Category: health

More on Atkins: Looking Up

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

Two small studies in the New England Journal of Medicine showed additional evidence that Atkins may not be so bad. Because the studies were small, an editorial in the same issue of the Journal notes that conclusions couldn’t be definitive (there were 132 people in one study and 63 people in the other).

In both studies, the Atkins dieters generally had better levels of “good” cholesterol and triglycerides, or fats in the blood. For example, in Foster's study, people on the Atkins diet had an 18 percent increase in HDL cholesterol — the good cholesterol — compared to a 3 percent increase for people on the conventional low-fat diets.

And Atkins eaters had a 28 percent reduction in triglycerides. The conventional dieters had no change. Experts have said the Atkins diet could be harmful, warning that the large amounts of dietary fat would lead to high blood-fat levels. There was no difference in "bad" cholesterol or blood pressure. […]

I’ll admit that I was skeptical about Atkins when I first heard about it three or four years ago. And though I’m not specifically on Atkins these days, I can’t disagree that Atkins might be suitable for some people (or, at the least, an improvement over their current eating habits).

There’s also a segment on All Things Considered (NPR) about the studies. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I look forward to their take on it.

PS I’m still looking for a ride to the airport on Saturday, if anyone would be able to help me out there.

Possible Reversal of Old-Age Slowdown

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

According to researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine, some of old age’s mental slowdown may be reversible with doses of a neurotransmitter called GABA:

Macaque monkeys, with an age equivalent to 90-years in humans, were not as sharp as their younger counterparts in visual tests despite having perfect eyesight. But when they were given drugs to increase levels of GABA in the brain they improved vastly, say the team.

Delivering GABA calms the neurons down and they become more selective, says neuroscientist Audie Leventhal, at the University of Utah School of Medicine, who led the study. “They look the same as they did 20 years ago,” he says. […]

However, this somewhat glib portion was probably my favorite part of the article:

“It is counterintuitive to say that in order to make Grandpa faster, slow down his brain. Nobody was really thinking about giving tranquillisers to an 85-year-old to perk him up — which is the implication of the study,” he says. […]

Walking May Not Be Enough

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

A British study has found that walking may not be enough to lower the risk of heart disease:

The study of 1975 men aged 49 to 64 from Caerphilly in south Wales found that while vigorous exercise reduced the risk of developing heart disease, light exercise made little difference.

[…]

“We do know that longer and more intense exercise produces the benefits,” he said. However, “the most important thing is that (people) exercise regularly, and they do exercise that they enjoy, and that they keep going long term”.

I also enjoyed this IC Wales write-up about the study:

Rather than taking brisk walks, sailing, bowling or playing golf, the man who wants to keep his heart healthy must begin taking part in activities such as hiking, jogging, swimming, tennis, squash or heavy digging.

Heavy digging? I can’t imagine anyone who’d embark on heavy lifting as part of an exercise regimen ;).

High Protein Ok for Healthy Kidneys

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

It’s often been thought that high protein intake isn’t good for ailing kidneys nor healthy kidneys. But, high protein intake is apparently fine for healthy kidneys:

If your kidneys are not healthy, a diet high in protein may speed up the damage to your organs, new research claims.

However, if your kidneys are healthy, eating lots of protein does not seem to hurt them, the study also concludes.

“We now have evidence to suggest that, in individuals with kidney disease there is some reason to suspect a high protein intake could be potentially detrimental,” says study author Dr. Eric L. Knight, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “Based on this study, I would say in individuals with normal kidney function, we have no reason to believe that a relatively high protein intake has a harmful effect on the kidneys.”

So, this may be good news for those on the Atkins Diet or similar (assuming your kidneys are ok). Along these same lines, I recall an obese former coworker who stated that he didn’t want to try an increased-protein diet since it could ruin his kidneys. I didn’t have any evidence to the contrary at the time, but I wish that he could hear about this research — his condition worried me.

The researchers also have recommendations for protein limits:

No more than 35 percent of total daily calories should come from protein, the institute also recommends, with a range of 10 percent to 35 percent. […]

I’m not on Atkins, as I find The Zone to be healthier and more well-rounded. And though The Zone may have more protein than the average American diet, it still falls within their recommendations (since it allocates 30% of calories from protein — that “30%” is one of the 30s in the “40-30-30”).

Nicotine Gum Testing

Ashley Bischoff3 Comments

I was reading on HealthCentral.com about a study of a new fast-acting nicotine gum. The big news is that this new gum “gum provides peak nicotine levels in five to 10 minutes, compared to 15 to 20 minutes for Nicorette”. However, what struck me were the testing methods:

Niaura and his colleagues recruited 319 current smokers for this study. In the lab, they gave the smokers their favorite cigarette and told them to light it, but not to smoke it. Then, half the group chewed the rapid-release gum and the other half chewed Nicorette for 30 minutes. The smokers completed 10 craving assessment surveys during that time. […]

I’m not a smoker, but I can only imagine how tough that must have been on the participants. If someone were to hand me a warm and gooey brownie but told me not to eat it, I know I’d have a hard time holding back.