The significant finding from the analysis is that middle-aged adults who have one or more elevated risk factors for CVD have a substantially greater chance of having a major CVD event, such as heart attack or stroke, during their remaining lifetime compared with people with optimal levels of risk factors. Specific findings from the data include:

• Men who were 55 years old with at least two major risk factors were six times as likely to die from CVD by age 80 as were men with no or only one CVD risk factor (29.6 percent vs. 4.7 percent).
• Women with at least two major risk factors were three times as likely to die from CVD as were women with no or only one CVD risk factor (20.5 percent vs. 6.4 percent).
• Forty-five-year-old men with two or more risk factors had a 49.5 percent chance of having a major CVD event through age 80.
• Forty-five-year-old women with two or more risk factors had a 30.7 percent chance of having a major CVD event through age 80.
• Men with optimal risk factor levels only had a 1.4 percent chance of having a major CVD event through age 80.
• Women had a 4.1 percent chance of having a major CVD event through age 80.

According to Susan B. Shurin, M.D., acting director of the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, “Prevention of cardiovascular disease is a lifetime opportunity for and a responsibility of individuals, families, communities, and the health care system. The results from the analysis reinforces the fact that cardiovascular disease can be prevented and controlled throughout the course of an adult’s lifetime.”

The results from this analysis should be a wake up call to everyone. It is important for each adult to assess his or her risk for a heart attack. Adults should also know their blood pressure and cholesterol numbers and whether they are at risk for diabetes. Because even mild elevations in risk factors by middle age can significantly increase the lifetime risk of DVD, it is important to promote healthy lifestyles in children and young adults.

Dr. Grandma’s blog post last year, Sweetheart, Your Heart Is So Very Dear to Me, gives excellent references and suggestions for lowering your risk factors for heart disease. In addition, the NIH websites, Your Guide to a Healthy Heart and Million Hearts Campaign are excellent resources for improving your cardiovascular health.

People are finally discovering that the average American consumes at least 19 teaspoons a day of added sugar. “Added sugars”, unlike the natural sugars in fruits, vegetables, milk, and meats are added to foods to increase the sweetness. Each teaspoon (4 grams) of sugar has 15 or 16 calories (depending which reference you use) so the calories for the added sugar, per day are 285 to 304. In 2010 The American Heart Association published their numbers that suggest that women should not be eating more than 100 calories of sugar per day (about 6½ teaspoons) and men no more than 150 calories (about 9 or 10 teaspoons).  So to follow these guidelines, women on average will have to cut down to less than half, and men on average to less than 2/3. This is not easy, so this article provides some suggestions. You can do it!

One of the barriers to getting a handle on unnecessary calories is recognizing the calories that sneak into our diet from sweeteners.

Glucose Another helpful calculation is that people are beginning to recognize is that just taking the sugar out of their diet, not only directly reduces their risk of heart trouble and diabetes but also helps both of these and your appearance through the resulting weight loss. Three hundred calories per day adds up to approximately a 30-pound lower weight after one year. If you stick with the reduction of added sugars in your diet, for every 100 calories per day, it equates to about 10 pounds less on the scale. And, of course, half of all Americans are eating more than that average of 300 calories per day of added sugars.

Let me begin by saying that in this, and the following article, I’m going to use the word “sugar” to represent all sweeteners with calories. So in alphabetic order here are some other names for sugar – none of these are health foods:

Agave nectar

Anhydrous dextrose

Bakers’ special sugar

Brown rice syrup

Brown sugar

Corn sugar

Corn syrup

Corn syrup solids

Crystal dextrose

Dextrose

Evaporated cane juice

Fructose

High-fructose corn syrup

Honey

Invert sugar

Lactose

Liquid fructose

Malt syrup

Maple syrup

Molasses

Pancake syrup

Powdered and/or confectioners sugar

Raw sugar

Sucrose

Table sugar

Some of you may be thinking that honey and agave, for example, are natural; but the fact is that they’re really still sugar. Sugar is sugar. They may have a few nutrients, but not enough to erase the negative attributes of sugar – making your blood sugar and weight rise. In addition, you will get plenty of those nutrients from eating healthy whole foods.

Certainly, the food processors are quite expert at trying to make acceptable names for ingredients that have become unacceptable to the general public. If it weren’t so deceptively despicable, I’d think their recent legal push to change high fructose corn syrup to simply “corn sugar” was funny. But knowing how desperately people are trying to improve their nutritional status/health by getting much of the calories devoid of nutritional value out of their diets, I think it is a serious, not funny issue. So I assume that they will continue to try to find names that sound healthy or are more acceptable, but the list above may help you get started. I have to give an Advertizing Emmy to that marketer who came up with “evaporated cane juice” to describe romantically, and with an aura of naturalness, how cane sugar has long been processed. (He also gets a 5-Bozo deceptive nonsense button from the nutrition field).

So one of the goals is to read labels – you will learn that pickle relish, barbeque sauce, ketchup, many salad dressings and dozens of products are a source of sugar – not just soda, candy, cookies, cake and ice cream.

