Tag Archives: health

September 25, 2013 · 6:12 AM

Do You Worry About Eating Too Much Meat?

If so, read the interesting essay by Dr. Georgia Ede on the health of traditional heavy meat-eating cultures such as the Masai and Inuits.

Of the Canadian Eskimos of a century ago, Dr. Ede writes:

Their diets were therefore extremely low in fiber most of the time, and very high in animal protein and animal fat. These traditional ways of eating would terrify the USDA, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, not to mention the Harvard School of Public Health, which remains a staunchly anti-meat, anti-saturated fat, anti-cholesterol institution. How in the world did these uninformed fringe types manage to get all their vitamins and minerals without the heaping helpings of colorful fruits, vegetables, and whole grains without which we are told we shall surely perish?

Weren’t they cancer-riddled, heart-clenching, constipated, fat slobs who died young from scary deficiency diseases like rickets and scurvy?

[Apparently not.]

…

This post was not designed to provide an airtight argument for meat and health, but I do hope that it has at least prompted those of you who remain skeptical about meat to rethink what you’ve been led to believe. If you’ve got a hankerin’ for more information about meat and health, take a look at my meat page.

Check it out.

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March 2, 2011 · 8:40 AM

Exercise, Part 6: Make It a Habit

So, I’ve convinced you that regular physical activity offers some great health benefits and you’re ready to get started. A couple weeks of intensive effort on your part, but then quitting, isn’t going to do you any good. In fact, it’s more likely to do harm (injury) than good.

The main objective at this point is to make regular physical activity a habit. Establishment of a habit requires frequent repetition over at least two or three months, regardless of the weather, whether you feel like it or not. Over time the chosen activity becomes part of your identity.

To avoid injury and burn out, begin your exercise program slowly and increase the intensity of your effort only every two or three weeks. Your body needs time to adjust to its new workload, but it will indeed adjust. Enhance your enjoyment with proper attire, equipment, and instruction, if needed. Use a portable radio or digital music system like an iPod or Zune if you tend to get bored exercising.

The “buddy system” works well for many of my patients: agree with a friend that you’ll meet regularly for walking, jogging, whatever. If you know your buddy is counting on you to show up at the park at 7 a.m., it may be just the motivation you need to get you out of bed. Others just can’t handle such regimentation and enjoy the flexibility and independence of solitary activity.

If you like to socialize, join a health club or sports team. Large cities have organized clubs that promote a wide range of physical activities. Find your niche.

Don’t be afraid to try something new. Expect some disappointment and failed experiments. Learn and grow from adversity and failure. Put a lot of thought into your choice of activity. Avoid built-in barriers. If you live in Florida you won’t have much opportunity for cross-country skiing. If joining a health club is a financial strain, walk instead. Perhaps pick different activities for cold and warm weather. Or do several types of exercise to avoid boredom.

In summary, formation of the exercise habit requires forethought, repetition, and commitment. You must schedule time for physical activity. Make it a priority. Hundreds of my couch potato patients have done it, and I’m sure you can, too. I’ve seen 40-year-old unathletic, uncoordinated barnacles start exercising and run marathons two years later. (A marathon is 26.2 miles or 42.2 km.)

Part 7 of the series covers “medical clearance.”

Steve Parker, M.D.

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May 31, 2010 · 6:10 PM

Documented Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet

The enduring popularity of the Mediterranean diet is attributable to three things:

Taste
Variety
Health benefits

For our purposes today, I use “diet” to refer to the usual food and drink of a person, not a weight-loss program.

The scientist most responsible for the popularity of the diet, Ancel Keys, thought the heart-healthy aspects of the diet related to low saturated fat consumption. He also thought the lower blood cholesterol levels in Mediterranean populations (at least Italy and Greece) had something to do with it, too. Dietary saturated fat does tend to raise cholesterol levels, both LDL and HDL.

Even if Keys was wrong about saturated fat and cholesterol levels being positively associated with heart disease, numerous studies (involving eight countries on three continents) strongly suggest that the Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest around. See References below for the most recent studies.

Relatively strong evidence supports the Mediterranean diet’s association with:

■ increased lifespan

■ lower rates of cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks and strokes

■ lower rates of cancer (prostate, breast, uterus, colon)

■ lower rates of dementia

■ lower incidence of type 2 diabetes

Weaker supporting evidence links the Mediterranean diet with:

■ slowed progression of dementia

■ prevention of cutaneous melanoma

■ lower severity of type 2 diabetes, as judged by diabetic drug usage and fasting blood sugars

■ less risk of developing obesity

■ better blood pressure control in the elderly

■ improved weight loss and weight control in type 2 diabetics

■ improved control of asthma

■ reduced risk of developing diabetes after a heart attack

■ reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment

■ prolonged life of Alzheimer disease patients

■ lower rates and severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

■ lower risk of gastric (stomach) cancer

■ less risk of macular degeneration

■ less Parkinsons disease

■ increased chance of pregnancy in women undergoing fertility treatment

■ reduced prevalence of metabolic syndrome (when supplemented with nuts)

■ lower incidence of asthma and allergy-like symptoms in children of women who followed the Mediterranean diet while pregnant

Did you notice that I used the word “association” in relating the Mediterranean diet to health outcomes? Association, of course, is not causation.

