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Happy Healthy Thanksgiving!
With the holiday season upon us, it’s important to realize that the best way to thoroughly enjoy your holidays is not through the total abandonment of healthy choices (foods, exercise routines and brisk physical activities), but through mindfulness and moderation. In that way, you can a) optimally enjoy the holiday season, and b) have a jumpstart on what can become your most successful New Year in terms of health goals.
Inaccurate Journalism (Part 2 of 2)
by Sal Fichera, MS
As I mentioned in my previous newsletter, it’s difficult to know what to believe when gathering information through the media. There is no shortage of myths, misperceptions and misinterpretations in the health field. It’s unfortunate that journals don’t restrict writing on health topics to health experts. There are journalists who write about health, even though they don’t specialize in health sciences. This is dangerous because we are, after all, talking about people’s health and well-being.
In my last issue, I addressed the weaknesses of a Time magazine cover story which erroneously concluded that exercise doesn’t make you thin. In this issue, I will address the weaknesses of a June 26, 2009 New York Times article, by Roni Caryn Rabin, which stated that overweight people live longer than lean people. First I’ll mention two factors to consider every time new research is published. Then, I’ll list the problems that are associated with excess body fat, even if it is just a few extra pounds.
Behind-the-scenes variables of research
Whenever research concludes with findings that are rare or novel, the researchers have a responsibility to state that further research is needed. In order for a study to be considered “conclusive,” it must be supported by a series of other discrete studies from different sources, arriving at similar conclusions. Until that time, the study doesn’t even qualify as a theory, but instead is merely a hypothesis--which is the case with the study Rabin bases her NY Times piece on. All too often, although researches identify their research as inconclusive, some journalists spin the research into a story that sounds as though it is scientific fact.
What also needs to be considered is that study designs can easily be flawed. They are based on – or vulnerable to – the researchers preconceived notions, expectations, and/or prejudices. Another variable that can obscure judgment is the financial incentives that may be provided by sponsors of the study, institutions that need specific conclusions. Just as the tobacco industry funded studies that concluded that there was no link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, there are a number of institutions that would benefit from a population that believes that extra fatness was advantageous.
In the area of study design, accurate gauges are mandatory in order to derive at conclusions that are as accurate as possible. The problem with the study used by Rabin is that the sole gauge for determining fatness was Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is highly inaccurate in that it relies on height and weight measures. Consequently, it overestimates fat tissue for lean people and underestimates fatness for over fat people.
For example, I have an athletic male client who is 5’9” tall, weighs 172 pounds, and has a body fat percentage of 6% (measured through ultrasound and skinfold calipers). Although he is extremely lean and very muscular, his BMI measure puts him in the overweight category. This is consistently the case with every fit, lean person I’ve ever measured. Conversely, I’ve measured a number of over-fat individuals who were categorized as normal based on BMI. With such inaccuracy, conclusions used by researches become elusive.
The truth about fat tissue
Based on a variety of studies completed over many years, and from laboratories around the world, there are a variety of health challenges that result from excess fat tissue (for women, healthful fat ranges are 18-23% while for men, 12-15% is considered acceptable). Here’s a run-down on the effects of excess fat tissue – the greater the amount of fat, the greater the risk:
- Cancer: for both men and women, excess fat is associated with higher death rates from cancers of the esophagus, colon and rectum, liver, gallbladder, breast, pancreas and kidney.
- Diabetes: excess fat blocks insulin uptake.
- Heart disease: a result of narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries (which supply blood to the heart).
- Stroke: due to blockage or bursting of arteries to the brain.
- Gallbladder disease: this includes inflammation, infection, stones or obstruction of the gallbladder.
Other challenges include the following: high LDL (bad) cholesterol; low HDL (good) cholesterol, heart burn, sleep apnea, arthritis, psychological depression, elevated CRP (inflammation), and high blood pressure. These conclusions are derived from journals such as Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases; International Journal of Obesity; Journal of the American College of Cardiology; and Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Conclusion:
Although some studies may conclude that extra fat is good, remember that they are a small minority and that there is a preponderance of studies showing the deleterious effects of extra, unneeded fat. Life is too precious to let it degenerate more quickly than is necessary. So, starting this holiday season, begin setting healthy lifestyle patterns. Eat healthfully, exercise regularly and be physically active – whether it’s the holidays or not. In that way, you will feel better about yourself and thus be more energized, enthused and elated.
HAPPY HEALTHY THANKSGIVING!!!
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