Fighting obesity through lifestyle
Neeraj Dhingra

One can stay fabulously fit the easy way. Here are certain guidelines:

There are standard "height and weight" charts available for different age groups for various populations drawn up by health experts.

This is a reliable indicator of one’s obesity. It is measured as weight in kg divided by the square of your height in meters.

For both men and women a BMI figure of between 20 and 25 is healthy. If it is over 30 you seriously need to work towards shedding a few kilos.

Your calorie output should be more than your intake or else surplus food will be converted into fat, leading to weight gain.

A little planning can keep you in top condition.

This will help you lose weight and not feel deprived. The basic purpose is to recommend a diet of abundance which will not allow hunger pangs to bother you, and appeals to the palate. It need not be chocolates, cream cakes or fried food. A study conducted at the University of Sydney ranked boiled potatoes at the top followed by cooked fish, oatmeal, orange, apples and beans.

Calorie intake for weight maintenance should be 30 cal/kg ideal body weight. A decrease of 1000 cals daily is required to lose about 1 kg a week and a reduction of 500 cals daily brings about a weight loss of nearly `BD kg a week. A drastic reduction of energy will only lead to hunger pangs, nervous exhaustion, weakness and inadequacy of essential nutrients.

For example — 1 cup of milk has 170 cals but 1 cup skimmed milk has only 70 cals.

One egg or 40 gms meat has 70 cals.

One katorie of dal provides 100 cals.

One chapati or one slice of bread has 70 cals, one serving rice (adult) 220 cals

100 gms of green leafy veggies have negligible calories but the others provide 40 cals.

Fruits — one serving-average 40cals, but a banana provides 100 cals, an apple 80 cals and an orange 40 cals.

The list is endless.

The wonder of fiber and water

Both increase satiety and decrease hunger. The bulk of fiber makes one eat less. Water has no calories and improves metabolism.

Go for healthier low calorie sources — Sea food and pulses like peas, beans, lentils and sprouts. Soybean deserves special attention because of its health promoting properties. Anytime you choose a soy product you are going in for a high protein, low calorie food.

Counting carbohydrate — These provide half of your energy needs.

Fats — Go slow on fats but do not completely ignore them as they create a feeling of fullness and you want your brain, nerves and body to work.

Salt and weight loss — Most dieters feel concerned about their salt intake. It has no role to play when it comes to losing fat. It has no calories. In fact, it flavours low calorie food. The only drawback is that excess salt tends to make you retain water — so you might gain a couple of kilos temporarily. If you eat a low salt diet, you may lose fluid but not fat.

Small meals but more frequent — "Eat till you burst" is a wrong strategy. Always get up from the table feeling slightly hungry. Do not skip meals. People find it easiest to skip breakfast which should otherwise be the best meal of the day.

Skipping meals results in wide fluctuations in blood sugar levels that trigger hunger and overeating.

Other tips — Remember the key principle of variety, balance and moderation. Forget the habit of munching in-between meals.

• Never "gulp" but "chew".

• Do not get yourself too hungry.

• Dinner should be light and early.

• Prefer grilled food to fried or baked.

The exercise factor in weight control — The picture perfect weight reduction programme cannot be complete without physical activity as it helps you lose fat and build muscle and also increases your B.M.R. Bring variety in exercise or boredom will make you avoid it. Walking is ideal. One hour’s walk at moderate speed makes you expend 200 calories.

The writer is a dietitian/nutrition consultant at the Pusa Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition, Delhi.

Suppressing worries can cause nightmares

Sydney: Trying to dismiss your worries and anxieties before getting into bed each night may not be such a good idea after all, for a new study has found that ignoring disturbing thoughts actually leads to having more dreams or nightmares about them.

The study, led by Prof Richard Bryant, a psychologist from the University of New South Wales, Australia, was conducted at 100 psychology students at the university.

The researchers found that the volunteers who actively suppressed a persistent worry, such as money problems, just before falling of to sleep reported more dreams featuring the unwanted thought than those who did not suppress it.

