McDonald's to Supersize the Big Mac to 690 Calories

As if the original Big Mac is not big enough to clog most major arteries, increase blood pressure, and put even a healthy person on the road to heart disease, McDonald’s has announced that (at least for a while) consumers will be able to get a supersized Big Mac that is 40 percent bigger than the current sandwich.

Following McDonald’s promises to slim down on its portions and introducing healthier alternatives to its menu, the company has instead announced plans to reveal a super-size version of the Big Mac – which is 40 percent larger than the regular Big Mac.

Restaurant patrons can expect to chow down on 690 calories a sitting with the super-sized burger.

The new Big Mac is being introduced as part of a World Cup promotion for the summer and is expected to be heavily advertised on television. McDonald’s has failed to stem a loss in sales despite the adoption of a healthier menu, including salads and fruit.

The Bigger Mac has 32 grams of fat, of which 13.82 are saturated fat. This is 70 percent of the saturated fat recommended for a woman or child. It contains 3.15g of salt, which is more than half the salt recommended for an adult, and three-quarters the limit for a child.

A McDonald’s spokesman says: "We are not reneging on our earlier decision. This is something which is a bit different, a bit special, for a short period. This is about offering something we know customers love and want to see."

Yeah, that’s what America wants and needs.

This comes on the heals of a recent report that America’s obesity epidemic may be underestimated by as much as 50 percent.

Del.Icio.Us Tags: McDonald’s, Big Mac, Saturated fat, Heart disease, Diabetes, Supersize

Technorati Tags: McDonald’s, Big Mac, Saturated fat, Heart disease, Diabetes, Supersize

Six Foods that Fight Cancer

This comes to us from the questionable folks at Faux News, but they got it from WebMD, so it can’t be all wrong. Seriously, this is a well-researched article, and it has a good collection of references at the end. Nothing to disagree with here -- and some good links to other info. Forward this to your friends and family.

When it comes to a diet rich in cancer-fighting substances, most experts agree that it should consist of a predominantly plant-based diet. “If you have two-thirds of plant food on your plate, that seems to be enough to avoid excessive amounts of food high in saturated fat,” says Karen Collins, RD, nutritional advisor for the American Institute for Cancer Research.

That seemingly simple advice could mean a drastic change in diet for many people.

“People who are thinking that this is like a diet, and are trying to choke this stuff down, it’s never going to last,” Collins tells WebMD. “You’re looking at creating something for a lifetime. If it takes you awhile, but each month or so you enjoy [one more vegetable], then that’s great,” Collins.

You may want to start with some of the following food substances, all of which show promise as cancer-fighting agents.

Cancer Prevention: What Really Works?

1. Folate-Rich Foods

This B-complex vitamin can be found in many ‘good for you’ foods. Plus, manufacturers of cereals, pastas, and breads often fortify their products with folate.

How It Works: “The thought is that when someone has low levels of folate, it’s more likely for mutations in DNA to occur,” Stolzenberg-Solomon says. Conversely, adequate levels of folate protect against such mutations.

Cancer-Fighting Abilities: In a large-scale study, researchers evaluated the effects of folate on more than 27,000 male smokers between ages 50 and 69. Men who consumed at least the recommended daily allowance of folate -- about 400 micrograms -- cut by half their risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

How to Get It: Starting with breakfast, a glass of orange juice is high in folate; so are most cereals (check the box to see how much). For lunch, try a hearty salad with either spinach or romaine leaves. Top it with dried beans or peas for an extra boost.

Snack on a handful of peanuts or an orange. At dinner, choose asparagus or Brussels sprouts as your vegetable.

Low-Fat Diet May Not Cut Cancer Risk

2. Vitamin D

This fat-soluble vitamin which helps absorb calcium to build strong teeth and bones may also build protection against cancer.

How It Works: Researchers suggest that vitamin D curbs the growth of cancerous cells.

Cancer-Fighting Abilities: A report presented at the latest meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) showed a link between increased vitamin D intake and reduced breast cancer risk. It found vitamin D to lower the risk of developing breast cancer by up to 50 percent.

Vitamin D may also improve survival rates among lung cancer patients, according to a Harvard study reported in 2005. Patients who received surgery for lung cancer in the summer, when vitamin D exposure from sunshine is greatest, and had the highest intake of vitamin D, reported a 56 percent five-year survival rate. Patients with low vitamin D intakes and winter surgeries had only a 23 percent survival rate.

How to Get It: In light of these recent findings, many researchers consider the current RDA of 400 international units (IU) too low. William G. Nelson, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., suggests that the RDA recommendations for vitamin D be increased to 1,000 IU for both men and women.

“Higher amounts may eventually prove better, but for now that amount is likely to be safe and have a protective effect,” he tells WebMD.

While vitamin D is often associated with milk, high concentrations also can be found in these seafood choices: cod, shrimp, and Chinook salmon. Eggs are another good source. And don’t forget sunshine. In just 10 minutes, you can soak up as much as 5,000 IU of vitamin D if you expose 40 percent of your body to the sun, without sunscreen.

3. Tea

If you enjoy sipping tea, you’ll be happy to know that it appears promising against some forms of cancer.

How It Works: Like many plant-based foods, tea contains flavonoids, known for their antioxidant effects. One flavonoid in particular, kaempferol, has shown protective effects against cancer.

Cancer-Fighting Abilities: A large-scale study evaluating kaempferol intake of more than 66,000 women showed that those who consumed the most of it had the lowest risk of developing ovarian cancer. Researcher Margaret Gates, a doctoral candidate at Harvard’s School of Public Health, suggests that consuming between 10 milligrams and 12 milligrams daily of kaempferol -- the amount found in four cups of tea --offers protection against ovarian cancer.

A separate study showed a link between consuming flavonoids and reducing the risk of breast cancer. The study, analyzing the lifestyle habits of nearly 3,000 people, showed that postmenopausal women who got the most flavonoids were 46 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who got the least. However, flavonoid consumption had no effect on breast cancer risk among premenopausal women.

How to Get It: Hot tea can be warming in the winter; ice tea offers cool refreshment in the summer. So enjoy tea year-round to boost cancer prevention.

4. Cruciferous Vegetables

They may not have been your favorite as a kid, but cruciferous vegetables -- members of the cabbage family that include kale, turnip greens, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts -- can help you ward off cancer.

