Carole Carson

Have You Forgotten How Good You Can Feel? Turn Back Your Biological Clock

Do you feel tired? Experience joint pain or stiffness when you move? What about headaches and depression? Don’t make the mistake of attributing these effects to aging. Indeed, they may be nothing of the sort. Instead, like me, you may simply be suffering from surplus body fat and sustained inactivity.

 

In his book, Younger Next Year, co-author Dr. Harry Lodge asserts that we can turn back our biological clocks. If we are willing to exercise regularly and eat on the slim side—even though the clock is ticking away—we can perform both physically and mentally into our 90s. Impressed with the idea of reversing aging, his readers have begun following the advice. Their excited stories and results are posted on Dr. Lodge’s Web site.

 

You simply can’t read the stories without wanting to jump up and join them in their successful effort to reclaim their youthful vitality. When your spirit needs a lift, read a story or two. That’s what I do.

To Live Long, Keep Moving!

A study of 9,000 men and women in Australia found that being a little overweight didn’t impact mortality. The groups that were most likely to die were persons who were underweight or obese. However, the amount of exercise a person engaged in, rather than what the scale read, was the most critical factor in determining longevity.

Women who had a sedentary lifestyle had twice the mortality risk of others in the study; for men, it was 28 percent higher. In light of this research and his own conclusions as a physician, Dr. Andrew Weil encourages us not to stress if we can’t reach the ideal weight in the actuarial tables, but instead to focus on maintaining optimum health by eating right and being physically active. This is the focus of our Fat 2 Fit community, and this study supports our strategy.

Photo courtesy of Ariel da Silva Parreira

Buff on the Outside, Genetically Altered on the Inside

From time to time, I find myself struggling to maintain my weight loss. I can gain five pounds without even trying. When this happens, I must quickly resume my careful regimen so I can drop back to my target weight range.

After five years of conscious effort, I confess to a certain longing for a magical solution.

Isn’t there a pill we could safely take that would help us shed pounds? Or curb an unmanageable appetite? Isn’t there a way to turn fat into sleek muscle without the time and effort of exercising?

You know the expression “Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it”? Perhaps to our detriment, our wish may come true as a result of genetic tinkering.

Nicholas D. Kristof, a New York Times columnist, reported on a research breakthrough that could change the form of warm-blooded species, including humans.

Kristof writes about recent advances in genetic engineering of cattle in which scientists have genetically blocked the production of myostatin, a substance that curbs muscle growth. The result is overmuscled cows without a speck of fat—all without exercising.

The cows look like what Arnold Schwarzennegger would look like if he were from the bovine species. For your own peek at the future, you can look at Belgian Blues here. The photograph would be laughable if the implications weren’t so serious.

When the same genetic engineering was tried on mice, an increase of 15-30 percent in size was noted. Also importantly, the middle-aged, overmuscled mice didn’t lose strength as they aged.

The genetic research was originally intended to help two groups—persons suffering from muscular dystrophy and seniors suffering from weakened muscles as a result of aging.

But once genetic engineering becomes available, do any of us believe it will be limited to those two groups? If steroids are a problem, imagine how the availability of genetic engineering would affect sports. Monday Night Football would become a contest between giants.

Wouldn’t it be tempting to undergo a painless procedure and bypass a lifetime regimen of eating carefully and exercising regularly?

Wouldn’t men find the magic solution hard to resist, given our culture’s emphasis on masculine strength? I’d like to think I wouldn’t succumb to a quick fix, but I’m not certain that I wouldn’t.

The implications for future generations stagger the imagination. Would overmuscled athletes be the norm and people who refuse to change their genetics be freaks? With two-thirds of us being overweight, we currently suffer numerous medical problems. Would those medical problems lessen if the majority of us were trim giants? Or would we create other problems?

Kristof describes a boy who, through an accident of nature, has the human form of the Belgian Blues genetic mutation. At age four, the boy is already setting records for weightlifting with his extraordinary muscling.

Where will the genetic tinkering stop? Probably not with the human race. Wouldn’t we want supersized chickens so eggs would be larger? Wouldn’t we want bigger pigs so hams would double in size? Wouldn’t sheep be supersized so farmers could harvest more wool?

We all know what happened to the tomato when it was reengineered genetically. Commercial tomatoes are thick skinned and frequently tasteless. Would human genetic engineering produce the same unsatisfactory result?

