From the Mayo Clinic

If you’re carrying a few extra pounds, you’re not alone. But this is one case where following the crowd isn’t a good idea. Carrying extra weight — especially belly fat — can be risky.

Michael Jensen, M.D., an endocrinology specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., answers common questions about belly fat in men.

Why is belly fat a concern for men?
People who gain belly fat are at greater risk of serious health problems than are people who accumulate fat in other areas — and men are more likely than women to gain weight around the waist. Having a large amount of belly fat increases your risk of:

Heart disease
Stroke
Some types of cancer
Type 2 diabetes
Insulin resistance
High triglycerides
Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good,” cholesterol
Metabolic syndrome
Sleep apnea
How can you tell if you have too much belly fat?
Your waist size is a good indicator of whether you have too much belly fat. Although measurements that compare your hip and waist circumference (waist-to-hip ratio) or compare your height and weight (body mass index) are more precise, your waist size alone can give you a good estimate. For most men, the risk factors for heart disease and other diseases increase with a waist size greater than 40 inches (102 centimeters).

To measure your waist:

Place a tape measure around your bare abdomen just above your hipbone.
Pull the tape measure until it fits snugly around you but doesn’t push into your skin.
Make sure the tape measure is level all the way around.
Relax, exhale and measure your waist — no sucking in your belly!
Does age play a role in gaining belly fat?
As you age, you lose muscle — especially if you’re not physically active. Muscle loss can slow the rate at which your body burns calories. In turn, if you don’t limit your calories or increase your physical activity, you may gain weight.

Is belly fat inherited?
Your genes can affect your chances of being overweight or obese, as well as where you carry extra fat on your body. For most men, however, the problem likely has more to do with lifestyle than inherited traits.

Can you really get a beer belly from drinking?
Drinking excess alcohol can cause you to gain belly fat — the “beer belly.” However, beer alone isn’t to blame. Drinking too much alcohol of any kind can increase belly fat, although some research suggests wine may be an exception. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. Limiting yourself to two drinks a day will reduce the amount of calories you consume and help you avoid gaining belly fat. It’s also better for your overall health.

How do you get rid of belly fat?
Whether you’re trying to lose belly fat or trim fat from another part of your body, weight-loss basics remain the same:

Reduce calories. Reduce your portion sizes. Replace your usual fare with healthy foods that contain fewer calories.
Increase physical activity. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults get two hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, in addition to strength training. You may need to do more to lose weight and keep it off.
After you shed excess pounds, maintain your weight loss with a healthy diet and regular physical activity.

Can you reduce belly fat with sit-ups?
Sit-ups help make your abdominal muscles stronger, but spot exercises alone won’t specifically reduce belly fat. The best way to shrink your waist size is to lower your total body fat through healthy eating and exercise.

The bottom line
If you have a spare tire, don’t despair. You can lose belly fat — it just takes patience and effort. In fact, shedding even a few extra pounds can help you feel better and lower your risk of health problems.

Even though the Easter season is about to end, there are always times for reflection and prayer. For tomorrow being Monday, make a resolve for some mortification. Try staying away from meat products. The possibilities are endless!

Here is some news from Reuters Health about gearing teenage children towards a better diet. A great way to get protein is by eating fish which has been medically proven to contain less fats than meats. One thing that has happened adversely over the years is that Americans have strayed from fish products. I blame this on the relaxation of Catholic regulations on abstaining from meat on Friday. People were acclimated to eating fish and grew to developing a taste for fish. Nowadays, a big percentage of the population are not in tune with fish and seafood as being a part of their diets. Take a look at the research below and judge for yourselves!

By Howard Wolinsky

Under medical supervision, a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet is a safe and effective way for severely obese teenagers to lose weight, according to a new study.
Effective treatment options for young people who are obese are limited, “particularly for those who are severely obese,” Dr. Nancy F. Krebs, professor of pediatrics and head of the division of pediatric nutrition at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and colleagues note in a report in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Doctors have been concerned about the safety of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet in children. “There have been fears that the diet could adversely impact growth and could increase cholesterol levels because it is a high-fat diet,” Krebs explained in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. “This has been a barrier to it being used.”