How They Work: In lab experiments, substances released during either cutting or chewing cruciferous vegetables produced a cancer-killing effect.

Cancer-Fighting Abilities: Recent studies on cruciferous vegetables show promising results against prostate and colon cancers. In mice grafted with human prostate tumors and then treated with one of these cancer-killing substances, tumors began to shrink to half their size after 31 days.

In another experiment, mice engineered to be a model for an inherited colon polyp condition that is at high risk for developing into colon cancer were fed the antioxidant called sulforaphane, also released when chewing cruciferous vegetables. The mice developed about half as many polyps as expected.

How to Get Them: Swallowing them whole won’t do. The protective effect of cruciferous vegetables seems to occur when they are cut or chewed. They’re great in stir fry, as side dishes, or tossed into salads raw. Experiment with flavors like lemon or garlic.

“Vegetables can be a fabulous-tasting centerpiece of cuisine,” says Collins.

How to Keep Your Veggies Vitamin-Packed

5. Curcumin

By sprinkling curcumin into your favorite dishes, you could be adding much more than a little zest to your meal -- you could add years to your life.

How It Works: Experts credit curcumin’s anti-inflammatory effects for its ability to fight cancer.

“Most diseases are caused by chronic inflammation that persists over long periods of time,” says Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD, a biochemist at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Recent studies have shown curcumin to interfere with cell-signaling pathways, thereby suppressing the transformation, proliferation, and invasion of cancerous cells.

Cancer-Fighting Abilities: Curcumin’s protective effects may extend to bladder and gastrointestinal cancers. Some say they don’t stop with these types of cancer.

“Among all the cancers we and others have examined, no cancer yet has been found which is not affected by curcumin. This is expected, as inflammation is the mediator for most cancer,” Aggarwal tells WebMD.

How to Get It: Curcumin flavors lots of popular Indian dishes, as it is the main ingredient in curry powder. It complements rice, chicken, vegetable, and lentils. Some chefs sprinkle the bright, yellow powder into recipes for a burst of color.

6. Ginger: This popular spice, long used to quell nausea, may soon be used to fight cancer, too.

How It Works: Working directly on cancer cells, researchers discovered ginger’s ability to kill cancer cells in two ways.

In apoptosis, the cancer cells essentially commit suicide without harming surrounding cells. In autophagy, “the cells are tricked into digesting themselves,” explains J. Rebecca Liu, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who has been studying ginger’s effects on ovarian cancer cells. While this preliminary evidence shows promise, ginger’s cancer-fighting effects must still be proven in animal and human trials.

Cancer-Fighting Abilities: Armed with ginger, ongoing research is taking aim against the most lethal of gynecological cancers: ovarian cancer.

“Most women [with ovarian cancer] develop resistance to conventional chemotherapy drugs,” Liu tells WebMD. Because ginger may kill cancer cells in more than one way, researchers are hopeful that patients would not develop resistance to it.

Because ginger’s effects on cancer haven’t been tested directly on human subjects, researchers can’t yet offer specific dietary recommendations.

“We don’t know how it’s metabolized,” Liu says. But that needn’t stop people from adding ginger to their diet. “We know it’s relatively nontoxic,” Liu tells WebMD.

How to Get It: Go beyond the obvious choices, like sipping ginger ale and eating gingerbread cookies. Countless soups, sumptuous marinades, and zesty sauces call for ginger.

Pomegranates May Prevent Prostate Cancer

Visit WebMD’s Cancer Health Center

By Elizabeth Heubeck, MA, reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

SOURCES: Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, PhD, MPH, RD, researcher, National Cancer Institute. Karen Collins, RD, nutritional advisor, American Institute for Cancer Research. Stolzenberg-Solomon, et al. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2001; vol 153: pp 680-687. Annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research, Washington, April 1-6, 2006. Annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research, Anaheim, Calif., April 2005. William G. Nelson, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD, biochemist, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. J. Rebecca Liu, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. WebMD Medical News: “Tea May Fight Ovarian, Breast Cancers.” WebMD Medical News: “Crunchy Veggies Fight Cancer.” WebMD Medical News: “Vitamin D May Protect Against Cancer.” Zhou, W. Cancer Epidemiology & Biomarkers Prevention, October 2005; vol 14: pp 2303-2309. Magad, G. Anticancer Research, 2002; vol 22(6C): pp 4179-4181. Park C, et al. Oncology Reports, May 2006; vol 15(5): pp 1225-1231. Lev-Ari, S. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 2005; suppl 2: pp S276-S280.

Technorati Tags: Cancer prevention, Diet, Nutrition, Folate, Vitamin D, Tea, Cruciferous vegetables, Curcumin, Ginger, Anti-inflammatory

Del.Icio.Us Tags: Cancer prevention, Diet, Nutrition, Folate, Vitamin D, Tea, Cruciferous vegetables, Curcumin, Ginger, Anti-inflammatory

Health Magazine: Best Food Products

Health Magazine looked at more than 500 products -- from snacks to dinners -- to assemble their list of the top 25 foods. Many of the foods on the list are great for someone who is healthy and wants to stay that way. But there are some high carb foods -- and highly processed foods -- I would not recommend to those needing to lose a lot of bodyfat.


That said, here are a few selections from the top 25:

Breakfast
Best Bagel: Sara Lee Heart Healthy 100% Whole Wheat Bagels
Best Cereal: Total Honey Clusters
Best Frozen Waffles: Van’s All Natural Hearty Oats Waffles, Maple Fusion
Best Breakfast Bar: Post Healthy Classics Raisin Bran Cereal Bars, Cranberry
Best Oatmeal: Quaker Weight Control Instant Oatmeal, Cinnamon
Best Breakfast Sausage: Al Fresco All Natural Country Style Breakfast Chicken Sausage
Best Ready-To-Go: South Beach Diet, Denver-style Breakfast Wraps

Lunch
Best Bread: Earth Grains Honey Whole Grain
Best Cheese: Horizon Organic, Organic Colby Cheese Sticks
Best Soup: Campbell’s Select Savory Lentil Soup
Best Grab and Go Lunch: Thai Kitchen -- Thai Peanut Noodle Cart
Best Lunch Meat: Starkist Albacore Lemon & Cracked Pepper Tuna Fillet
Best Wrap: Tumaro’s Gourmet Tortillas, Multi Grain

