Cold Weather Might Help Losing Weight!

Piling evidence has shown that overweight and obese can lead to a number of chronic diseases including Type-2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and even certain types of cancer. There is no doubt that the public is aware of the consequence of being fat, most people still find it hard to maintain a healthy weight because of the inability to get rid of the unhealthy lifestyle. 

Only when the weight gain causes the health indicators to show red, people will realize that they should try to shed the extra weight. Then, they will start to exercise more and pay attention to their diet. Some will even approach weight-loss professionals for help.

A recent study by the National Institutes of Health found that shivering might be as good as exercise to help people reduce weight. Their findings were published in the February 2014’s issue of ‘Cell Metabolism’.

Hormone irisin from the muscles and hormone FGF21 from the brown fat stores will be released when people feel cold and start shivering. These same hormones are released during moderate levels of exercise, too.

Unlike white fat, brown fat produces heat and burns calories instead of storing them. 50 grams of white fat could hold more than 300 calories, while 50 grams of brown fat are able to burn up to 300 calories per day.

When placing in the presence of white fat, these 2 hormones could convert the storage fat into the healthier brown fat. This means shaking from the cold or going for an exercise could create similar fat-burning opportunities.

People are born with brown fat around the necks to help stay warm as babies. It was thought that this brown baby fat is lost while growing up. But scientists now realize that the brown fat is kept through adulthood. As shown by studies, adults with higher levels of brown fat tend to be skinnier than those with lower levels.

10 healthy volunteers were recruited in the study. The participants were first asked to exercise at maximal aerobic capacity on a stationary bike. Later on, they were put under cooling blankets set to slightly more than 53 degrees Fahrenheit (closed to 12 degrees Celsius) in order to induce shivering. It was found that irisin levels produced through exercise were comparable to shivering.

The researchers did not suggest that thin clothes should be wore when the weather out there is 12 degree Celsius just to burn more energy. While exercise is as important as weight loss, not many people can lose weight just through exercise. But if scientists can find a way to raise brown fat, many people can benefit. It is their hope that their findings might eventually lead to development of some kind of medication that can promote production of irisin.

Cut Sugar Intake To Half For Better Health!

According to a study published in January 2014 in the ‘Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine’, consuming too much sugar could significantly raise the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke).

The study found that people who took in between 17 and 21 percent of calories from added sugar had a 38 percent high risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to those who consumed 8 percent of their calories from added sugar. The risk was more than double for those who consumed 21 percent or more of their calories from added sugar.

Does this means sugar is something bad for the health? This is not entirely true. Human body needs sugar to function. Naturally occurring sugar that is found in some fruits, vegetables and milks is basically healthy. It is the added sugar that is bad for the body.

Sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed are called added sugar. Sugar-sweetened drinks, fruit drinks, candy, cakes and grain-based desserts are some that contain added sugar. As added sugars are high in energy, they have been accused of contributing to obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure) and high cholesterol.

On March 5, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested that the daily sugar intake should be just 5 percent of the total calories intake, equivalent to around 25 grams (around 6 teaspoons) of sugar for an adult of normal BMI (body mass index). The new guideline is only half of what WHO had recommended more than a decade ago (since 2002).

New guideline was formulated based on a review of about 9,000 studies on the consumption of sugars and how that relates to excess weight gain and tooth decay in adults and children.

There is no doubt that Americans and people in the West are consuming too much sugar. For instance, most American adults consume about 22 teaspoons of added sugar, which is closed to 400 calories, a day. This is about 4 times of the recommended amount, meaning their average sugar intake should drop by at two-third to meet the new WHO’s suggested limit.

It is hoped that the WHO’s new guidelines would force the food manufacturers to rethink how they are using sugar in processed foods like bread, soups, pasta sauces and even salad dressings.

So far, there is no universally agreed consensus on how much sugar should be consumed. For instance, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends sugar intake should be limited to about 8 percent of the diet: men and women should not consume more than 150 (9 teaspoons) and 100 (6 teaspoons) calories respectively a day.

Cardiovascular Risk Increases After Losing Loved One!

