Cheese Whiz, a health food? Sort of, but not exactly. It turns out that Cheese Whiz is the best food source for Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), a specific form of one of the essential fatty acids. CLA is different, chemically, from just plain old linoleic acid (LA) by virtue of the fact that the structure of CLA consists of double bonds on adjacent carbons instead of being separated, as with LA. [Take a few notes, there will be a test. ]
The significance of CLA is that according to several well-controlled animal studies, CLA seems to have several intriguing characteristics: reduces fat, increases muscle mass, lowers serum cholesterol, inhibits cancer growth, and prevents or reverses arterial disease. Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, it probably is -- for humans. The University of Wisconsin made these discoveries about 10 years ago, and holds several patents on what may become an additive in animal feed for pigs and chickens.
CLA is available as a food supplement, or can be found in the aforementioned Cheese Whiz, other dairy products (Is Cheese Whiz a dairy product?), along with most meats. BUT, its benefits haven't been proven in humans, and even if they had, it would be next to impossible to eat enough food to get enough CLA to be effective -- hence food supplements. Even though not proven safe or effective for human consumption, anything can be sold as a food supplement. Reportedly, body builders are taking (Or were -- this information is adapted from an article in the December 1, 1998 Nutrition News Focus) CLA supplements, but they tend to take so many different supplements that it is impossible to attribute specific benefits to any one of them.
Bottom line: this story is interesting, but does not suggest that anyone should take CLA supplements -- there simply isn't enough research to support recommending it.
Dementia (per Stedman's Medical Dictionary: a general mental deterioration due to organic or psychological factors) -- essentially "muddled" mental processes that are bad enough to degrade normal living. The empairment of memory, thought, logic, and language eventually make it impossible. There are actually many types of dementia, the best known of which is Alzheimer's disease. Some forms are reversible, but most are not -- like Alzheimer's.
Some common forms of dementia are:
Alzheimer's disease -- This form is characterized physically by abnormal clumps (plaques) and tangled bundles of fiber (tangles) in the brain of the victim, a loss of nerve cells (neurons) in the brain relating to memory and other mental functions, and decreased levels of chemicals in the brain that facilitate communication between brain cells that are vital to thinking and memory.
A first sign of Alzheimer's disease is often mild forgetfulness, followed by decreased language skills, reasoning, understanding, and reading and writing; and eventually anxiety, aggressiveness, and wondering off. The progression of Alzheimer's is slow -- going from mild forgetfulness to an inability to recognize common objects (like a pencil, or your husband). The gradual mental deterioration can last a decade or more. In the late stages just constructing a meaningful sentence or doing very common tasks may become impossible. Eventually, the nervous system degrades to where all body functions are affected. Complete incapacitation and ultimately death (usually from something like pneumonia) may follow.
People who exhibit the classic signs of Alzheimer's should undergo a detailed assessment to verify whether they actually have the disease or not. Check these areas:
Vascular dementia results from narrowing and blockage of arteries supplying blood to the brain, or sometimes strokes that cause an interruption of blood flow within the brain. People suffering from this type of dementia exhibit increasing degrees of cognitive dysfunction, paralysis, and loss of vision. Unfortunately, vascular dementia is irreversible, as is Alzheimer's.
Parkinson's disease, a progressive, neurodegenerative disease, progresses to dementia in about 30-40% of the cases. Parkinson's is characterized by stiffness of the limbs, tremor, speech impediments, and a shuffling gait. As it turns out, some Alzheimer's patients develop symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Lewy body disease (dementia) may be the second most common form of dementia, according to some researchers, based on data collected in the last five years.
Lewy bodies are protein deposits discovered in damaged (deteriorating) nerve cells. They have often been found in damaged areas of the brains of those with Parkinson's disease. When Lewy bodies are discovered widely distributed throughout the brain, symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer's are often present.
Lewy body disease is different from Alzheimer's, however. It progresses somewhat differently -- it includes fluctuations in cognitive disturbances with episodes of cognitive confusion and hallucinations. Eventually the fluctuations cease, and the symptoms become constant and severe.