Snacks
Best Smoothie: Naked Juice Antioxidant, Mighty Mango
Best Ice Cream: Edy’s/Dreyer’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream, French Silk
Best Nuts: Sahale Snacks Valdosta Blend
Best Crackers: South Beach Diet Whole Wheat Crackers
Best Cookies: 100% Whole Grain Chips Ahoy! Cookies
Best Chips: Kettle Brand Bakes Hickory Honey BBQ
Best Savory Snack: Synder’s of Hanover EatSmart Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt Café Fries

Dinner
Best Frozen Entree: Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selections, Chicken Portabello
Best Frozen Pizza: Amy’s Mediterranean Pizza with Cornmeal Crust
Best Quick-and-Easy Dinner Entree: Laura’s Lean Beef Pot Roast au Jus
Best Quick-and-Easy Side Dish: Green Giant Select Vegetables with Tuscan Herb Sauce
Best Pasta/Grain: Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown Rice

Technorati Tags: Health, Nutrition, Diet, Food, Packaged foods, Health Magazine

Del.Icio.Us Tags: Health, Nutrition, Diet, Food, Packaged foods, Health Magazine

Never Too Old to Benefit from Exercise

From the NY Times:

Researchers divided a group of 64 volunteers with an average age of 84 into three groups. The first group exercised by walking, the second did resistance training, and a control group did no exercise.

After 16 weeks of regular exercise twice a week, the exercise groups had lower systolic blood pressure, improved upper and lower body strength, improved hip and shoulder flexibility and improvements in tests of agility, balance and coordination when compared with members of the group that did not exercise.

All of the participants, who ranged in age from 66 to 96, were healthy enough to take care of daily tasks on their own, but some exercisers used canes or walkers during their sessions. Three-quarters of the participants were women, and only five participants were younger than 75. The study appears in the February issue of The Journal of Aging and Health.

Ross Andel, a co-author of the study, suggested that the exercise program would also be suitable for older people who had greater handicaps. "Based on our findings," he said, "it is reasonable to expect that a similar exercise program would be successful in older individuals who have difficulties in activities of daily living." Dr. Andel is an assistant professor of gerontology at the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida.

Both the resistance program and the walking program led to significant improvements, leading Dr. Andel to suggest that the exercise itself, and not the type of exercise, provides the benefit. "It is at least as important to exercise in advanced age as earlier in life," he said.

Many of my clients fall into this age bracket -- especially during the winter months when the "snow birds" are in town. All of them show significant improvement in strength and general health within a short period of time.

My oldest client is 84. He doesn’t move fast, but he’s getting stronger every week. More importantly for him, better core strength has translated into better balance and fewer falls.


No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to start exercising.




Del.Icio.Us Tags: Exercise, Elderly, Old age, Walking, Resistance training, Health, Snow birds
Technorati Tags: Exercise, Elderly, Old age, Walking, Resistance training, Health, Snow birds

Books on Diet and Fitness

Here are a few books on diet and fitness I posted over at Zaadz. These are books that I have read and found useful.

If you'd like to order any of these books, please use the Amazon link in the sidebar (I make a few cents off any book you buy through that link) -- thanks.

Weight Training:
The Poliquin Principals. Charles Poloquin. Scientific approach to weight training. Out of print.
A Practical Guide to Strength Training. Matt Brzycki. Common sense training for average folks.
Power. Fred Hatfield. You want to move big weights? You need power.
Hardcore Bodybuilding: A Scientific Approach. Fred Hatfield. Look like Arnold!
Body For Life. Bill Phillips. Phillips is an egomanical nutcase, but he wrote a good book that has helped lots of people.

Ayurveda:
Body, Sport, and Mind. John Douillard. Diet and exercise using an ayurvedic approach.

Diet:
The Zone. Barry Sears. Low-carbs and healthy fats. Not good for athletes but great for average folks. Hard to follow in detail, though.
Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution. Dr. Atkin. The no-carb to low-carb diet that started it all back in the 1970s. Now with less saturated fat!
The Paleo Diet. Loren Cordain. Humans were meant to eat meat, berries, and roots. Not grains. Good diet.
South Beach Diet. Dr. Arthur Agatston. Healthy version of Atkins. (My recommended diet as a personal trainer.)
Optimum Sports Nutrition. Dr. Micahel Colgan. Now out-of-date, but still useful info for attaining ultimate health.

Alternative Diet:
The Schwarzbein Principalh. Dr. Diana Schwarzbein. Get healthy and look younger by ditching sugars and grains, eating good fats, and without counting calories.

Psychology:
The Act of Will. Roberto Assagioli. Develop the willpower so many people seem to be lacking when it comes to diet and exercise.
Embracing Our Selves. Hal and Sidra Stone. Get to know which subpersonality is sabotaging your efforts and which sub might be able to help you reach your goals.
What We May Be. Piero Ferrucci. Psychosynthesis applied to becoming a whole person. This is very relevant to fitness.

Human Potential:
The Future of the Body. Michael Murphy. Wow, the human body is damn amazing.

Integral Transformative Practice:
The Life We Are Given. Michael Murphy & George Leonard. The first integral approach to health and fitness. A little woo woo at times, but the approach is sound. I personally think this book rocks.

Low-Carb Diet May Increase Fertility in Women with PCOS

PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome, creates fertility problems in women as a result of the irregularities in hormone levels that causes the cysts to develop on the ovaries. A new study suggests that a low-carb diet may improve insulin levels and thereby reduce symptoms.

In polycystic ovary syndrome, a woman's ovaries develop multiple cysts. Symptoms can include excessive hairiness, obesity, menstrual abnormalities, and infertility. PCOS is also believed to increase the likelihood of developing diabetes.

The lead investigator of the current study, Dr. Crystal C. Douglas, told Reuters Health, "Our results suggest that a moderate reduction in dietary carbohydrate may decrease insulin, and over time, this dietary modification may lead to improvements in the metabolic and reproductive outcomes in women with PCOS, independent of weight loss."

Douglas, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and her colleagues recruited 15 women with PCOS who were between 19 and 42 years old and ranged in weight from normal to obese.

The 11 women who were available for follow-up had each been put on three different diets for 16-day periods, separated by two 3-week "washout" periods, according to the team's report in the March issue of Fertility and Sterility.

