Carole Carson

Exercising the Gratitude Muscle

Being the optimist that I am, I’m drawn to anything that promotes happiness. So I read with particular interest an article entitled “Cultivating Happiness: Will Positive Psychology and Gratitude Intervention Teach Our Kids How to Be Happy?” The article reported research results on the effect of gratitude intervention—for example, keeping an appreciation journal or writing letters expressing thankfulness—on the happiness of individuals, including families with children.

The impetus for studying what makes people happy is fairly recent. Nearly 10 years ago, Martin Seligman, now director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center, wrote several books, including Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism, on what brings satisfaction and fulfillment. Later, as head of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Seligman was in a position to steer interest and research to the subject of happiness.

Today, teaching happiness has spread to universities, and some of the classes are the most popular ones on campus. The trend doesn’t stop there.

Emotional literacy is cited as a valuable skill parents can teach children. A leading group researching and promoting parental intervention to teach gratitude and optimism is the Greater Good Science Center in Berkeley, California.

You may be wondering why I am writing about positive psychology in a space normally reserved for conversations about fitness.

First, I am convinced that when some of us have pesky feelings that we don’t manage well, such as boredom, anxiety, worry and despair, we tend to stuff ourselves with food. If we eat our fill from the bowl of happiness, we may find it easier to resist other bowls, such as ones filled with chocolate sundaes. Moreover, if we teach the skill of managing mind-sets to our children, they will be less likely to medicate unpleasant feelings with food.

Second, practices that improve our emotional health also improve our physical health. Christine Carter, a researcher at the Greater Good Science Center, strongly believes that “families should have dinner together,” notwithstanding conflicting schedules, differences of opinion about what to eat and teenagers’ moodiness. Her studies, she says, have shown the benefits of this ritual in improving the emotional health of children.

Despite the demands of her own career and the complications of her husband’s schedule, Christine tries to practice what she preaches. Not only does her family try to eat together, but before each meal, family members say a prayer of gratitude. They also take the time to review the day’s events by savoring the good moments and extracting lessons from the more difficult ones.

The same practices can be used for those of us seeking to get fit and lose weight. As part of each day’s ritual, we can take time during our evening meal to express appreciation for the gifts we’ve received and to draw lessons from any difficulties. In practicing this ritual, we finish the day—whatever the events—in a state of appreciation.

Third, if I were to pick one factor that predicted whether someone could succeed at losing weight and becoming fit, I would pick outlook. Pessimistic, self-doubting persons have inadvertently stacked the odds against themselves. But confirms what I intuitively feel—that whatever our age, a positive, appreciative mind-set can be learned and must be sustained if we are to succeed in getting and staying fit.

According to Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford University, almost all children start out positive and optimistic. Sadly, about half of them inadvertently lose that mind-set as they get older because of either feedback from others or self-criticism. To succeed in our fitness efforts as adults, we have to recover that youthful optimism and remember to take childlike delight in the gifts we receive.

Mike Carville, a friend of mine and owner of the South Yuba Fitness Center, begins his fitness classes by reminding students that the muscle they must exercise most consistently is the one between their ears. The best way to exercise it is to take lessons from whatever difficulties we encounter and give thanks for the good that comes our way.

     Plus, it takes 11 muscles to frown and 12 to smile. Given a choice, we might as well make the effort and use one more muscle. Every little bit of extra exercise helps, right?

What Is a Holistic Approach to Weight Loss?

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 Dr. Kay Judge, a board-certified internal medicine specialist who brings her interest in traditional and holistic medicine practices to her patients. (See her full biography below.)

I asked Dr. Judge, “What is a holistic approach to weight loss?” Her answer follows:

“We all know that ‘calories in versus calories out’ is the key to weight loss. But the human body can be more complex than a mathematical equation. If one is having a problem losing weight, then a holistic approach to weight loss may be beneficial. Holistic medicine recognizes that the mind, body and spirit all play a role in creating good health. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Am I eating to fulfill a need other than hunger?

2. Are there certain people or environments that cause me to overeat or underexercise?

3. Do I derive comfort or pleasure from eating? Does eating reduce my stress?

4. Am I eating foods that nourish my body?

5. Do I participate in activities that are good for my body?

6. What is missing from my life that food is replacing?

Answers to these questions will point you in a direction that can create a lasting solution to bringing your body in balance holistically.”

These questions can trigger self-insight and can be reviewed again and again, especially when overeating threatens to derail our fitness goals. The questions also address the underlying motivations and rewards that keep us from realizing our fitness goals. Thanks, Dr. Judge, for sharing your insight.