Autopsies of brains of those with Lewy body dementia are dotted with Lewy bodies -- just like those with Parkinson's disease. Lewy bodies are also found in the cortex of the brain, often along with plaques (but no Tangles), as with Alzheimer's victims. Lewy body dementia is, along with Altzheimer's, irreversible.
Huntington's disease, a progressive, degenerative condition affects both mind and body. It begins with nerve cell wasting in the brain, resulting in personality changes and diminished mental capacities -- intellect, memory, speech, and judgment. During the later stages of the disease, dementia may develop. Huntington's is recognized as a genetic disorder.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare and fatal brain disorder, perhaps caused by a prion (infectious particle) protein. Early symptoms may be impaired memory, and behavior changes. This disease progresses rapidly, and is characterized by mental deterioration, involuntary movements (muscle jerks), weakness in limbs, blindness, and ultimately coma.
Pick's disease -- a rare, progressive disorder displaying symptoms like behavior/personality disturbances, and finally memory dysfunctions. Language disorders, erratic behavior, and dementia typically occur. Like with Alzheimer's, people with Pick's disease are often referred initially to psychiatrists because of the erratic behavior. A final diagnosis may only be made as a result of an autopsy.
Causes And Mimics
There are conditions, sometimes reversible, that cause or mimic dementia. These include: brain tumors, head trauma, metabolic changes, thyroid problems, nutritional deficiencies, alcohol abuse, and drugs or medications.
An uncommon disorder, "normal pressure hydrocephalus", which is a buildup of fluid on the brain (from a blockage of the flow of cerebrospinal fluid), can exhibit symptoms of dementia, urinary incontinence, and difficulty walking. This condition can be caused by meningitis, encephalitis, or head trauma. If discovered early it can be treated by surgery-- insert a shunt to drain the fluid.
Depression and dementia -- among the elderly either may be diagnosed for the other, or the two conditions can occur simultaneously. Some of this mishmash is treatable -- the earlier it is caught, the more effective the treatment. [That really isn't a very unique situation, is it?]
And finally, delirium (a temporary state of acute mental confusion) is fairly common among the elderly who have short-term illnesses like lung or heart disease, long-term infections, poor nutrition, medication interactions, or hormone disorders. The symptoms are sometimes confused with dementia, but if symptoms of cognitive impairment appear suddenly, delirium is the most likely cause -- not dementia.
What is a "sneeze" (or "sternution" in med-speak)? It is the body's way of ridding the nose of an irritation. When the brain's "sneeze center" gets a call about a nose tickle, it alerts the muscles involved in a sneeze (including the abdominal muscles, the diaphragm, pectoral muscles of the chest, and various muscles in the throat, and last-but-not-least, the muscles that close your eyelids) that they have to go to work to expel the irritant. And they are quite effective at doing their job -- a sneeze can propel minute particles at up to 100 mph.
What kinds of things do we expel? It might be dust, cold air, pepper, or other irritants; and how about "photic" sneezers who sneeze when they step into bright light. Or maybe you have a cold with swollen, irritated sinuses -- ah choo! Out comes the mucous and . . . OK, enough on this fascinating subject.
Insulin resistance is a heart threatening condition whereby the hormone insulin is ineffectively used. This metabolic defect has been termed "Syndrome X" by Dr. Gerald Reaven, a hormone specialist at Stanford University. He has used that malevolent sounding name to emphasize its significance. People with Syndrome X may have low cholesterol and still have heart attacks. And Dr. Reaven claims that the commonly recommended low fat, high carbohydrate diet recommended by many health organizations, like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the American Heart Association, may actually be the cause.
As an aside, he takes issue with many well-known diet books (like The Zone, and Sugar Busters) which have used his research [inaccurately] to claim that high carbohydrate diets make you fat. Not so, he says, excess calories are what make you fat.
But back to Syndrome X: Dr. Reaven claims that approximately one out of every four Americans has Syndrome X, and that it is essentially an indicator of risk for heart disease, and maybe more significant a greater risk indicator than high cholesterol.
