Diet Soda and Metabolic Syndrome
Bad news about a recent study on Diet Soda from The New York Times. You can read more up-to-date health news by clicking on the blue type.
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Published: February 5, 2008
Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome — the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels, and elevated blood pressure.
The scientists gathered dietary information on more than 9,500 men and women ages 45 to 64 and tracked their health for nine years.
Over all, a Western dietary pattern — high intakes of refined grains, fried foods and red meat — was associated with an 18 percent increased risk for metabolic syndrome, while a “prudent” diet dominated by fruits, vegetables, fish and poultry correlated with neither an increased nor a decreased risk.
But the one-third who ate the most fried food increased their risk by 25 percent compared with the one-third who ate the least, and surprisingly, the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was 34 percent higher among those who drank one can of diet soda a day compared with those who drank none.
“This is interesting,” said Lyn M. Steffen, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota and a co-author of the paper, which was posted online in the journal Circulation on Jan. 22. “Why is it happening? Is it some kind of chemical in the diet soda, or something about the behavior of diet soda drinkers?”
Exercise to Counter Mild Depression
Today in BBC Health News something we all knew intuitively, but studies are showing it to be true – if you are depressed, exercise can help deal with the symptoms.
Exercise aids depression, say GPs
Doctors are increasingly prescribing exercise for people with depression, mental health campaigners have found. In a survey of 200 English GPs, the Mental Health Foundation found 22% suggest exercise to help people with milder forms of the condition.
This compares with just 5% in a similar survey three years ago.
The foundation said it was important that doctors did not just prescribe antidepressants for patients, and looked for other options.
Tackling isolation
Research has shown that exercise can help people with mild forms of depression by improving self-esteem – through better body image or achieving goals, and by relieving feelings of isolation which can fuel their depression.
It also releases feel-good brain chemicals such as endorphins.
You can read the entire article HERE>
Need Exercise . . .
Why is it that rainy cloudy days make you sleepier? It was extra dark this morning, no sunrise to speak of, a great morning just to snuggle back down under the covers for some extra snooze time.
I know this is perfect exercise weather. I just can’t seem to force myself to JUST DO IT!
moar funny pictures
Diet Soda Problems
In a recent blog entry Gout and Soda frequent commenter Abdulaziz speculated that there is also a link between diet soda and over eating. Today I found an article in the New York Times that substantiates his gut feeling.
From The New York Times in an article entitled Symptoms: Metabolic Syndrome Is Tied to Diet Soda
. . . Over all, a Western dietary pattern — high intakes of refined grains, fried foods and red meat — was associated with an 18 percent increased risk for metabolic syndrome, while a “prudent” diet dominated by fruits, vegetables, fish and poultry correlated with neither an increased nor a decreased risk.
But the one-third who ate the most fried food increased their risk by 25 percent compared with the one-third who ate the least, and surprisingly, the risk of developing metabolic syndrome was 34 percent higher among those who drank one can of diet soda a day compared with those who drank none. . . .
Morning Coffee: Meal in a Cup
Some very very bad news from BBC Health News.
Morning coffee is ‘meal in a cup’
Milk is one of the reasons some cups of coffee had so many calories
*Counting the calories
The coffee you grab on the way to work may contain up to a fifth of your daily recommended calories, a study says.
Some of those tested topped the scales at almost 400 calories.
Researchers said lashings of full-fat milk, cream and chocolate are the culprits with a skimmed milk cappuccino weighing in at fewer than 30 calories.
The consumer group also found that a burger would be a healthier option than some coffee house snacks after testing products from three leading chains.
Most of the big chains do have information about the nutritional value of their products on their websites, but we’d like to see this displayed prominently in their shops.
They found that one mocha coffee made with full-fat milk added up to 396 calories, and the same coffee with semi-skimmed milk – but topped with whipped cream – contained 326.
You can read the rest of this dismal article HERE.
How Work Stress Changes Your Body
From yesterday’s BBC Health News:
Work stress ‘changes your body’
Stress seems to produce biochemical changes
A stressful job has a direct biological impact on the body, raising the risk of heart disease, research has indicated.
The study reported in the European Heart Journal focused on more than 10,000 British civil servants.
Those under 50 who said their work was stressful were nearly 70% more likely to develop heart disease than the stress-free.
The stressed had less time to exercise and eat well – but they also showed signs of important biochemical changes.
The studies of Whitehall employees – from mandarins to messengers – started in the 1960s, but this particular cohort has been followed since 1985.
As well as documenting how workers felt about their job, researchers monitored heart rate variability, blood pressure, and the amount of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood.
They also took notes about diet, exercise, smoking and drinking.
Then they found out how many people had developed coronary heart disease (CHD) or suffered a heart attack and how many had died of it.
Lead researcher Dr Tarani Chandola, of University College London, said: “During 12 years of follow up, we found that chronic work stress was associated with CHD and this association was stronger both among men and women aged under 50.
