Exercise: Intensity or amount to improve Cholesterol?

As a personal trainer, I strongly believe in the power of exercise on health and weight control. I not only see the results of consistent exercise in myself, but again and again see it in my clients, as they progress and start to include regular exercise in their daily lives.

Two studies are discussed that focus on the effects of different levels of exercise on cholesterol/blood lipid levels.

The first study was published in the October 2005 issue of Chest and compared the effects of three different exercise regimens, differing in amount and intensity, on fitness improvements. Study subjects were 133 overweight men and women who had mild to moderately increased blood cholesterol levels. These people were split into 3 amount and intensity groups and also included a control group.

The improvements in oxygen capacity was greater in the higher intensity groups, but even the moderate intensity group improved over the control group, leading researchers to encourage even this amount of exercise in people who are not active. They further felt that either increasing the amount/duration of the moderate intensity exercise, or increasing the intensity can both yield additional separate but combined effects on the markers of aerobic fitness that were studied.

The second study was published in a November, 2002 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. It also concluded that it wasn’t the intensity of exercise that was responsible for the decreased blood lipid profiles, but the amount of activity subjects took part in.

For anyone who is looking for a way to either improve their blood cholesterol levels or their weight, these studies further support that some exercise is better than more.

There are two messages, here: If you do exercise and are not happy with the results you are seeing, increase the amount. For those of you who do already work out 4-5 days a week, it may be time to pick up the pace.

If you do not exercise and am ready to start, make sure to get the green light from your healthcare provider, first. For some people, you may need to just start at walking slowly for just 5 minutes a day. It’s not just the body that must adapt, but your habits must be created, so the mind must get used to getting ready and going out to do the activity. There’s no better time than now to begin, though.

To read the abstract from Chest, click here.

For the New England Journal of Medicine abstract, click here.

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Load up on Salad to lose weight

Years ago I had read about the book on Volumetrics that Dr. Barbara Rolls had published, as a result of her studies on weight control and satiety out of Pennsylvania State University. What she says in her books make sense.

Researchers are at it again at Penn, showing that starting with a large salad can help cut overall calorie consumption at a meal. They show that not only does your approach to the meal make a difference, but the salad’s size and composition does as well. Listen to the podcast to hear the details.

To read more about the New American Plate by the AICR, click here: http://www.aicr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pub_nap_index_21

To read more about Volumetrics, click here: http://www.volumetricseatingplan.com/index.html

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What is your job doing to you?

Two recent studies looked at the effect of how your job affects your health. One focused on what effect long working hours had on the health of men and women. They found that long working hours impacted women more than men. Women tend to not exercise, snack on high fat, high calorie foods, and eat a more unhealthy diet in general. This was not the case with men.

The other study looked at what constant stress at work did to the health of men and women. They found that stressful working conditions resulted in more increases in blood pressure in men than women.

Listen to Margie as she talks about what these two studies may tell us, when we put them together, and hear a couple of tips on how to avoid falling into these traps that may be impacting your health.

Links of interest regarding work stress:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/stress/
http://www.statcan.ca/english/studies/82-003/archive/1998/hrar1998010003s0a04.pdf
http://stress.about.com/od/stressbasics/

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Going Mediterranean for your Health

In the February issue of Nutrition Reviews, researchers published the results of a review of 43 articles corresponding to 35 different studies on the Mediterranean diet. They were curious to learn what these studies reveal. The results were quite dramatic, making it clear that many people could improve their current health, and decrease their current health risks, if they would start to follow these dietary guidelines.

The Mediterranean Diet is not actually a specific diet, but a way of eating that the people who live along the Mediterranean Sea have in common. Some of these characteristics include:

* A high consumption of fruits, vegetables, potatoes, beans, nuts, seeds, bread and other cereals
* Olive oil used for cooking and dressings
* Moderate amounts of fish but little meat
* Low to moderate amounts of full fat cheese and yogurt
* Moderate consumption of wine, usually with meals
* Reliance on local, seasonal, fresh produce
* An active lifestyle

Listen to this month’s podcast as Margie explains how this type of diet is high in phytonutrients, which provide not only flavor and color, but antioxidant protection against disease.

To see the review, click here.

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Cancers Affecting Women

A recent study looked at the link between weight and ovarian cancer. They found that women who were heavier and had never had children were 2.5 times more likely at risk for ovarian cancer than their thinner counterparts. Another study from the American Cancer Society found a higher rate of death from ovarian cancer in obese women. The risk was increased by 50% in the heaviest women. The American Cancer Society estimates that at least 1/3rd of all cancer deaths in the US are attributable to excess weight and obesity.

Meanwhile, for women suffering from late cervical cancer, there is a new option available. A drug that is already used for women suffering from ovarian cancer has now been approved, in combination with another drug, for women with late-stage cervical cancer. This is the combination of the drug Hycamtin, with cisplatin. It is the first drug treatment for women for whom surgery or radiation therapy is unlikely to be effective against cervical cancer that’s incurable, recurrent or persistent and has spread to other organs. This treatment will not save the woman’s life, but it will prolong it.

The final good news about cancer and women is that we now have a vaccine to protect against the two strains of the human papillomavirus that is responsible for most cases of cervical cancer received.

Each year, there are about 10,000 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in U.S. women and 3,700 deaths. Since the risk of so many cancers are linked to weight and lifestyle, this is again good reason to strive to keep your weight down and eat healthy foods and stay active.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ovariancancer.html

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