Insulin is a hormone that moves glucose (a high energy fuel) from the bloodstream into muscle and fat cells. Glucose is an essential fuel, but if it lingers in the bloodstream (as in the case of those with Syndrome X) it can cause tissue damage.
During previous research, those with type 2 diabetes (a.k.a. adult-onset diabetes) suffer from insulin resistance rather than from underproduction of insulin by the pancreas, as was once thought. Dr. Reavan and his associates have surmised that because of the inability to effectively process insulin, much more is needed, which eventually overloads the pancreas. Because more diabetics die from heart attacks than from diabetes, he suspected that the problem went beyond diabetics. Then he found that some people that had heart attacks had high blood levels of both glucose and triglycerides.
As previously stated, insulin moves glucose to muscle and fat cells, but it is also used by the liver to send triglyceride-rich fats into the bloodstream. This is no problem for normal people, but for those with Syndrome X the resulting excess of triglycerides in the bloodstream can increase risk of heart problems. Chronically high levels of insulin causes another problem, as well: it triggers clot-making substances that can cause blockages in arteries. Over time, excess insulin also appears to cause narrowing of blood vessels and a decrease in their elasticity, and causes the kidneys to retain more sodium and water, which raise blood pressure. Eventually, atherosclerosis may result. George Howard, an epedemiologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham cites the leading risk factors for heart disease as:
As you might guess, there is controversy about Reavan's theories, but if you have syndrome X (see Note 1), he recommends a diet containing 45% carbohydrates, 15% protein, and 40% fat. That fat recommendation is considerably higher than is commonly recommended (usually 20-30%), but Reavan says to use mono- and poly-unsaturated fats [keep saturated and trans fats to a minimum] to keep insulin and LDL at reasonable levels.
_____________________________________
Note 1 -- There is no convenient test for Syndrome X, but here is a simple test to determine whether or not you might need to talk to your doctor:
1) If you're more than 15 lbs overfat, give yourself 1 point; 2) if you rarely exercise, give yourself half a point; 3) if one or more immediate relatives has had heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes, give yourself 1 point; 4) if your fasting blood levels of triglycerides are over 200, give yourself 1 point; 5) if your blood pressure is higher than 145/90, give yourself 3 points; 6) if your fasting HDL is lower than 35, give yourself 3 points; and 7) if your fasting glucose level is greater than 110, give yourself 3 points.
Determine your score:
0-4: Your risk is low, retest in two to three years._____________________________________
5-8: Moderate risk, start working on the factors that are highest.
9 or more: High risk -- start working on them all, and if you scored 13 or more, talk to your doctor about drug therapy.
Some scientists believe that the type of carbohydrate is more important than the total amount. They recommend fruits, vegetables, and avoiding refined carbohydrates that are low in fiber -- like white bread, pastries, baked snacks, sodas, and even fruit juices. [Not surprising since most "juices" are little more than sugar water.] Theoretically, fiber slows absorption of carbohydrates and thereby slows the production of insulin.
A Harvard study showed that those who ate the least fiber had the greatest risk for heart disease.
Many studies have shown the most effective way to fight insulin resistance is by losing weight -- best done by a combination of diet control and exercise. Dr. Reavan supports the weight loss goal -- "Do it by dieting, do it by exercising. It doesn't matter," he says. [But I think it does -- it takes both to maintain a permanent loss. It doesn't make much sense to lose it, and then gain it right back, as happens after a diet-only weight loss.]
Hmm. First we hear it's a high fat diet that makes us fat and causes all those health problems. Then -- no, it's a high carbohydrate diet. So what do we believe today? For anyone concerned with weight control, it is too many calories from any source. In the case of fatty foods, they are a problem because they are calorie dense (1 gram of fat=9 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrate=4 calories, 1 gram of protein=4 calories). So, for awhile, at least, low-/no-fat anything was hot. But, that didn't help -- we just kept getting fatter and fatter. Of course the low-/no-fat items did not contain zero calories, and people seemed to think they could eat more of these foods without gaining weight. That thinking subverted the whole idea, and the calories just kept piling up.