When someone who is loved passed away, the survivors would be grieved over his or her death. They might have loss of sleep and appetite over a period of time. All this could have aggravated existing underlying medical conditions.

A study of old folks revealed that the risk of heart attack was double in the 30 days following the loss of a partner, and stroke risk rose 2.4 times over that of similarly aged people who had not sustained a loss. The findings were published online February 24, 2014 in the ‘Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine’.

After comparing 30,447 bereaved patients to 83,588 who were matched in age and gender but had not lost a partner, the British researchers from St George’s University of London and Brunel University found that the risk of heart attack and stroke was highest in the month after the loss and the risk declined slowly over the following year.

The participants, who aged between 60 and 89, were taken from a United Kingdom primary care database containing available data of 401 general practices from February 2005 through September 2012.

As a matter of fact, evidence from other studies have already shown that bereavement and grief could lead to a range of adverse physiological responses, including changes in blood clotting, blood pressure, stress hormone levels and heart rate control. All these would possibly contribute to a higher risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke after loss of a partner.

While the actual reasons have yet to be determined, there are some explanations available. For instance, some studies have indicated that intense stress could activate the ‘fight or flight’ response that could trigger a surge of epinephrine, adrenaline and cortisol. When at low and medium doses, these hormones are good because they cause the heart pump harder and faster. People might need this in many situations, for instance, when they are doing exercise. But in some people, very high doses of adrenaline have a toxic effect on the heart.

In addition, people’s daily schedules could be interrupted, for example, they might forget to take their medications, stop eating right or do some harmful things like drinking or eating too much. Changes like these could undoubtedly raise the risk of heart attack.

Hence, it is important that doctors, friends and family members are aware of this increased risk so that they can make sure that care and support is as good as possible, especially in the first month following bereavement when stress levels are particularly high.

Meanwhile, the survivors should look after themselves and if they are having trouble coping, they should seek help from their doctors who will be able to advise on any health issues or offer any further support that they might need.

Do Hypertension And Obesity Affect Only Developed Countries?

Obesity has historically been viewed as a sign of wealth and prosperity. It, together with hypertension (high blood pressure), has been problem of the wealthy or developed nations.

However, it seems that these health risks might have also spread to developing countries. According to a paper published online March 12, 2013 in ‘Circulation’, the average BMI (body mass index) of population is now as high or higher in middle-income countries and there is a tendency for women’s blood pressure to be higher in poorer countries.

Researchers at Imperial College London, Harvard School of Public Health, and worldwide collaborators analyzed data from a total of 199 countries on the prevalence of risk factors related to heart and circulatory disease between 1980 and 2008.

Their analysis showed that a country's income was correlated with the population's average blood pressure, cholesterol as well as BMI in 1980. There was no association between national income and blood pressure in men in 2008, but blood pressure was higher in poorer countries for women.

While BMI was still lowest in the poorest countries, it was higher in middle-income countries than the wealthiest countries. Cholesterol remained higher in higher-income Western countries. Fasting blood sugar, which is linked to diabetes, was only weakly related with income and affluence, but correlated with obesity. 

Meanwhile, the study also found that BMI has consistently been related to the proportion of the population living in cities. This might imply that urban lifestyle might be playing a critical role in the obesity epidemics both now and in the past. 

What worrying the researchers is that developing countries will be facing a rising numbers of obesity, diabetes and hypertension should the current trend continues, and developed nations will continue to be confronted with an epidemic of diabetes and high cholesterol.

To change the relationship between national income and blood pressure, it is necessary to improve the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in wealthier countries, coupled with changes in diet and lifestyle.

Reason why high cholesterol is still associated with national wealth is probably the cost of meat and other animal products are relatively high. As such, lower income nations should encourage their people to choose unsaturated fats over saturated fats to avoid the problems that richer countries already have.

Developing countries should strive to replicate the success that developed countries have had in lowering blood pressure by improving primary health care services, lowering salt intake and making fresh fruit and vegetables more available.

Cost imposed by circulatory and heart diseases could be huge on healthcare systems in high- and middle-income countries, hence redirecting some of these resources to prevention might save a lot in the long run.

Why You Should Take Less Salt?