The regimens consisted of a standard diet made up of about 56 percent carbohydrate, 31 percent fat and the rest protein; an enriched monounsaturated fatty acid diet with about 55 percent carbohydrate, 33 percent fat and the remainder protein; and a reduced carbohydrate diet with about 43 percent carbohydrate and 45 percent fat and the rest consisting of protein.

Compared with the standard diet, the low-carbohydrate diet lowered insulin levels. In addition, the usual jump in insulin in response to glucose was reduced after the low carbohydrate diet compared with the enriched monounsaturated fatty acid diet.

No differences were seen in circulating reproductive hormones.

Given these findings, the researchers conclude that dietary management may be a useful addition to PCOS treatment. As they explain, high insulin levels are thought to contribute to the hormone abnormalities seen with PCOS, so reduced insulin could lead to an improved hormone profile.

These results are promising and confirm my own limited experience with this disorder.

About a year and half ago, a woman joined the gym and bought ten PT sessions as part of her membership. She couldn't afford regular PT, so she did the best she could. Her doctor had told her to join a gym and start weight training as a way to manage her PCOS. She had been trying to get pregnant for more than two years without success when she was diagnosed with the syndrome.

I asked her to increase protein and cut the carbs back as much as she could. I also asked her to train four days a week with weights, thinking that being overtrained might reduce the testosterone levels enough so that she might get pregnant. We also put her on licorice root and pygeum root to manage the test levels.

She did what I asked of her. She put on muscle quickly and easily, but she also began to get more lean. After three weeks, our time was up. I saw her in the gym daily for a couple of months, but soon I had forgotten about her.

This winter, I saw her working out on the elliptical and asked her how she was doing. She looked a little pudgy. She said she gave birth to a daughter a couple of months before and that she was just getting back to the gym.

She had a rough pregnancy and had developed gestational diabetes in spite of the low-carb diet. But she had her daughter, and she and her husband were content to adopt any other kids they might want. They had one of their own.

I don't which part did the trick or if it was a combination -- or if she was just meant to have a daughter and did.

Anyway, it seems that low-carb diets are getting more attention as a dietary approach to disease. This can only be a good thing in keeping the low-carb approach in the public mind.

CDC: Obesity Causing Diabetes Epidemic

Really? I don't know . . . that sounds as though the CDC is saying that being obese will make you sick, and possibly kill you.

In another study confirming the obvious, the CDC has determined that being obese causes diabetes. The researchers claim this study is important because it is the first one to use a representative sample of the American population.

While other factors play some role in the rapidly increasing number of people with diabetes, obesity is the major factor in the trend, said Linda S. Geiss, lead author of the study, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The study, based on concrete numbers drawn from the entire country, backs up what experts have long believed, said Geiss, a statistician with the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation.

"Most incidence studies [of diabetes] have been done on samples that aren't representative of the United States," she said. "These [new] data are nationally representative. And these data certainly help make the case that obesity is a major factor in the diabetes epidemic. I think it adds to the evidence."

Geiss and her research team looked at statistics from the National Health Interview Survey, an ongoing nationwide in-person survey of about 40,000 households. They zeroed in on the years 1997 to 2003 to look for trends in the incidence of diagnosed diabetes in adults aged 18 to 79. Each year, about 31,000 adults were asked whether a health professional had told them they had diabetes. Not included was gestational diabetes, a type that occurs during pregnancy.

Participants were asked how old they were when their diabetes was diagnosed. The researchers had access to information about height and weight so they could compute the participants' body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight). A BMI of 25 and above is termed overweight; 30 and higher is considered obese.

Excess weight and inactivity are risk factors for type 2 diabetes, in which the body doesn't properly use the hormone insulin, which is crucial for converting sugars and starches in the blood into fuel for the body.

The incidence of diagnosed diabetes rose 41 percent from 1997 to 2003 among the study participants, Geiss found.

About 20 million Americans have diabetes, although many do not yet know it, according to the American Diabetes Association.

About two-thirds of American adults are now overweight or obese, according to the National Institutes of Health. In 1960, 13 percent of adults were obese, but by 2000, nearly 31 percent were.

Geiss wanted to determine, however, if the rise in diabetes might be due at least partially to better detection methods allowing for earlier diagnosis. "If we were doing a better job, we would be detecting it earlier and when people are healthier."

But from 1997 to 2003, those diagnosed with diabetes were not healthier or younger. Increased detection of diabetes "could be part of the answer," she said, "but not the whole answer. It doesn't seem to be a major factor. Most of the increase in diabetes occurred in those with a BMI of 30 or above. In 2003, 59 percent of the newly diagnosed were at a BMI of 30 or above. Another 30 percent were overweight, with a BMI of 25 to under 30. All together, 89 percent of the [new] cases were either overweight or obese."

The researchers recommend the obvious: get some regular exercise, eat healthy foods, keep your weight at a healthy level.

"Gee, Wally."
"What, Beav?"
"That seems mighty easy. Why would anyone be obese?"
"Well, Beav, it just isn't as easy as it sounds."
"But why, Wally?"
"I don't know, Beav, I just don't know."

The truth, and I see it every day, is that it isn't that easy. For a million different reasons, people seem unwilling and/or unable to eat a healthy diet that will prevent diabetes and obesity.

Despite what some people might say, it is economic. A loaf of white bread is less than half the cost of a loaf of high fiber wheat bread. Extra-lean ground beef is more than twice as expensive as regular ground beef. Whole wheat tortilla shells are much more expensive than white flour shells. Instant white rice is much cheaper and easier to cook that whole grain rice. The list goes on and on.

More so, however, it is emotional. People have an emotional connection to eating, especially comfort foods. Eating healthy to most people means eating bland foods that don't taste good. We have become a culture that equates quality of life with being able to eat anything we want. How did this happen? If you say anything other than "the marketing media" you haven't seen a television or a magazine in 50 years or so.

We need an integral approach. Right now, every option must be on the table. We risk national bankruptcy over obesity and its related illnesses if nothing is done soon. We are spending 20 percent of the GNP on medical care already. It will only get worse -- today's young people will develop diabetes at a rate of one in three.

Think about that for a while.

Build Muscle Mass Without Adding Bodyfat

T-Nation is the place to go for cutting edge info on training and nutrition. Associate editor Chris Shugart -- a formerly pudgy boy who is now lean and strong -- has posted an article on eating for muscle growth without putting on loads of fat.

