Uuuuurrrrgh.  Hot off the presses of the International Journal of Food Microbiology:

The study looked at 90 beverages from 30 soda fountains in Virginia. A follow-up study took a look at the microbes they found in 27 drinks (including water). Researchers found that 48% of the drinks were harboring “coliform” bacteria — which means they could contain fecal matter. 

“More than 11% of the beverages analyzed contained Escherichia coli and over 17% contained Chryseobacterium meningosepticum,” according to the abstract. “Other opportunistic pathogenic microorganisms isolated from the beverages included species of Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas, Candida, and Serratia.”

Ewwwwww. 

And I don’t mean the pink mystery-meat made famous by Hormel, either.  It’s the e-mail kind… for weight loss products, in particular. According to this report on Psych Central:

Have you ever wondered who actually buys anything advertised via spam emails?

It turns out that when it comes to weight loss spam, the answer is simple — young adults.

New research has found that 41 percent of college students with weight problems opened and read spam e-mail advertising weight loss products.

The researchers found that those with weight problems were three times more likely to open/read and also three times more likely to purchase weight loss products from this spam e-mail, compared to those without weight problem. The study also found that increased psychological stress was associated with an increase in purchases of these weight loss products advertised in spam e-mail.

According to a related report in the NYT, Dr. Fogel was pretty surprised by the results:

“I was shocked by the results,” said Dr. Fogel, whose research focuses on the Internet and consumer behavior. “Even among those with no weight problems, 5.2 percent bought something. It may be that young adults are hypersensitive to weight issues and they think, ‘this can’t hurt.’ ”

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And I don’t mean from a nutritional perspective, either… A recent investigation by USA Today came up with some pretty disturbing findings.

Airport restaurants packed with holiday travelers have been cited in the past year for hundreds of food safety violations, local health department reports show.

A USA TODAY review of inspection records for nearly 800 restaurants at 10 airports found items such as tuna salad and turkey sandwiches stored at dangerously warm temperatures, raw meat contaminating ready-to-eat foods, rat droppings and kitchens lacking soap for workers to wash hands.

Serious violations, which can increase the risk of illness, are common. On the most recent inspections available online, 42% of 57 restaurants reviewed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport had at least one “critical” violation. So did 77% of 35 restaurants reviewed at Reagan National Airport.

Urrrrgh - I’ve eaten at Sea-Tac on several occasions too, although only at one restaurant (Ivar’s), where my food was cooked to order.  But from now on, I think I’ll just stick to protein bars, nuts, jerky (which I can stuff in my purse) and commercial food products packaged outside the airport (like yogurt and cottage cheese) when I fly.  Not ideal, but going without meals for a few hours beats enduring a bout of food poisoning in a crowded plane.

I glanced at this blog post on Shakesville today about the XBox 360, and then did a double take…  Apparently Microsoft recently filed for a patent app, ”…to introduce a heightened degree of reality into the appearance of gamers’ avatars by utilizing a third-party health-care data repository… or a Wii Vitality Sensor-like device.”

In other words, Microsoft wants to create gamers’ avatars capable of collecting/storing user health info.  Why?

Evidently this is (partly) why:

To incentivize people to improve their physical well-being, Microsoft’s filing notes that gamers will be locked out of certain components of a game or a chat room until the proper health parameters are met.

“Physical data that reflects a degree of health of the real person can be linked to rewards of capabilities of a gaming avatar, an amount of time budgeted to play, or a visible indication,” the filing reads. “Thereby, people are encouraged to exercise.”

To the Shakesville blogger and commenter, this is yet another example of “fat hatred.”

But is it really?  Does Microsoft really intend to restrict gamers deemed unhealthy or overweight from playing XBox games?

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Quite honestly, I don’t have the slightest idea. 

Nor do I care… which is why I was a bit flummoxed by this article in the LA Times on estimating the calories burned during exercise.  The author goes into considerable detail about the margin of error involved with different devices – and she appears to have done a good job on her research.  She correctly points out that the calorie counters on different cardio devices may be off by as much as 25% – 30%, indirect calorimetry is a PITA, and that even high-tech gizmos like the BodyBugg  have their limits.

Okay then.

Problem is, she never asks – let alone answers –  the question, “is it necessary to count exercise calories at all?”  In my experience, it isn’t, and (in my humble opinion) borders on obsessive.  Whenever I had to change my weight (up or down), I simply kept track of a) my daily food intake; and b) my weekly weight and body comp.  That’s all I ever needed to know to assess my progress, and – if necessary – make adjustments to my program.

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Anyone remember Diana Nyad?  Once upon a time, she was a world-class athlete, and – in 1979 – swam 102.5 miles from Bimini to Florida.  In subsequent years, she also worked as a sportscaster/journalist, author and speaker. She’s an incredibly accomplished woman.

