healthy

Healthy Byte: Physical Activity is Key to Being Healthy – Not Weight Loss

Leave a comment

ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE

Study Finds Physical Activity, Not Weight Loss, Is Key to Reducing Health Risks

Karla WalshDecember 30, 2021·3 min read

In the U.S., more than 7 out of 10 adults (73.6%) age 20 and over are overweight or obese, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (That percentage may sound shocking, until you realize those categorizations rely on the body mass index system.)

Many leading causes of death, including heart disease, are tied to an individual’s weight. Recently, several researchers have been trying to determine to what extent this correlation is true—especially since nearly three-quarters of American adults are at risk.

Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D., a professor of exercise science at Arizona State University, describes the six stages of what he calls the “Weight Loss Futile Cycle” as (1) Desire to weigh less, (2) Weight loss attempts, (3) Failure to reach weight-loss goal or maintain weight loss, (4) Frustration and reduced adherence to weight-loss program, (5) Weight regain/overshoot, and (6) Obesity prevalence. And then there you are back at square one. Sound familiar?

“The weight-loss message is not, and has not been, working,” Gaesser told WebMD in December. “The health benefits of exercise and diet are largely independent of weight loss.”

In Gaesser’s paper, “Obesity treatment: Weight loss versus increasing fitness and physical activity for reducing health risks,” published in September 2021 in the journal iScience, he finds that “shifting the focus from weight loss to increasing physical activity and improving cardiorespiratory fitness” lowers the risk for death. Gaesser and his team believe that it’s the healthier lifestyle choices many people make when attempting to lose weight, such as eating more fruits and vegetables and getting more exercise, that deliver a longevity boost—not necessarily carrying around less weight.

Previous studies have proven that ramping up physical activity lowers the risk of death from any cause by 15 to 50%. It also decreases the risk of heart disease by as much as 40%. The benefit of regular exercise is even more drastic when the activity improves your heart health (increasing circulation, lowering blood pressure, slowing your resting heart rate). Hopping from the least-fit to most-fit category can slash mortality risk by 30 to 60%, researchers say.

But, the benefits only stick around as long as the fitness routine stays in place.

“Adherence to exercise is just as challenging as adherence to diets. I think one of the reasons is that exercise has been promoted primarily as a means to lose weight,” Gaesser said in the WebMD interview.

It’s a constant battle for reasons in and out of our control. In a July 2021 review of 149 studies that involved exercise interventions of 2 weeks to 12 months, participants lost an average of 3 to 8 pounds. The human body isn’t designed to like to lose weight, so it may slow the metabolism by about 28% in an attempt to make up for calories burned during exercise, an October 2021 study suggests. It can also increase appetite.

Being aware of the gap between anticipated and actual weight loss is important, according to Gaesser. Seeing a lower number on a scale is not a healthy goal; gaining fitness through an exercise regime suited to the individual is. Staring down at a scale can be discouraging. Eliminating that from a fitness routine may help those tempted to throw in the towel.

Gaesser’s encouraging bottom line, according to his study: “Emphasizing the intrinsic value of [physical activity] and [cardiorespiratory fitness]—as primary outcomes—may avoid repeating ‘failures’ associated with a weight-centric approach.”

Healthy Byte: Warding Off Dementia with Regular Activity

Leave a comment

Originally Posted HERE

Image result for workout

Even if you are at high genetic risk for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, there are some factors in your control to lower your chances of developing it: Adhering to four simple health measures can reduce your risk for dementia, a new study published in JAMA found.

In the study, researchers evaluated over 1,700 participants, looking at both their genetic predisposition toward Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and their lifestyles. They gauged their lifestyle based on four factors: smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and diet.

Your Workout Routine Can Cut Dementia Risk in Half

Using four healthy behaviors to come up with a healthy lifestyle score, researchers evaluated over 1,700 participants with an average age of 64 on their lifestyles and their genetic risk. The lifestyle scores included whether a person smokes, their physical activity, alcohol consumption, and diet.

The healthiest lifestyle group did not smoke, participated in regular physical activity, reported moderate alcohol consumption, and followed a healthy diet.

Researchers classified one example of a “favorable” lifestyle as not smoking, cycling at a moderate pace for two and a half hours a week, eating a balanced diet that includes more than three portions of fruit and of vegetables a day, fish twice a week and little to no processed meats, and drinking no more than one pint of beera day. On the flip side, an unfavorable lifestyle included currently smoking regularly, not exercising regularly, eating a diet that includes less than three servings of fruit and of vegetables a week, two or more servings of processed meats and of red meat a week, and drinking three pints of beer a day.

