-free diet contend we aren’t genetically capable of eating gluten but that’s wrong. The University of Utah did a study that found evidence of wheat and barley in the teeth of ancient humans 3 ½ million years ago. The Paleo diet says to avoid grains, but if you talk to anthropologists, you’ll find out there’s nothing Paleo about this. Ancient humans gathered wheat berries to fuel them for the whole day. Most experts agree we didn’t start cooking out own meat until 500,000 years ago, so we had wheat in our teeth millions of years before that.
Q: What are the gluten-free people missing out on?
A: In addition to new studies that show wheat may lower diabetes and heart disease risk, wheat is a natural probiotic, and people who don’t eat it have less good microbes in their microbiome and more bad ones. They also are more likely to have weaker immune systems, because research finds eating the indigestible part of wheat helps to strengthen to strengthen it. In addition, people who follow the MIND Diet and the Mediterranean diet, both which permit whole grains, reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Q: If it’s not gluten, what is the problem with the way we eat?
A: The problem is our reliance on processed foods. One study showed that our reliance on processed food increases metabolic syndrome (the condition that hikes heart disease and diabetes risk) by 141 percent. On the other hand, eating whole gains and whole wheat reduced it by 38 percent. So it’s processed foods we need to eliminate from our diet.
Here are Douillard’s 5 tips to digest gluten more easily:
1. Choose bread with only these ingredients: Organic whole wheat, water, salt, and an organic starter.
2. Sprouted soaked breads typically found in the refrigerator section are much easier to digest.
3. Avoid any bread or any packaged foods with cooked or heated vegetable oils. These are preservatives and indigestible.
4. Think seasonal eating. Eat more grains in the fall when they are harvested and less in the spring and summer.
5. Start your day with a beet, apple, and celery drink to amp up your digestive strength and spice your food with spices such as: ginger, cumin, coriander, fennel, and cardamon.
by Dr Alex Jimenez | Diets, Fitness
A new UK study has found that obesity in childhood has long-term health implications that could last well into adulthood.
Carried out by a team from the University of Surrey, the researchers collected data from 18 studies which included over 300,000 children in total with an average age of 10.
The team looked at the measurements of the children’s body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and skin fold thickness, and compared them to results from the same participants 25 years later as adults.
They found that participants who were obese as children were predisposed to ‘pre-diabetes’ — a condition in which the body cannot adequately metabolize glucose and which can lead to diabetes — and thickening of arteries in adulthood.
An increase in the thickening of these arteries also increases an individual’s risk of experiencing a cardiovascular condition such as heart disease in later life.
The children’s BMI was also found to be a good predictor of high blood pressure in adulthood, and could also help predict other illnesses later in life that are associated with obesity.
However, due to the limited data available the team were unable to determine if waist circumference and skin fold thickness were also indicators of future health conditions.
Commenting on the findings lead author Dr Martin Whyte said, “It is worrying that obesity is becoming endemic in our society.”
“The adverse effects of adult obesity are well known but what we have found is that obesity in childhood can cause lasting arterial damage which could potentially lead to life threatening illness. This is something that we need to address to protect adult health and reduce pressure on the NHS.”
Childhood obesity is on the increase in the UK, with figures from the NHS National Child Measurement Programme indicating that 19.8 percent of 10-11 year olds were classed as obese in 2015/16, a rise of 0.7 percent on the previous year.
The findings can be found online published in the journal Obesity Reviews.