Let’s start by clarifying a commonly asked question. Is sugar addictive?

It appears that the scientists are not ready to classify sugar with heroin, although sugar can lead to some of the same behavioral outcomes, like ‘getting or needing a sugar fix.’  Sugar does stimulate the same brain chemicals (including serotonin and dopamine) as addictive drugs, but it appears that it’s more likely a bad habit and our brains get used to the habit. Having said that, remember the Rats-Eye View of the Recent Junk Food Study that Dr. Grandpa, wrote about? The rats began to act like helpless addicts and their brains started to look like those of drug addicts when the were given unrestrained access to sugary foods 23 hours per day. All of them became obese. So even though the scientists are not ready to lump sugar with heroin, there is evidence that there are behavioral and brain changes similar to those in human drug addiction.

What can you do?

• First, know what to expect. In the beginning of a withdrawal from high sugar consumption, you may notice feeling edgy or tired. If you’re not surprised by the feeling, you will be better prepared to take an alternative action than having the cookie. Enjoy some healthy food, in a predetermined amount; you may want to consider already having it portioned in a sandwich bag. In the past, I learned that a few peanuts or other high protein food helped me get over the hurdle. Distracting myself – like moving out of the kitchen also was effective. Non-fat Greek yogurt, with a little Delight and some vanilla will last for quite a while. Protein digests much more slowly than sugar and other simple carbs and nuts and Greek yogurt are great protein sources.
• Look for high fiber snacks. In addition to fruit, vegetables and whole grains, try a little humus or nut butter on your apple slice or baby carrots. Fiber is an effective component to slowing down the rise and fall of blood sugar that commonly drives the sugar ‘addiction’ of many. The fiber in whole foods helps you feel full, without the eminent crash of sugary foods.
• Focus on your success in the near future – it may be just enough to get you over an immediate hurdle.
• Begin an exercise program at the same time as getting away from your sugar habit. The two activities may be synergistic with each other. Exercise seems to spill over into other healthy behaviors.
• You may be surprised after a while that you don’t actually enjoy things as sweet as you did before detoxing.  Other tastes come out after you adjust to the removal of the terribly strong, harsh sweetness of the added sugars.
• We always want you to avoid making a radical change in one large step because so often it leads to failure. Vic left his candy habit and sweet needs a step at a time. He was helped when we started using our Dr. Grandma’s Delight product. Having Delight in herb tea and cereal has been the magic charm for not feeling deprived. And ultimately that has spelled, really adequate and enjoyable sweetness in his management of diabetes for almost 8 years, despite a great reduction in added sugars. The point is to make changes that are sustainable over the long term. If you make a drastic change that you cannot sustain, then after a lot of effort you come back right back to where you started – but with reduced confidence.
• Finding substitutes for your sweet treats can be helpful. In the beginning making a little effort to find special fruits, like kiwis, berries, even if they’re a bit more expensive in the off season, may be worth the expense if it gets you over the ‘sweet need of sugar.’ One of the first changes for Vic was my making strawberry syrup for pancakes instead of maple syrup. It’s easy. I do it winter or summer because frozen strawberries are inexpensive. Defrost berries in the microwave; add a little Delight and whirl in the blender. You don’t get the added sugar, and in addition, you do get the benefits of the wonderful nutrients of the strawberries and fiber. Of course, this is not poured on white flour pancakes, but on our Dr. Grandma’s Pancake and Waffle Mix. You can make 100% whole-wheat pancakes with no-calorie sweetener yourself, too. Be creative!

So if you want to reap the benefits of a low sugar intake by taking steps to detox yourself from sugar, try a few of our hints above and remember to take small steps and be patient with yourself. Good Health Can Be Yummy!

Four of our most popular blogs on the ‘sugar’ issue are linked here: 1;   2;   3;   4.

Try Delight

Now there is evidence that exercise can affect gene expression as well. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis used PET scans to image the brains of 201 participants, ages 45-88, who tested normal on a test for cognitive decline. Next the researchers tested the participants for a variation of the APOE gene known as e4. The APOE gene provides instructions for making a specific type of lipoprotein called very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). VLDLs remove excess cholesterol from the blood and carry it to the liver for processing. People with the e4 variation are 15 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s compared with those who do not. People with the variant usually show signs of dementia at a younger age than people without the variant.

The e4 variant is found in 15 to 20 percent of the population. In this study, 52 people had the e4 variant. Among these 52, those who were sedentary had a greater buildup of amyloid plaques — which are associated with the development of Alzheimer’s — than other participants in the group. The participants with the e4 variant who were physically active showed no more buildup of amyloid plaques than found in the brains of non-carriers. The scientists noted that the genetic risk “makes beneficial lifestyle factors, such as exercise, preferentially important.”

John C. Morris, senior author of the study published stated, “While the study shows that those who exercised had fewer amyloid plaques in the brain, the signature markers of the disease, more follow up is needed to see if exercise actually delayed or blocked symptoms.” One point of interest is whether beginning to exercise after plaques have started to build up might alter that outcome. Experiments with mice have shown that elderly animals benefited from beginning a running program and experienced less dementia than mice that didn’t run.