Spared by advancing age the opportunity to tinker with my own genes or alter in utero the genes of my offspring, perhaps I am better off than I know. Given my ambivalence, I don’t even have any useful advice for the next generation.

At least for the foreseeable future, for better or worse, I’m stuck with eating carefully and exercising regularly. To quote Popeye, “I’yam what I’yam.”

The Truth about Aging

Which of the following statements about aging are true?

1. Older persons inevitably grow more confused and child like, lose contact with reality and become senile and forgetful.

2. Old people are indistinguishable. As older persons age, they lose their individual differences and become progressively more alike.

3. Old age is associated with misery. Older persons are abandoned by their families and forced to live out their lives in isolation, loneliness and despondency.

4. Elderly people become helpless and cannot take care of themselves.

5. As age increases, elderly persons withdraw, become inactive and cease being productive.

6. Older persons are incapable of learning and unwilling to adapt to new ways.

All of the statements are false and represent the commonest myths about aging. Senility is not inevitable. Over time, individual differences are enhanced, not diminished—an old person is simply a young person who has lived longer. Most seniors (94 percent) take care of themselves and enjoy living independently, and only 4 to 5 percent require custodial care. Some seniors stay engaged; others withdraw and become more introspective. Age does not destroy the ability to learn: old dogs can and do learn new tricks.

Age is relative. No matter what your age, you are always young or old to someone. The person reaching his or her 100th birthday thinks an 80-year-old is young. Teenagers consider their parents ancient. The big brother feels all grown up when viewing his little sister. In a very real sense, the perception of age is in the eye of the beholder.

Now that you’ve been tested with false statements, here are three true statements about aging:

1. Aging is universal—everyone ages.

2. Aging is inevitable—we cannot escape the process.

3. Aging is irreversible—we cannot get any younger.

Although we can’t turn back the clock or avoid aging, we can maximize our sense of well-being by adopting a healthful lifestyle.

New Rx for Fitness—Diet, Exercise and Prayer?

Is faith a factor in promoting good health? Is prayer good medicine? Research scientists are confirming the formerly radical notion that prayer positively affects health, although the reason why remains a mystery. Researchers are not seeking to verify a deity. Instead, they are measuring the impact of prayer on patients in controlled studies.

In studies at numerous medical centers, prayer and faith have been shown to speed recovery from depression, alcoholism, surgery, drug addiction, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, heart attacks and bypass surgery. Studies have also shown that persons who pray have lower blood pressure and healthier immune systems than those who don’t pray.

In one study at Dartmouth Medical Center, one of the best predictors of survival among 232 heart-surgery patients was the degree to which the patient drew comfort and strength from religious faith and prayer.

In another six-year study of 4,000 men and women at Duke University, researchers found the risk of dying for persons who frequently attended religious services was 46 percent lower than for those who did not. Taking care of our physical selves by eating carefully and exercising combined with caring for our spiritual selves by praying regularly seems to be the current prescription for good health.

Maybe Reverend Paul S. Deever of Kansas was right when he said: “Prayer may be the Internet of the soul reaching around the world.” (198)

Sources: Dr. Larry Dossey, author of Prayer is Good Medicine; Dr. Dale Matthews, author of The Faith Factor; and Dianne Hales, “Can Prayer Really Heal?” Parade magazine, March 23, 2003

Should You Become a Vegetarian?

A delightful part of my job as coach for the AARP Fat 2 Fit Community Weight-Loss Challenge is interviewing experts who share their insight on issues involving fitness. One such expert is Ellen Kanner, the author of Edgy Veggie: Better Eating, Blissful Living and the Broccoli State of Being (See her full biography below.)

I asked Ellen questions about vegetarianism so I could decide (and help others decide) whether to become a vegetarian. My questions and her answers follow:

 

Q. We consumers are bombarded (and in some cases overwhelmed) daily by the promotion of the latest and greatest diet. We are also confused by conflicting reports that state a particular food is bad for us (eggs, for example) and then state the following week that it is good for us. Is vegetarianism just another fad diet? Does it demonize meat, for example?

 

A. Vegetarianism has been around since Pythagoras, so it’s hardly the latest fad. There are meat-demonizing militant vegans, just as there are veggie-vilifying angry carnivores, but these lifestyles are choices of the individual. At its core, vegetarianism is about compassion, so I hope my veggie peers will keep that principle in mind.

