Are you fat on the inside?

We all know that what’s on the inside is what counts……even the fat.

Now I know you are all motivated (even if not enough) to lose the external fat. We all want to look good, right? But, fat on and in our organs can be just as damaging – maybe even more so – than the fat that jiggles on the outside.

This is a bigger problem in people that don’t exercise – even if they are thin. Research shows us that it is better to be an overweight exerciser than a skinny couch potato. In fact, according to an article published on msnbc.com, many sumo wrestlers may be less healthy than their less active fans!

So, don’t just drop the danish (is that as hard for you as it is for me?) and pick up a dumbell!

(Click here to read more).

Cocoa or Tea for High Blood Pressure

Good news for you chocaholics out there. A report in today’s Archives of Internal Medicine looked at the studies done so far regarding high blood pressure, treated with either cocoa or tea.

They found that Cocoa consistently showed an effect, lowering diastolic blood pressure by 4.7 points and lowering systolic blood pressure by 2.8 points.

No effect for tea drinking.

However, remember that in most of the studies on chocolate use very high concentrations of cocoa. Much of the time it is more like the unsweetened baking bars than a dark chocolate dove promise….darn!

The Skinny on Fat

Fat is bad right? After all, you are what you eat….right? Eat fat and you will be fat.
We have known for years that saturated fat increases cholesterol and that cholesterol causes heart attacks. In fact, that is why they started using trans-fats so much. The food industry was pushed into getting rid of that evil SATURATED  fat.

Now, of course, they are being forced to get rid of that evil TRANS-fat (the ones that they were told to use a few years ago).

Some researchers at Stanford University followed about 320 women randomly put on one of four diets. One of the diets was the Atkins (very high in saturated fat). Another diet was the Ornish diet which is extremely low in fat – especially saturated fat.

They followed these women for a year. They were given weekly training sessions for 2 months and a follow-up at 10 months.

Women in the Atkins group lost the most weight over the year (more than twice as much as the Ornish group). But, your saying, they probably had sky high cholesterol. Uhh…no. They had as good or better cholesterol levels, ratios and triglyceride levels.

Does that mean the Atkins is the perfect diet? No, I think you need more fruits and vegetables than that to be healthy (particularly relating to risk of cancer).

While too many calories is clearly a problem, we might want to worry less about fat.

Harvard to pregnant women: eat fish!

Click here for a summary of their recommendations

Giving blood may save a life – yours!

New research published in this weeks JAMA gives some more weight to the idea that too much iron in your body can contribute to cardiovascular disease.

The researchers studied 1277 patients with peripheral artery disease. Some were treated by giving blood every six months. In the younger patients, age 43-61, the mortality rate (i.e. the percentage that died from all causes) was 54% lower than the untreated group. Benefits were also seen in smokers.

Dr. Leo Zacharski, the lead author of the study explains why: “There is evidence that iron accumulates over time. There’s no question about that. We have no way of excreting iron and, as it builds up in the system, it exerts oxidative stress (free radicals) that cause damage to the tissue.”

So, skip the gym tonight and go out for pizza and donuts and ice-cream and…….!! Unfortunately, cholesterol, blood pressure and exercise still matter. Iron is part of the story, but not the only factor or even the most important.

The most practical advice to draw from this study is to avoid a vitamin supplement with iron if you are a man or a post-menopausal female. And if your iron stores are too high, giving blood may save the life, not just of the recipient, but the donor as well. But don’t think you can throw out the broccoli or your gym membership.

Yogurt – To eat, or not to eat?

I came across a pretty good article on yogurt by Dr. Barry Sears. He is the biochemist behind the Zone diet. While I am not advocating his diet necessarily, he is a smart guy that is worth listening to and you could certainly do worse than his diet.

Click here for the full yogurt article!