Smoking or inactivity, which is worse?

Voluntary physical inactivity now tops smoking for association to non-communicable diseases tied to premature death. This recent report was published (July 2012) in a series of articles in the journal The Lancet looking at the global problem of inactivity and obesity. Amazingly our self-selection and decision to be inactive is causing disease and shortening our lives slightly more than one’s choice to smoke. I know some will say; they have the right to choose to do with their body what they want. While this is true, unfortunately those choices our costing our society billions of dollars in unneeded health care costs. And that choice is taking days away from our loved ones with premature death. While it may be difficult to get many inactive people to change their ways, the research report showed that if we could get just 1 person active out of every 4 inactive people then 1.3 million deaths could be prevented every year.

The risks associated with smoking have been known for a long time and heavy media and public awareness campaigns have been under way for many years to alert people to these risks. You can’t buy cigarettes without seeing the large warning label on it. You see billboards and TV ads on a regular basis alerting us and trying to get people never to start or stop smoking if they already have. Also many good programs and efforts are in place to assist those that do smoke to help them break the addiction and try and become smoke free. The money spent on these things is well worth it, because we know the expense of taking care of health related problems with smoking far outweighs the cost of these awareness campaigns. Maybe it is time to start some campaigns similar to those when it comes to inactivity?

We here in America have always been known for our innovation and bringing many things to the rest of the world; democracy, space travel and now…inactivity. According to the latest information 31.1% of the world’s adults are sedentary and do not meet the minimum recommendations for activity in a week. Current minimum requirements are 150 minutes of moderate activity (i.e. walking) per week. Here in America we top the scales at 43.4% of us not meeting these requirements, and it looks as if the rest of world is following our example with increased inactivity in many other parts of the world.

Are you getting in 30 minutes of physical activity a day? Did you realize a choice to be inactive carries just as much risk for disease and premature death as someone who smokes? Exercise and being physically active has substantial health benefits, just 30 minutes a day is all it takes to become a healthier you. Maybe we here in America we can reverse our trendsetting with inactivity and look to become more active. Being a world leader is usually a good thing; leading it to an earlier death is not so good.

Understanding calcium supplementation for bones

Bone health is important to all of us and it gets lots of press and publicity on how to maintain it throughout our life span. Sometimes this info can be confusing to say the least. We know that bones need calcium to stay strong and healthy, as this is one of the primary building blocks to build bones. Bone is a living tissue just like all of your other tissues, so it needs a constant supply of nutrients and activity to keep rebuilding. When we lack these nutrients (such as calcium) and activity we can develop osteoporosis, where your bone mineral density decreases and increases your risk for fractures. Calcium supplementation is a common treatment for this, but it has come under some scrutiny lately because of potential side effects from it. Let’s try to separate the fact from the fiction with some of the reporting that has gone on.

New research has shown potential increased heart attack risk with calcium supplementation. Don’t panic and stop your supplementation just yet, but do read on to understand pro’s and con’s. First lets clarify what you may have read or heard from the press or others. Some reports have gone so far as to say calcium supplementation increases heart attack risk by 50%. While this is true, it is a stretch, realize that heart attack risk in the study went from just over 1% for those that didn’t supplement, to a little over 2% if you do. So the risk is 50% more, but still very small overall. But don’t be fooled in thinking that if you take calcium it will solve all your problems with osteoporosis and fall risk. Some studies show that supplementation only reduces your fall risk by 10%. So taking a calcium supplement helps, just don’t fool yourself to thinking you are out of the woods when it comes to fall risk. Research has been pretty consistent to show that if you get your calcium naturally (milk based products, broccoli, cabbage to name a few good sources) through diet you will get greater benefits and no side effects as to if you get it through supplementation. Another thing research has shown that if you hit your later years low on calcium and bone density it is hard if not almost impossible to catch up. You might slow the decline of bone density loss with improved diet or supplementation, but you are better off getting enough in your younger years then trying to play catch up.

So what’s the take home? If you supplement calcium, do it under a physician’s care to look at benefits and risks for you. Better yet, get enough calcium through a proper diet and start early in life to limit risks of osteoporosis throughout your life. Also don’t forget other things that can help: exercise, don’t smoke, avoid excessive alcohol, have an overall healthy diet and maintain proper weight control. Sounds like good advice for lots of health issues your bones included.

It’s getting HOT out here.

As we get into the prime heat of summer there are a few precautions one should take to avoid potential heat illnesses. The most important thing is keep hydrated, primarily with plain old water. While sports drinks offer some electrolytes that may be helpful to replace, they also contain extra calories. So be aware that they will add to your total calorie count for your daily intake. Also our usual American diet is not lacking in salt, so we usually have a pretty good store of electrolyte storage in our bodies already. Unless you are exercising for more than 1 hour or working outside for a full 8 hour day and sweating the majority of time then you probably only need water and not the sports drink. Be careful with caffeinated drinks or those with high amounts of sugar, as they do not add to your fluid intake as much as good old water.


A couple other precautions to be on alert for potential increase heat illness risk based on your medications and body weight. If you are on medications that act as a diuretic that you may be taking for blood pressure control or heart problems, be aware this will limit your body’s ability to regulate heat as well through sweating. Also if you are overweight you will be more prone to heat illnesses because of the insulation effect of the adipose (fat) tissue that helps retain heat. This is may be helpful in January, not so good in July.