“Among people of retirement age – and therefore less likely to be exposed to work stress – the effect on CHD was less strong.”
You can read the rest of the study HERE,
Yasmin Farms, Kuwait
“But this is just as good, madame.” the produce manager was telling me, but I’ve tried this spinach, and it’s NOT!
“The spinach from Yasmin Farms, which I bought here, has the BEST taste,” I told him again, “please, please, tell me when the Yasmin Farms spinach will be delivered and I will make a special trip to buy it. It isn’t like the others, it’s better.”
This is some of the best tasting spinach I have ever tasted:
I wonder what else Yasmin Farms grows?
Grown in Kuwait!
“Madame,” he shook his head sadly, “I think there is no more spinach from Yasmin Farms this year.”
I love fresh spinach. I love it in salads. I love to cook it just a little, with garlic. I love to cook it just a little, with soy sauce and tahini. I love to cook it and serve it with a little bacon. I love to use it in dips. I love to use it in vegetarian lasagne. I love to use it in cassaroles. I even use it raw in sandwiches.
Spinach is one of the joys in my life, and the spinach from Yasmin Farms is back in the Sultan Center, for only a short time. I bought so much – we will be eating spinach and more spinach! 🙂
I also found Kuwaiti artichokes! We cooked them up last night, and they were nutty, and delicious.
Back in October, something happened that changed my life unexpectedly. I was visiting Fonzation and he had a post on How Old Are You Really? You take this test. It is a long test. Then, a couple hours later, they send you your results, how old your body is, given your health history, your family health history, and your habits.
OK, here is a truth I am ashamed to tell you. I felt pretty confident I am younger than my real age.
So I took the test, and came out two years older than my real age because I don’t get enough exercise. It really hurt my feelings. And then, because you have to give them an e-mail where they can send the results, they started sending me a little newsletter telling me little hints that would help me lower my real age, and they were mostly hints I could incorporate into my life easily. Things like telling me that artichokes – which I love anyway – have a huge amount of fibre. So last night we had delicious, fibre-filled KUWAITI-grown artichokes. What a treat!
Both AdventureMan and I are really trying harder to live healthier lives. We ate breakfast this morning (neither of us likes breakfast) and he had oatmeal, a very special oatmeal that my best friend sent from Seattle, and I had a healthy oat-y granola, and we both had blueberries in our cereal. Blueberries are amazingly good for you – I have learned from this health newsletter. (Breakfast is a lot easier when you are jet lagging, wide awake at three and have some time to kill before going to work.) Skipping breakfast is another thing that is bad for your “real” age, as it turns out.
This test is not like “what kind of flower are you,” which is fun, and frivolous and gone from your mind two days later. Two months later it is still having an impact on us. Visit his site and take this test. And then RUN to the Sultan Center and buy some Yasmin farms spinach!
Big Diamond’s Bat-about
Oh Big Diamond, you can’t imagine. You have an eye for the very best gifts.
I’m sorry the shot is not clear. We can’t get the Qatteri Cat to stay still when he has the bat-about toy. This was the best of all the photos – most, the bat-about disappeared just as I was shooting. *dying laughing* He loved it from the minute it came out of the suitcase.
When we all woke up – around 3 this morning, it was the first thing the Qatteri Cat went for, even before his food. He loves the bat-about, and AdventureMan and I are rolling with laughter, watching him play with it. It is great exercise, and such fun for him – and for us.
It is one of the BEST Christmas gifts ever. Thank you!
Mom, Please Don’t Leave Me!
I am taking care of my sister’s cats while she and her husband are on a short vacation trip. As they were leaving, Wally, the diabetic cat, begged her not to leave him with me:
He is one of the easiest cats in the world to take care of. He knows when he needs his shot and he doesn’t run and hide like my own sweet little cat used to do when it was time for her shot. Wally hangs out around the refrigerator, where his insulin is kept, around time for his shot, and purrs when you give it to him. What a sweetheart.
Once my sister was gone, he got along with me just fine. 🙂
Beautiful Weird Thanksgiving
This was a beautiful, wierd Thanksgiving for me. It’s one of the very rare Thanksgivings that Adventure Man and I have not been together. He was down in Florida, at an all day eating, playing and visiting fest with our son, our son’s wife and her family. He shucked his first oysters, and was told he had better keep his day job.
I am in Seattle with my Mom, and we went to my best-friend-from-college’s house. It turned out to be one of the sweetest Thanksgivings I have had. As we sat down at the table, my friend said that in her house it is tradition to go around the table and to tell one thing you give thanks for. I found that incredibly moving. You have a glimpse into another person’s heart when you tell what you are thankful for.
And the food! Oh my! All my good resolutions, all my good intentions, down the drain – the food was SO good.
I took some photos to share with you:
The Veggies and the Salmon-Spinach Dip (oh WOW)
Making the world’s most tasty gravy, with fresh sage and thyme:
Carving one of the world’s most perfectly cooked turkeys:
The dining table – just before the carnage:
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