Skin care produce: Which foods are best for your skin?
By Dr John Ellis MD // Leave a comment
One of my meals. Veggie mix - yellow pepper, okra, tomato with dried onion, basil, Costco organic no-salt seasoning in covered pyrex bowl in microwave. Yummy! Filling! Nutritious! Not shown: salmon and sweet potatoes
With spring here, and summer right around the corner, you’re probably upping your weight loss efforts, and looking for something to provide that glow. Fruits and veggies are great for weight loss; and according to a study referenced in WebMD earlier this month, they are the most natural skin care remedies out there.
Fruits and veggies contain anti-oxidants and pigments which affect skin tone – affecting brightness, glow, and hue. ”Foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and apricots are rich in beta-carotene, as are some dark green vegetables, including spinach and kale.” I eat a lot of these foods – they are healthy, great for weight loss, and for obesity related diseases like diabetes. It works for me, and has worked for Bill Clinton! Check out the youthful 70 year old woman in the video below – she is testament to the health and cosmetic benefits of fruits and veggies.
78 years old and fitter than most! How to be fit at any age
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Tom Huey, 78 years old. (photo from original article)
Meet Tom Huey, a 78 year old body builder whose love of fitness began at the young age of 20. He started off doing pull ups on a supporting beam on his porch in a California project before finding a gym in 1950s Oakland CA – a tough feat. He then went through a divorce and got forced out of a job at 40, and still managed to win a bodybuilding contest in his 40s. Yes, and he’s still keeping fit, and is healthier than ever! The now 78 year old former body builder, who brushed shoulders with Jack LaLanne, is featured in this month’s Go Erie‘s lifestyle section. Want to know how you can be fit at any age? It really is simple: eat healthy and be active!
Eating right is vital to weight loss; I eat 1-2lbs of green veggies a day, and have a lot of protein. I also take some supplements, and avoid all junk food. Check out the March 2012 newsletter for my detailed eating plan.
Exercise is a key component to happiness, youth, health (exercise in older men is linked to lower death rates), and fitness. It relieves stress and motivates us to stay healthy. I mostly do weight resistance training, and incorporate as much physical activity as possible into my schedule. I know it’s difficult to get started with a fitness regime, so you may want to focus on goals and rewards instead of just health benefits. Even 30 minutes per week of leisure exercise can be enough for some health benefits. You can even make fitness more fun by taking dance classes like samba and bhangra. It’s never too late to start!
Finding it difficult to lose those 5lbs? Inadequate sleep may be the reason
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Sleep is a vital component of weight loss, and losing out of a couple of hours could be the hindrance to dropping down to that coveted pant size. Lack of sleep increases our craving for salt and sugar, and increases the frequency of those morning caffeine cravings, signaling the impending decrease in physical activity. The effects can be even more severe when sleep deprivation is involuntary, like if you have sleep apnea. A new study, featured last week in Medpage Today shows that calorie intake rises as sleep time drops, and may lead to obesity:
Healthy individuals ate almost 550 extra calories when they missed out on an average 1 hour 20 minutes of sleep…But activity didn’t increase to compensate during the extra time awake…Those unburned calories likely “would accumulate and eventually translate into extra fat…Lack of sleep probably does contribute to weight gain and obesity.”
Getting enough sleep seems like an easy part of weight loss, but it can be the most difficult component, especially for folks with sleep apnea. But exercise, a change in unhealthy before-bedtime habits (e.g., TV watching), and general healthy living could help put you on track to better sleep.
Accelerate your weight loss, and look young (it really is beauty rest) by getting adequate sleep. Please share any tips you may have for some of us light sleepers!
Does your doctor discuss losing weight with you?
By Dr John Ellis MD // Leave a comment
In general, docs (I’m one) don’t do the best job of helping patients lose weight. It may be better to use programs like Weight Watchers.
It is important to see your doctor to manage all the complications (high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, sexual problems and knee osteoarthritis/pain, just to name a few). Of course, losing just 10 lbs may improve these conditions as much or more than medications or other medical treatments.
If you’re doc is overweight s/he is less likely to discuss losing weight with patients, according to this study:
Doctors more frequently made a diagnosis of obesity when a patient’s weight was higher than their own, and overweight doctors were less likely to believe a patient would follow diet advice. Only 37 percent of overweight doctors strongly believed that they were competent even to offer advice about eating and exercise, compared with 53 percent of normal-weight physicians.
See my most recent newsletter for tips to get started losing weight, feeling better, and looking better!
Do you have sleep apnea? I use to
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Most people don’t know they have sleep apnea. It is a serious condition that if left untreated can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, accidents, and of course, obesity. Almost 50% of obese people have sleep apnea. Check out the following risk factors for sleep apnea.
