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Over the years we have learned more and more about the benefits of following a healthy lifestyle.  Habits of exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, moderating alcohol intake, and not smoking are five health traits that are measured regularly by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). A recent study published in the American Journal of Medicine looked at changes in rates of people adhering to these five healthy behaviors over the past 20 years. During those years, rates of obesity rose, alcohol intake increased, physical activity decreased, and consumption of fruits and vegetables dropped. Smoking rates stayed about the same. The study comparisons showed that the rate of people adhering to all 5 healthy habits decreased from 15% to 8%.

It’s never too late to adopt healthy lifestyles. If one of these habits is something you have room for improvement on, start today to make a change. Small steps add up to big change over time. Take just 10 minutes for a walk today. Sprinkle some fruit in your morning cereal. Cut your portion size down. Pick just one small change to make today. You’ll be surprised at the different those little things make.

Want Vtrim to help you on your path to change? Check out our schedule of upcoming classes at www.uvm.edu/vtrim.

A new study discussed last week at the American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference in San Diego addressed the question of whether or not sleep is a factor in weight control. The relationship of weight and sleep, both in quantity of sleep and quality of sleep, is an emerging area of research. While the evidence is still growing, sorted, and analyzed, there is support to show that sleep can definitely be a factor in managing your weight.

This recent study was completed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and looked at the association between sleep amounts and weight.  The study results showed that short sleepers had a higher BMI than those who slept longer hours. Those sleeping shorter hours also had lower sleep efficiency (how well participants got to sleep and stayed asleep). The study researchers hypothesize that the association with sleep and weight may be related to stress (higher stress leading to less sleep and increased eating) as well as hormone levels (with less sleep possibly disrupting hormone balances in appetite control).

The study was conducted on a small group of participants and included many factors, such as nutrition counseling, exercise, stress management and sleep improvement. The researchers felt that further studies are important to evaluate the role of stress in sleep, along with more carefully designed, controlled studies to tease out these associations to better understand them.

Red meat has often had a bad rap in the nutrition world, with fingers pointed at its higher content of fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. But a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine may back up that thinking. The results of this newly published study suggests that a high consumption of red meat and processed meats may actually be associated with greater risk of mortality.

The study of over 500,000 people looked at intake levels of red meat and processed meats with all other factors being held constant. The results showed that, with all other things being equal, men and women who consumed the most meat were likely to die earlier. The increased risk of mortality was a modest risk of about 20-40%, and was tied to the biggest health risks of heart disease and cancer.

Does this mean you need to swear off all red and processed meats entirely? No. Healthy behaviors are about being able to sustain your habits for a long term, not just a temporary change. So look at your current dietary intake of meat. Is there room to cut out a hamburger or steak here or there? Can you slim down the portion size a bit? When you have meat, can you choose leaner cuts of meat (look for the terms “round” or “loin” in the name to indicate less fat) or fewer processed meats? You don’t need to go “cold turkey” on meat, though choosing more fish and poultry like chicken and turkey is a great way to get some protein in with your meals without as much fat. Another important point–the people in the study with the lower mortality rates were those who also consumed more fruits and veggies.

To put it simply, the same goals you have for managing your weight–smaller portions, monitoring frequency of higher fat/calorie foods, more fruits and veggies, more whole foods and fewer processed foods with added fat/sugar–will also help cut risks for diseases like heart disease and cancer.

A question recently posed to us asked how effective cinnamon is for weight loss. In recent years there has been a lot of chatter about the effectiveness of cinnamon and managing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon supplementation has become more popular and questions are often asked about use of cinnamon for diabetes management. There have been a few studies done on cinnamon and blood sugar control. Those studies have produced conflicting results, with many of them showing that cinnamon did not produce significant differences over control groups.

Because of the strong association with weight and diabetes, cinnamon has also been questioned in usefulness for weight management. While cinnamon is rich in antioxidants and may help slow stomach emptying, thus possibly managing appetite better, there is not enough evidence to recommend cinnamon supplements at this point, for diabetes OR weight loss. Including cinnamon as a spice in your regular diet however, can’t hurt. You’ll benefit from the rich antioxidants it contains.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today a recall of Hydroxycut weight loss pills. A very popular dietary supplement used by people trying to lose weight and/or build muscle, Hydroxycut has been associated with 23 reports received by the FDA of liver problems, including one death. The FDA does not have the authority to review supplements before they are marketed, so they must follow reports of possible trouble with supplements as people use them.

The FDA said that 9 million packages of Hydroxycut were sold last year alone. Hydroxycut products account for about 90% of weight loss supplements sold. There are 14 different Hydroxycut products included in the recall. What to learn from this recall?

First, the old adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” rings true yet again. Promises of fast weight loss, more energy, and appetite control in pill form made the supplement very appealing for those looking for a boost to weight loss efforts. At Vtrim, we know weight loss takes work. And maintaining a healthy weight takes work. But eating better, exercising regularly, and making smart health choices will result in rewards like more energy, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and less risk of disease. And unlike using a pill for weight loss, the “side effect” of those healthy lifestyle changes often ends up being weight loss.

Want to learn how to have a healthier lifestyle? Check out our schedule of classes.

www.uvm.edu/vtrim

New ONLINE classes starting in May (inperson classes starting in the Burlington, VT area as well)!