It has been known and probably shown by dozens of studies that consuming too much salt (sodium) can cause hypertension (high blood pressure), which in turn will increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) estimated that more than 800,000 Americans die from heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases every year. According to AHA (American Heart Association), nearly half of all deaths caused by cardiovascular disease in the United States are related to hypertension. 

Statistics shows that Americans consumes an average of 3,600 mg of salt a day (about a teaspoon and a half), which is obviously much higher than that stipulated in recommended guidelines.

Current dietary guidelines recommend that people should take less than 2,300 mg of salt a day (about a teaspoon). For people who are 51 or older, are African-American or have hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, their daily intake should not be more than 1,500 mg.

A paper published February 11, 2013 in the journal ‘Hypertension’ suggested that hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved in the next decade, if Americans could cut the amount of salt they consume.

Scientists from the University of California San Francisco, Harvard Medical School and Simon Fraser University in Canada each used completely different computer simulation models to estimate how lowering sodium would save lives, largely by reducing the number of heart attacks and strokes.

One model examined the effects of gradually reducing sodium intake by 40 percent over 10 years to 2,200 milligrams a day (about a teaspoon), the second model calculated the impact of instantly reducing sodium intake by 40 percent, and the third model assessed the benefits of instantly cutting sodium intake to 1,500 mg a day, about a half teaspoon. 

All the 3 models found consistent and substantial benefits of lowering sodium consumption from the current level of intake. While gradually reducing sodium intake by 40 percent over 10 years could save an estimated 280,000 to 500,000 lives, immediately lowering sodium intake would save 500,000 to 850,000 more lives, about 60 percent more.

The researchers admitted that people might not be able to instantly reduce their salt intake, taking into account of the prevailing high salt intake. It might be more realistic for people to gradually reduce their salt intake over time.

According to AHA, an estimated 80 percent of salt intake comes from commercially prepared and processed foods. Hence, it is important that the public health approach should target lower levels of added sodium in these products through a combined effort of regulation, consumer education and food labeling and voluntary partnership with food manufacturers.

Why Less Sugary Drinks Should Be Consumed?

There are plenty of evidence showing sugar-sweetened beverages are loaded with calories that carry little nutritional value. These beverages are considered as a public health hazard as they are linked to obesity. A large number of deaths are actually caused by obesity-related diseases including cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and Type-2 diabetes.

A paper presented at EPI/NPAM by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston linked sugar-sweetened beverage consumption to 180,000 deaths a year worldwide, including 25,000 deaths a year in the United States, mainly due to Type-2 diabetes. EPI/NPAM, stands for Epidemiology & Prevention and Nutrition, Physical Activity & Metabolism, was a conference hosted by American Heart Association (AHA) and held between March 19 and 22, 2013 in New Orleans.

Information from 114 countries was included in the new study that looked at dietary surveys to assess sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, and the number of deaths from certain diseases. Information from earlier studies was also used to estimate the effect of sugary drink consumption on weight gain, and the effect of weight gain on the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

As indicated by their analysis, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was linked to 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 44,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 6,000 deaths from cancer.

In 2010, Latin America/Caribbean had the most diabetes deaths at 38,000, and East/Central Eurasia had the most cardiovascular deaths at 11,000. Among the 15 most populated countries, Mexico had the highest rate of death linked to the beverages at 318 yearly deaths per million adults, and Japan had the lowest at 10 yearly deaths per million adults.

It is hoped that the new findings could push policy makers worldwide to implement effective policies like taxation and mass media campaigns to lower consumption of sugary beverages.

Nevertheless, other health professionals in the fields cautioned the study found only association and did not prove that sugar-sweetened beverage consumption actually caused those deaths.

Sugar-sweetened beverages are often just part of a bad diet that contribute to bad health. That is why people should still focus on overall diet. If people could improve the quality of diets by cutting down the sugar intake, salt intake and everything else, they should have better health. Reducing sugar-sweetened beverages but eating more of other junk foods could actually worsen the health.

The AHA recommends adults consume no more than 450 calories per week from sugar-sweetened beverages, based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet.

Beware Of Harms By Hypertension!