One important aspect of the research that deserves to be underscored is that an inactive lifestyle seemed to accelerate the accumulation of amyloid plaques. Those with the e4 variant who rarely or never exercised had the most plaques, putting them at heightened risk for the memory loss of Alzheimer’s in the years to come.

If you find that you have difficulty incorporating exercise into your life and you watch TV, you might want to consider walking during commercial breaks. A study from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville found that people who just stepped in place during commercial breaks burned an average of 148 calories during one hour of TV viewing. Walking in place during commercials will also help you lower your cancer risk as noted in my blog Don’t Sit Still for This. Exercise really is worth the effort — it changes your body at the cellular level in ways we have only begun to understand.

So are there any tricks to recognize your cravings/yearnings? Can you recognize them, regardless of your name them for cravings? Can you make yourself safer from a snack attack, a yearning debacle or a craving catastrophe?

One of our favorite authors, Cornell professor Brian Wansink, PhD, studies cravings and consumers’ relationships with food. He says, if we uncover eating traps, we can change them. This means that we can gain power over the cravings. Great news!

1. Dr. Wansink’s scientific research on what beguiles us to eat makes me feel validated. I have taught for years, that controlling our environment is a very valuable and important aspect of weight management. Dr. Wansink says that the most frequent environmental triggers are the visual cues, and also aroma cues are pretty enticing too. (Think Cinnabon in the mall or at the airport.)

An example for the day: My mother was buried this past Saturday. Some friends brought homemade cookies, as a gesture of love and support for our family. I gave most of them away, but a few were still left when the day ended. Actually, they are still here now – in my kitchen. Normally, I do not have cookies in a clear plastic Ziploc staring at me when I go to the kitchen. I felt the urge to go break one and have some. What can I do to prevent a recurrence?

I could throw them out. Freeze them for another occasion. Give them away. Put them in an opaque package. Delay eating another until it fits into my eating plan, but definitely get them out of sight.

2. As related to cravings, one of the first things to get over is the idea that the body is sending a ‘craving’ message because we need a certain food or nutrient. Unfortunately, humans do not have the instincts to seek after specific nutrients they detect are in deficit. Nor do we seem to be able to realize that we’ve taken too much of a specific nutrient. A craving is not the ‘wisdom of the body” speaking out.
3. Dr. Wansink’s research tells us that eating a little bit of the craved food, frequently doesn’t seem to end the cravings for most people – continually eating the food may actually strengthen the habit. However, he also suggests that we not go cold turkey; because we may feel deprived and then that backfires. He suggests that we indulge in the craved food less frequently, and in smaller portions. Make a plan; a specific, individual plan. For example, if I still craved cookies (as I did years ago, and still feel tempted) I would first decide how often I would have them and how many I would have and what the situation would be. So one possible plan for me may have been: I will have one cookie, once a week, at Mrs. Field’s in the mall.
4. If portion control works for you, you may want to consider measuring out a desirable amount into a sandwich bag or a specific container. If portion control does not work for you, then don’t keep large containers of tempting foods at home, in the car or at your work site. The concept of portion control is a favorite for Vic and me; we like our snack of cashews in our little custard dish (about 1 ½ tablespoons); that way we don’t mindlessly eat them by the cup full. Consider having pizza by the slice, a single scoop of ice cream at the ice cream parlor, or a single serving package of chips. If portion control doesn’t work for you, you may want to consider not buying the giant bag or chips, the two-gallon ice cream bucket, or the large pizza. Wansink gives hints that may help if portion control is not a developed skill. He describes ways to weaken the link between cues in the environment and eating the food: hide the food in the back of the cupboard or freezer; don’t keep it on a kitchen counter or at the front of the refrigerator/freezer/cupboard shelf. To follow his tips well, I will quickly put those funeral cookies out of sight.
5. Wansink also suggests having sugarless gum on hand; ready to pop into your mouth when a snack attack pounces on you. Others use a cup of tea, coffee, water or a no calorie drink. You may even want to plan a walk or another activity if you have noticed that you routinely have craving at a certain time of the day. Having a plan is an important technique to quell cravings. It’s much more difficult to overcome an attack of craving, when you’re in the midst of it.
6. Substituting another activity may be just enough to distract yourself until the craving passes. Call a friend; answer an email; even just walk around the office, house, or yard.
7. Being hungry does not bode well for fighting cravings; so try substituting another food. You may discover that eating a healthy low calorie snack gives you all kinds of power over cravings. Make the low calorie food (fruit, veggies, a few nuts) accessible and think about how much to have. Allowing yourself to be overly hungry is an enemy to your fight against cravings.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” In the process of learning to protect yourself from craving catastrophes, be resolute but patient with yourself. The changing of behavior is a process, after all; it rarely happens in one easy step – be patient with yourself.