She’s also one of the founders of “Brava Body” a training site offering exercise DVDs and custom workouts.  In this capacity, she and her partner, Bonnie Stoll, appeared on “Good Morning America” to promote their “Holiday Remedy” – a program designed to “trim those holiday pounds.”

So what’s the problem? 

In the video (click the above link to view it on the GMA site), Nyad talked viewers through the first few exercises in the program (which Bonnie Stoll and the GMA interviewer demonstrated).  To be honest, I thought they looked pretty tame, and wouldn’t do much of anything to “rev the metabolism” as she claimed.  But even worse, in the process of discussing the merits of the program, she lent credence to one of the oldest, ”zombie lies” about women’s exercise in existence:

“So anyway, the idea again is no heavy muscles, we’re not building gigantic muscles, we’re just gonna rev the metabolism over the holidays…”

Diana Nyad was an elite athlete – she HAS to know how bogus the “big ‘n bulky” myth is.  Yet, instead of dismissing it as physiological nonsense, she reinforced it in the process of reassuring her female viewers.  WTF???

Yeah, I know it’s GMA, for heaven’s sakes, and Ms. Nyad’s now a businesswoman promoting workout DVDs, but I still found this depressing.  She was in a great position to deflate this BS for thousands of women, and she simply blew it.

If this isn’t an inspiring story to begin the new year, I don’t know what is…

For those making New Year’s resolutions to get fit, we’d like to introduce you to Harry Packer.

Packer is a 75-year-old mortgage broker from Porter Ranch. He had two knee replacements a couple of years ago. Oh, and he’s a champion powerlifter.

…After going through a round of post-surgical physical therapy, Packer felt he needed to continue to strengthen his legs and knees and joined the North Valley YMCA in Northridge to do weight training exercises on his own. There he met fitness instructor Chris Belden, who thought Packer would excel at power lifting. The two started training together.

…Last November Packer won the bench press (185 pounds) and the dead lift (303 pounds) events in his age group at the World Powerlifting Federation’s world championship in Las Vegas. “I’ve won a lot of different things in my life,” he says, “but that was the most exciting and mind-blowing event I’ve ever participated in. There were maybe 1,000 people in the auditorium when I got up to the podium, but I didn’t hear anything. I’m getting emotional thinking about it.”

Harry Packer went from wearing leg braces to competing in powerlifting…in his 70’s.  That’s amazing.  But it just goes to show you: you’re never too old to start a workout program.

According to the China Post…

The Bureau of Health Promotion (BHP) is drafting a bill to charge special tax on food that are considered unhealthy, such as sugary drinks, candies, cakes, oily fast food, and alcohol.According to the BHP Director General Shu Ti-chiou, the proposal aims to promote a healthier eating habit.

…The BHP is expecting the Legislative Yuan to approve it by the end of next year and to enact the tariff in 2011.

If passed, Taiwan could be the first country with a “junk food” tax, local reporters said.

I’ll be curious to see the details on this: how much the proposed tax will be, the specific foods/products it will be applied to, what the money will be used for, and – most importantly - the effects the BHP believes it will have on consumption.

Methinks most people recall Jared Fogle, whose dramatic weight loss on the “Subway Diet” helped boost the fortunes of the restaurant chain.  Apparently Taco Bell is taking a leaf from the Subway book, by highlighting another dramatic weight loss story in ads for its lighter “Fresco” menu items. 

Meet Christine, the spokesperson for the “Drive-Thru Diet.”

As you know, the Drive-Thru Diet® menu is not a weight-loss program. It’s about making different choices. For me, I didn’t want to cut out my fast food so I started choosing Fresco items from the Drive-Thru Diet® menu and making other sensible choices. I reduced my daily calorie and fat intake by 500 calories to 1250 calories a day, and, after two years, I ended up losing 54 pounds! These results aren’t typical, but for me they were fantastic!

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Since the hubby and I are about to uncork a bopple of bubbly tonight, this study from the University of Reading is rather timely.

Research from the University of Reading suggests that two glasses of Champagne a day may be good for your heart and circulation. The researchers have found that drinking Champagne wine daily in moderate amounts causes improvements in the way blood vessels function.

 Champagne does this by increasing the availability of nitric oxide, a vascular active molecule which controls blood pressure. It is able to induce these effects because it contains polyphenols, plant chemicals from the red grapes and white grapes used in Champagne production.

…Dr Jeremy Spencer, from the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences said: “Our research has shown that drinking around two glasses of Champagne can have beneficial effects on the way blood vessels function, in a similar way to that observed with red wine. We always encourage a responsible approach to alcohol consumption, but the fact that drinking Champagne has the potential to reduce the risks of suffering from cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, is very exciting news.”

