Duh

Exercise is good for you. Here's another reason, in case you didn't believe everything everyone's been saying for the last 40 years. Exercise turns bad, white fat cells into brown fat cells (which aren't just big clumps of stuff that take up space, but are active and use energy and metabolize), once thought to cease to exist in the human body after babyhood. I never knew "babyhood" was a word. But it makes sense. It's because exercise promotes the creation of something called PGC-1 alpha, recently dubbed "irisin," a protein that continues to benefit the body even once exercise has ceased.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/exercise-hormone-helps-keep-us-healthy/?ref=health

But how muscle cells “talk” to fat, what they tell the fat and what role exercise has in sparking or sustaining that conversation have been mysteries — until, in the new study, scientists closely examined the operations of a substance called PGC1-alpha, which is produced in abundance in muscles during and after exercise.

“It seems clear that PGC1a stimulates many of the recognized health benefits of exercise,” said Bruce Spiegelman, the Stanley J. Korsmeyer professor of cell biology and medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, who led the study. Mice bred to produce preternaturally large amounts of PGC1a in their muscles are typically resistant to age-related obesity and diabetes, much as people who regularly exercise are.

But never fear, you who are exercise averse or immobilized from disease or injury -

In upcoming experiments, Dr. Spiegelman plans to study whether injections of irisin imitate some of the metabolic benefits of exercise in people who, because of disease or disability, cannot work out. He also hopes to elucidate just how much and what types of exercise produce the greatest natural irisin increases in healthy people.

Heavy Stuff

Here's an interesting article on the heft of potential presidential candidate, and New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, including a discussion about how odd it is that someone's weight is still fair game for ridicule.

Time: Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

That's the most read and most emailed article on time.com today. It's no surprise that the topic concerns many. That there's so much disagreement about what it takes to lose weight is pretty amazing, considering how much medicine and health care have advanced. The conclusion of the article is basically this -

"The problem ultimately is about not exercise itself but the way we've come to define it. Many obesity researchers now believe that very frequent, low-level physical activity — the kind humans did for tens of thousands of years before the leaf blower was invented — may actually work better for us than the occasional bouts of exercise you get as a gym rat. 'You cannot sit still all day long and then have 30 minutes of exercise without producing stress on the muscles,' says Hans-Rudolf Berthoud, a neurobiologist at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center who has studied nutrition for 20 years. 'The muscles will ache, and you may not want to move after. But to burn calories, the muscle movements don't have to be extreme. It would be better to distribute the movements throughout the day.'"

So what the article argues is that what you eat is more important than how much rigorous exercise you do. You're better off keeping moderately active and eating less rather than working out feverishly and then rewarding yourself with ice cream and a cigarette (though there isn't one mention of cigarettes in the entire article, which I find somewhat surprising).

Is Obama's Surgeon General Pick Too Heavy?

Fascinating -

Critics Slam Overweight Surgeon General Pick, Regina Benjamin

"'I think it is an issue, but then the president is said to still smoke cigarettes,' said Dr. Marcia Angell, former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine who is now a senior lecturer at Harvard University Medical School. 'It tends to undermine her credibility.'"

Blood Clot Crying

I don't think any of my readers are Jamaican. That's not the point, though. Harvard researchers have concluded that travel, during which a person is seated for 2 hours at a time or more, at least doubles the risk of blood clot. The article was on Drudge Report, so you've probably read it already, but it seems important enough to get the story out to as many as possible.

From Reuters -

"Women who are pregnant or take birth control pills and the obese have an especially high risk, they found."

It's still only 1 in every 4,600 trips, but as the researchers point out, there are 2.5 billion passengers that will fly in 2010. So, every 2 hours, you should stop the car or get up from your seat on the plane and stretch your legs.

This is Timely

I take no satisfaction in reading this article, by which I mean, of course, that I was ecstatic on the inside but trying to show that I am not a bad person who is jealous of someone so rich, powerful and successful. Kind of like when management says that "So-and-so is our quarterback" or "so-and-so is our coach". Once you hear those words, you know you're canned. Not literally, of course. So, the point is that when you hear "I take no satisfaction" it means the exact opposite. Moving along...

I guess the acai berry thing hasn't worked out, because Oprah has just revealed (which I assume is no secret to people who actually watch her show) that her weight has climbed to 200 lbs. The reason for this is that Oprah tries to come up with gimmicky ways to lose weight and goes on diets. She needs to make a lifestyle change. That is the only way she will keep her weight at healthy levels. There is a notorious episode from 1988 when she paraded out on stage in size 10 jeans. To wit -

"When it came to slipping into those jeans, 'I had literally starved myself for four months [on a liquid-protein diet] – not a morsel of food,' Winfrey, an admitted food addict, said in 2005. 'Two hours after that show, I started eating to celebrate – of course, within two days those jeans no longer fit!'"

