Tag Archives: health

Carvings July 15, 2024

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In the news

Increasing rates of colon cancer in young persons

          In less than a generation – from the year 2000 to 2023 – the incidence of colon cancer in persons below the age of 40 has doubled or tripled in some parts of the world. Colon cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, not far behind number one, lung cancer. Three main causes of this increase have been emerging in the past few years: increased sugar consumption, low intake of fiber, and taurine, an ingredient in energy drinks. All three are associated with disruption of the good germs that inhabit the large intestine, the site of colon cancer.

            A diet that is high in sugar and low in fiber tends to promote the growth of organisms that are linked to increased inflammation, a factor that increases the formation of cancer cells, and in addition increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and osteoporosis. Younger persons have a high intake of energy drinks that contain taurine, an ingredient that further promotes the growth of bacteria that promote inflammation. Young persons also have an abysmally low intake of fiber. Instead of the recommended 10 servings a day of fiber-rich plant foods, the average teenager gets less than ONE serving a day, most likely to be iceberg lettuce, a nearly worthless “vegetable.”

            About half of the adolescent population consumes one or more energy drinks every day. This does not bode well for the health of our population by mid-century.

Lifestyle

Are you a food label reader? Two reasons why you should be.

            Some food manufacturers deliberately mislead buyers and they have government’s permission to do so. Perhaps the most egregious example is the deceptive listing of “sugar” to make it look like there’s not as much of it in that product as you might think.

            Food manufacturers are required to list ingredients in order of weight and if they listed the amount of sugar in many foods you might put them back on the shelf. So if they are allowed to list every different type of sugar in pastry, for example, each ingredient would be farther down the list and thus appear to be less detrimental to your health. For example, the nutrient label on a popular supermarket’s almond bear claw coffee cake contains the following TEN different kinds of sugar, each listed separately: sugar, almond paste (which contains sugar), corn syrup, fructose, dextrose (also known as glucose), sucrose, invert sugar (a mixture of glucose and fructose), cornstarch (which breaks down into sugar), maltodextrin and high-fructose corn syrup. Some manufacturers even list glucose and dextrose as separate entities, even though they are one and the same. Except for the relatively small amounts of fructose and glucose found in fruit, none of the other forms were part of the human diet until a couple of hundred years ago. Today the average American takes in approximately one pound of sugar a week – 57 pounds a year. Is it any wonder that more than 80 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese?

            When you pick up a loaf of bread you might think that anything with a brown color is more healthy than white bread. Not necessarily, unless whole wheat or whole grain flour is the only ingredient. The term enriched flour means white flour and some breads have both, suggesting a healthy choice, and there might be much more white flour than brown. On the other hand, the brown color might be due to the addition of molasses, caramel, coffee or cocoa.

            Learn to read labels. It’s not rocket science!

Carvings July 1, 2024

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Too old? Not!

            My fitness center is a busy place. That’s good. I’m delighted to see scores of people working out regularly, most of whom appear to be in their twenties or thirties. The bad news: most of them appear to be in their twenties or thirties. It shouldn’t be that way. Considering that a) the chronic non-infectious diseases that lead to roughly 90 percent of deaths in the U.S. mostly affect persons of retirement age, b) regular exercise can postpone, modify or even eliminate the ten leading causes of death and c) that retired folks by definition have lots of time on their hands, they should vastly outnumber the kids.

            Since moving to an old folks’ home, euphemistically called a senior facility, I am dismayed that the fitness center here, literally across the hall from my apartment, stands empty almost all the time. I do not exaggerate when I note that in the past eight months since my arrival, I have not seen it in use more than ten times. (Disclosure: I never use it either because I prefer the fitness center about a mile away, where the equipment and the scenery are much better.)

            The average American gains about one pound a year between graduation from college and enrolling in Medicare. A pound isn’t much but that comes to about 30 pounds by age 65, and that’s where most Americans are; more than 80 percent of us are either overweight or obese.

            Exercise, of course, is only half the story. Most of us just eat more than we need to. But regular exercise offers more benefits than simply keeping our weight in the normal range. The immune system gets a boost not only from exercise itself, but as body weight increases, immune function decreases. Nowhere was this more clearly shown than in the recent pandemic, where the vast majority of deaths occurred in persons who were obese, diabetic, hypertensive and afflicted with coronary artery disease. Age is clearly not the problem. More than a score of centenarians survived COVID-19.

            Age is no excuse to avoid exercise and being physically active, and the Senior Olympics offer us wonderful examples. For instance, in recent years, an 85-year-old took first place in the pole vault. An 86-year-old won the triple jump and the long jump and took third in the 100- and 200-meter dash. A 97-year-old with osteoporosis won the 1500-meter run. My hero is Ruth Frith, whose shot put went 13 feet, 4 inches when she was 100 years old!

            One of my personal heroes is a friend who celebrated his 81st  birthday by doing 81 push-ups!

            The bottom line: no one is too old to exercise.

Carvings June 1, 2024

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In the news

More confusing research

          The last thirty years or so have seen a surge in publications touting the benefits of omega-3 fats in preventing heart disease and stroke. There have been a few studies that claim no benefit, but almost none have stated that these nutrients can be detrimental to heart health. A recent study from the UK reported that persons with poor heart health did receive benefits from omega-3s but previously healthy persons had a small (6 percent) risk of developing atrial fibrillation, a heart attack, heart failure or stroke.

