High-fat meals defeat best intentions
King Henry VIII is renown for having had six wives, two of whom he executed. But he also was an infamous glutton. He expanded the kitchens at Hampton Court Palace to 55 rooms, had over 200 people on his kitchen staff, and offered guests meals with up to 14 courses.
While you’re probably no King Henry, chances are you like to have a rich meal now and then. The problem is that even one high-fat meal can guillotine yesterday’s — and tomorrow’s — best intentions. When an international team of researchers gave a small group of men the amount of palm oil that’s equivalent to what would be found in a fatty meal, the guys’ health immediately took a turn for the worse:
• Their insulin sensitivity went down by 25 per cent (this increases the risk for diabetes and promotes weight gain).
• Triglyceride levels skyrocketed by 35 per cent.
• There were measurable increases in blood levels of glucagon, a hormone that boosts glucose levels.
Keep eating high-fat meals and you’re at risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which can lead to inflammation, trigger irreversible scarring of the liver (cirrhosis) and clog hardened arteries.
Unfortunately, almost half of the everyday foods most Americans eat contain tropical oils like coconut and/or palm oil! No wonder lousy LDL cholesterol levels are elevated for 73.5 million U.S. adults, doubling their risk for heart disease. So read all ingredient labels; dodge bad-for-you saturated and trans fats; and start treating yourself like the Duchess of Cambridge’s version of royalty!
Don’t quit the gym
In one episode of “Friends,” Chandler — who never works out — admits that he actually belongs to a gym. Seems that whenever he goes in to terminate his membership, an attractive woman named Maria changes his mind. So Ross goes to the gym to help Chandler keep his resolve, but when he meets Maria he ends up joining the gym! The two then decide that the only way to cancel their memberships is to close their bank accounts. But an attractive bank employee foils that plan. They leave with a joint chequing account.
If the guys had truly capitulated — and gone to the gym — they would have ended up a lot better off! Researchers followed over 400 people for five months; half belonged to a gym, and half didn’t. Tracking study participants’ health measures, such as blood pressure and heart rate, and having them answer questions about their activities produced striking data.
Gym members worked out an average of 484 minutes a week! That was compared to 137 minutes for non-gym rats. And the gym members were 14 times more likely to meet weekly physical activity guidelines! What’s more, people who had a membership for more than a year had better heart and lung health and smaller waist circumferences.
So if you don’t belong to a gym, consider the investment: There are many gym choices these days with very low membership fees. And enlist a workout buddy, whether it’s indoors or outdoors, and you’ll both get more exercise when you have mutual support.
Don’t be a nattering nabob of negativism parent
President Richard Nixon’s VP, Spiro Agnew, called investigative journalists “nattering nabobs of negativism.” But it was the VP who showed up in the “negative” column when reporters at The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun discovered that Agnew had taken bribes and didn’t pay taxes while vice-president. He was forced to resign in 1973.
So often, negativity backfires! An analysis of two studies, published in the journal Psychological Science, clearly demonstrates that. Researchers found that children of parents who viewed them as overweight as four- to five-year-olds (even if they were not) had packed on the most pounds 10 years later. That’s compared with children whose parents thought they were a normal weight at that age (even if they were in fact overweight or obese).
Seems that when kids grow up with a negative perception of their body, they’re more likely to develop disordered eating patterns, like dieting followed by binge eating, which eventually leads to weight gain.
So, Mom and Dad, if you think your child is overweight, look for positive ways to promote health and a positive selfimage. Get your child involved in school play groups and sports; kids need to be active at least 90 minutes a day. And make grocery shopping and cooking a joint adventure: Allow your child to discover healthy food choices by sampling. Think of food as something to be shared and appreciated, not as a reward or a punishment.