Author: dmd75358

It’s 95 degrees and sunny. You spend most of your day by the pool with your friends running and playing different games and then go for a bike ride after dinner because its summer! Sounds like a normal day for any child during summer right? Maybe 15 years ago, but not so much any more!

An article by the New York Times claims that summer is actually the leading months for when children gain weight. We talk over and over about different weight management/ health living school programs failing to work or costing too much money and time to implement into the system when maybe school is not the problem? Maybe we need to be looking at what the children do outside of school especially during the summer. Maybe we also need to look at their home surroundings, the food they are being given, and the food habits of the household.

As the article states, “During the academic year, meal times [are] more fixed; sleep is better regulated; physical education and recess, however minimal, is in the schedule; and, most critically, by being in class during the day and doing homework afterward, students have less time for screens.”¹ These are all extremely important factors that many parents and caregivers do not realize when caring for their children during the summer months. The research shows that over a 3 school year and 2 summer periods the only time students gained weight was during the summer months!

So, bottom line, when the summer months come around get those kids moving and keep them in their routines and most of all make sure any caregivers aiding during the summer do the same!

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/03/health/children-obesity-summer.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&_r=0
2. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.21613/full

What does healthy mean? Can we see it? Can we feel it? Can we taste it?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “health” as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. If this is the case, what does it mean for food to be healthy? If a food is low in fat but high in sugar is that healthy? These are some of the questions brought up in a great article by the Internet source Popular Science.

The FDA has begun the process of redefining the meaning of the word healthy. That being said, food labels claiming that their content is “healthy” may need to change or maybe they will go away all together. The biggest challenge though is actually defining the word. Can it be done, or will we need a completely new word or concept to be able to correctly label the food we eat? Either way something needs to be done.

Right now we have products on our grocery shelves such as fat free pudding, extremely sugary breakfast cereals, and fruit juices being considered and labeled as “healthy” . Can we honestly and confidently say that pudding is more “healthy” than an orange or some broccoli? I have a very tough time agreeing with that, as did many researchers who looked at the correlation between Coronary Artery Disease and the Sugar Research Foundation’s data dating back to the 1950’s. The research depicted that the Sugar Industry has continuously downplayed the effects that added sugar and a high sugar diet can have on the body. Their research alone has significantly helped high sugar foods and beverages being mislabeled as “healthy”!

In the end “healthy” is a difficult word to describe and an even more difficult word to create criteria for when determining which food labels can get that seal of approval. Maybe we need to take the article’s advice and leave a comment on the FDA website on how we as the consumers and next generation of health professionals/advocates want and think healthy labels to be redefined.

1. http://www.popsci.com/calling-food-healthy-doesnt-really-mean-anything
2. http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2548255

“Red wine is linked to weight loss.”¹ Could this be true? Housewives across the country will be flocking to their nearest supermarket, liquor store, and even online (in some states) to grab their favorite bottle of “adult grape juice” guzzling until the pounds melt away. That was a nice little fairytale wasn’t it, but I’m sure you assumed it couldn’t be all true right? Well, you are correct, it’s not 100% true but there may be still be some good news after all!

Wine Folly (an online source claiming they “create wine smarts since 2011”) promotes an article based off an Oregon State University research study dealing with red wine and weight loss. The article states that the study found “a specific type of red wine slowed the growth of fat cells and formation of new fat cells in the liver.”^1,2 The particular red wine contains ellagic acid, which comes specifically from one type of grape. This type of grape is known as the Red Muscadine grape and only grows in the southeastern United States and even more so primarily in Georgia. Watch out everyone, Georgia may no longer be known as The Peach State!

The study fed the specific acid to overweight mice, and the results showed an improvement in the mice’s ability to burn fat because of the slower creation of fat cells in the liver. Needless to say it now needs to be tested on humans! Research is also still needed to determine if ellagic acid in wine form still contains these prosing weight loss benefits.

The other problem that the article does a great job of sliding in towards the end is that most wine made from Muscadine grapes is made into sweet wine, therefore negating and health benefits that the acid may have because of the amount of added sugar. Well I guess we can only solve one problem at a time right?

Overall those looking to shed a few pounds should probably stick to the common methods of healthy eating and exercise in order to reach their goal. Although the researchers are trying to “validate the specific contributions of certain foods for health benefits [and weight loss],”¹ they are not quite there yet.

1. http://winefolly.com/update/one-red-wine-linked-weight-loss/2
2. http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2015/feb/another-reason-drink-wine-it-could-help-you-burn-fat

Ham. Beef. Bacon. Veal. Sausage. Peperoni. Hot Dogs. Lamb. Pork. You mat be wondering what all these meats have in common. Some may say they are the best meats out there, while others may disagree.

According to attn: media company, “eating meat raises your mortality rate and puts you at risk for numerous diet-related diseases.” So is it time for us to all go vegetarian? After reading this article and the subsequent research that is hidden throughout it, people are encouraged to make an informed choice on what diet/ lifestyle they choose, as well as monitor the quality and quantity of what they are eating on a daily basis as it could have a large impact on your mortality rate.

attn: points out some pretty shocking and important results. “researchers have found the steepest increase in mortality was found at the smallest increases of intake of red and processed meat.”¹ They go on to explain that even eating small amounts of red and processed meats have the potential to have a serious impact on a person’s mortality risk.