As I stated in my last blog, I wish they would do a study on dieters who ate food so nutritious that the dieters got all the nutrients their bodies needed even though their calories were restricted. I’d like to add another wish: to have the dieters exercise. I’ve known people who have been on 500 calorie diets. They tell me that they don’t have the energy to exercise. In fact, they say they don’t have much energy at all. Hmmm, imagine that. I’ve also known people who have been dieting for a while – they tell me that it is so much easier to lose weight when they exercise. I believe them.

I’ve always been perplexed by reports that maintain that exercise is not an important part of weight loss. John Cloud, in his article, Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin, makes the case that people often reward themselves with bad food choices after they exercise, thereby negating or exceeding the calories they burned during exercise. It is true that you probably aren’t going to burn all the calories in a pizza or a tasty dessert on the treadmill – unless you stay on it for a very long time. You have to learn that you can’t do that. From my own experience, this is relatively easy. I just think about all of the effort that I have expended exercising and say to myself, “… and you are going to ruin it with a candy bar (pizza, muffin, whatever – you can fill in the blank).”

New research reported in Nature disproves some of the points that Cloud makes in his article and may shed some light on why it is easier to lose weight when you exercise. In particular, Cloud states, “We have so little brown fat that researchers didn’t even report its existence in adults until earlier this year. That’s one reason humans can gain weight with just an extra half-muffin a day: we almost instantly store most of the calories we don’t need in our regular (“white”) fat cells.”

The new research focused on a substance named PGC1-alpha, which is abundantly produced in muscles during and after exercise. According to Bruce Spiegelman, the professor of cell biology and medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, who led the study, “It seems clear that PGC1a stimulates many of the recognized health benefits of exercise.” Mice bred to produce large amounts of PGC1a in their muscles are typically resistant to age-related obesity and diabetes, much as people who regularly exercise are.

Researchers discovered that PGC1-alpha breaks down to produce a number of other substances, one of which is a hormone they named “irisin.” The irisin communicates with fat cells and causes some of the regular white fat cells to convert into brown fat. This is an extraordinary finding. Is important from the standpoint of getting past the mental perception that exercise isn’t really helping with weight loss. The fact is that exercise changes the body at the cellular level.

As I stated earlier, just because you exercise doesn’t mean you can eat anything you want. Diet is an important part – maybe the most important part of being healthy and maintaining a healthy weight. This is where Dr. Grandma’s products can help. Dr. Grandma’s whole wheat mixes are part of a sensible diet that focuses on nutrient dense, low-calorie foods. Replace your high calorie post exercise snack with Dr. Grandma’s muffins and you will notice a difference.

People tell me about their plans to recover from those enticing holiday indiscretions and so often it spells a plan that includes one of the following:

• No carbohydrates allowed or very limited carbohydrate or only certain few sources of carbohydrate – essentially limiting carbohydrate
• No fat or very limited fat – scouring everything eaten for the slightest drop of fat
• High protein – high protein foods eaten with what I would call ‘wild abandon’ – as long as the food is a good source of protein, it’s allowed.

My second observation is that these eating-style changes often involve no portion control for the foods groups that are allowed – you can eat all you want of the ‘permissible’ foods.

This blog post is about keeping a balance and why that’s important – avoiding diets that try to minimize one or two macronutrients and ignore other considerations. In achieving good balance, this post is about frequently picking good carbs and restricting bad less desirable ones; picking good fats and reducing the not so good ones; picking good proteins and reducing the risky ones; all within controlled portion sizes. Excess total calories ultimately are what spells body fat, but balance spells nutritional health.

An interesting new study refutes the claims that the secret to healthy weight loss lies in adjusting protein, fat and/or carbohydrates; the study’s chief researcher George A. Bray, MD has published the study in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association). Essentially, if the body is confronted with excess calories, the only thing the body can do with those calories is to put them into fat – the body does not care where they come from. It’s calories that create body fat; it makes little difference whether a diet is high or low in carbohydrates, fat or protein. I’ll come back to the JAMA study in a few moments.

If you want to understand why focusing on cutting certain of the macronutrients is not wise, I’ll list a few of the reasons below.

Low protein diets:

• Low protein diets lead to a reduction in levels of lean body mass. In essence, the body constantly needs to make many different types of cells, if you don’t take enough protein in the diet to support those functions, the body is forced to turn to its own storage of protein – your lean muscle mass. This technique is counter productive for weight management and health, because lean muscle mass is very metabolically active (takes more calories to maintain than fat tissue takes). When you reduce your lean muscle mass, it becomes easier to gain weight and harder to lose weigh. You actually appear in better shape when you have a higher percentage of lean muscle mass. Low protein diets are not a good choice.

High protein diets:

• The researchers expected that those on the high-protein diet would have gained less than the other diets. But in spite of the change to higher protein, the participants gained the same amount of body fat.