I can certainly drink to that!

(Click here for the study abstract).

Ok, that’s a rhetorical question, since I didn’t have my camera with me.  But I wish I did, as what I just saw would have been worth recording for posterity…

John and I were driving home from the gym by our usual route, which always takes us past the neighborhood McDonald’s.  It was a little after 2:00 p.m. – well past lunchtime – yet there was a long line of cars (11) idling in the drive-thru lane.  The parking lot looked pretty full, too.

We both did a double take.  It’s the day after Christmas, after all, so it’s likely that most of the folks in the restaurant ate pretty damned well yesterday.  Heck, they may also have eaten heartily in the days just before Christmas too: after all, office parties/goodies, Christmas Eve celebrations, etc. are fairly common. So why on earth would anyone be eating at McDonald’s after all that… let alone LINING UP AND WAITING to eat at McDonald’s??? 

Wow.

You’d think today – of all days – would be a day where people would want to eat a little more sparingly and healthily… but obviously not.

Failing that, take a vitamin D supplement.

It’s a little unusual to see mainstream docs actually recommending supps, but the evidence in favor of supplementing with vitamin D is piling up.  As the latest Harvard Heart Letter explains:

Heart disease. Falls and broken bones. Breast and prostate cancer. Depression and memory loss. These problems seem to have nothing in common, except that they are leading causes of faltering health and death. Exciting research suggests there is a link — too little vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, can contribute to all of these.

Millions of Americans, especially older ones, don’t have enough vitamin D in circulation. Current national recommendations for daily vitamin D intake — 400 international units (IU) for those aged 51 to 70 and 600 IU for those older than 70 — may not be high enough to reverse this trend.

…Experts have defined three categories for vitamin D status: deficient, less than 20 nanograms of 25-hydroxyvitamin D per milliliter of blood (ng/mL); insufficient, from 20 to 30 ng/mL; and sufficient, above 30 ng/mL.

Surveys suggest that at least one-third of American adults, and 75% of adults with cardiovascular disease, fall into the deficient category.

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Thinking of General Mills always brings this bit of satire from the Onion to mind…

Surgeon General Mills Recommends Three To Five Servings Of Froot Per Day
December 4, 2002 | Issue 38•45

WASHINGTON, DC—In a report submitted Monday to the Department of Health and Human Services, Surgeon General James Mills recommended that Americans consume three to five servings of froot per day. “A crunchier, more berrilicious cousin of the fruit family, froot is vital to proper digestion and breakfast fun,” Surgeon General Mills said. “Whether you’re eating it straight off the vine or, ideally, in its processed ‘loop’ form, Americans should be sure to get plenty of froot.”

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I suppose the moral of this story is that scientists shouldn’t try to be funny…

Santa Claus: A health pariah?

It was a joke, folks. Have people entirely lost their sense of humor?

Everywhere on Thursday and Friday (see, for example, the AP or Bloomberg) there were stories breathlessly reporting that public health expert Nathan Grills of Monash University in Australia was arguing that Santa was too fat and a poor image of health for kids. Moreover, the stories said, Grills wanted to supplant him with a slimmed down version.

…Here’s what Grills had to say about the whole ordeal:

Unfortunately, the article has spread like wildfire, but it seems to have lost the Christmas cheer element…I received much correspondence accusing me of wasting 10 years of university education and bringing the academic institution to shame! To clarify, I am not a Santa researcher. The article was written in my spare time for a bit of comic relief. My heart lies in doing charity work in India and research in partnership with the Nossal Institute of Global Health. Interestingly this reflects the work of true St Nic. We help to bring the gift of improved health to people in need. It would be great if the media were to care as much about my ‘real’ work as about a fantastical Santa article.

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This is true in more ways than one.  Getting/staying fit isn’t just a smart idea… according to new research, it may also make you smarter.  According to the LA Times blog “Booster Shots”:

That dumb jock might be smarter than he looks

December 18, 2009 

For young men, the fitter you are, the better your brain works.

A  study recently published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences took advantage of data collected on 1.2 million Swedish men born between 1950 and 1976, and found that those in better shape displayed higher intelligence. Note that the findings were based on cardiovascular health, which led to better blood flow, less anxiety and less fatigue. All of these things could help to raise brain power. Muscle mass had nothing to do with it.

Indeed.  Here’s the study… and here’s a reader-friendly synopsis.

This is probably, oh…. Reason #1,874 why regular exercise is a Good Idea.  I know my brain definitely feels more alert when I’m active.