All you meat lovers who are reading this, don’t yell at your computer screens just yet, both the article and the research study did not discriminate and also evaluated vegan and vegetarian diets as well. Okay… maybe now is the time you should let out some steam. Research has shown that these diets tend to decrease diabetes risk, high blood pressure, as well as reverse the harms of CVD. Better yet, they found that vegetarian/vegan diets even in the short term have positive effects on your lifespan. Bottom line? Meat, especially processed meat, will negatively affect your health and positively affect your chances of CVD even by consuming a small amount.

It is extremely important that physicians become familiar with the current research and positively educate their patients on their diet and the effects it can have on their lifespan. The research is still undecided on diets that consist mainly of fish and poultry and the effect that it has on mortality. But, for now we do know that people who supplement a plant-based diet with mild amounts of fish, poultry, and dairy seems to be the best recommendation yet for our health.

1. http://www.attn.com/stories/8249/how-much-longer-you-live-when-you-go-vegetarian
2. http://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2517494

Chocolate has constantly been the center of popular health media articles for helping you lose weight, live longer, and even preventing diabetes. I cannot say for certain about those articles, but now there is a new article regarding the common guilty pleasure of many people across the world.

Articles published by both the Washington Post and (republished) by The Independent (UK) claim that chocolate has now been linked to increasing brain function. Is this just another scam? Should we now let kids eat all the chocolate they want? Should we go clean out the grocery shelves of all things chocolate?

The article goes on to explain this theory a little further. They first look back to a study completed in the mid1970’s by a psychologist named Merrill Elias. The purpose of the original study was to “observe a relationship between people’s blood pressure and brain performance.”¹ Who knew, a study from so long ago, with a completely different goal, would now steer us in the direction of eating more chocolate!

Recently, Georgina Crichton, a Nutrition researcher from Australia, analyzed the data from the previous study to determine the effects that habitual chocolate consumption has on the brain. To explain it simply, the researchers have found a positive correlation between those who eat chocolate regularly (at least once a week) and increased ability to complete everyday tasks, and even multitasking. They proposed that this is most likely because chocolate has both cocoa flavanols and methlxanthines both of which can have positive impacts on the old noggin, including increasing blood flow to the brain and enhancing concentration levels respectively.

So back to my original question, do we go clean out the grocery shelves of chocolate in hopes of becoming as smart as we can? Not quite yet. Even Crichton notes, there is more research to be done on this topic, especially on the multiple different kinds/forms of chocolate out there. So, for those of you who eat chocolate along with a well balanced diet and exercise, you can continue living your life as you are. For those of you, like myself, who are not huge fans of the new possible brain food, maybe we should give it a try every now and then.

1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/04/the-magical-thing-eating-chocolate-does-to-your-brain/

2. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/chocolate-makes-you-cleverer-a-40-year-psychological-study-proves-that-the-sweet-treat-can-boost-our-a6917736.html

3. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666316300459

Most people of legal drinking age (and even those who are not) are familiar with the distilled Mexican beverage that tends to be a central theme of many college students’ weekends. That being said, many may not consider tequila as their drink of choice after about age 23. But, that may soon change!

According to an article¹, from the Internet source, Nature Health and Beauty, a shot of tequila a day can actually be good for you. Let’s take a step back here, what did I just say? …. Yes you read correctly, many college students’ dreams just came true! Tequila is made from the blue agave plant and therefore contains multiple nutritional benefits. (that is, if served without the sugary substances/juices it is commonly served with.) The article boasts four main health benefits, including tequila being a pro-biotic, stimulating insulin production, aiding in  protecting necessary drugs to the colon, and helping to cure your stress induced insomnia.

The research² on this topic was reported at the 247^th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Lopez mentions that they have found that “agavins reduce glucose levels and increase Glucagon-like peptide-1. (GLP-1).” She goes on to explain that the GLP-1 hormone slows the stomach from emptying thereby stimulating production of insulin.” She also mentioned, “agavins also support growth of healthful microbes in the mouth and intestines.” So, have we found a possible answer for diabetics and for those who do not consider yogurt their #1 probiotic of choice?! Lopez clearly explains that her study is the first of its kind to begin to look at agavins in a whole new light.

Although the article provides an interesting new way of looking at tequila, more research is definitely needed on this topic as well as a large amount of education before physicians start prescribing tequila shots! The research (although completed on mice) in its early stages holds promising results for the future! We need to remind the public that when you reach for your next healthy pure 100% agave “possible” super food, we are not looking to follow the saying “1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor.”

1. http://www.naturehealthandbeauty.com/drink-shot-tequila-day-heres-incredible-effect-will-body/
2. http://phys.org/news/2014-03-tequila-sweetener-diabeticshelps-blood-sugar.html