I previously used a CPAP devise to help me sleep, but it was very inconvenient for me. It’s bulky, takes some getting used to – at least for me it did- and makes some noise. According to a recent article on The Economist, only 40-60% of people who need are willing to use it for treatment. There is a new device called Provent that eliminates some of the issues with CPAP. Please refer to the Economist article for more information on this.
It’s good to see that there is research being done on more efficient and practical treatments for sleep apnea. But there are some things you can do to get better sleep. Weight loss is a big part of the equation for more and better sleep, and we also know that inadequate sleep causes weight gain – a vicious cycle 
. I’ve lost 125lbs and no longer have need of CPAP, and I get more/better quality sleep now than I ever did. Exercise certainly helps. In fact, it helps even without weight loss. It also helps to cut TV time (especially late night TV), and practice better healthy living.
The bottom line is that it’s important to diagnose sleep apnea, and get it treated as soon as possible to avoid severe complications later on. Sleep is definitely not a luxury!
Please do share any sleep apnea treatment success stories you know of.
Obesity shrinks military recruitment pool
By Dr John Ellis MD // Leave a comment
The military is feeling the stress of the obesity epidemic, and is tackling the issue head on by incorporating nutritional education as part of their training programs. CBS has a feature article which provides detail/statistics on the topic:
Among 17- to 24-year-olds, 27 percent are too overweight for military service. Over the past 50 years, the number of women considered ineligible due to weight has tripled, and the number of men has doubled…”(It’s) not just a major health issue for our nation; it’s also become a national security issue.”
The military is teaming up with Michelle Obama to ramp up their nutrition education efforts. Plans are to reinforce nutritional education in schools as an efficient way to increase the next generation recruitment pool, and to promote the preventative mantra of healthy habits beginning at a young age.
A problem mentioned in the CBS video is that some Americans know what to eat but lack access to healthy foods like fresh vegetables. A suggested solution: give the same subsidies for fruits and vegetables as corn, cereal etc. This distressing fact clashes with an announcement in the Huffington Post that congress may be cutting $5B from The Prevention and Public Health Fund. This fund is supposed to help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases associated with obesity.
But for now, it is refreshing to hear about recent efforts to curb obesity in some schools. Let’s hope this trend picks up in more schools nationwide. Also inspirational: a US soldier lost weight to serve her country in 2010!
California preschools tackle childhood obesity
By Dr John Ellis MD // Leave a comment
Healthy habits begin at a young age. Two California preschools have realized this and introduced nutritional programs “which use music, stories and crafts to teach [kids] about healthy eating. Parents will also receive monthly newsletters with recipes and tips.” The LA Times article also reports that the obesity rate has started to stabilize in California schools due to increased efforts to control obesity in schools.
The childhood obesity rate has also stabilized in the U.S. overall, due to more awareness on the issue. Programs like Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign encourage exercise and food & nutrition education for children. It is vital that this education be implemented not just at home, but in more schools as well. Encouraging more gym time, and teaching about the importance of not skipping meals (i.e. breakfast), getting enough sleep, etc., and the effects of bad habits like TV watching on health would do some good.
Other schools have found innovative ways to promote health. Recent examples are DC kids who are learning to grow and eat healthy food, and the Hotchkiss School (of which I am a proud alumn, and trustee) in Connecticut where students farm and eat their own food.
Sleep is not a luxury!
By Dr John Ellis MD // Leave a comment
Less sleep = greater appetite, less activity, more diabetes, poorer sexual function… When I don’t get enough sleep (8 hrs for most people is ideal; few Americans get that), I struggle. When I don’t get enough sleep, I try to be as active / exercise / walk in the morning as much as possible before my battery runs low.
Do you get enough Omega-3? Fish oils may improve brain function
By Dr John Ellis MD // Leave a comment
One of my lunches: lots of steamed salmon, veggies, and brown rice
Fish oil may reduce risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity; it also fights inflammation. Some studies have also shown that it improves mood. A recent NY Times article notes a study in Neurology which looks at the link between Omega-3 intake and neuro activity. The study found that people with low blood levels of Omega-3 performed significantly less optimally than people who had high blood levels of fish oil. Similar results were found in “visual memory, executive function and abstract memory” tests. None of the participants had dementia.
I eat plenty of fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines etc) and also take fish oil supplements. Omega-3 is especially important in kids’ diets, and plays a vital role in their development. It has invaluable health benefits, I would recommend upping your fish intake, and if you’re not a fish person, find a good fish oil supplement. I take Nordic Naturals.
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