Your Mother Was Right! Eat Your Fruit and Vegetables.

"There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult."

- Warren Buffet

The "news" that eating fruits and vegetables can be beneficial for us has been out for over 30 years. Instead of following this simple advice, we seek out the latest nutrition fad like vitamin waters, green powder supplements, and superfoods in a jar. How could anything that's been dehydrated, processed in a factory, stored in a bottle for months or years ever be more healthy and nutritious than a fresh ripe apple or a head of broccoli?

"Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth society will flourish." - Warren Buffet

Here's what science has been telling us for over 30 years. Consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables lowers our risks for heart disease, cancer, and stroke (among many, many other benefits). And what are the current leading causes of death? That's right - heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Get it? It's simple. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables (organic if possible).

Health enthusiasts focus on getting enough Vitamins C and E (the antioxidant vitamins) and wonder if they are deficient in this mineral or that. I have no issue with that, because we are sincerely trying to improve our health. My own opinion, though, is that there are probably countless more unidentified micro-nutrients in a simple thing like an orange or kiwi or cantaloupe or sprig of parsley that scientists haven't yet identified. In fact there are probably many, many more nutrients that you ingest when eating a whole fruit or vegetable that work together in some synergistic way that we do not fully understand. The point is that by taking a vitamin supplement, you are receiving only one-isolated slice of the nutrient profile that is otherwise available from eating the whole fruit or vegetable, not to mention the fiber. Just this year, scientists from Cornell University announced that the common apple contains unique combinations of thousands of phytochemicals that somehow seem to be working together as antioxidants to retard tumor growth in cell cultures and animals.

Now I am not arguing against taking a multi-vitamin; I just think we can do better.

Nature has extracted many highly-nutritive components from the soil, absorbed them through the root system of a fruit tree or vegetable plant and created a ready made, nutritious food for all of us to consume. It's what we are supposed to be eating! To attempt to replace all of these micronutrients by taking a tablet containing 500mg of synthetic Vitamin C just doesn't seem nearly as good, does it? How could it possibly compare? So I say, let the scientists continue to experiment and isolate all of these wonderful compounds that are contained in fresh fruits and vegetables over the next hundred or even thousand years. I'm not waiting for that breakthrough special report - it's already out. Eat more fruits and vegetables! Why complicate it any more than it has to be?

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© Copyright 2007-2008 HealthAndFitnessNow.com. All rights reserved.

Can Eating Fruit Offset the Toxic Effects of Mercury in Seafood ?

It has been known for decades that fish is a wonderful low-fat source of high quality protein, and that eating it can decrease your risk of heart attack, stroke, obesity and hypertension. Lately, however, there have been concerns that eating too much fish can cause an accumulation of methylmercury, a widely recognized pollutant, in our body's tissues. A recent study revealed some surprising findings that may allow us to have our cake (seafood) and eat it too (less concern about mercury).

First some background - the methylmercury that is found in seafood comes primarily from power plants that burn fossil fuels, like coal. Then after it rains or snows, the contaminant is brought down into our rivers, streams, oceans and lakes. Fish then absorb it from the food chain in these bodies of water. Larger and more long lived fish tend to have the highest levels of methylmercury - examples are king mackerel, shark, swordfish, tilefish and tuna. Note that "Chunk Light" or "Chunk" canned tuna tend to have lower levels of the contaminant.

A recent study appears to indicate that for people who ate fish on a regular basis, the consumption of fruit was directly linked to lowered amounts of methylmercury in the body. And further that the more fruit that was consumed, the lower the level of methylmercury. The underlying mechanism of how the fruit is allowing the body to eliminate the mercury is still not understood, but the relationship seems to be clear. More fruit consumption equals less residual methylmercury in the body, at least in this initial, relatively small, study.

Here are some possible theories as to why. First, it may be that the phytochemicals in fruit are interacting with toxic metals in our bodies - perhaps blocking their absorption, and thus allowing our bodies to more easily excrete them. Second, the soluble fiber in the fruit may be blocking absorption of the toxic metal at the intestinal level.

Please keep in mind that this is a very preliminary study performed on a small group of people. No one is suggesting that we ignore the government's warning to restrict the consumption of certain kinds of fish that tend to have higher levels of methylmercury, especially if you are a pregnant woman, or a woman of childbearing age who may become pregnant, or a nursing mother. It is too early to conclude that fruits can play a role in protecting us from some of the toxic effects of methylmercury. However, we may have gotten an inkling of just one more of the seemingly endless benefits of eating whole fruits and vegetables.

Resources: To read the US government's warning on methylmercury in seafood, visit http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/admehg3.html

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© Copyright 2007-2008 HealthAndFitnessNow.com. All rights reserved.