Biography of Kandeel “Kay” Judge, MD

Dr. Kay Judge received her medical training at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. Kay is the coauthor of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Secrets of Longevity (November 2009). She currently practices internal and holistic medicine at the Sutter Downtown Integrative Medicine Program in Sacramento, California.

Kay spent five years in India, where she discovered a passion for alternative treatment including meditation, yoga and ayurvedic medicine. Kay helps her patients find the balance between mind, body, emotions and spirit so that they can attain their fullest potential. She gives health recommendations based on a combination of conventional (Western) medicine, health and lifestyle modifications and alternative treatment options.

"Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole universe--the trees, the clouds, everthing."                        Thich Nhat Hanh        

A Fountain of Youth—for the Brain?

A decade or two ago, memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease were inevitable clouds threatening to darken the senior years for many. But recently, a number of studies have challenged the notion that mental deterioration is an inevitable part of aging.

Just as we learned that the physical deterioration we associated with aging is in large part a function of lifestyle, we’ve learned that the amount and kind of mental deterioration associated with aging is also related to lifestyle.

Memory loss is not inevitable, and the risk of Parkinson’s disease, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease can be reduced through the daily choices we make, particularly with regard to exercise.

With increasing consistency, researchers assert that regular aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking at least three days a week for 45 minutes, improves the odds of maintaining memory and executive control functions, such as planning, scheduling and multitasking.

Researchers have also confirmed that learning new skills and playing games that require concentration, spatial learning, memory and processing speed also help maintain brain health.

And those of us who love coffee get an added boost. Researchers assert that caffeine improves mental processing and memory skills. Longterm coffee drinkers also have a lower incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Adding mental and physical exercise to one’s routine, along with drinking a few cups of coffee each day, are positive steps we can take. What do we need to avoid?

First, we need to avoid being overweight. Surplus weight can lead to diabetes, which affects memory and other mental functions.

Second, we need to keep our blood pressure in the normal range. Researchers can’t explain why hypertension results in memory loss or mental deterioration. But even if we don’t understand the mechanics, the conclusions remain clear. If necessary, we need to treat hypertension as part of a program to maintain brain health.

Here’s the bottom line if you want to preserve your memory, protect yourself from dementia or simply stay sharp:

• Exercise 30 to 60 minutes each day

• Maintain a normal weight

• Keep your blood pressure under control

• Enjoy coffee (if it doesn’t overstimulate you)

• Challenge yourself through learning and staying engaged

The essence of who we are is dependent upon the functioning of our brain, and the implications of these research results are clear. Although we cannot keep the days from passing or change our genetic inheritance, we can adopt healthy habits today that will improve the odds of maintaining a healthy and normally functioning brain tomorrow.

"Age is an opportunity no less than youth itself."                            Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sex, Viagra and Other Matters of the Heart

Not every board-certified cardiologist wants to challenge the mantle of 80-year-old Dr. Ruth, a psychotherapist who pioneered frank discussions about sex. But Dr. David Sabgir is no ordinary cardiologist.

According to Dr. Sabgir, the topic of sex comes up a lot in his daily practice. “I get asked about Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis 10 times a day, and most of the questions are coming from the ladies. It's hard to keep a straight face in the office when my 103-year-old patient asks for a Viagra script.”

But what does a patient’s interest in sex have to do with fitness? “A lot,” asserts Dr. Sabgir. “There are multiple reasons why walking, running, biking or swimming lead to better loving.”

  

According to Dr. Sabgir, exercise has at least 87,431 benefits. Here are just a few of the reasons Dr. Sabgir says exercise makes “sexy time” (movie character Borat) so much better:

 

• Exercise firms up your abs, butt and thighs.  Improving your appearance and self-esteem will make you more willing to get a little “frisky” (celebrity Zsa Zsa Gabor).

• The enhanced blood flow created by exercise is important for preventing erectile dysfunction, elevating mood and helping to manage the stress in your life, and these benefits result in increased “hanky panky” (Jack Tripper of Three’s Company). According to research reported in the June 23, 2004, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, exercise and a reduced-calorie diet help correct erectile dysfunction in obese men. Another study noticed a 30 percent reduction in erectile dysfunction with regular exercise.

• Testosterone is produced naturally in both men and women and is responsible for sexual arousal. Regular exercise increases testosterone production. 