To investigate, the researchers randomly assigned 24 severely obese teenagers to eat a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet and 22 matched teens to eat a low-fat diet for 13 weeks. The study subjects were 14 years old on average and were at least 175 percent above ideal weight, but were free of type 2 diabetes or other serious medical problems. They were closely supervised throughout the study.

On average, those on the high-protein, low-carb diet lost 29 pounds over 13 weeks, while those on the low-fat diet lost 16 pounds. Both groups kept the weight off nine months after the study. “We had expected the high-protein, low-carbohydrate group to quickly regain all the weight lost, but this did not occur,” Krebs said. “At the end of the day, this suggests that with ongoing support, these patients could perhaps have achieved even more weight loss.”

The high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet also appeared to be safe, with no serious harmful effects on growth, bone mineral density, and various “metabolic” parameters, such as cholesterol levels. Both groups showed declines in levels of harmful LDL cholesterol and increases in levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.

Clinical psychologist Angela Celio Doyle of the University of Chicago’s eating and weight disorders program, who was not involved in the study, said the study helps “fill the hole” in the scientific literature on adolescent obesity.

Doyle said the Colorado study supports the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet as another option for severely obese teens to lose weight. “There really isn’t any gold standard now for how to help these adolescents lose weight,” she said.

SOURCE: The Journal of Pediatrics, published online March 22, 2010.

Holy Week is embracing us. Almost there to Easter! A possible reward for abstaining from meat lies in the following article. This approach may be something to think about!
SOURCE: Human Reproduction, news release, March 23, 2010
Millions of women worldwide suffer from endometriosis. Many women have been searching for something they can actually do for themselves, or their daughters, to reduce the risk of developing the disease, and these findings suggest that dietary changes may be something they can do,” study leader Dr. Stacey Missmer, an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a news release.

“The results need to be confirmed by further research, but this study gives us a strong indication that we’re on the right track in identifying food rich in omega-3 oils as protective for endometriosis and trans fats as detrimental,” she said.

Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to reduced heart disease risk, are found mostly in oily fish. Trans fats, which increase heart disease risk, are used in thousands of processed foods.Women who consume high levels of trans fats have a 48 percent increased risk of endometriosis, while those who eat diets rich in omega-3 oils are 22 percent less likely to develop the condition, a new study finds.

In endometriosis, pieces of the womb lining (endometrium) are found outside of the womb. Some women experience no symptoms, but many suffer severe pain. The condition, which can lead to infertility, affects about 10 percent of women. Treatments include pain medication, hormone drugs or surgery.

In this study, researchers analyzed dietary and other data from almost 71,000 women enrolled in the U.S. Nurses Health Study. Over 12 years of follow-up, 1,199 participants were diagnosed with endometriosis. The researchers said their results suggest that diet may be an important factor in the development of the condition.

Today is the Feast of the Annunciation. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, all Lenten regulations and fasts are dissolved for the day. This marks the day that Archangel Gabriel announced to Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to bear the God-child. It is a major feast day that really has no fanfare. So for today you needn’t consult our logues if you are not going to abstain. Have a wonderful day!

Looks like Certified Meatless – Lenten Oservance aka CMLO is doing the right thing! We put our seal on foods to help consumers designate foods which will be acceptable for their dietary needs. I have enclosed a snippet from a US FDA. It confirms the fact that more Americans than ever are reading the nutritional and composition labels attached to food packaging. So here are the facts to look at:

More than half (54 percent) of consumers said they read a product’s label the first time they buy the product. That’s a 10 percent increase from 2002.
Among those who in 2008 reported they read the nutrition label the first time they buy a product
two-thirds use the label “often” to check how high or low a food is in calories and in substances such as salt, vitamins, and fat
55 percent “often” use the label to get a general idea of the food’s nutritional content
46 percent “often” use the calorie information on the label. Thirty-four percent rarely or never use the calorie information
Thirty-eight percent of consumers said they use nutrient content claims (such as “low fat,” “high fiber,” and “cholesterol-free”) “often”; 34 percent answered “sometimes.”
When asked if they refer to the label claim of “0 grams of trans fat,” 31 percent said “often” and 36 percent said “sometimes.”
The survey found differing degrees of trust about claims found on food labels. For example, 41 percent of consumers believe that all or most of claims such as “low fat,” “high fiber,” or “cholesterol free” are accurate, while 56 percent believe that some or none of them are accurate.