He dismisses some of the usual claims (usually made by fat guys or guys on steroids) that the only way to bulk up is to eat junk food. He offers two weight-gain shake recipes (at or near 800 calories each) made with clean, healthy foods. He also suggests snack ideas and a sample daily menu.

The article is well-written and includes a variety of guidelines for how and why to use this approach. If you're looking to build muscle without getting fat, give this a try.

One note: some of the recommendations in this article violate John Berardi's dietary guidelines (which I tend to follow and promote), so you'll have to choose one or the other. Maybe try Shugart's approach, then give Berardi's Massive Eating Reloaded a try. Compare and contrast.

Obesity Interventions (Katherine Turner)

Katherine Turner at Dating God has posted a paper that takes an integral look at the obesity issue. It seems like a good thing to post here.

Here is the article link and the paper. If you like what you read, please stop by her blog and let her know. I am also interested in reading any comments anyone might have.

Obesity Interventions: The Politics of Fat

The Belmont Report states that when research is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a therapy, if there is any element of research in the experimental activity, the activity should undergo review for the protection of human subjects. It also says that in the pursuit of science, we should practice beneficence, making efforts to always go beyond the boundary of obligation to secure well-being for all scientific participants (NCPHSBBR, 1979). The Public Health Code of Ethics asserts that “identifying and promoting the fundamental requirements for health in a community are a primary concern to public health” and “public health should advocate and work for the empowerment of disenfranchised community members, aiming to ensure that the basic resources and conditions necessary for health are accessible to all” (APHA, 2006). If these ethical principles are combined together when looking at issues of chronic disease, specifically obesity, what is revealed is that addressing the health issue head on, much less solving the problem of it altogether, is tricky
business in the current commercial climate of The U.S. in the early 21st century. It also begs the question, is obesity a health behavior or simply a symptom of health reactions?

According to the CDC, chronic disease is one of the top ten health topics in our current medical climate, with obesity as one of the top three chronic illnesses. Our current population levels of obesity, 30% for adults and 16% for children, are considered epidemic, and the numbers grow larger every year. One of the 2010 national health objectives is to reduce the prevalence of adult obesity to less than 15%, but current data indicate that obesity rates are increasing rather than declining (CDC, 2006). A key reason for our inability to even stabilize the disease it that we understand so little about it, perhaps other than the fact that obesity is only one aspect of a cluster of many other health problems like renal disease, chronic stress, CVD (cardiovascular disease), immune disorders, psychological illnesses, and many others.

What makes obesity so difficult to study are the seemingly countless variables that are associated with it. The peptide leptin, insulin resistance, and neurotransmitter levels are just a few genetic variables thought to possibly contribute to obesity. There are a variety of social issues involved including what our family will and won’t eat, eating alone or at social events, eating while on the run from home to work to errands. Culture, the one we are born into and the ones we adopt along the course of our lives, plays a tremendous role in the amount of fat, sugar, salt, and calories that we consume. The environment plays a role in what foods are available and where, how much they cost, how they are packaged and presented, whether they are vibrant and full of nutrition, or full of pesticides and preservatives. How active we are is determined by financial status, the amount of free time we have, the structure and form of our built environment. Obesity results from a combination of these things, though which ones and how much each one is weighted is anyone’s guess.

So how do we study the impact and importance of these variables? This is the big question, and also the place where the ethical dilemmas began to make themselves known. In terms of obesity and how to study it, it obviously isn’t ethical to experiment on humans in regards to feeding. You can’t take a cohort of normal weight children of differing sized parents, differing social, and physical environments, give different diets over the span of their lifetimes to see who becomes obese who doesn’t. So far, the most that we can do are animal experiments, such as the ones being conducted on mice in regards to leptin levels (the ethics of which we won’t even touch on in this paper), mildly controlled studies involving diet and exercise, or attempts to find the closest we can get to a controlled environment already occurring in an individual or group’s lives, and then study as closely as we can.

“People and their physical environment are interdependent. People depend upon the resources of their natural and constructed environments for life itself” (APHA, 2006).

One of the biggest issues with obesity and the low SES population is financially what they are able to afford to purchase for food, and the quality of food that is available to them. Lower income neighborhood stores tend to stock less fresh fruits and vegetables, and foods higher in refined carbohydrates, sugar, and fat. It would be easy to fault storeowners for stocking such unwholesome food, but in fact the more refined food has a longer shelf life, and is much easier to stock and manage than fresh food. And if refined foods high in sugar, fat, and calories are what is most available, and are also the least expensive, can we really blame the poor, or expect them in any way to change their eating habits based on recommendations put forth by departments of health, the results of scientific study?

There is also the built environment to contend with. We now live in a predominantly automobile accessible-only world, and in fact, most suburban roads no longer even have sidewalks, or safe pedestrian crossing at intersections. Low-density zoning in combination with single use zoning means that the links between residential areas and commercial areas are accessible only by car or at great inconvenience and compromised safety (Ewing, 2006). According to Ewing (2005), environmental factors such as economic influences (cost and access), neighborhood safety (perceived and objective), and transportation opportunities play as much of a role in BMI (body weight status) as do genetic, SES, social factors, and other individual characteristics. Ewing also speaks to how sprawl relates to BMI, and his 2005 study showed that there is a 6.3-pound difference between the least and most sprawling counties in the U.S. for the average adult. 6.3 pounds may not seem like a lot, but as this is the average, picture how this shows up when those of average or underweight are factored out.

There is also the marketing environment to factor into the obesity equation. Many studies have shown that advertising is a powerful psychological tool, and food is a fiercely marketed commodity in our country. All holidays and special occasions now have some sort of candy associated with it, including everything from Valentine’s Day, Easter, to Super Bowl Sunday. McDonald’s and breakfast cereals are marketed directly to children. Processed, nutritionally deficit foods such as “energy” drinks and bars are marketed to teens and on-the-go adults. All the while, commercials show healthy, vibrant, thin people consuming these foods. The public is hypnotized by these mixed messages, and while quite possibly mentally able to see that they are being manipulated, on the subconscious level, most seem incapable of quelling the urge to purchase the cookies, the fries, the convenience foods they see advertised on billboards, in magazines, in the middle of their television shows, everywhere their eyes might land for a few seconds during the course of their day. Can we blame them for their food addictions, the resulting health problems and obesity?

