A Sweet Little Nightmare for Your Health

Ah sugar!  What it means:  a celebration, a treat, a reward! What it also may mean: reduced immune system, memory loss, heart disease and obesity.  Yes friends, sugar in its many forms keeps showing up as a bad boy for our health.  Can you kick it altogether?  Maybe not, but can you be mindful of it and understand it, manage your intake better?  Maybe so.   

Sugars that occur naturally in food such as fruit and milk, says http://www.eatwell.gov.uk are not the problem  but rather  foods that contain added sugar are the ones to avoid. What’s really tricky is that added sugar is found in so many foods: soft drinks, fruit juice and energy drinks, breakfast cereals, sweets, jelly, jam and ice cream to name a few.  

There is a body of evidence suggesting that eating too much sugar suppresses immune system cells responsible for attacking bacteria. Even consuming just 75 to 100 grams of a sugar solution (about the same as in two 12-ounce sodas) reduces the ability of white blood cells to overpower and destroy bacteria. This effect is seen for at least a few hours after consuming a sugary drink according to http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/10-immune-system-busters-boosters.

Dr Jim Sears, co-host of The Doctors TV show and a contributor to the AskDrSears parenting website, also supports the notion that a big dose of sugar can suppress your immune system and make you more vulnerable to colds, flu and other infections, as reported by USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/LIFE/usaedition/2009-10-05-bline05_ST_U.htm.

To complicate matters, sugar also comes in many forms, including:  sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolyzed starch and invert sugar, and corn syrup. And frankly, according to many well respected health sources that I researched, no form is all that great for our bodies.

However, fructose in large quantities appears to be especially problematic.  There are several research studies that show it to be metabolized differently than other sugars including a 10-week study,  cited on Science Daily in April 2009, wherein  Peter Havel and colleagues, at the University of California at Davis, provided evidence that human consumption of fructose-sweetened but not glucose-sweetened beverages can adversely affect both sensitivity to the hormone insulin and how the body handles fats, creating medical conditions that increase susceptibility to heart attack and stroke.

During Havel’s 10 week study, overweight and obese individuals in two test groups consumed glucose- or fructose-sweetened beverages that provided 25% of their energy requirements. Both groups gained about the same amount of weight, but only those individuals consuming fructose-sweetened beverages exhibited an increase in intra-abdominal fat and also became less sensitive to the hormone insulin which controls glucose levels in the blood. Read more: Too Much Sugar Is Bad, But Which Sugar Is Worse: Fructose Or Glucose?.

 In August of 2009, Science Daily cited a study where rats displayed impaired spatial memory when they ate a daily diet with 60% of calories came from fructose compared to rats fed a control diet.  The rats on fructose had a harder time remembering where a platform in a pool had been compared to the rats that weren’t fed fructose. Read about it in detail here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420182151.htm.

According to that article, fructose, unlike the sugar glucose, is processed almost solely by the liver, and produces an excessive amount of triglycerides. Triglycerides are fat that gets into the bloodstream and can interfere with insulin signaling in the brain, which plays a major role in brain cell survival and the ability for the brain to change based on new experiences.

A New York Times article by Jane E. Brody published in February 2009 says that while the current recommendation is a maximum intake of eight teaspoons of sugars of any kind in a day, essentially one 12-ounce can of regular soda or a 20-ounce bottle of VitaminWater delivers eight or nine teaspoons of sugar. That means you are at or over the limit before you’ve eaten a single cookie or container of fruit-flavored yogurt!  The result is an average daily intake of more than 20 teaspoons of sweet calories rather than eight! http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01EFDE1731F933A25751C0A96F9C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2#

Yikes!  So what’s a person to do?  Well here are a couple of ideas that I have found helpful with sugar reduction:

1) Avoid beverages with added sugar in its many forms.  Replace those beverages with water, unsweetened teas and herbal infusions. Dilute fruit juice with sparkling or still water to reduce sugar intake.

2) Pay attention to food labels.  Think twice about how many sweets you are consuming. By all means, savor and enjoy what you decide to eat, but keep a watch on how much sugar you are eating in total.  Whenever possible, stop before you eat – and take a moment to consider replacing a sugary snack with nuts, fresh fruits, veggies or whole grains.

Grateful for Our Teachers

Teachers come to us in many forms and in many ways.  For me, the death of my second son Spenser was an amazing teacher.  It was the catalyst that reframed my perspective on what matters in life.  So while it was incredibly painful to lose my son, Spenser’s death gave me an enormous gift:  a second chance to focus on what matters:  especially the people I love and care about.

Spenser’s death also led me to a deep yoga practice.  The practice provided me with a way to quiet my mind and at the same time, it made my body stronger and more flexible.  It was one of the few things I could do after losing my son that started to poke a hole in the darkness of my soul where a little light could come through.  It was the beginning of recovery. 

So today, I am visiting my old southern California stomping grounds for the holidays.  I stop to take classes from some of the yoga teachers who unknowingly influenced the direction of my life and who have provided me with a go-to resource for finding joy:  Geo  Takoma in Laguna Beach http://geospoweryoga.com/index.php   and John Childers at Full Spectrum Yoga  http://www.fullspectrumyoga.com/. They are both still teaching, and they are passionate and dedicated to their yoga journey, albeit with very different styles of yoga. 

If you are interested in yoga, check these guys out.  Geo is now podcasting his classes at www.geospoweryogapodcast.com  and he offers a kick butt 45 minute power yoga THE WARRIOR SERIES DVD on his site at http://geospoweryoga.com/buy.php which I have used for years to stay in shape – and often give as a gift.   John offers a whole nother resource on his site – strap yoga – a deep and gentle way to dig into all those sore joints and areas that you didn’t even know were bugging you – oh – and open your heart at the same time: http://www.fullspectrumyoga.com/. Both offerings are accessible to all levels of practice and will assist you in improved health and well-being.