Also, 64 percent of consumers reported seeing nutrition labeling on menus, napkins, or place mats in restaurants. About half of these consumers use this information often or sometimes.

Monday starts the week and if you don’t abstain from meat at least once a week, why not start today? The Meatless Monday movement started to bring an awareness that by eliminating meat once a week brings relief in some way to the environment. It is also good to eliminate some fat consumption from your diet. So,to help you and your neighbour, go meatless for a day or two or three! I came across this article about bone density from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I always thought that the only way to achieve strong bones was to eat large amounts of meat and drink milk. Therfore I attached this article for your perusal. Make it a Certified Meatless Monday! Make it a CM-LO day!
Nutrient Supports Bone Health Over Time
By Rosalie Marion Bliss
January 14, 2009
Findings from a new study suggest that natural pigments found in plants may help protect against bone loss in older men and women. Researchers funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) reported the findings in a paper published online by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The study was led by epidemiologist Katherine Tucker with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston, Mass. Tucker directs the HNRCA’s Dietary Assessment and Epidemiology Research Program.

Other studies have consistently shown that fruit and vegetable intake is good for bones. Biological antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, protect cells and tissues from damage caused by naturally occurring oxygen free radicals in the body. Such plant nutrients may help protect the skeleton by reducing oxidative stress and thereby inhibiting bone breakdown or resorption.

The researchers examined potential effects on bone mineral density of overall and individual intake of several carotenoid compounds, including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein+zeaxanthin.

For the observational study, the researchers tracked changes in bone mineral density at two areas of the hip and lumbar spine of male and female volunteers, aged 75 years on average, participating in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. Among these volunteers, 213 men and 390 women were measured at the beginning of the study and four years later.

Over the course of the four years of the study, carotenoids were associated with some level of protection against losses in bone mineral density at the hip in men and at the lumbar spine in women. No significant associations were observed at the other bone sites.

The results suggest there is a protective effect of carotenoids, particularly of lycopene, against bone loss in older adults. The researchers concluded that carotenoids may explain, in part, the previously observed protective effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on bone mineral density.

To look up the levels of individual carotenoids in selected foods, go to “Reports By Single Nutrients,” provided by the ARS Nutrient Data Laboratory at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=15869

ARS is a scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Third Friday of Lent is today! Please be sure to make it a certified meatless ffriday fast for Our Lord who died for us and rose again! Meatless options abound at http://CM-LO.com . No special hints for today but we are getting to the mid-way point of Lent. A good offering to the Lord is to fast a meal and give that money saved to a food bank or other worthwhile organisation. Also maybe you will consider to donate your time to the needy at a shelter or food pantry. One thing you can do is visit someone who is incarcerated. Inumerous! Here is a report that I dug up today. Take a look:

High levels of vitamin D in the blood appear to be linked to lower risks of colorectal cancer, although it’s not clear if higher intake of the vitamin actually prevents the disease, researchers say.

Still, the findings are food for thought: Scientists found that those with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood had as much as a 40 percent lower risk for developing colorectal cancer than those with the lowest levels.

The research, published online Jan. 21 in BMJ, is based on a study of more than 520,000 people from 10 countries in Western Europe. The study participants gave blood samples and filled out diet and lifestyle questionnaires between 1992 and 1998. They were then tracked for several more years to see what happened to them.

During the follow-up period, 1,248 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. These participants were compared with a similar group of 1,248 people who were not diagnosed with the disease.