“Humans have a right to the resources necessary for health” (APHA, 2006).

As a possible way to both generate revenue, and make it more challenging to purchase, the idea of a ‘sin tax’ has been raised in regards to junk food, much like what is being done with tobacco and alcohol. Some say that a junk food tax could be used in part to subsidize fruits and vegetables, make them more affordable to those with lower SES. Junk food tax revenue could also be used to help lessen the spiraling health care cost burden, a burden that is directly effected by the low quality food that most of us consume on a daily basis that erodes our health.

Another added bonus to having a ‘sin tax’ attached to junk food is that is further breaks down the illusion that junk food is food, but rather acts as a drug in the human system, much like tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, etc. People tend to view a drug is a new, foreign agent introduced into the body, which then sets off a chain of reactions, some pleasurable, some damaging to the system. But the fact of drugs is that they are simply what the body generates for itself on a daily basis, just introduced into the body in such great quantities that the body’s delicate chemical balance is thrown off. Heroin, for example, operates on the opiate receptors of certain neurons, and the withdrawal that occurs in the wake of quitting heroine is in direct proportion to the time it takes for the body to begin producing it’s own endogenous opiates (Wagner, 2005).

Refined sugar acts on the body in a similar manner. The body requires sugars for fuel. Refined sugar is simply pure glucose, without any of the fiber or protein that usually accompanies it and slows down its release into the blood stream. Junk food is predominantly full of refined sugar, and a person who is eating a regular supply of it has become addicted to the rush of pure glucose entering their system, and the resulting insulin release causes the sugar levels in the blood to plummet, setting into motion withdrawal symptoms, and sugar cravings begin, a vicious cycle created that wreaks havoc on every system in the body.

Why shouldn’t junk food be treated as a drug, levied as a drug, regulated like a drug? In the human body, it acts like one, with the same devastating circumstances.

“Knowledge is important and powerful” (APHA, 2006).

The ethics of obesity interventions lay not so much with the interventions themselves, but with how we view obesity, the nature of what causes it, and the way that we insist people respond to the ‘treatments’ we’ve devised to help them. Would we expect a heroin addict to be likely to stay off heroin is it were present in every store, at every social gathering, whose goodness, pleasure and supposed health were
advertised in every aspect of media? Obesity shows up in the individual, but fat isn’t so much a personal problem as a social one, and if anything is to be done to halt this new epidemic, we have to change how we view it. Because ultimately, we all pay for the fallout of this disease, we all lose.

References

American Public Health Association. Public health code of ethics. Retrieved from: http://www.apha.org/codeofethics/ethics.htm

CDC. Overweight and Obesity. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/

Ewing, Reid. (April, 2005). Can the physical environment determine physical activity levels?Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 33 (2). 69-75.

Ewing, Reid. April 4, 2006. Obesity and the built environment: the evidence to date. Lecturefor National Public Health Week, SUNY Albany School of Public Health.

The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and BehavioralResearch. (April 18, 1979). The Belmont Report: ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research.


Wagner, Christine. (Fall, O5). Substance Abuse and Addiction. Biopsychology APSY214.

Research Update

Here is last month's research update from FitBits.

FitBits
March 15, 2006
Exercise ETC’s Review of Exercise Related Research
Compiled by Jeannie Patton, MS, CSCS

Visualization improves muscular force development

Mental practice has been shown to be effective in increasing the force production of the smaller muscles in the hand. The aim of this study was to determine whether mental practice could produce force gains in the larger ankle dorsiflexor muscles, which are so important during walking.

Twenty-four subjects were randomly assigned to a physical practice group, a mental practice group, or a control group. In the practice groups, subjects either physically or mentally practiced producing maximal isometric contractions for 3 sets of 10 repetitions, 3 times per week for 4 weeks. Changes in mean peak isometric strength and the resulting percentage of improvement were analyzed across the 3 groups. Interestingly, visualization produced gains in muscular force: both the physical exercise group and the visualization group saw significant increases in improvement (25% & 17% respectively) but the control group did not. These findings show that mental practice in people without impairments can lead to an increase in force production similar to that produced by physical practice. Fitness Professionals should consider mental practice as a useful adjunct to traditional training options aimed at increasing muscle strength.

Sidaway, Ben & Trzaska, (Robinson) Amy. Can Mental Practice Increase Ankle Dorsiflexor Torque? Journal of Physical Therapy. 2005, 85(10), 1053-1060.


Men are stronger because they have more muscle mass, not stronger muscle fibers

Power production is a function of both muscle strength and contractile speed and the ability to generate power is critical to performing many activities of daily living. Older women have greater limitations in function than men and a longer period of dependence before death. The objective of this study was to directly compare whole muscle and single muscle fiber power production in older men and women.

Sixteen older men and women (mean age 72) served as subjects. Needle biopsy of the vastus lateralis was performed in order to isolate single muscle fibers. Researchers studied 274 type I and 33 type IIa muscle fibers. Whole muscle strength and power was measured using knee extension and double leg press. Results showed men had greater whole muscle strength, power and velocity than women, however in single muscle fiber comparison, no significant differences in power-generating capacity were found in either type I or type IIa fibers.

These results indicate that the observed differences in strength and power between men and women are more a result of greater muscle mass in men than women as well as, possibly, differences in central nervous system activation. Studies such as this are important to Fitness Professionals to understand what causes power decline in older women and to help in developing programs to improve function and reduce decline during aging.

Krivickas, Lisa. et al. Sex differences in single muscle fiber power in older adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2006, 38(1), 57-63.


Carb supplementation makes no difference in RPE during resistance training

It is generally thought that carbohydrate availability mediates the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) during endurance exercise but it is currently not known if carbohydrate supplementation would also mediate RPE during resistance training. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between carbohydrate supplementation and RPE during resistance training.

Thirty strength-trained subjects took either a carbohydrate supplement or a placebo and lifted weights for 2 hours. The subjects performed 4 sets of 10 repetitions for 10 exercises with a 2 to 3 minute rest intervals between set; RPE was taken following the last repetition of each set for each exercise.