This is not just about looking good or fitting into a dress for Barack Obama's inauguration.

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Winfrey's weight and height rank her as obese, with a body mass index of 31.8 – putting her at 'at higher risk for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol."

Mmm, Deep-Fried Southern Favorites...

"Alabama, pushed to second in national obesity rankings by deep-fried Southern favorites, is cracking down on state workers who are too fat."

State employees will begin paying $25/month for their health insurance if their BMIs are at or above 35 (which would put them well into the "obese" category that starts at 30). There are problems with the BMI as a measuring tool, since the only components are weight and height, and just because you're thin does not mean you're healthy. Anyway, it's an interesting trend and one to watch for in other states and nations (and I guess nation states).

Here's the article, by the way. I, like, totally almost forgot.

Look out Australia, Here We Come!

Hey all you Aussies, we're the U.S.A. We don't like being #2 at anything.

And I don't like using stuff posted on Drudge, since I figure everyone reads it already anyway, but this is such an alarming finding, that I feel that I must share it with my faithful readers -

"All U.S. Adults Could Be Overweight in 40 Years"

78% of African American women are already categorized as overweight or obese, so for some segments of the population, it's not really a big stretch to get to 100%.

This is from the Reuters Health article -

"'Genetically and physiologically, it should be impossible' for all U.S. adults to become overweight, said Dr. Lan Liang of the federal government's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, one of the researchers on the study."

"However, she told Reuters Health, the data suggest that if the trends of the past 30 years persist, 'that is the direction we're going'."

I believe Scooby Doo's reaction to this would be "rut row".

Food Deserts (Revisited)

LA has instituted a moratorium on new fast food restaurants. Read the Associated Press article here.

"The moratorium, which can be extended up to a year, only affects standalone restaurants, not eateries located in malls or strip shopping centers. It defines fast-food restaurants as those that do not offer table service and provide a limited menu of pre-prepared or quickly heated food in disposable wrapping."

"The definition exempts "fast-food casual" restaurants such as El Pollo Loco, Subway and Pastagina, which do not have drive-through windows or heat lamps and prepare fresh food to order."


Consider the obesity problem solved! Psst, I've been telling people for years that this kind of thing was coming. California has now banned the use of trans fats statewide, by the way.

We're Number 2! We're Number 2!

Australia has actually beaten us at something other than croc wrestling and boomerang making -

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23893557-662,00.html

The Science of Sleep

Very interesting stuff on Time.com. People who sleep too little (fewer than 6 hours/night) or too much (more than 9 hours) are less healthy than people who sleep juuuuuust the right amount (7 to 8). Normal sleepers drink and smoke less, are of healthier weight and have lower rates of depression. As usual, there is no proof of a cause-and-effect relationship, but it's good to know this stuff if you're trying to take control of your life and move in a better direction.

Columbia University sleep researcher, James Gangwisch -

"We're getting to the point that they may start recommending getting enough sleep as a standard approach to weight loss and the prevention of obesity."

As my brother Mark says, "if you're not exercising or getting enough sleep, then you have your priorities screwed up". Which reminds me that I read in Forbes last night that the average American household watches 8 hours of TV a day! That horrifies me.

One last thing. "The Science of Sleep" is a great movie. Especially if you like weird European movies that employ several languages at the same time (English, Spanish, French, in this case).

Health = Wealth

"It's the health-care version of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer."

More Belly News

The word "belly" is funny, isn't it? Well, bellies are no laughing matter, and research continues to support the fact that it's unhealthy to sport one, even if they make you look jolly.

There is research from Kaiser Permanente that suggests a link between bellies during a person's middle age and a later Alzheimer's risk. There has already been a link established between belly size and increased coronary heart disease risk.

Drudge linked to the Associated Press article on My Way News.

Fat on the Inside

I've been thinking a lot about this since attending a talk on childhood obesity at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, as well as the author of "Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World", discussed the fact that doctors and scientists are now finding fat around internal organs, like the liver, and that this will be a serious health problem in the near future. It was the first I'd heard of it, but it wouldn't have been if I'd read an article that my brother sent me back in May (he sends me a lot of articles).

Futurist Ray Kurzweil publishes a newsletter that has all kinds of cutting edge information, and in his May 14th issue, he includes an article called "Thin People Can Be Fat on the Inside". This basically says it all -

"According to the data, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim. “The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined,” said Bell, whose research is funded by Britain’s Medical Research Council."

I watched an episode of Penn & Teller's show on Showtime recently; one in which they sought to disprove the obesity epidemic. The argument they proposed did not convince me, and one of the main reasons for that was a physical fitness test they conducted in which the control was a very obviously out of shape guy, but one who happened to be thin(ish). He didn't win a single event. Wow, Penn, you're some sort of scientist. The obvious fact is that the guy didn't exercise, so someone who had a little more heft to him, but who was in better physical shape, beat him in various foot races and other events.