 

Q. What are the benefits of a vegetarian diet? Are the benefits supported by research?

 

A. Compared to our meat-eating comrades, vegetarians experience a 50 percent lower rate of heart disease, a 40 percent lower cancer rate and a lifespan of 6-10 years longer, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

 

Maybe vegetarians enjoy health benefits because we are  health conscious in general. We exercise, and we smoke and drink less than other groups. We’re leaner, too, and we experience fewer obesity problems because we follow a diet  starring vitamin-rich produce, fiber-mad legumes and whole grains—food from the earth rather than food that is overly processed. Eating these foods results in lower blood pressure, cholesterol and blood lipids—health factors that can mean a healthier and longer life.

 

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and T. Colin Campell, author of The China Study, agree: “There are virtually no nutrients in animal-based foods that are not better provided by plants.”

 

Eating a plant-based diet has proven to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity—America’s biggest killers. A July study by the American Dietetic Association concludes that “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.” The study also states that “the results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates.”

 

Q. Does vegetarianism carry implications for the environment?

 

A. Huge ones. Einstein found that a plant-based diet feeds more people because it requires fewer resources to produce than a meat-based one. And this theory has since been proven by others. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists reported in the United Nations Chronicle (Vol. 42, March-May 2005), an acre of land can yield 165 pounds of beef or 2,000 pounds of potatoes.

 

Sustaining cows takes a lot of land and results in deforestation, particularly in Latin American countries. In the United States, significant evidence suggests that we’re not raising animals in ways that are healthy for them or the environment. Some of these farming techniques have been associated with E. coli outbreaks.

 

In addition, cows are big methane producers—the 2006 United Nations report called the meat industry “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale, from local to global.” Nobel economist Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says to slow the effects of global warming, go meatless one day a week.   

 

Q. Do vegetarians walk around hungry all the time? Can energy be sustained on a vegetarian diet?

 

A. If vegetarians went hungry, there would be no vegetarians. Complex carbs, like whole grains and legumes (lentils, chickpeas, black beans), are wonderfully filling. (Animal protein contains no fiber.) Heart-healthy fats in nuts provide satiety (a feeling of fullness), and most fresh produce is full of flavor and low in calories, so you can eat as much as you want with no guilt and no hunger. These foods also have a low glycemic index, so your body burns them slowly and efficiently to give provide you with good energy throughout the day.

 

Q. Is there one standard vegetarian diet? Or are there significant variations? If so, what are they?

 

A. Vegetarians come in many flavors:

• Vegans consume plant-based foods only and abstain from all animal products.
• Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products.
• Pescavegetarians, or what I call a fishaterians, abstain from all animals except fish.
• Flexitarians normally maintain a vegetarian diet but  occasionally eat meat.

Any change you make that deviates from the Standard American Diet (also called SAD or, as I call it, the Silly American Diet) is good for you and good for the planet.

 

Q. In the past, being a vegetarian was seen as being part of an extreme fringe group. Is that the perception today?

A. I’d like to think the tree-hugger image vegetarians endured half a century ago has been put to rest. Celebrities of all ages live a vegetarian lifestyle, from Anne Hathaway and Jessica Biel to Paul McCartney and Dustin Hoffman.

 

Q. How is a vegetarian diet useful in preventing or helping individuals with cardiovascular problems? Is a vegetarian diet useful in addressing specific medical conditions?

 

A. If you give up meat, you’re giving up a very big source of cholesterol. In addition, produce, whole grains like oatmeal and certain nuts like almonds have been proven to reduce cholesterol. As a result, according to the American Dietetic Association, “a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates.”

 

Q. Can you be a vegetarian and be overweight?

 

A. Studies, including a recent one by the American Diatetic Association, show most vegetarians tend to be lean. That said, your weight depends on what you eat (and how much). Chocolate is vegetarian, and french fries are vegetarian. A steady diet of this kind of food won’t help you lose weight and classifies you as a junk-food vegetarian.

 

Q. Must I take an all-or-nothing approach? That is, must I choose between a 100 percent vegetarian diet and a carnivorous diet? And if I were to adopt a vegetarian diet, would I start tomorrow? Or would I take a gradual step-by-step approach?

 

A. While some people prefer to give up meat cold tofu, so to speak, going flexitarian is the easiest, and I think the most sensible, way to start. Take the change one meal at a time. It is easier to change your life partner than to change the way you eat, so gentle starts are the best. One way that’s attracting interest is Meatless Monday. This program starts you out thinking right for the week and helps you contribute to the good of the planet, lighten your carbon load and take positive steps for your own health.