Researchers tracked the participants for around eight years. Over the course of the study, 0.8 percent of those with a healthy lifestyle developed dementia while 1.2 percent of those living unhealthily did—a pattern that held true even when taking into account those at higher genetic risk for dementia, Elzbieta Kuzma, Ph.D., research fellow in Neuroepidemiology at the College of Medicine and Health at the University of Exeter in the U.K, told Bicycling.

Which Wards Off Dementia: Supplements or Exercise?

In fact, of those with a high genetic risk, having a healthy lifestyle cut their chances of dementia by 32 percent, compared to those living an unhealthy lifestyle. What’s more, participants with a high genetic risk and an unhealthy lifestyle were nearly three times as likely to develop dementia than those with a low genetic risk and healthy lifestyle, Kuzma said.

Though the study did not specifically look at why a healthy lifestyle can help ward off dementia, Kuzma explained that a healthy lifestyle tends to improve various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk factors can also affect brain health, like high blood pressure. Eating a healthy diet high in fruits and veggies and rich in heart-healthy fish has been known to reduce dementia risk, possibly because it helps tamp down inflammation.

Healthy Byte: Protein, the Fountain of Youth

1 Comment

Originally Posted HERE

Image result for protein

(Reuters Health) – Older adults who cut back on the amount of vegetable protein in their diets may be more likely to experience age-related health problems than their peers who increase the amount of plant protein they eat, a Spanish study suggests.

Researchers examined data on 1,951 people aged 60 and older who completed dietary surveys and questionnaires to detect four types of unhealthy aging: functional impairments; reduced vitality; mental health issues; and chronic medical problems or use of health services. Participants provided this information in three waves: from 2008-2010, in 2012 and again in 2017.

Overall, study participants got an average 12% of their calories from animal protein, including meat and dairy, and about 6% from vegetable protein, including sources such as legumes, nuts, grains, root vegetables and green plants.

Compared to people who decreased vegetable protein intake by more than 2% between the first wave and 2012, those who increased their consumption of vegetable protein by more than 2% developed fewer deficits associated with unhealthy aging during the study.

“There is growing evidence supporting a beneficial effect of higher intakes of total protein on muscle mass and strength, physical functioning, hip fracture and frailty,” said Esther Lopez-Garcia, senior author of the study and a researcher at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.

The study offers fresh evidence that the type of protein matters, too.

“If you eat more plant-based sources of proteins, you are also getting a lot of micronutrients and healthy fats, and fiber that help improve your health,” Lopez-Garcia said by email. “On the other hand, if you consume animal sources of proteins full of saturated and trans fats, and other substances added during the processing (mostly salt and nitrites), you are getting all the detrimental effects of these substances.”

At the start of the study, people got about 5.2% of their calories from meat, 3.3% from dairy, 3% from refined grains and 2.8% from fish. Participants got less than 1% of their calories from legumes, eggs, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, tubers or nuts.

Changes in animal protein consumption during the study didn’t appear to influence the potential for people to show more signs of unhealthy aging by the end of the study, researchers report in the American Journal of Medicine.

But adding more vegetable protein was linked to fewer deficits by the end of the study.

“Since substitution of plant protein for animal protein has been associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, it is relevant to understand which source of protein may be more beneficial for a healthy aging,” Lopez-Garcia said.

The study wasn’t designed to prove whether or how eating more plant proteins may stall unhealthy aging. It also wasn’t able to determine which types of vegetable proteins might be best from an aging perspective.

One limitation of the study is that many participants dropped out before the end. It’s also possible that results from this study of older adults might not apply to younger people.

“While high protein intake might not be preferable for middle-aged adults, it has been shown that high level of protein intake is protective among those aged 66 years and older,” said Yian Gu, a neurology researcher at Columbia University in New York City who wasn’t involved in the study.

“It is important to interpret scientific findings on protein intake based on age groups, ” Gu said by email. “The current study results are consistent with findings in the elderlies, with further information from innovative analyses of animal and plant based proteins separately.”

The sources of protein also matter, Lopez-Garcia said.

Good sources of plant-based protein include lentils, beans, peas, soybeans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains like teff, wheat, quinoa, rice, oats, and buckwheat, Lopez Garcia advised.

Healthy options for animal protein can include poultry, seafood, eggs, as well as dairy in moderation, Lopez-Garcia advised. Protein sources to reduce or limit include red and processed meat.