Very low fat diets:

• Some fat is essential for health. Fat transports the fat-soluble vitamins throughout our bodies. It is necessary for healthy skin and insulates and protects our organs from harm. Fat has other functions in the body, like regulation of body temperature. We don’t need lots of fat to accomplish the vital functions of fat; we only need to have about 20 to 35% of our calories as fat. The snag with fat is that it has more than twice as many calories as either protein or carbohydrates (9 verses 4 calories per gram). The significance is that the same weight of food becomes very calorie dense when it has too much fat. So while you don’t want to go without fat, being careful with fat and fat sources (like cheese, meat, whole fat dairy, snack foods and, of course, many processed foods) is very wise. Even perfectly healthy fat sources still deliver the approximately nine calories per gram. So pouring on extra virgin olive oil is not a good idea – too much of a good thing is not a good thing.
• Types of fat are important, because there are some types of fat that the human body can’t make; they’re called essential fatty acids. The essential fatty acids are found in fish, some fruits, vegetables, and some oils. Because fat is the last component of a mixed meal (containing protein, carbohydrate and fat) to be digested, it helps us to be satisfied longer than a diet too low in fat.

High protein diets:

Protein is an important component (see above). It is the building block of muscle and is needed to make all the tissues and cells of the body. One important aspect of protein in the diet is that most vegetable proteins do not have all the amino acids necessary to fill all the needs for human growth and maintenance. So it becomes very important to consume a variety of vegetable proteins, if animal protein is not consumed, providing all the essential amino acids. You may find it helpful to review our August 30, 2011 blog called Protein: How Much? Which Sources? Or some of our other blogs on protein sources.

• Another critical issue is to be careful about the animal sources of protein, as they often exist with a hefty source of fat. It is not possible to excise all the marbling, as much of it is not visible. (Full fat dairy, fatty meats, nuts, and seeds). Some of these foods are available in reduced or non-fat versions (e.g. non-fat milk, non-fat yogurt, for example) and some in nature are low fat (many varieties of fish). Also, there are foods that are excellent source of protein, but are high in either carbohydrates or fat – think of fatty fish, nuts, seeds, beans, grains. The point is that while you may not be able to eat unlimited amounts of nuts, for example, they are a tasty, exceptionally nourishing protein, fiber, and other nutrient source; but because of their high fat content, you will want to control the portion sizes when eating nuts.

Low carbohydrate diets – all carbs are not created evil (or equal):

• I have nothing against eating-plans that limit the empty calories of processed carbohydrates (sugar, soda pop, processed white flour and all the foods that are produced from it) as evidenced by my rather extensive writings on the subject. You can glance through some of our articles about sugar in this linked collection.
• And certainly, the other side of that coin is how important the carbohydrates are to the diet – foods like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.  These foods supply, vitamins, minerals, hundreds of plant nutrients (phytonutrients), fiber and many of them provide protein, too. In the process of providing all the nutrients mentioned in the previous sentence, they also provide water and an ability to fill us with fewer calories.
• An issue that we need to remember when consuming carbohydrates is that some provide more energy than others. So if we’re not familiar with the difference look them up in a reference.  Many of the watery vegetables, like zucchini, green beans, Swiss chard, spinach, lettuce and so on, only have about 25 calories a cup – they’re almost ‘freebies’.  The point is that they can provide protein, nutrients, fiber and carbohydrate – fill you, for very few calories. When we’re eating beans, rice, bread and other grain products, you need to be more careful. They too are nicely filling, but they contain quite a bit of starch; so the calories are higher. Plants store energy as starch – so we’re back to the need for portion control. Starchy plants share the requirement of intelligent portion control with rich meats, cheeses, and impoverished junk food snacks.
• If there were one point that I’d like most to make in this section, it would be, to fill up on the non-starchy vegetables. It makes weight management/loss much less painful.
• Most fruits provide more calories than the watery vegetables, but don’t forget them as they provide many wonderful plant nutrients and fiber, not to mention the wonderful flavor.
• A couple of fruits (avocado and olives) are high in fat. They both contain very healthy types of fat, but should not be eaten “as freebies” like the watery vegetables. Having said that they are excellent foods to include; providing flavor, nutrients and variety – but mindfully eaten with portion control.

In the same issue of JAMA, Zhaoping Li and David Heber from UCLA have published an editorial and make an argument that because we frequently rely on BMI (which is a function of height, weight, gender, age) that we may have underestimated the magnitude of the obesity epidemic.” Actually it has been estimated at about 30 to 33% of the American population are obese (about 65% are overweight/obese) – that’s bad enough. As an example, athletes can have a high BMI that is mostly calorie-burning muscle mass, while an overweight person can have a high BMI with a meager proportion of fat-burning muscle. Certainly the BMI does not tell the entire story. If we’re gaining weight by consuming too many unhealthy carbohydrates (soda, cookies, pastries, snack foods) and not enough healthy carbs and protein – then we likely have even more fat stored than protein (lean tissue) and our BMI does not reflect the lack of muscle tissue. Ouch!! That metabolically inactive fat is the bane to health and weight management.

The bottom line:

• Consume enough protein to protect your lean body tissue. See Protein: How Much? Which Sources?
• Don’t go on a low-protein or high-protein-low carb eating regimen
• Do reduce simple empty carbs like sugar, but increase good carb sources within portion sizes wise for you.