 

Personally, I love being vegan because it supports all the issues I care about—going meatless is multitasking at its very best. Vegetarianism connects me to the environment in a compassionate way. It is kind to animals, inexpensive (especially welcome these days), madly healthful and fabulous.

 

I’ve been posting Meatless Monday recipes each week to encourage members to experiment with vegetarianism one day a week. Having adopted this approach, I have found that meatless meals are wonderfully satisfying and less expensive, and they leave me feeling as if I’ve done something positive for my health and the environment. Are you ready to experiment?

 

About Ellen Kanner

Ellen Kanner is the syndicated columnist the Edgy Veggie. She also blogs at www.edgyveggie1.blogspot.com, writes the Huffington Post’s Meatless Monday blog and contributes to Tasting Table, Relish, EatingWell, Vegetarian Times, More and regional magazines, including Pebble Beach and Palm Beach Illustrated. A fourth-generation Floridian, Ellen lives la vida vegan in Miami.

What Is the Relationship between Lifestyle and Medical Problems?

As coach for the AARP Fat 2 Fit online community, I ask experts to share their insight on issues involving fitness. One such expert is Dr. Maxine Barish-Wreden, the comedical director of the Sutter Downtown Integrative Health program in Sacramento, California.

 

I asked Dr. Max (as her patients call her), “What is the relationship between lifestyle and the medical problems your patients come to you for?” Her answer follows:

 

As a practicing internist, I see many patients in my office who are dealing with medical symptoms and diseases that are the result of unhealthy lifestyle choices—poor nutritional intake, excessive caloric intake, sedentary lifestyles, tobacco abuse, chronic stress, ongoing unhappiness and social isolation.

Over time, these choices have led to a costly epidemic of many chronic medical conditions, including obesity, heart and vascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, dementia, arthritis and cancer. The good news is that the human body has a phenomenal capacity to heal, even after many years of poor self-care.

 

When we clean up our diets by eating less meat and more plant-based foods; when we exercise, cut calories and lose weight; and when we slow down and savor our lives more, we give ourselves the opportunity to heal, and our bodies often respond miraculously. It's never too late to begin. Healing is yours when you focus your intention, attention and action on what you want for yourself.

 

As her comments convey, Dr. Max strongly believes in the capacity of the human body, psyche and spirit to heal, given the appropriate environment. Through treatment of her patients and through her writing, Dr. Max guides and informs individuals on the positive effects of lifestyle choices—including nutrition and exercise—on health and wellness.

 

Maxine Barish-Wreden, MD

 

Dr. Maxine Barish-Wreden is the coauthor of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Secrets of Longevity and also coauthors a syndicated newspaper column with her medical partner, Dr. Kay Judge. Dr. Max holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from the University of Maryland and graduated from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She has a long-term interest in complementary medicine, particularly the mind-body-spirit connection.

 

Is Obesity Contagious?

As coach for the AARP Fat 2 Fit online community, I ask experts to share their insight on issues involving fitness. One such expert is Nedra Weinrich, a nationally recognized pioneer and expert in social marketing, a field that promotes healthful changes in behavior.

 

I asked Nedra, “Is obesity contagious? If it is, how do we make fitness contagious?” Her answer follows:

Yes. Obesity is contagious. A 2007 study found that if your friends or family members are obese, you are up to 171 percent more likely to be obese yourself. The reason is not just that you share genetics or eat the same foods if you live together; this effect is found even among unrelated friends living across the country from each other.

 

So what’s going on? Our norms and expectations about concepts like appropriate body size, normal food portions and exercise habits come from what we see our friends and family members doing.

 

The good news is that the social side of this epidemic means that we have control over whether we “catch” obesity ourselves, and we can turn the situation around to spread fitness and other healthy behaviors through our social networks.

 

If you decide to lose weight, exercise regularly and surround yourself with others who are getting fit, the people in your life are more likely to catch the fitness bug as well. These effects were found to extend to three degrees of separation—meaning that even friends of your friends’ friends can be affected by your losing weight. So break out of your unhealthy habits and set off an outbreak of fitness!

 

Nedra’s perspective suggests that we are highly social animals; consequently, we are connected to one another in ways we may not fully understand. Nedra’s comments also underscore the adage that “We are our brother’s keeper.” Armed with this insight, we are encouraged to become role models for others and to use our influence in a positive way wherever and with whomever we can.