The study results showed that carb supplementation had no effect on RPE during resistance training, so it can be concluded that factors mediating RPE may be different between resistance exercise and endurance exercise. Fitness Professionals may still want to consider the use of carbohydrate supplementation for athletes and clients who train like athletes; it may not make the resistance exercise feel any easier, but it may provide other physiological benefits such as increased recovery rates between training days. Following training, carbohydrate availability is essential for increasing the rate of liver and muscle glycogen resynthesis.

Utter, Alan, C. et al. Carbohydrate supplementation and perceived exertion during resistance exercise. National Strength & Conditioning Journal. 2005, 19(4), 939-943.


Dual-task balance improved by specific types of balance training

Traditionally, rehabilitation programs emphasize training balance under single-task conditions to improve balance and reduce risk for falls. The purpose of this case report is to describe 3 balance-training approaches in older adults with impaired balance.

The three patients studied were older adults who volunteered for balance training because of a self-reported history of falls in the previous year or because of a concern about impaired balance. They were randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions that involved either a single task activity or dual task activity. The single-task conditions were: (1) narrow walking and (2) stepping over obstacles; the dual-task conditions were: (1) narrow walking while counting backward by "threes," (2) stepping over obstacles while counting backward by threes, (3) narrow walking while distinguishing whether an auditory tone was high or low, (4) stepping over obstacles with auditory tone discrimination. Training sessions consisted of 45 minutes, 3 days per week for 4 weeks. The patients who received balance training under dual-task conditions showed dual-task training benefits which were maintained for 3 months.

Older adults may be able to improve their balance under dual-task conditions only by following specific types of balance training. Since most activities of daily living involve dual-task conditions (i.e., walking while carrying groceries, walking while turning the head to cross a street etc.) Fitness Professionals should use this information to make their balance training more task specific.

Silsupadol, Patima et al. Training of Balance Under Single- and Dual-Task Conditions in Older Adults With Balance Impairment. Journal of Physical Therapy. 2006, 86(2), 269-281.

Only 15 Percent of Obese Know They Are Obese

Huh?! This boggles the mind. But I guess denial is a powerful tool.

Obese people have a blind spot when it comes to their own weight problem, according to a study that showed only 15 percent of people in that category view themselves as obese.

Such a lack of self-awareness can be deadly.

“If somebody doesn’t perceive themselves to be obese, they are most likely not going to pay attention to any public health information about the consequences of obesity,” said Kim Truesdale, a nutrition researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Among those consequences are heightened risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis.

The study of 104 adults, ages 45 to 64, showed that only 15 percent of people who fit the body type for obese correctly classified themselves that way.

In contrast, 71 percent of normal-weight people and 73 percent of people classified as overweight were accurate in their self-assessments.

My guess is that most of these people just think they are "a little heavy." Despite what the "fat acceptance" people claim, being obese is not healthy and these people face a high risk of illness because they are not aware they have a problem.

With two-thirds of the population now overweight, I think it's a lot easier for obese people to feel normal. It doesn't help that a lot of doctors won't discuss weight issues until there is a health problem. If they confronted their heavy patients before the weight creates health issues, they'd really be doing their patients a favor.

Xenical Gets Tentative OTC Sales Approval

Over the counter (OTC) sales of Xenical, under the name Alli, are not far off now that GlaxoSmithKline has been awarded a conditional approval for its fat-blocking drug.

Known generically as orlistat, the pill helps prevent fat from being absorbed by the body but can cause excess gas and oily discharge.

If it wins final approval, it would be the only FDA-endorsed weight-loss drug available without a prescription. Company officials have said nonprescription sales would help fight soaring obesity rates in the United States, making it easier for overweight Americans to seek treatment.

But some experts have expressed concern about people regaining weight after they stop using the drug, as well as whether people will be able to tell if it is safe for them without a doctor's advice.

The drug can also lead to hepatitis, gallstones and kidney stones, although the exact cause is not clear.

This is a huge mistake in my opinion. Not only are there the health risks mentioned above, but there is the general ignorance of the American public. People have a "more is better" mentality that, with this drug, could pose serious health risks.

Then there is the reality that people will pop a couple of these pills and head to Krispy Kreme for an all-they-can-eat adventure in intestinal distress. Or the guy with heart disease who isn't supposed to eat saturated fat (red meat) will go to some fast-food place to get a few triple cheeseburgers with bacon, and then wonder why he is having chest pains.

Seriously, though, making a fat-blocker available OTC is going to encourage people to eat things they know they shouldn't, which isn't going to help improve the obesity rate. It's also going to give those with body dismorphic disorder another tool with which to abuse their bodies.

This is a bad choice that will lead to serious health issues for a lot of people.

The only way we are ever going to solve the obesity problem is with an integral approach that incorporates sound diet and exercise, emotional work, an examination of cultural beliefs about food and our bodies, and an adjustment of our economic system to favor health over profits.

Since we likely can't change capitalism, the other three areas are the best options for ending obesity.

Does Alpha Lipoic Acid Live Up to the Hype?

I am a big fan of alpha lipoic acid. I use it daily, and I encourage many of my clients to use it, especially those with metabolic disorders, diabetes, neuropathy, or Parkinson's Disease. I have read more studies than I can recall, and while some have been tentative in their conclusions, most have been very positive.

So it was interesting to read the new article at T-Nation about ALA. The author isn't a big fan. It was T-Nation that first alerted me to the benefits of ALA back in the late 1990's. David Barr is a contributor but not a member of the T-Nation staff, so I don't know if his views reflect the views of T-Nation or not.

Anyway, it seems fair to post the link here so that any of you who are interested can read the article for yourself and make your own conclusions. But, please, do your research. Don't trust me or Barr or anyone else without doing your own reading.

ALA: Anabolic Fat Loss? by David Barr

Cinnamon May Help Prevent Diabetes

This isn't really new information. We've known for a long time that cinnamon can help control blood sugar, reduce cholesterol, increase metabolism, and decrease inflammation. But it's always good to have new studies to back up what we know, especially when talking to clients and trying to get them to do what is best for their bodies.

Here is the whole article from CBS News:

Cinnamon has jumped from the kitchen to the science lab as scientists study the common spice’s potential effects on diabetes.

Cinnamon appears to fight inflammation and help insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar. That news comes from researchers including Richard Anderson, PhD, CNS, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Md.

Anderson and colleagues presented two papers on cinnamon at the Experimental Biology 2006 meeting, held in San Francisco. In both studies, researchers did lab tests in an effort to find cinnamon’s active ingredient that might affect diabetes. They didn’t test cinnamon on people or animals in either study.