So, the problem must be too many carbohydrates, right? Not necessarily, but the quality of carbs does matter. Just like with fat, where we are told to concentrate on food containing mono-and poly-unsaturated fat -- to minimize saturated and trans fats. Another factor in the game is the glycemic index (GI), which is a scale of 1-100 that ranks carbs according to how fast they are converted to glucose and raise one's blood sugar level, and provides a guide for which carbs to concentrate on, or to minimize, in our diets. Generally speaking, whole grains -- anything that contains lots of fiber -- is low on the GI, and is recommended for inclusion in your diet. This is slightly reminiscent of the simple/complex carbohydrate categories -- include things like whole grain breads and cereals, and eschew the Ding Dongs. But there are some notable anomalies, like carrots which are high on the GI, as are beets and some potatoes, but they are nutritious foods. Should we forego them? No, the GI is a guideline only, and not everyone is sold on it. Also, there are strategies for eating foods high on the GI without concern, one of which is to eat high GI foods with lower GI foods to prevent a sky-rocketing bloodsugar level. There are a lot of oddities about the GI too, like the fact that some differ for the same item, bananas, for example, are low on the GI (35) when they are green, but it rises as they ripen (it doubles). And how about potatoes? There are several kinds, all with different GIs from fairly high to fairly low (like red potatoes). And even food preparation methods affect the GI (e.g., mashing potatoes increases their GI by about 25%). So, I reiterate, the GI is only a guideline, and there are still many "experts" who give virtually no credence to the GI; instead they focus on the kinds of carbs, like "new potatoes" (red round or white), beans/legumes with lots of fiber, whole grain breads over more highly processed ones, brown, long grain rice, pasta -- the less processed kind made from cracked wheat, semolina from durum wheat, high fiber cereal like bran cereals or oatmeal -- maybe skip the Frosted Flakes. And definitely load up on fruits and vegetables.
Diabetes, heart attacks, obesity -- it appears that avoiding these problems, or at least minimizing their risk factors depends on, among other things, eating high fiber foods, avoiding the more highly processed foods, being at least aware of the GI, eating a good assortment of fruits and vegetables, and minimizing saturated and trans fats.
Exercise Corner -- In this issue, the Lying Back Arch is described. This exercise is maybe the most gentle of all low back exercises, which makes it an option for those with, or recovering from, back injuries, or for beginners, and it requires no equipment so it can be done anywhere. And, it means that this exercise may be quickly outgrown as a primary back strengthener.
The muscles involved are the erector spinae group which runs along the full length of the spine, and the inter-segmental muscles which run in a similar area, but deeper, and are much shorter -- most only going from one vertebra to the next.
This exercise strengthens the low back muscles and can improve posture. Execution begins in a prone (face down) lying position with arms overhead, and your legs together and straight. At this point, your body forms a long straight line. Now simultaneously raise your arms, head, and shoulders, and your legs/feet so you form a bow. Hold for four seconds, and return to the initial position. Rise up as high as you can -- that is safe as long as you are in a lying position. Repeat as desired to complete your set.
If this is too difficult, position your arms alongside your body, and/or raise only one end or the other.
(Q) Are tomatoes healthier when cooked, or when eaten raw?
A. G., Aberdeen, WA
(Q) In one respect, they are better cooked. There is a substance in tomatoes called "lycopene," which is considered to be a strong antioxidant. Cooking makes it more usable by the body (e.g., there is five times more lycopene available in tomato sauce than in raw tomatoes. Of course tomatoes contain more than lycopene (vitamins C and B-complex, iron and potassium, and a variety of carotinoids), so eating both raw and cooked might be best. Sources include tomato-based sauces, ketchup, juice, in addition to raw.
_____________________________________
Send questions or comments to Michael Fenner: e-mail to Mike Fenner
To see the MAF FITNESS NEWSLETTER archives, go to http://www.dinc.com/maf/