          Even though this was a large study involving more than 400,000 people, it was observational and did not show direct causation. The authors noted that a limitation of the study was the lack of information regarding the dose and type of fish oil consumed. Takers of fish oil were significantly more likely to be elderly, which could be a factor in more of them developing atrial fibrillation.

          Although healthy persons taking fish oil supplements were more likely to develop heart disease, they were less likely to die than non-takers. The authors’ discussion did not take into consideration other benefits of omega-3 fats, including the lowering of inflammation, reduction in blood pressure, improvement in immune function and a lower risk of sudden cardiac arrest. A circuitous benefit of omega-3 fats is their role in preventing osteoporosis. A fall in an elderly person that results in a fracture leads indirectly to death, especially when that fracture involves the hip or the skull, for very different reasons.

          In an associated commentary, a nutritionist stated that she still recommends an intake of 500 milligrams of omega-3 fats per day, from fish, fish oil or a combination of the two.

And so we come to sardines!

          Sardines are one of the most beneficial foods on the planet, but I can already hear you say “Ugh! Not for me!” From my lecture experience I am well aware that Americans are about evenly split between sardine lovers and sardine haters. An Internet search will come up with nearly 100 recipes for sardine dishes, although I will admit that “sardine pie” did not excite me.

          Because sardines are so low on the food chain there is virtually no risk of mercury contamination that is a challenge in large fish such as tuna. A single four-ounce serving provides more than the recommended amount of omega-3s mentioned above, a fourth of your calcium requirements and as much iron as a hamburger. Canned sardines are convenient, can be stored almost forever and are a whole lot cheaper than beef or larger fish.

Carvings May 1, 2024

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In the news

Walk, don’t run!

          “Running is not exercise; running is a sport.” I have repeated that comment over the years and I have taken a bit of flak as a result. No matter. I have thick skin and I can back up my statement. My follow-up: You can get hurt in a sport. You can’t hurt yourself exercising as long as you do it right.

            Runner’s knee is a common medical term. Walker’s knee not so much. Stress fractures and shin splints are much more common among runners.

            Several studies over the years have indicated that walking confers nearly the same health and longevity benefits as running does. Running is more efficient for humans than walking, since evolution has made humans excellent runners, but that’s where an advantage lies for walking as an exercise. Although it seems counterintuitive, walking, being less efficient than running, requires a greater expenditure of calories per mile. (Note: this is a much-argued issue and involves several factors that make comparisons difficult.)

             Not all studies account for the fact that runners usually have a different lifestyle than walkers. The former are more likely to have other good habits such as engaging in resistance exercise, i.e.., lifting weights and eating a better diet. Runners are less likely to be overweight and thus avoid its consequences, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

            Although walking is an excellent exercise for the heart and lungs, it’s not enough. We need resistance exercises, especially for the upper body, in order to maintain strong bones.

            A caveat: do not carry hand weights while walking. That was a common practice in the 70s but it has been shown to lead to problems involving the elbow and shoulder joints, and the spine. Swinging hand weights also can throw you off balance, leading to falls.

            If you enjoy running, by all means do so. The endorphin rush adds a great deal to that enjoyment. But if your goal is to attain overall good health, walking about 2 ½ hours per week, the current recommendation, it means only 30 minutes a day, and it doesn’t have be done all at once.

Lifestyle

The return of the Saturday night bath?

            Stone Agers never bathed, except maybe by accident, just as animals don’t. (Ever try bathing a cat?) As the trend to bathe seldom or never picks up speed, especially among Californians (!) some serious research is being done to determine the advantages and disadvantages of bathing every day.

            I must admit that this question has been of interest to me since I began researching the lifestyles of Stone Agers, who were considerably healthier than those of us who live in the 21st century. (I can already visualize the raised eyebrows among you.) Consider that humans who lived 30,000 years or so ago had no coronary artery disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes or osteoporosis, nor were their lives shortened by alcohol, tobacco or drugs. We know that from studying modern hunter-gatherers who live as their Stone Age ancestors did, and who are entirely free of these diseases. It seems extremely unlikely that those ancient people bathed any more frequently than the animals that they ate – or who ate them.

            I didn’t take my first shower until I was seven years old when my parents moved to a house that had one. Until then my parents, my sister and I had a bath on Saturday night. (Yes, we did change the water!) I can’t recall that any of us had skin problems, nor do I recall that we smelled bad.

            Bathing every day does have some adverse effects but it isn’t clear that this is significantly detrimental to our health. No-bath proponents point out that nature coats our skin with natural oils and a layer of beneficial bacteria, both of which we remove with soap and hot water. The oils protect our skin from drying out and forming micro-cracks that allow harmful germs to enter. Those “good” bacteria ward off harmful ones and stimulate our immune system. Dermatologists have speculated for decades that harmful chemicals and heavy metals enter our bodies during a bath or shower.

            My personal opinion is that daily bathing is not necessary, that going shower-free two or three days a week might be of some benefit, and that a little deodorant on those days will eliminate the phew factor. Of course, showering is obviously needed after a sweaty workout or a busy day in the garden.

            A caveat: In contrast to a body wash, handwashing should be done several times a day, especially before eating anything and after elimination.