The point is that you need a proper diet and regular exercise to be healthy. We'll just keep beating that drum.

Same Old Story

"Health Data Shows Most Employees Are Overweight"

Most people are overweight or obese, so it stands to reason that most of the ones who are employed are also overweight or obese. The headline should really read "Data Show", but that seems to be something of a grammatical anachronism these days. Oh well.

From an article about a Kronos Optimal Health study in Employee Benefit News -

"The findings show 77% of men and 65% of women aged 40 and older are overweight or obese. Among those younger than 40, almost 68% of men and 52% of women are overweight or obese. The high number of obese employees means many employees are living with elevated health risks like heart attack, stroke and diabetes. "

So, keep in mind as you age that most people gain a couple of pounds per year, and 40 years into your adult life, you're likely 50 or more pounds overweight.

Does the name "Kronos" make anyone else think of Kang and Kodos from the Simpsons?

Gastroeconomic Expansion

This is a very interesting past article in the Washington Post -

"Why America Has to Be Fat"

If you take the time to read it, you'll find some startling statistics. You'll also learn that because of how well our economy provides for so many, we now consume more calories than we expend. As the author puts it, "we use[sic] to be paid to exercise at work, now we pay to exercise after work".

So, since we don't exercise at work and we have lots of cheap, high-calorie food around, I guess we have to pay to exercise during our free time. That's just the way it is. There's no miracle gimmick that will let us out of that reality.

Calorie Counting

New York City's Board of Health is pushing for restaurants with 15 or more locations to display the caloric content of menu items. The reason is that most people have no idea how many calories are in many of the things they regularly eat.

Restaurants associations, of course, don't want people to eat less. They don't want people to be dissuaded from eating rich, salty, mmm rich and salty, where was I? Oh yeah, restaurants and their associations would rather people be kept in the dark and continue to eat regularly meals that they should have only once in a while. I've mentioned Cheesecake Factory as a prime offender, where single menu items often contain an entire day's worth of calories and even more fat, and whose management refuses to list nutritional information for the food it serves.

"'Most people underestimate calorie content by a lot,' said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city’s health commissioner, adding that he considered the rules a potent weapon in the crusade against rising obesity rates. 'Even dietitians get a lot of it wrong.'"

He's No Christian Bale

Bale is, of course, the very fit star of "American Psycho". And he's Welsh. That's where this dude is from.

I knew this was coming, but I am very surprised to see it already -

"New Zealand Bars British Man's 'Fat' Wife"

I'm not sure why "fat" is in quotation marks there. Would they prefer to be referred to, as in the body of the article, as "morbidly obese"?

More on the Obesity Epidemic

This comes from an article in Employee Benefit News, that discusses a presentation made by cardiologist James Rippe -

"But since 'obesity is not a reimbursable diagnosis,' Rippe explains, it tends to be significantly under reported as a medical condition. Doctors aren't trained to tell patients that their disease is being fat, so they cite specific diseases that often result from excess weight, such as diabetes, heart disease and muscular-skeletal pain, Rippe explains. "

"In fact, obesity is listed only on 0.3% of claims submitted by physicians, but it causes 40% to 70% of hypertension cases, over 50% of blood lipid problems, over 80% of Type 2 diabetes and almost 100% of metabolic syndrome cases. Over the past decade, the prevalence of obesity has grown by more than 40%, according to Rippe."

One Mississippian, Two Mississippians, No That Was Only One Mississippian

You've likely heard by now that we have an obesity problem in this country. Here's a recent article on the Wall Street Journal website about some news.

Mississippi has achieved the dubious distinction of becoming the first state to have 30% of its residents classified as "obese". To give you an idea of how they measure obesity, an average U.S. male is between 5'8" and 5'9". At 200 lbs. and above, the average male is considered "obese" on the Body Mass Index (BMI). People with a lot of muscle mass can be in that range without being "fat", but it's pretty accurate on the whole.

The following point is sort of like the argument for helmet and seatbelt laws. American spends a lot of money because of the effects of obesity on its citizens.

"Officials at the Trust for America's Health advocate for the government to play a larger role in preventing obesity. People who are overweight are at an increased risk for diabetes, heart problems and other chronic diseases that contribute to greater health care costs."

I made a relevant post just over a year ago, pointing to the staggering figure that 90% of increases in Medicare costs during the study period were due to obesity related illness and disease -

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The Obesity Epidemic and Medicare

"While increases in [Medicare's] cost have been attributed to causes such as medication costs, hospital and doctors fees, 90 percent of the increases can be attributed to people entering the program with diabetes, metabolic syndrome and other diseases associated with obesity, concluded a report published in the Aug. 22 online issue of Health Affairs."

Read the article on Forbes.com.

From the American Obesity Association:

"Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S., and healthcare costs of American adults with obesity amount to approximately $100 billion."