Take the Time

 

Today, more people are dying from overeating than under eating. It's  a fact. Did you know it? I never until last Wednesday past, when Dr. Ayra Sharma, a leading researcher and medical doctor in obesity was in St. John's and gave a presentation at Memorial University in benefit of the Canadian Obesity Network. You may have heard his name before, as he is a sought-after expert and speaker regularly featured in international media and resides in Edmonton where he is an endowed chair in obesity at the University of Alberta and medical director of the Alberta Health Service's bariatric program. His talk was about how to 'Stop being a yo-yo', and included appropriate humour, as evidenced by him entering the stage with a black sou'wester, and reviewed today's social, psychological and biomedical properties to obesity. It was such as interesting and engaging presentation, and because of this and the fact he is a leading authority on the obesity subject, I want to share with you some of the insight and info he shared with us.

He started by telling us about how research suggests that for every 20 people who set on a journey to lose weight around 19 of them will eventually put that weight back on, and one person out of that 20 will likely keep the weight off. How? But not eating whole lot of much, and probably maintaining a diet of about 1500 calories per day and by burning anywhere to 400 calories through exercise. It's certainly hard to do, and perhaps that's why many people fail. He does note though that there are things we can do, and listen up, as these are important, and something I think all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians can benefit from.

Dr. Sharma notes that fast food isn't a fast food problem, but rather a fast and time problem. We are living in a culture with no time to eat. And so what happens when we don't eat? We get hungry. And when we get hungry what happens? Well, first if all, when we're hungry it's probably the worst time to be eating as we tend to make poor choices. Hormones in our stomach which signal hunger, increase when hungry, which makes perfect sense, but what also it important to note is that this particular hormone, called ghrelin, is also considered a 'risk taking hormone, which may explain some of the reason why we end up eating way more calories then we should and eat fast, again causing us to eat more calories. He suggests we need to spend more time eating, which may sound funny at first, but it makes a lot of sense. Spend more time eating. Think about what you do during the hours of a day. Eight hours working, plus time for our daily commutes, add time for dealing with kids and chores, three meals daily totalling at bet one hour daily, one hour physical activity, seven to nine hours sleep – for many of us there just aren't enough hours in the run of a day. 'Times runs away', and we don't dedicate enough time to take care of ourselves. When we do end up taking more time to be active and eat well, and since there are only 24 hours within the run of a day, what we end up doing is taking precious time away from sleep. Not taking the time to eat well, be active, or get enough sleep can all be contributors to an excess or 'yo-yo'ing of our weights. By not taking enough time to care for ourselves our stress increases. And with increased stress, people often feel anxious, or frustrated or depressed, any or all of which can be the 'prefect recipe for emotional eating', he notes. Dr. Sharma did go on to talk about other health problems and contributors to obesity, however 650-700 words could never do his one and a half hour talk justice. So if you plan on making any lifestyle or dietary changes to improve your health and weight, consider taking more time to eat. For more information on Dr. Sharma and the Canadian Obesity Network check out http://www.obesitynetwork.ca/.

As seen in The Telegram June 10, 2013.

Fueling Fertility

'You are what you eat.' That old adage is certainly true when it comes to fuelling for fertility.  Body weight, certain foods and nutrients have been linked to increased and decreased fertility in both males and females. Good nutrition for a baby should being with both mom and dad, and well before conception.

Women who regularly consume plant-based, low fat, high fiber (greater than 25 grams per day) appear to have lower levels of estrogen and therefore are more likely to have irregular periods than omnivores. This isn't to say a diet with a protein component from all animal sources is any better either. A recent study from Havard School of Public Health found that women who ate foods containing higher amounts of trans fats, animal proteins and carbohydrates, among other dietary factors, were more likely to have an ovulatory disorder. One of their specific dietary recommendations was to replace some of the beef, pork or chicken you eat with vegetable protein like beans and nuts. According to this same study, when five percent of total calories eaten come from vegetable protein instead of animal, the risk of ovulatory infertility drops by more than 50 percent. In addition to trans fat being bad, very low fat diets overall (less than 20 percent of total calories) have been shown to be detrimental for female fertility too. Soy is certainly a healthful food, but intakes of soy at the 20-200g per day mark have been known to increase menstrual cycles by about a day (so to put that into perspective, four ounces of firm tofu contains 13 grams of soy protein; one soy burger about 10-12 grams; and one cup of soy milk contains roughly 10 grams). Perhaps more well known is that caffeine intake is something to watch out for too. Not only do can higher intakes of caffeine be harmful for baby, studies have shown that intake over 300-500mg of caffeine per day (about three coffees or more) have decreased chances of conceiving by about 27 percent or found that conception was half as likely when compared to women who consumed little coffee. Similar to high levels of intense physical activity, alcohol may influence fertility by decreasing hormone levels and disrupting normal monthly cycles. Not all studies involving alcohol have shown alcohol affecting fertility, however there are two in particular which have shown a 39 percent lower risk of conception in women consuming five drinks weekly, and a 66 percent reduced chance for conception for women consuming greater than ten drinks per week. Interestingly enough, alcohol doesn't affect male fertility. To eat well to fuel fertility, eat a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and low fat dairy, omega-3 rich fish and eggs, and don't forget a multivitamin with at least 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. 

There isn't as much research on male fertility with respect to diet, but we do know some dietary compounds can be protective. In particular for males, zinc and antioxidant nutrients appear to be important. Intakes of zinc less than 5mg per day (less than half what an adult male needs daily) have been associated with decreased hormone and semen levels. Zinc is very important for both fetal and adult growth. The best sources of zinc are seafood, meat, seeds, and cooked dried beans, peas and lentils. It's easy enough to get through diet too. A two and a half ounce piece of beef provides more than half the daily need. Sperm have also been shown to benefit from antioxidants like selenium, vitamins C and E and beta-carotene. Selenium rich food sources include plant foods like rice, wheat and Brazil nuts. Vitamin C rich sources include fruits, vegetables, cereals, beef, poultry, and fish. Best places to score vitamin E would be almonds, wheat germ, and safflower, corn, and soybean oils. And to get your daily dose of beta-carotene think colours, specifically dark orange coloured foods and leafy greens, like sweet potatoes, carrots, cantaloupe, squash, apricots, pumpkin, mangoes, collards, spinach, and kale.

Weight plays a very large role in fuelling fertility. It's believed that weight issues cause about 12 percent of infertility. Being either over or underweight can impact infertility for both men an women. In fact, weight loss through calorie restriction and increased physical activity is the recommended initial treatment for infertility. Too much weight loss or a low body weight can be detrimental though. In normal weight women, weight loss exceeding ten to fifteen percent of usual weight decreases estrogen, and can result in irregular or absent menstrual cycles. Similar to women, extreme weight loss in men decreases fertility as well. When both man and women are overweight this can spell double trouble for increasing their chances of getting pregnant.

As seen in The Telegram June 3, 2013