I hope this will help you understand that any eating plan that does not provide a balance of the macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat) is not a healthy weight management plan. The best choice that you can make is to take steps (not leaps, but reasonably small steps). Work to continuously revise your eating habits. That way you end up already eating in a sustainable manner. Any time you get on an imbalanced, short-term weight loss plan; it really won’t support your goal to maintain the weight loss long term; nor will it support a healthy body. Lastly, don’t forget, if you eat too much, even if it’s a good food, it will lead to weight gain. Control those portions! Calories really do count!

While I understand that a lot people may take this crash dieting approach to losing weight, I wish that someone would conduct research on people who take a more moderate — dare I say “sensible” –approach to losing weight. Perhaps the body’s reaction is not so much to losing weight, but to the trauma of being starved and not getting the nutrients that it needs to function properly. Starvation aside, let’s look at what these people in the study are actually “feeding” their bodies. The “ingredients” in the Optifast Chocolate Shake are:

UD nonfat dry milk, fructose, calcium caseinate, canola oil, cocoa (processed w/ alkali), hydrolyzed cornstarch, sodium chloride, postassium citrate, lecithin, mono and diglycerides, potassium phosphate dibasic, magnesium oxide, potassium chloride, choline bitartrate, natural and artificial flavors, ascorbic acid, carrageenan, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, alpha tocopheryl acetate, niacinamide, copper gluconate, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, vitamin a palmitate, yridoxine hydrochloride, BHA/BHT (to preserve freshness), thiamin hydrochloride, riboflavin, chromium acetate, folic acid, biotin, potassium iodide, sodium molybdate, sodium selenite, phytonadione (vitamin k1), cholecalciferol (vitamin d3), cyanocobalamin(vitamin b12).”

Holy cow! Really? How could anyone expect a body to function normally after eight-weeks of 500 to 550 calories of THAT? I think that the human body — which has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years — just cannot adapt to those unpronounceable and unrecognizable “ingredients,” the two cups of non-starchy vegetables not withstanding. Look at the number two ingredient in the shake – fructose. Really!? The fact is that under these conditions, the body is not getting what it needs. Did anyone consider that the post-diet hunger is the body’s way of communicating that it needed nutrients – nutrients that come from real food.

Roy Walford, an expert on anti-aging conducted research on extending the life span of humans by restricting calories, while providing all of the nutrients that the body needs. Dr. Walford was the crew physician for the Biosphere 2 project. The Biosphere 2 crew found that they could not grow as much food as they had planned on. Dr. Walford, using his previous work on calorie restriction and anti-aging, convinced the crew to follow his calorie restriction diet — resulting in dramatic weight loss and improved health. His calorie restriction diet focused on low-calorie, nutrient dense food — a concept that you have seen talked about a lot in these blogs. One of the basic tenets of Dr. Walford’s diet is to provide the body with all of the nutrients it needs.

On Dr. Walford’s diet each of the crew got 1,800 calories a day. During the first six months, the male crew members lost an average of 18 percent of body weight, the females 10 percent. Blood pressure was about 20 per cent lower than before the experiment, with cholesterol and triglyceride levels lowering to ideal. The crew members’ diabetes risk factor and blood sugar levels dropped by an average of 30 percent. You can learn more about Dr. Walford’s approach in his books The Anti-Aging Plan: The Nutrient-Rich, Low-Calorie Way of Eating for a Longer Life–The Only Diet Scientifically Proven to Extend Your Healthy Years and Beyond the 120 Year Diet : How to Double Your Vital Years.

Dr. Grandma’s whole wheat mixes fit right in to a sensible diet that focuses on nutrient dense, low-calorie foods. Dr. Grandma’s Delight is a perfect choice because it lets you enjoy sweetness with no additional calories. Check out Dr. Grandma’s products today and start giving your body what it needs to be healthy and happy.

Yeager begins his article by describing parents saying, “Eat your vegetables.” Then he contrasts the powerful advertising messages pronouncing, “Order the triple size bacon cheese-burger with fries.” Certainly, this contrast between the ineffective voice of parental persuasion and the slick advertizing messages is  not a ‘newsflash’ for any of us, but what followed was interesting and I believe we can learn from it.

Yeager goes on to explain how the parents’ nudging to eat more veggies, only leads to the teens pushing back with what they want to eat. He asks, why? The fascinating compound answer: “They simply don’t like to be told what to do. But there’s one thing teens dislike even more than being told what to do, and that’s being manipulated into doing it.”

It’s a pleasant reminder to me that this teenager reaction is something we parents of teenagers have learned. But Carolyn Cohen, M.Ed., a teacher at the Institute for Collaborative Education in conjunction with Teachers College, Columbia University has taken a giant step beyond parental tactics by developing and disseminating a curriculum called FoodFight (www.foodfight.org). This curriculum is making a difference, where differences are not easy to attain.