The way to prove that a particular diet is healthier is to take 20,000 similar young adults, randomize the individuals in an interventional study to eat one of two test diets for the next 60 years, monitoring them for the development of various diseases and death. Make sure they stay on the assigned test diet. Then you’d have an answer for that population and those two diets. Then you have to compare the winning diet to yet other diets. And a study done in Caucasians would not necessarily apply to Asians, Native Americans, Blacks, or Hispanics.

Now you begin to see why scientists tend to rely on observational rather than interventional diet studies.

I became quite interested in nutrition around the turn of the century as my patients asked me for dietary advice to help them lose weight and control or prevent various diseases. At that time, the Atkins diet, Mediterranean diet, and Dr. Dean Ornish’s vegetarian program for heart patients were all prevalent. And you couldn’t pick three programs with more differences! So I had my work cut out for me.

After much scientific literature review, I find the Mediterranean diet to be the healthiest for the general population. People with particular medical problems or ethnicities may do better on another diet. A low-carb Mediterranean diet should be healthier for type 2 diabetics. Dan Buettner makes a good argument for plant-based diets in his longevity book, The Blue Zones. The traditional Mediterranean diet qualifies as plant-based.

What do you consider the overall healthiest diet, and why?

Steve Parker, M.D.

References:

Buckland, Genevieve, et al. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and risk of gastric adenocarcinoma within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 9, 2009, epub ahead of print. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28209

Fortes, C., et al. A protective effect of the Mediterraenan diet for cutaneous melanoma. International Journal of Epidmiology, 37 (2008): 1,018-1,029.

Sofi, Francesco, et al. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: Meta-analysis. British Medical Journal, 337; a1344. Published online September 11, 2008. doi:10.1136/bmj.a1344

Benetou, V., et al. Conformity to traditional Mediterranean diet and cancer incidence: the Greek EPIC cohort. British Journal of Cancer, 99 (2008): 191-195.

Mitrou, Panagiota N., et al. Mediterranean Dietary Pattern and Prediction of All-Cause Mortality in a US Population, Archives of Internal Medicine, 167 (2007): 2461-2468.

Feart, Catherine, et al. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet, cognitive decline, and risk of dementia. Journal of the American Medical Association, 302 (2009): 638-648.

Scarmeas, Nikolaos, et al. Physical activity, diet, and risk of Alzheimer Disease. Journal of the American Medical Association, 302 (2009): 627-637.

Scarmeas, Nikolaos, et al. Mediterranean Diet and Mild Cognitive Impairment. Archives of Neurology, 66 (2009): 216-225.

Scarmeas, N., et al. Mediterranean diet and Alzheimer disease mortality. Neurology, 69 (2007):1,084-1,093.

Fung, Teresa, et al. Mediterranean diet and incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke in women. Circulation, 119 (2009): 1,093-1,100.

Mente, Andrew, et al. A Systematic Review of the Evidence Supporting a Causal Link Between Dietary Factors and Coronary Heart Disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169 (2009): 659-669.

Salas-Salvado, Jordi, et al. Effect of a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented With Nuts on Metabolic Syndrome Status: One-Year Results of the PREDIMED Randomized Trial. Archives of Internal Medicine, 168 (2008): 2,449-2,458.

Mozaffarian, Dariush, et al. Incidence of new-onset diabetes and impaired fasting glucose in patients with recent myocardial infarction and the effect of clinical and lifestyle risk factors. Lancet, 370 (2007) 667-675.

Esposito, Katherine, et al. Effects of a Mediterranean-style diet on the need for antihyperglycemic drug therapy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151 (2009): 306-314.

Shai, Iris, et al. Weight Loss with a Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low-Fat Diet. New England Journal of Medicine, 359 (2008): 229-241.

Martinez-Gonzalez, M.A., et al. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of developing diabetes: prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal, BMJ,doi:10.1136/bmj.39561.501007.BE (published online May 29, 2008).

Trichopoulou, Antonia, et al. Anatomy of health effects of the Mediterranean diet: Greek EPIC prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal, 338 (2009): b2337. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.b2337.

Barros, R., et al. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and fresh fruit intake are associated with improved asthma control. Allergy, vol. 63 (2008): 917-923.

Varraso, Raphaelle, et al. Prospective study of dietary patterns and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among US men. Thorax, vol. 62, (2007): 786-791