Nedra Kline Weinreich
Nedra Kline Weinreich, the president and founder of Weinreich Communications, consults with nonprofits and government agencies to promote changes in health and social behavior. She is the author of Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide. A lecturer at UCLA, Nedra earned her master’s degree in health and social behavior from the Harvard School of Public Health and has served on several federal expert advisory panels and committees.

When in Need, Pour Yourself a Drink

Of water, that is. Drinking water is an appropriate response to many of life’s impulses and cues.

 

Hungry? Drink water.

Thirsty? Drink water.

Tired? Drink water.

Dining out? Drink water.

Dining in? Drink water.

Rising? Drink water.

Retiring? Drink water.

Bored? Drink water.

Hot? Drink water.

Dehydrated? Drink water.

Irritable? Drink water.

Celebrating? Drink water.

Foggy? Drink water.

 

Get the idea? Water is good for us. That statement isn’t surprising since about 70 percent of our bodies are made up of water. Some experts consider water the most important factor in losing weight and keeping it off. Limiting liquid calories from sugar-sweetened drinks is an effective tool for losing weight or to avoid gaining weight, according to Dr. Benjamin Caballero of Johns Hopkins University writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

 

And here’s more good news: water is affordable and well within our reach.

 

If you agree that water is good for us, I suggest we tip our glasses and have a drink or two to celebrate.

 

 

 

 

"Water is the only drink for a wise man."                            Henry David Thoreau

 

Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week?

Dr. Martin Gibala, PhD, chairman of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, is researching the astounding effect of interval training. His studies suggest that “six minutes or so a week of hard exercise (plus the time spent warming up, cooling down, and resting between the bouts of intense work) had proven to be as good as multiple hours of working out for achieving fitness.”

This research challenges the longstanding idea that hours of exercise are required to achieve fitness. Even more impressive is the theory that intense interval training helps with weight loss.

Dr. Gibala’s findings have been confirmed by other researchers who found that intense, short exercise sessions improved heart health, even among individuals with heart disease.

But to realize the benefits, the six minutes of interval training need to be intense—demandingly intense, even uncomfortably strenuous. Exercisers must exert themselves flat out for six minutes with nothing held back.

Still, the idea of achieving fitness with a minimal expenditure of time has enormous appeal. So when I read the latest research praising the benefits of interval training, I thought I’d consult John Hendrickson, a local expert. John is a certified member of the National Academy of Sports Medicine, a certified personal trainer and a certified post rehab conditioning specialist through the American Academy of Health, Fitness and Rehabilitation Professionals.

I wanted to see if John’s real-world experience made him similarly enthusiastic and also to learn how to add interval training into ongoing exercise routines.

John surprised me by reporting that long before interval training was popular, he incorporated the concept into his tennis clinics and personal training sessions because of the benefits his clients reported. (His clients, by the way, range in age from 15 to 75.)

Here are my questions and John’s answers:

Q. What is interval training?

A. Interval training refers to exercise at a very high intensity followed by exercise at a lower intensity in repeated patterns or sets.

Q. What are the benefits?

A. Interval training improves fitness and balance, increases speed and stamina and reduces recovery time.

Q. How can interval training facilitate weight loss?

A. When you follow high-intensity exercise with low-intensity exercise in repeated patterns, you increase metabolism, thereby increasing the calories that are burned during and after the exercise period.

Q. Is interval training an efficient way to exercise?

A. Structured correctly, interval training can blend strength, cardio, agility, flexibility and speed exercises into one 20- to 30-minute workout. The routines I’ve developed are both fun and challenging. Best of all, they pack a great punch in a short period.

Q. Is tennis an interval sport?

A. Yes, especially when played as a singles player. When I teach tennis, I structure the clinics as interval-training workouts. I introduce controlled, balanced drills followed by higher-intensity drills that focus on balance, cardio, agility and speed.

Q. Before we undertake interval training, are there any safety issues that we should be aware of?

A. It’s prudent to warm up before starting, set realistic goals and make sure the program matches your abilities. Start slowly and build up to the maximum intensity and duration. Monitor your heart rate during the intense drills and bring your heart rate back to normal during rest periods.

If you are pressed for time, you might want to press yourself as hard as you can for six minutes at least once a week. This way, you can achieve the same level of fitness that others take hours to achieve. Which style of exercising will you choose?