First, the curriculum examines the social, political, and economic underpinnings of the U.S. food system. It teaches the students how marketing and advertising influence their food choices and purchases. It seems that the critical point of success is not initially to discuss nutrition; rather, their first step is to present how we are subjects of marketing, advertising, and political subsidies.

They have learned that in educating the students they have ‘lifted the veil off the mechanism behind the advertising and marketing industry’ and it speaks to the students because they see that they’re being manipulated. And secondly, the students come to realize that as a demographic group, they wield real economic power.

Only after the first step information is taught, then the students are taught nutrition facts. The researchers have done some surveys after completion of the program and have found that the students’ consumption of water, whole grains, fruits and vegetables increases and statistically significant decreases in their consumption of soda and processed snacks. They’ve even discovered that many of the teachers have begun to eat more healthfully.

How can we benefit from this?

1. We can encourage teachers and principals of our local schools to join the movement and begin using the curriculum with our local teens.
2. Not waiting for local adoptions of the program, if we have teens at home, we can benefit directly from the strategy and tactics of foodfight.org. We can attempt to provide some of the same information that FoodFight is providing. Overweight and obesity, which are impacted by the types of foods promoted by the marketers is certainly one of the most pressing issues of our time. This is a health crisis; and the powerful and well-financed food advertisers are influencing many teens. Learning this, they can become strong advocates for change.
3. If we don’t have teens in our home, can we benefit from what the researchers learned from the teens? Many of us adults also dislike the manipulations done in the name of corporate profits of mega industries. If you’re a long term reader of this blog, you already know that we have tried to keep you up on what the food industry and its’ marketers are trying to sell us (often impoverished processed junk fudes). The money saved by taking out the costly, real, perishable ingredients is then used to fuel massive advertizing campaigns. We have in the past and will in the future continue to help all to recognize the rampant nutritionism that we, targets of this deceptive advertizing, have been lured to accept over many decades. We at Dr Grandma’s will continue to encourage the consumption of real whole foods, which supply thousands of real nutrients that contribute to health.

The following are posts that may serve as resources related to the marketing of impoverished foods and of the nutritionism tactic itself:

• Don’t Sell Our Kids Short – Avoid Number Two
• Nutritionism: Using a Single Player instead of the Entire Team
• Mmm Mmm Good – the Salt of the Earth
• Surviving the Sodium Wars by Shaking the Salt Habit
• Cosmetically “Fixing” Impoverished Foods by Adding Supplements
• Who Knew What a Mess Nutritionism Would Become?
• Twinkies for Breakfast
• Comedian Fodder
• A Rats-Eye View of the Recent Junk Food Study
• We Are the Rats!
• Snacking Without Snack Fudes
• Tomato Flavor Instead of Tomato, Hmmm?

Are you still in a ‘New Year mode of thought’? Maybe consider making a decision to reduce the number of processed foods, fast food and/or restaurant meals. Maybe consider learning to cook a new dish that includes vegetables. How about involving your teen in designing menus?

Best to you during this month of evaluation and renewal.

In the “Fat Trap,” Tara Parker-Pope talks about research indicating the difficulty of losing weight — the same study that I referred to in my post Yet Another Reason to Control Your Weight. To support the findings of the research, Ms. Pope-Parker lists the exercise and eating habits of people on the National Weight Control Registry – people who have sustained at least a 30-pound weight loss for over a year. She quotes Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University in regard to the National Weight Control registry, “All it means is that there are rare individuals who do manage to keep it off.” “You find these people are incredibly vigilant about maintaining their weight. Years later they are paying attention to every calorie, spending an hour a day on exercise. They never don’t think about their weight.”

The exercise and eating habits of people on the National Weight Control Registry are:

• Exercise about an hour or more each day — the average weight-loser puts in the equivalent of a four-mile daily walk, seven days a week.
• Get on a scale every day in order to keep their weight within a narrow range.
• Eat breakfast regularly.
• Most watch less than half as much television as the overall population.
• Eat the same foods and in the same patterns consistently each day and don’t “cheat” on weekends or holidays.
• Appear to eat less than most people, with estimates ranging from 50 to 300 fewer daily calories.

I would like to put a different spin than Ms. Brownell on the information – a recipe for attaining and maintaining a healthy weight is the six steps listed above. Is it easy? No. However, I don’t consider it to be overwhelming or impossible either. (But I have to admit that people sometime think that I’m a “health nut” without sympathy for those who aren’t.)

People don’t criticize alcoholics who, in their attempts to reform, become regimented in their lifestyle, going through detox, adhering to a 12-step program, attending meetings, having a sponsor, and making new friends who don’t drink — that is what it often takes to control alcohol addiction – one day at a time. In fact people would criticize an alcoholic trying to reform and complaining about how hard it is to stop drinking if that person kept hanging out with drinkers, going to bars, trying to have “just one drink.” The person trying to reform would be criticized for not taking steps to distance themselves from friends and situations which would easily contribute to a relapse. They would be criticized for not doing whatever it takes to remain sober.