Cinnamon in the Lab

One of Anderson’s studies focused on cinnamon’s insulin-like effects. In lab tests, Anderson’s team found that cinnamon contains antioxidants called polyphenols that boost levels of three key proteins.

Those proteins are important in insulin signaling, glucose (blood sugar) transport, and inflammatory response, the researchers write. That study was partially funded by PhytoMedical Technologies, a company involved in pharmaceutical research on plant-based products, including cinnamon.

The second study probed cinnamon’s chemistry. The researchers found and extracted a natural compound in cinnamon that they think may have insulin-like properties. The compound is a proanthocyanidin, which is a type of polyphenol.

Previous Work

Previously, Anderson tested cinnamon on people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes patients took varying daily doses of cinnamon for 40 days. The doses were larger than levels typically used in food.

The patients’ insulin sensitivity improved during the study. No differences were seen among the three doses of cinnamon.

Twenty days after the patients stopped taking cinnamon, those effects were fading but were still significant, meaning that they didn’t seem to be due to chance, according to the study. Those findings were presented at the fourth International Congress Dietary Antioxidants and Trace Elements, held in Monastir, Tunisia, in April 2005.

SOURCES: Experimental Biology 2006, San Francisco, April 1-5, 2006. Agriculture Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: “Research Project: Chromium and Polyphenols from Cinnamon in the Prevention and Alleviation of Glucose Intolerance.” News release, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

For those who don't like cinnamon (how can anyone not like cinnamon?) there is an increasing assortment of supplements available. Start with about 1,000 mg a day to see how your body responds. Adding more into the diet is not a bad thing. But if you are on medication, you should talk to your doctor about what you are doing.

The combination of alpha lipoic acid and cinnamon -- with a low insulinemic diet and regular exercise -- has gotten several of my clients off of glucophage and other diabetes medications.

Aspartame Does Not Increase Cancer Risk in Humans

Rumors have been circulating on the web for years that aspartame causes cancer -- and just about every other form of illness imaginable. I have never seen any research to support these claims. Now there is a study done with human subjects -- and not funded by the sweetener maker -- that shows aspartame is safe.

No increased risk was seen even among people who gulped down many artificially sweetened drinks a day, said researchers who studied the diets of more than half a million older Americans.

A consumer group praised the study, done by reputable researchers independent of any funding or ties to industry groups.

"It goes a fair way toward allaying concerns about aspartame," said Michael Jacobson, head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which had urged the government to review the sweetener's safety after a troubling rat study last year.

Findings were reported Tuesday at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Aspartame came on the market 25 years ago and is found in thousands of products — sodas, chewing gum, dairy products and even many medicines. NutraSweet and Equal are popular brands.

Research in the 1970s linked a different sweetener, saccharin, to bladder cancer in lab rats. Although the mechanism by which this occurred does not apply to people and no human risk was ever documented, worries about sugar substitutes in general have persisted.

They worsened after Italian researchers last year reported results of the largest animal study ever done on aspartame, involving 1,800 lab rats. Females developed more lymphomas and leukemias on aspartame than those not fed the sweetener.

The new study, by scientists at the National Cancer Institute, involved 340,045 men and 226,945 women, ages 50 to 69, participating in a research project by the National Insitutes of Health and AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons.

From surveys they filled out in 1995 and 1996 detailing food and beverage consumption, researchers calculated how much aspartame they consumed, especially from sodas or from adding the sweetener to coffee or tea.

Over the next five years, 2,106 developed blood-related cancers such as lymphoma or leukemia, and 376 developed brain tumors. No link was found to aspartame consumption for these cancers in general or for specific types, said Unhee Lim, who reported the study's findings.

The dietary information was collected before the cancers developed, removing the possibility of "memory bias" — faulty recollection influenced by knowing you have a disease.

"It's very reassuring. It's a large study with a lot of power," said Richard Adamson, a senior science consultant to the American Beverage Association, the leading industry group.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest still warns about one potential hazard of aspartame use: thinking that calories "saved" from using a sugar substitute justify "spending" more on unhealthy foods.

"Drinking a diet soda at lunch does not mean it's okay to have a larger dessert at dinner," the group's Web site warns.

[Emphasis at the end is mine.]

This is a good study. Hopefully it will put an end to the hysteria on the web about aspartame and cancer.

As noted at the end of the article, one drawback is that people using diet beverages or foods tend to think it's okay to indulge in other unhealthy foods. That's a big mistake.

One other study needs to be done on this chemical. Rat studies have shown that animals fed a diet high in aspartame tend to consume more calories than those fed other sweeteners. The researchers felt that the body might be trying to make up for the discrepancy between the sweet taste and the absence of calories by consuming more food.

It would be good to see if this happens in humans as well.

Eat Fiber to Protect Your Heart

A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that dietary fiber may reduce levels of c-reactive protein, a major indicator of heart disease.

A fiber-rich diet may help control levels of a blood protein linked to an increased risk of heart disease, new research suggests.

In a study of 524 healthy adults, investigators found that those with the highest fiber intake had lower blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) than those who ate the least fiber. CRP is a marker of ongoing inflammation in the body, and consistently high levels of this protein have been identified in previous studies as a risk factor for future heart disease.

The new findings support the general recommendation that adults get 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day, in the form of fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains.

The problem is that most Americans only get half the fiber they should be getting in their diet. But it doesn't take that much to produce health benefits.

It did not take a ton of roughage to reap the benefit, the researchers found. Study participants with the highest fiber intake typically got about 22 grams per day, or just within the recommended range.

Ongoing, low-level inflammation in the body is thought to contribute to a range of ills, including clogged arteries and heart disease.

It's not clear why fiber may reduce inflammation, according to Ma's team, but it may lower cholesterol and blood sugar, both of which can contribute to inflammation.

"This study," the researchers write, "suggests that a diet high in fiber may play a role in reducing inflammation and, thus, the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes."

In addition, both of the main forms of fiber, soluble and insoluble, were related to lower CRP levels. Soluble fiber is found in foods like oatmeal, beans, berries and apples, while whole grains and many vegetables are good sources of insoluble fiber.

All of these foods, the study authors write, should become the "foundation of America's diet to combat heart disease and diabetes."

Eat your fiber!