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Negligent Journalists (Part 1 of 2)
by Sal Fichera
 Journalists are bright, educated people. Unfortunately, however, they don’t always write on topics they are experts in. Consequently, while they may be skilled at writing stories, their stories may not always be accurate.
Two health articles that I found to be problematic in the recent past were from Time magazine and The New York Times newspaper. The Time article was about how exercise doesn’t help with weight loss; the NY Times article discussed how overweight people outlive even lean people. Considering the facts that most Americans hate/avoid exercise and most (70%) are overweight, this may appear to be news to rejoice over. However, before celebrating too quickly, please be aware that these articles contain a number of flaws. For this issue, I will address the Time magazine article.
 In the August 9, 2009 issue of Time, John Cloud wrote the article, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin.” His view is that exercise will make you fatter; he states that when you exercise, your appetite increases, thereby causing you to consume more calories than you’ll burn. Although this may be true in rare circumstances, this is generally the opposite from what commonly occurs.
Naturally, if you burn 300 calories in one hour of exercise, you will need to eat more than usual. The key – and the natural tendency – is to eat fewer calories than you burned, thereby creating a “calorie deficit” … even if that calorie deficit is only 50 calories. What begins to happen over time is that a) you’ll start to feel better about yourself and more easily become mindful of the quality (as well as quantity) of calories you eat; and b) your metabolism will rise, helping your body to burn fat tissue round-the-clock – something you can’t do through diet alone.
 Here are three other problem areas with the article:
I. Cloud states correctly that there are 45 million Americans who belong to gyms and that obesity has been rising. However, it’s incorrect to make an association between the two, asserting that health clubs and exercise are therefore ineffective at halting the obesity epidemic. One factor has nothing to do with the other. The total number of gym members makes up only 15% of USA’s population. Of the 45 million gym members, perhaps 30-40% of them workout regularly, bringing the total to 6% of our population. It’s virtually impossible for such a small portion of Americans to have enough of an impact on the 35+% of Americans who are obese – or the 70+% who are overweight. The reason obesity keeps rising is partly because of the fact that more people don’t belong to gyms. Also, one overlooked factor is that diets have exploded in popularity over the past 20 years, concurrent to the rapid rise in obesity; recognizing that 90% of all diets fail, perhaps it’s time to get dieters to join gyms and start moving their glutes!
II. Cloud claims that a pound of muscle burns only 6 calories per day and that you can convert fat to muscle – two mistakes in one paragraph. First of all, each pound of muscle burns between 30 and 50 calories per day. By adding 10 pounds of muscle tissue, your metabolism would rise by 300 to 500 calories per day, whether you are standing, sitting, or lying down. Secondly, fat and muscle are two discrete tissues; one doesn’t convert to the other. Although, muscles do burn fat.
III. Finally, the biggest error is when Cloud states that “pushing people to exercise more actually could be contributing to our obesity problem.” He reasons that “exercise depletes not just the body’s muscles, but the brain’s self-control muscle as well.” In reality, exercise increases energy flow, improves mood and mental function, and encourages people to eat more healthfully. It’s when we don’t exercise that our hormones become unbalanced, blood flow to the brain slows down, blood sugar becomes unbalanced, and cravings for unwholesome foods rise.
The moral to this story is, don’t believe everything you read – even if it is Time magazine or The New York Times. Even scientific studies can be poorly designed. As we all know, if something sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. To assist you with navigating through the plethora of health articles, always remember the two basic principles of human design:
- The human body was designed to absorb proper (healthful) nutrients; and, of equal or greater importance,
- The human body was designed to be in MOTION!!!
By following both principles, you will be healthier, more energized … and LEANER!
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