The Single-Most Importatnt Factor in Losing (or Gaining) Weight

Here is the bottom line on every weight loss program or diet scheme that has ever been devised. This is the single - all encompassing concept that actually determines whether you will lose weight, gain weight or stay the same, and all you need to understand it is a little elementary school math. I'll first explain the concept in more detail, and then give you an example of how it actually works.

First of all, every day our bodies use a certain number of calories just to "keep the lights on." What do I mean by that? It takes energy (calories) to keep your lungs breathing in and out, to keep your heart beating, in fact, to keep your body warm (98.6 F or 37C). Our bodies are using up energy to keep these biological systems working, whether we are eating or not. Scientists have come up with a name for the energy that a person needs just to "keep the lights on"- it's called the Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR. Not everyone's BMR is the same - it varies with your height, weight, age and gender. So for example, a 25 year old 5' 5" female weighing 125 pounds will have a BMR of about 1,386 calories per day. A 25 year old football player who is 6' 4" and weighs 300 pounds will have an estimated BMR of 2,152 calories per day.

Ok, so now we know that our bodies are using up a certain amount of calories, even if we do nothing but sit on the sofa all day (BMR). To this we need to add a second category of calorie burner - our daily Activity. Every time we "move" - walk up the stairs, push a shopping cart down the grocery aisle, work around the house, etc., we use up/expend/burn more "activity" calories. Walking the dog, going for a light jog or running on a treadmill - these activities all burn more calories.

The third and last category of daily calorie burners is one that I can almost guarantee you have never heard of before. It is called the Thermic Effect of Food. What in the world does that mean? To explain, let's say you go out and order a large steak with baked potato and all the trimmings. As you slowly ingest this meal, guess what your body has to do? It has to perform major "work" to slowly break down and digest the food you are eating. It is actually burning or using up calories for digestion. This is called the Thermic Effect of Food.

We are getting close to revealing the one basic concept that is at the foundation of weight gain and loss. We have already discussed the three ways we burn calories every day (BMR, Activity and Thermal Effect). What else do we need to consider? Yes, of course, it's the other side of the equation - that is, how many calories we take in every day - what we eat and drink. For this, we need to add up all the calories consumed in our meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks.

Now we're ready to understand the one simple rule for weight gain or loss. Let's use a real life example. Let's say Suzy is a 30 year old female, about 5' 6" tall and weighs 130 pounds. Her BMR is 1,390 calories per day. Suzy maintains a fairly active lifestyle, so let's say her physical activity calorie burn is 610 calories. Finally, her Thermic Effect calorie burn is about 200 calories. So, if we add up all three ways that Suzy burns calories, we get 1,390 + 610 + 200 = 2,200 calories burned / used up / expended each day.

Now if Suzy eats or consumes about the same number of calories, she will, on average, maintain her present weight (2,200 calories burned = 2,200 calories consumed). If she eats slightly more calories, she will gain weight (2,200 burned, 2,300 consumed). If she eats slightly less calories, she will lose weight (2,200 burned, 2,100 consumed). In other words, if you want to lose weight, you need to create a calorie "deficit." If you want to gain weight, you need to create a calorie "surplus."

Most of us would like to lose a little weight, so as you can see from the math, you can create a caloric deficit two ways, really. You can eat the same and exercise more, or you can eat less and maintain your present activity level. Ideally, you will take in slightly less calories and become slightly more active every day - thus working both sides of the equation at the same time, but please note - you should always consult a physician before making any changes to your dietary or lifestyle habits.

Here is something that you might think is controversial at first, but if you think about it for awhile, you will understand an important distinction about how calories work. Calorie surpluses or deficits, as explained above, are the biggest factor in determining your weight gain or loss over the long term, no debate - end of story. As an extreme example, you could come up with a weight loss plan that includes eating nothing but cotton candy and funnel cakes all day, as long as you were strict about counting calories and creating a deficit. (Please do not do this; these are two of the worst foods I can think of, and I’m only using them to make a point.) If you burned more calories than you consumed eating these two disgusting foods – you would lose weight. On the other hand, your nutrient intake would, of course, be a disaster. So you see nutrition is really a separate and distinct issue from weight gain or loss. Therefore, why not make the effort to choose nutrient dense foods, like fruits and vegetables?

Remember that the deficit/surplus concept works over the long term. Your daily weight fluctuation can be affected by many temporary factors such as water retention, undigested food, etc. The best way to lose weight permanently is to create a small-daily caloric deficit eating nutrient-dense foods. Since a pound of fat is equivalent to about 3,500 calories, one strategy would be to create a deficit of 500 calories per day X 7 days = 3,500 calories per week. This equates to losing about a pound a week. If you think that’s too small, remember that there are 52 weeks in a year. Another hint: you don’t have to rely solely on eating less food to create the caloric deficit – you can also work the other side of the equation by becoming more active in your daily lifestyle. (Again, consult a physician before making any changes to your dietary or lifestyle habits).

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© Copyright 2007-2008 HealthAndFitnessNow.com. All rights reserved.