The researchers cautioned that it’s not clear if there are risks from consuming high levels of vitamin D, which is available in supplements. It’s also not known whether supplements are necessary if people reach certain levels through a healthy diet, exercise and moderate exposure to sunlight.

The study authors noted that current recommendations for preventing colorectal cancer include exercising, not smoking, reducing obesity and abdominal fat, and limiting consumption of alcohol and red and processed meats.
SOURCE: BMJ, news release, Jan. 21, 2010

HealthDay

Yes indeed! Already coming to hump day in this 3rd week of Lent. Tomorrow is Meatless Wednesday and I came across a great idea on what fish doesn’t do! Here goes:

There are plenty of good reasons to eat fish, but preventing abnormal heart rhythms doesn’t seem to be one of them, according to a new study.
Dr. Jarrett D. Berry of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and his colleagues found no relationship between how much non-fried fish postmenopausal women ate and their risk of developing atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm abnormality.
About a quarter of people will develop atrial fibrillation in their lifetimes, Berry and his team note in the American Journal of Cardiology. The condition occurs when the heart’s two upper chambers, or atria, quiver rather than contracting rhythmically. This causes blood to pool in the atria rather than being pumped through the body efficiently, increasing the risk of blood clots and strokes.
There is evidence that omega-3 fatty acids, in fish or as supplements, could help reduce atrial fibrillation risk, Berry and his team write, but other studies have found no relationship.
To investigate, they looked at 44,720 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative study, postmenopausal women 50 to 79 years old. During follow-up, which lasted around six years, 378 women, or less than 1 percent of the study participants, developed atrial fibrillation.
Fewer than 5 percent of the women ate five or more servings of fish a week; average fish consumption was 1.5 servings weekly. But the researchers found no relationship between how much fish women ate, or how much omega-3 fatty acid they consumed, and their atrial fibrillation risk.
Berry and his team conclude that their findings offer “no evidence” that omega-3 fatty acid or fish consumption affects the risk that a healthy postmenopausal woman will develop atrial fibrillation.

SOURCE: American Journal of Cardiology, online February 8, 2010

Hello and happy Meatless Monday. As we roll through Lent, (this is already the 3rd week!) we are aware that ther are many foods to eat and remain Certified Meatless on Meatless Monday! I have enclosed an article from the AMA in regards to some foods that are rich in potassium. These foods in turn, keep your ticker working more efficiently! Take a look at the article and make this MeatlessMonday a Certified Meatless one. Make it CM-LO!
(HealthDay News) — Eating plenty of potassium-rich foods such as leafy greens, potatoes and bananas may reduce the risk of stroke and coronary artery disease, according to Italian researchers.

The new analysis was based on 10 studies published between 1966 and 2009 that included almost 280,000 adults. During follow-ups that ranged from five to 19 years, there were over 5,500 strokes and almost 3,100 coronary heart disease events, the investigators found.

Higher potassium intake was associated with a 19 percent lower risk of stroke and an 8 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease. The findings support global recommendations for people to increase their consumption of potassium-rich foods in order to prevent vascular disease, said Dr. Pasquale Strazzullo, of the University of Naples, and colleagues.

Other foods high in potassium include soybeans, apricots, avocados, plain non-fat yogurt, prune juice, and dried beans and peas.

The findings were presented Wednesday at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism conference in San Francisco.

Another study presented at the meeting found that a diet high in raw fruits and vegetables may help protect against stroke.

In that study, the researchers examined the incidence of stroke among more than 20,000 men and women, aged 20 to 65, who were free of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. During 10 years of follow-up, there were 233 strokes among the participants.

After they adjusted for a number of factors, the researchers found that people with a high intake (more than 262 grams per day) of raw fruits and vegetables were 36 percent less likely to suffer a stroke than those with a low intake (less than 92 grams per day) of raw fruits and vegetables.

However, there was no association between stroke risk and a high intake (more than 233 grams per day) or low intake (less than 113 grams per day) of processed fruits and vegetables, said Linda Oude Griep of Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

SOURCE: American Heart Association, news