Not that I am suggesting yoga is for everyone.  It’s not.  Yoga may not be your thing, but I encourage you to find and to nurture that which is your thing.  What is your go-to passion that provides you comfort in the darkest times?  Who and what have been your greatest teachers?  What are you grateful for?   If you can answer these questions, I believe you are very blessed indeed.

Happy Holidays.

To Be A Winner: Embrace Your Self!

For weeks, I’ve been trying to write a post about the power of embracing your personal gifts.  So often we make ourselves miserable by focusing on what we haven’t accomplished versus what we have accomplished, or  who we wish we were, versus who we truly are.  Often when we do that, we miss the most amazing opportunities in our lives for joy.  So far,  I hadn’t found an eloquent or interesting way to convey that message – until now.  Today, I  (and many other life coaches) received an e-mail from our mentor Martha Beck  with a video in it.  It so  beautifully sums up the idea that I put the link here so you can see for yourself .   WARNING:  you may need a tissue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4

Enjoy.

Avoid this Fitness Mistake!

If you are into fitness training, OUTSIDE Magazine online is a terrific resource.  I came across an oldie but goodie article from December 2008 by Matt Fitzgerald called, The 12 most common, performance-defeating fitness mistakes—and how to fix them: http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200812/fitness-mistakes-1.html

While all the tips are worth reviewing, the one that seems to me to be most important for just about anyone who is stuck at a fitness plateau wanting to lose inches is MISTAKE # 5:

Going Long and Slow to Burn Calories
Most athletes looking to lose weight stick to long, slow cardio workouts, since the maximum fat-burning rate occurs at moderate exercise intensity (a.k.a. the fat zone). But if you’re looking to trim a belt size, you need to do high-intensity intervals—they simply burn far more calories overall. Plus high-intensity exercise ramps up your resting metabolism by stimulating what’s called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). “Your body will continue to burn calories as it replaces the oxygen you expended during your workout,” says Nick Winkelman, a performance specialist with Arizona-based Athletes’ Perfor­mance. Here’s a simple way of looking at it: To lose weight, you need to burn more energy than you take in. High-intensity training is the most effective way to do this—especially if you get only ten hours per week to work out.

The Fix: Replace one or two weekly endurance workouts with high-intensity intervals. Example: Warm up at 65 percent of your maximum heart rate (MHR) for five minutes and then do a one-to-two-minute interval at 90 to 95 percent of your MHR. Return to your warm-up pace until your heart rate drops back down to 65 percent of MHR. Repeat until you can no longer get down to 65 percent of MHR within a couple of minutes—that is, until you’re sweating bullets. Then cool down.

http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200812/fitness-mistakes-5.html

And of course, always check with your physician before attempting any new work-out program!

Too Busy to Sleep? Bad Idea.

There are four things I know for sure are the basics of good health: 

1. Take a daily multivitamin
2. Exercise
3. Drink sufficient amounts of water
4. Get enough sleep

There are countless articles extolling the virtues of exercise and taking a daily multi vitamin. But recently, more research about  sufficient sleep as a cornerstone to good health are popping up.  An excellent article in the Chicago Tribune  this week by Bob Condor  says that sleep is the most underrated part of staying healthy and that adults need seven to eight hours every night for optimal health.  The article cites several sleep benefits including reduced risk of heart disease and optimal physical and intellectual output.

Condor also offers several tips for tackling sleep challenges.  In addition to those, here’s a technique that I find useful:  keep paper and pen by the side of the bed. Should you awaken during the night with a worry or a thought,  write it down so you can handle it the next day.

To read more:  www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-tc-health-action-sleep-1202dec06,0,2291651.story  (Free registration required)

 Nighty-night!

Awareness: A First Step To Healthier Eating & Living

With the holidays upon us, it’s easy to get busy.  And a recent article warns that busy lifestyles cause many people to over-eat without noticing. Brian Wansink, Ph.D., and behavioral scientist at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, calls this problem ”mindless eating.” Dr. Wansink says the mind is to blame for over eating, not always the stomach.

“We’re a nation of mindless eaters. We do so many things during the day that when it comes to food we can just nibble and nibble and nibble, and eat and eat and eat.” Dr. Wansink said.

This has been a recurring theme in my life as it is for many of the folks I work with as a life coach. 

How often do you get so busy that you don’t know how or what you are feeling? The first step in  health management is awareness.   What am I doing? Why am I doing this?  How am I feeling and what do I want to do about it? Like, why am I eating this cake?  Am I still hungry?  Am I enjoying what I’m eating, or am I just shoveling it into my mouth as fast as I can because I’m tired or angry or whatever?  Sound familiar?

Simply asking yourself  questions about what you are feeling; not judging yourself, but just noticing –  is a first step toward better  life management.  

To read more about the specifics of the article,  ”Mindless Eating — Food Psychologist Explains The Mindless Way People Overeat” visit  http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/1202-mindless_eating.htm

Stress Relief for the Holidays

I read a  good blog  post yesterday about seven ways to reduce holiday stress http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/smart-habits-highly-successful-people/200912/7-tips-relieve-holiday-stress.  My favorite tip from  Connie Bennett’s list , (and the one I find most friends, family and clients overlook) is to take time for yourself.  Do good things for you.  It’s essential during this busy and often stressful time. 

Don’t forget to sleep, to exercise, and to schedule yourself some down time!  Remember, you can always barter, bag or better your situation.  You are worth it!   And, the better you feel, the more fun and the more productive you can be with others in your life.  So if you don’t think you are worthy, (you might need  a life coach or a therapist to help you with that)  at least be unselfish: take care of yourself for the benefit of  the other folks in your life!