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is the most common cardiovascular disease. If it is left untreated, it could lead to not only vision problems and kidney failure but also life threatening events such as stroke and heart attack. In the United States, 1 in 3 adults have high blood pressure.

According to the announcement made by The World Health Organizations (WHO) on the eve of World Health Day on April 7, 2013, nearly 1.5 million people died of high blood pressure each year in South-East Asia making it the single-most important risk factor for non-communicable diseases like heart attack and stroke.

What makes high blood pressure dangerous is that it rarely causes any symptoms! Hence it is also called “the silent killer”. In fact, nearly one-third of people who have high blood pressure do not realize it. Certain symptoms still, however, persist if one’s blood pressure is extremely high. These include severe headache, chest pain, vision problems, fatigue, confusion and irregular heartbeat.

Regular checkup is probably the only way that one can tell whether his or her blood pressure is high. Most of the mortality caused by high blood pressure can simply be prevented through healthy lifestyles, early detection and treatment by medications.

Every individual does have the obligation to prevent hypertension by adopting a healthy lifestyle: eat a balanced diet, reduce salt, has regular exercise, avoid excessive consumption of alcohol, quit smoking and check the blood pressure regularly.

Meanwhile, health-promoting environments created by governments are essential as it can help people adopt healthy lifestyle and impose regulations for lowering the amount of salt in packaged food and making healthier foods affordable and accessible.

Remember this, it is cheaper to prevent, detect and treat hypertension than interventions like cardiac bypass surgery or kidney dialysis that may be required if hypertension is not diagnosed and treated in time.

Almost 95 percent of hypertensive patients have so-called essential hypertension in which the underlying causes cannot be determined. While essential hypertension is somehow mysterious, it has been linked to certain risk factors including family history, age, consumption of salt, obesity, diabetes, stress, lack of physical activity, insufficient intake of potassium, calcium and magnesium and chronic alcohol consumption.

The remaining 5 percent of hypertensive cases belong to so-called secondary hypertension in which the cause can be identified. Such causes include kidney disease, tumors, birth control pills and pregnancy.

Hypertension is a serious global issue. That is why in September 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, and committed governments to a series of actions.  Member States have agreed to 9 global targets for prevention and control of non-communicable diseases including lowering the prevalence of hypertension by 25 percent by 2025.

Can Eating Fish Prolong Life?

American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that people who have no coronary heart disease (CHD) should eat a variety of fish, preferably oily fish such as salmon and tuna, at least twice a week.  

Eating fish is good for the health because of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid), These fatty acids have been shown to benefit the heart of healthy people and those at high risk for or who already have cardiovascular disease.

In a study released on April 2, 2013 in the journal ‘Annals of Internal Medicine’, researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, University of New Mexico, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington reported that people, who were 65 and older and ate fish, may live an average of 2 years longer than people who did not consume the omega-3 fatty acids.

While other studies have found link between omega-3 fatty acids and lower risk of heart disease, this study aimed to determine the link between fish eating and mortality risk.

Researchers analyzed records of older people by scanning 16 years of data on about 2,692 American adults aged 74 years (plus or minus 5 years) without prevalent CHD, stroke, or heart failure. These participants were not taking fish oil supplements.

Their findings indicated that those with the highest blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had the lowest risk of dying from any cause, and lived an average of 2.2 years longer than those with low levels. Omega-3 fatty acids were found mainly in fish like salmon, tuna, halibut, sardines, herring and mackerel.

DHA was found to be the most strongly linked to lower risk of CHD death. EPA, on the other hand, was strongly related to lower risk of nonfatal heart attack and DPA (docosapentaenoic acid) was most strongly associated with lower risk of dying from a stroke. Even after adjusting for demographic, lifestyle and diet factors, the results persisted.

Importance of adequate blood omega-3 levels for cardiovascular health was indeed supported by the findings, which also suggested that in life these benefits could extend the years of remaining life.

According to AHA, people who had CHD are advised to consume about 1 gram of EPA and DHA per day, preferably from oily fish, though EPA & DHA supplements could be taken as well but should be in consultation with their doctors. People who have elevated triglycerides require 2 to 4 grams of EPA and DHA provided as capsules on a daily basis under doctor’s care.