This book review from NYT nutrition writer Jane Brody just caught my eye…

Recipes to Set Teenagers on a Healthy Path

…There is no better time than now to change this trajectory and get the nation’s youngsters on a more wholesome track. And there may be no better way to start than by consulting a new book, “Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs,” (Bloomsbury), by the award-winning chef Rozanne Gold in collaboration with a nutritionist, Helen Kimmel.

In creating the book with five budding teenage cooks, Ms. Gold, who lives in Brooklyn, took to heart the mantra of Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition and public health at New York University, who has written many books on wholesome food choices: “I’ve long argued that the best way to get people to eat more healthfully is to teach kids to cook.”

…There is no better proof, perhaps, than the experience of another of Ms. Gold’s teenage cooks, Danielle Hartog, 15, of Westport, Conn., who is a vegetarian. Danielle, who lost 23 pounds in seven months using recipes in the book, said in an interview, “Once I started eating healthy and feeling healthy, I started exercising every day and experienced a huge boost in confidence.”

“It’s hard not to be motivated,” she added. “It’s easy cooking, fun, healthy, and any teen could do it by themselves.” Once a devotee of pesto pasta — “two portions after school” — she was surprised to find that her favorite recipe is the Very Fresh Vegetable Soup.

Looks like a very cool book – so I just ordered a copy from Amazon for my kids.  Both Ryan and Nick are reasonably capable cooks, but don’t always go out of their way to prep veggies… maybe this will inspire them.  It won’t be here in time for Xmas, but that’s ok.  It’ll make a great New Year’s gift.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This probably goes double for graphic, gross-out pics, which is why the New York City Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene decided to use them to dissuade New Yorkers from “Pouring on the Pounds.”

New Campaign Asks New Yorkers if They’re “Pouring On the Pounds”

Health Department encourages consumers to choose beverages with less sugar

August 31, 2009 – It’s hard to overeat without noticing it. By contrast, soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages can sneak up on you, adding hundreds of calories to your diet each day without ever filling you up. In a new effort to highlight the health impact of sweetened drinks, the Health Department is confronting New Yorkers with a bold question: Are you pouring on the pounds? The agency’s new public-awareness campaign, which includes posters in the subway system and a multilingual Health Bulletin, goes live today and will run for three months.

The campaign’s signature image – in which a bottle of soda, “sports” drink or sweetened iced tea turns to a blob of fat as it reaches the glass – is s a stark reminder of how these products can lead to obesity and related health problems. The ads urge New Yorkers to cut back on sugary beverages and quench their thirst with water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead.

The ad is below the fold.  Warning: it isn’t… very… appetizing.  In fact, it’s pretty gross.

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The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has a new site dedicated to its latest crusade: getting supplements containing “designer steroids” and illegal stimulants off the market.  Called “Supplement Safety Now,” the organization (a non-governmental agency responsible for implementing the World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines in the US), is currently lobbying Congress for substantial changes in how the FDA regulates dietary supplements.

Specific Proposals

Pre-Market Enhancements

• All dietary supplement companies should be required to register as “dietary supplement companies” so that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can identify them.
• Dietary supplement companies should provide the FDA with a comprehensive list of all dietary supplements they manufacture with a copy of the master formulas and product labels.
• Dietary supplement companies should provide a 75-day pre-market notice to the FDA not only for New Dietary Ingredients, but for all products containing steroids (including hormones, pro-hormones and hormone analogues) and must establish that the product is safe under its intended use.
• Dietary supplement companies should be required to maintain a substantiation file that is available on request to the FDA.
• Distributors and retailers of dietary supplements should obtain evidence of compliance from the manufacturers and licensors that all pre-market requirements have been complied with or bear responsibility for the products they sell as if they were the manufacturer.

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I’m referring, of course, to this (mostly) goofy Xmas list: 6 Gifts Fit for the Gym Rat.  With the possible exception of the kettlebells, if I found any of this stuff under my tree on Xmas morning, I’d be scratching my head and wondering, “WTF?!”

I mean, what self-respecting “gym rat” would use an Airope, for heaven’s sake???

In general, it’s not a great idea to buy a sport or hobby-specific gift for someone anyway, unless you share the recipient’s passion.   That goes double for “gym” stuff – we gym rats are very particular.

Hey, Lisa here, it’s been some time since I’ve blogged anything so I thought I’d drop in and give you an update.

A long while ago I posted about my personal struggle with getting motivated to exercise and get healthier.  And at the end I said that I would be back with a progress report and to touch base.  Weeeeell….

The main reason I never did was simple.  There was no progress.  I’m not really any further ahead in my desire to get more fit than I was all those months ago. Yes, at the time I gave some REALLY good reasons for why I should start – things that mattered to me and should ’spur me on’, but it didn’t. I guess I’ve come to see that you can have all the right reasons to do something but it still isn’t going to MAKE you do it.

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