Along with taking in adequate fluids, make sure you take breaks inside or under shade to help your body temperature stay under control. Wear light colored and loose clothes to help with heat control when you are outside. If you have to work or exercise outside, use a “buddy system” to help monitor each other. With heat illnesses it is easy to become confused or lose consciousness and not be aware that you are in trouble, a “buddy” can get help if needed.

The primary heat illnesses you should be aware of are:

• Heat stroke happens when you lose the ability to control its own temperature. Your body temperature can elevate to dangerous levels potentially causing death or permanent disability. This elevated body temperature can happen rapidly (10-15 minutes) as soon as your body stops sweating and is unable to cool down. Signs to watch for are: red, hot, dry skin, a rapid and strong pulse, a throbbing headache, dizziness, nausea and confusion. If these signs show up, cool the person with cold water, but do not let them drink anything and get them medical care immediately.
• Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat illness that develops over days of heat exposure and lack of adequate fluid intake. Symptoms include heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, fatigue, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting or fainting. The skin may be cool and moist, and the pulse rate fast and weak while breathing may be fast and shallow. Get this person to a cool place and gradually restore some fluids. If symptoms do not decrease in one hour seek medical attention. 
• Heat cramps typically occur with strenuous activity. These may be a sign of heat exhaustion, so follow the same care guidelines, by stopping activity and get to a cool place and slowly replenish fluids.

So during the summer heat make sure to take in adequate fluids by not ignoring your thirst if outside working, playing or exercising. Monitor one another of possible heat illness signs and take appropriate action if any of the signs show themselves, as heat illnesses can be a very serious medical problem.

Over-training can be a problem too

Well for most us worrying about over-training is the furthest from our concerns. We tend to be very good at under-training our bodies to their fullest potential. But for some of you, in the pursuit of health and athletic accomplishment, over-training can be a significant problem that can rob you of your fullest potential. Over-training occurs when someone trains beyond their body’s ability to recover and thus resulting in decreased performance and increased health risks such as injury or illness.

How do you know if you are over-training? Some common signs that show up are repeated little overuse injuries, increased aches and pains. Also you may notice that you have more frequent illnesses, such as colds and general fatigue feeling that just don’t seem to go away. Other signs might be drop in performance and training intensity, mood shifts and irritability, loss of enjoyment with training activity, insomnia or decreased appetite.

Here are some tips to monitor your status to reduce the risk of moving into over-training. One of the best is to record your resting heart rate. The best way to do this is to take your heart rate first thing in the morning when you get up. As you get healthier you should see this resting heart rate decrease, this is a sign of a healthier cardiovascular system. Eventually it will level off as you near your optimal health level. If this resting heart rate starts to increase, that is often a sign you need to take some of the steps to let your body recover to reduce over-training. But the tricky part is you may notice this number continues to fall lower and lower as well, and not increase, with some people that are becoming more over-trained. If the number continues to fall and you feel fatigued or some of the other symptoms of over-training, then don’t let the falling number trick you into thinking you are doing good. Another is to record your training workouts and to watch for changes in intensity or if you feel more fatigued with doing them and not as energized after. Also you may notice some decrease hydration, so watch your pee (as gross as that sounds it can tell you if you are hydrated properly or not).

Some steps to avoid overtraining. Include at least one recovery day each week with no exercise. Alternate and change up your exercise routine to add in variability to it. When you are increasing intensity with your workout make sure to do so gradually over time. If you notice you are suffering the effects of over-training make sure to decrease exercise level and rest to allow your body the chance to recover. You can still exercise but decrease intensity and frequency of exercise. Get lots of water to help rehydrate your body along with getting plenty of healthy food to refuel your body to assist in the recovery process. Let this recovery process happen over several weeks depending on the severity of the over-training you are suffering from. Then SLOWLY get back to your exercise routine and try to find the sweet spot in your training.

We have to remember that more is not always better. Sometimes too much exercise can not be healthy for us either. But please don’t be fearful of overtraining or use that as an excuse to not exercise.

Dark chocolate has benefits, but be careful

A new study shows potential that consumption of dark chocolate could be an effective strategy for prevention of cardiovascular events in high risk patients, due to it’s blood pressure lowering and lipid effects. How cool is that you might be thinking, let’s run out and overload on dark chocolate to prevent a heart attack or stroke. Hold on not so fast my friend!

Just as with any research we need to look at it critically and in context of other research of what we already know. First this study only was found effective for high risk patients, those with metabolic syndrome that were not diabetic. Obviously if you have diabetes you need to control your sugar/carbohydrate intake appropriately and taking extra dark chocolate will probably not help that. Also if you are not a high risk cardiovascular person, the extra dark chocolate will not reduce your risk, so you get no added benefit. Additionally we know that frequent chocolate consumption can lead to increased BMI. That increased BMI has lots of bad health risks involved with it, as you are probably well aware of. This means if you are not a high risk patient then you are getting no added benefit from cardiovascular risk reduction, but you are gaining increased obesity risks. That’s not a good trade off.

Where does this lead us to understand the research better and how to use it? If you are a high risk patient with metabolic syndrome and no diabetes, adding some dark chocolate to your diet may be beneficial. Talk to your doctor about this as a potential strategy to assist your current medical intervention. But remember this study also showed the benefits of dark chocolate were not as profound as drug interventions, so it will not be a substitute for your current treatment. Be aware that you could see increased BMI, so adjust your total diet to make sure you are not adding additional calories with the added dark chocolate. If you are not a high risk patient, enjoying some occasional chocolate is okay, but don’t think it is giving you any added health benefits just some added taste benefits. Remember just as in almost all food choices, enjoy in appropriate moderation for the best health benefits.