Unlike Dr. Ruth who assumes a public persona, Dr. Sabgir is an extremely private person. Because of his concern for appearances, Dr. Sabgir respectfully requests that what he says in this article stay in this article. I’ve included his request, but frankly, how will he know if you share this article with your lover?

Author’s Note: A pioneer himself, Dr. David Sabgir created the Walk with a Doc program in Lewis Center, Ohio, to encourage his patients to get moving. Weekends find Dr. Sabgir and other healthcare professionals leading community walks, followed by refreshments and fellowship.

Gaining Perspective on Losing Weight—Should I Drink to That?

One of the most frequently read articles in the online version of Time magazine, January 24, 2008 was one that delighted many.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported that a “a new study of cardiac health has yielded a happy formula: start with moderate exercise, at least thirty minutes to one hour a day and add moderate alcohol consumption.”

Now that’s health news we can all live with, right? Eating healthfully, exercising regularly, flossing daily and getting a good night’s sleep were unexciting rules our mothers taught us. But who would have dreamed that alcohol would be a recommended addition to our fitness program?

The study, first reported in the European Heart Journal, involved 12,000 people over a 20-year period and was conducted by Denmark's National Institute of Public Health. Dr. Morten Gronbaek, epidemiologist, summarizes the results: alcohol and exercise affect the body in similar ways, and they reinforce each other when both are practiced. Evidently, consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol increases good cholesterol and clears out the circulatory system.

The population under study was divided into four groups: nonexercisers who did not drink, nonexercisers who drank, exercisers who did not drink and exercisers who drank moderately. The group that exercised regularly and drank moderately had the greatest benefit in terms of reduced risk of heart disease (50 percent). The nonexercisers who drank moderately had about the same reduction in risk (30 percent) as the teetotaling exercisers. Besides suggesting that consuming a drink a day was equivalent to exercising, the study also suggested that combining the two—exercise and moderate drinking—provided the greatest benefit.

A couple of caveats, though, are included in the study. First, moderate drinking is one to two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women. Second, the study is relevant for only an older population since there is no proof that alcohol will reduce the risk of heart disease before age 45. And third, women who are at risk for breast cancer need to avoid alcohol because of increasing evidence of the link between the two.

In my case, I am careful about consumption of alcohol because I seldom have the calories to spare. One drink can steal a couple of hundred calories from my daily budget of 1,500. Still, the study is intriguing. What’s your take on it?

"As I see it, every day you do one of two things; build health or produce disease within yourself."                     Adelle Davis

Of Mice and Men: Should Performance-Enhancing Drugs Be Limited to Mice?

The World Anti-Doping Agency is working with researchers to develop two new tests to screen for traces of the illegal performance-enhancing drugs AICAR and GW1516. When injected with AICAR, mice improved their endurance on a treadmill by 44 percent after only four weeks of injections and no activity. In contrast, Olympic athletes achieve this level of endurance only after months of tough training.

Dr. Ronald M. Evans, a scientist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, reported his startling findings in a July 31, 2008, press release.

Besides documenting the dramatic improvement in the performance of mice injected with AICAR, Dr. Evans documented a 75 percent increase in endurance when he injected GW1516 into mice. Unlike their inactive relatives, however, these mice exercised during the experiment. (Without exercise, the effect of the drug was benign.) When exercise and GW1516 were combined, the rotund furry balls were transformed into trim, sleek, Olympic-level mouse-athletes.

How wide is the leap from mice to men? Perhaps not so wide. Dr. Evans reports that athletes have begun attending his lectures because they are curious about the potential impact GW1516 would have on their performance, if the drug were to become available. In response to this interest and for other reasons, Dr. Evans is working closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency. Although the drugs have yet to appear on the agency’s 11-page anti-doping list, discussions are underway to include them and announce a start date for testing.

I wrote more extensively on this subject in an article titled “Of Mice and Men: Should Performance-Enhancing Drugs Be Limited to Mice?” that was posted August 8, 2008, on basilandspice.com. Go here for the full article.

Given the statistics on obesity, I could build arguments for giving either mice or men (and women, of course) access to performance-enhancing drugs that make us trim, fit and athletic. Ultimately, though, I side with the World Anti-Doping Agency and vote to give mice the exclusive rights to performance-enhancing drugs. Although it’s tempting to take a shortcut, we humans need to earn our results the old-fashioned way—the way our bodies were designed to perform. I’ll take the sweat, toil and joy of achievement and give mice the drugs, the glory and the gold.

I wonder if mice have a national anthem.

"The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one's opportunities and make the most of one's resources."                Vauvenarges