Professor Bryant said that the study had shown that the best way to stop a thought from troubling a person would be by facing the subject instead of suppressing it.
— ANI

Coffee useful in alcohol-induced pancreatitis

London: Scientists have known for some time that coffee can reduce the risk of alcohol-induced pancreatitis — a condition in which the pancreas becomes inflamed, causing severe abdominal pain — but have been unable to determine how.

But, a recent study, done by a team of researchers at the University of Liverpool, has now discovered “how” it happens.

According to the findings of the study, caffeine can partially close special channels within cells, reducing to some extent the damaging effects of alcohol products on the pancreas, as binge alcohol drinking is a common cause of acute pancreatitis.

Prof Ole Petersen and Prof Robert Sutton, from the University’s Physiological Laboratory and Division of Surgery, have found that cells in the pancreas can be damaged by products of alcohol and fat formed in the pancreas when oxygen levels in the organ are low.

Under these conditions, excessive amounts of calcium are released from stores within the cells of the pancreas. Special organelles, called mitochondria, also become damaged and cannot produce the energiser that normally allows calcium to be pumped out of the cells. The excess calcium then activates protein breakdown, destroying the cells in the pancreas. — ANI

Capsicum helps halt prostrate cancer spread

Washington: A new study in human cell lines grown in mice models has found that Capsaicin, a component in jalapeqos, a small hot pepper that is green or red when ripe and is used extensively in Mexican cooking, makes prostate cancer cells to kill themselves.

The study, by a team of researchers from the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in collaboration with colleagues from UCLA, found that Capsaicin causes human prostate cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death or apoptosis.

Svren Lehmann, visiting scientist at the Cedars- Sinai Medical Center and the UCLA School of Medicine, said that not only had the pepper component had an anti-proliferative effect on human prostate cancer cells in culture, but it also slowed the development of prostate tumors. — ANI

Gene mutation linked to asthma and eczema

LONDON: British scientists have announced a major breakthrough in the prevention of asthma by discovering that the gene that causes most cases of eczema is linked to asthma.

The discovery will bring hope to millions of sufferers of both debilitating illnesses. Eczema is currently treated with creams and drugs that stop the skin drying out and prevent inflammation.

But now it could be possible to design drugs that tackle the root of the problems and not just the symptoms.

A University of Dundee team is working to develop new treatments. While carrying out research into dry skin, they discovered the role of a gene called FLG.

This produces a protein called filaggrin, mostly found in the outermost skin layers. It helps to form a protective layer at the skin’s surface that keeps water in and foreign bodies out.

If the protein is reduced or absent the skin barrier is impaired and the skin dries or flakes off. In people with filaggrin mutations, foreign substances easily enter the skin and are detected by the immune system. This explains how inflamed skin and eczema develop. — ANI

Sleeping-pill users face kitchen chaos

WASHINGTON: The problems of overweight Americans are usually ascribed to poor diet and a lack of exercise. But new research suggests another possible culprit: the country’s addiction to sleeping pills, the most popular of which may cause some people to binge eat in their sleep.

The drug in question is Ambien, manufactured by the French company Sanofi-Aventis, for which 26 million prescriptions were written by American doctors last year. Alas, according to two separate medical studies in Minnesota, it may have an unfortunate side-effect for a few users — causing them to indulge in bouts of nocturnal feasting without knowing a thing about it the next morning.

In one instance, a woman put on 100lb. She thought her family was responsible for the morning-after mess in the kitchen. Only when her sons and husband caught her in the act was she convinced otherwise.

Some doctors urge patients to install a chime on their bedroom door, to alert them when they are on an unconscious food foray.

But even that may not be enough. A third sufferer explained to ABC News last week how she would find food scattered over her kitchen when she got up. “I would eat things like raw eggs, uncooked rice, bags of (potato) chips, loaves of bread, candy.”

— The Independent