My point is that there is plenty of research about the addictive nature of some foods (See Food and Addiction.) Apparently for some – many even most – people turning the corner on overeating requires the same resolve. As you have read in our blogs, overeating is a life-threatening disease. Most of the time, it takes a whole new mindset to overcome it; it takes an attitude of looking at pictures of caramel drizzled chocolate ice cream next to an article about losing weight, and thinking, “Those dirty marketers, trying to peddle their poison to me.”

Don’t get caught by someone’s perception of the difficulty of it. Don’t be a victim of marketers trying to capitalize on your vulnerabilities. There are inspirational website such as the ones Dr. Grandma referred to in Focusing or Resolving in the New Year in addition to Dr. Grandma’s great tips. There are plenty of support groups that can help. There are many websites with excellent healthy, nutritional products such as Dr. Grandma’s Whole Wheat Pancake Mix and Dr. Grandma’s Delight. The National Weigh Control Registry shows that it is possible, but only through change. If you find you still need help, an excellent book is The Impossible Just Takes a Little Longer: Living with Purpose and Passion. Start today, ease your habits down the stairs and get started on the pathway to a healthier, happier you.

Call them what you want; plans, strategies, tactics, or maybe focusing on new behaviors. But sometimes it’s helpful to evaluate what is going on with ourselves and give a little thought to the need for a change – maybe just a little tweaking. I find the method of fine-tuning/tweaking to be an excellent method of getting to where I want to go. Instead of striving for perfection in a single bound (Superman’s tactic), many of us mere non-fictional mortals, can make more progress through iterations and small alterations. I like Mark Twain’s advice: “Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man (or woman), but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”

Certainly there are hundreds of areas of life we can assess and decide upon to focus our attention; to redirect our behaviors in order to bring us a better quality of life and happiness. Some that are popular are those that lead to more balance in life; building healthy relationships/spending more time with family and friends; thinking more positively; doing more for others/being more compassionate; keeping our minds sharp/learning something new; managing stress; taking steps to achieve a dream; getting in touch with lost friends; scheduling time to laugh and enjoy life; to name a few.

People often make resolutions to improve their physical health; this of course, is no small feat and it can be enormously important. Health brings freedom; very few of us realize the value of that freedom until we no longer have it. If we desire to embrace health, we, especially in this country of abundance and sedentary lifestyles, need to pay attention to the nutritional and exercise needs a healthy body requires. If we ignore our health, too soon it will leave us encumbered and inhibited. Do we need to focus some attention on making some alterations in our health-related habits?

If yes, you may want to read some of our past posts for ideas regarding nutrition/exercise: Resolving to Escape the McVictim Syndrome; Mini-Resolutions – Trimming Big Resolutions Down to Size; January 2011 Newsletter; and January 2010 Newsletter. In addition, a few words to support successful strategies follow:

1. Make your goals specific, meaningful and readily attainable by you.
2. Make concrete plans, the more detail the better.
3. Eating right is often at the top of the resolutions list. Could it be that holiday eating is so clear in our recent memory? Remember that you don’t usually do holiday eating all year round. Focus first on doable ‘everyday eating habits.’
4. Center your attention on permanent healthy habits. Say, ‘nix’ to a crash diet.
5. Instead of going on a highly restrictive diet – have you considered making a resolution to stop dieting? Consider beginning by adding more veggies, fruits, whole grains, more beans, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, fish; and by reducing the frequency and amount of processed food, processed meats, and red meats.
6. Contemplate the possibility of improving cooking skills. You can learn quite a bit right on line; there are many demonstrations for the right price – free. Or maybe consider taking a cooking class. Cooking tasty foods can compete favorably with fast foods and processed foods. With a little practice and good organization, it can compete on cost, speed of preparation, and definitely, yumminess. (Remember not to try the Superman single bound perfection tactic. Start from where you are and choose the alterations and iterations method. Think of Mark Twain’s advice – coaxing down the steps.)
7. Think about what to buy and eat out of the house and what to purchase and bring in. Maybe review: Willpower or Environmental Power?
8. Ponder scheduling time to plan each week/ or two/ or month, an assessment of progress; and then plan to take the next step. No need to postpone having your first assessment until next New Year’s Eve.
9. Don’t forget your all-important exercises! Maybe your first step is just finding the little time slots to fit exercise into your life. You need both strength training (2-3 times a week) and aerobic exercise (a minimum of 30 minutes daily). On Finding Time and Making Exercise Happen may be a helpful review.

10.  The most important hint is to start where you are with any goal and design a reasonable, do-able objective.

If you are realistic and kind to yourself, you will be less likely to be tossing off a resolution so lacking in the principles above that it could be likened to a dried up fire hazard. It will quickly either be rejected out of hand, as the threat to peaceful living it is, or will kindle into a flame of guilt and self-doubt. Instead of casual or hazardous resolutions, make plans that will be more likely to make it to the ‘How did it go?’ assessment of progress stage, enabling you to confidently make decisions about the next step to take, with a rewarding feeling from each small accomplishment the assessment reveals.

Sending our very best to you in the New Year.

The Dr. Grandma’s Team