During the ages of 1-3 years, children are at risk of gaining significant weight
A study from Columbia University Medical Center found that the rate of being overweight increased significantly with each year of age, with the biggest gains between ages of one and three years.
Lead author of the study and attending pediatrician, Melissa Glassman warns that it's during these years that children begin to develop eating habits and food preferences. Parents need to play an active role in incorporating a balanced diet and be aware of the types of food to which children have access. It may take multiple attempts to offer new foods to children, so parents must undertake meal times with patience and determination to instill essential eating habits.
These finding have gotten the attention of pediatricians who believe that intervention is necessary to prevent childhood obesity during these crucial years. Parents should pursue healthy eating routines of their own because children observe and model their behavior after them. With America's obesity epidemic, understanding the causes of childhood obesity is critical.
Source: Empowered Doctor
Sanskrit Quote : Category :: Positive things in negativity
विषादप्यमृतं ग्राह्यं अमेध्यादपि काञ्चनम्।
अमित्रादपि सद्वृत्तं स्त्रीरत्नं दुष्कुलादपि॥
English Translation of Sanskrit Quote:
Elixir of life is to be accepted even if comes from poison, a piece of gold is to be accepted even from impure. A good conduct is to be learnt even from an enemy and a good lady is to be accepted even from a bad community.
Commentary on Sanskrit Quote:
This couplet teaches us to accept good things in life, even from unexpected quarters. We, due to our negativities picked up from our childhood, categorize things with clear demarcation as good and bad, beautiful and ugly, useful and useless, wanted and unwanted and so forth. Whereas our experience teaches us that we should not make such vertical splits, we are mostly guided by our acquired negativity. Most of the times we never stop to think if we are making the right choices in our life.
It is a known fact that a serpent-venom can kill humans and animals. We also know that anti-venom serum is extracted from the snake venom. Gold is a precious metal, valued since thousands of years throughout the world for its sheen and it ductility and malleability when a bit of copper is mixed with it. Golden ornaments are an inseparable world of women. So when a golden ornament falls in a toilet pit, it is not to be ignored. No one cares where it had fallen, once it is taken from the unclean place. Likewise, we must appreciate a good quality or righteousness found even among those who hate us. Whereas we can, and are, following the first two, are we ready for this? We never accept this precept for its value.
The last one is the acceptance of a virtuous woman without caring for her birth and nobility or otherwise. An indian plagued by the caste system never goes beyond the narrow consideration of marriage alliance within his own caste. We have instances of parents disowning their children, when they married outside the caste, much against the wishes of their parents. But this ancient wisdom is much against such inhuman practice. It has humanised our society to the extent many parents are seeing the futility of demanding that their children marry within their caste and religion. Economic independence coupled with ancient wisdom has really set the stage for reformation. Let us welcome it.
A Long Post About Combating That "Feel Like Crap" Feeling
Thank the heavens, my kids, a 1-year-old pink monster, and a bottle of “Aches & Pains Liquid Mineral Bath,” my two-day pity party has ended. Actually, pity isn’t the right word, or even party, for that matter. There’s not much fun in pity. But is there such a thing as a “feeling-like-crap” party? It’s not very alliterative, is it?
It began Wednesday, halfway through my workout. My body hurt and my mind was racing and nothing – absolutely nothing – was in sync. I finally said, “Screw this! I can’t do it anymore,” and I went to Pittsburgh to spend a few days with my daughters and my granddaughter. By the time I got home last night, I was feeling better. I woke up this morning and the crap feeling had subsided and I was able to work out and think clearly at the same time. I even got the grocery shopping (at three freaking stores) done and the porch winterized and the garage cleaned. My reward? A bath. A long, hot bath with my new favorite bath stuff, Village Naturals Therapy liquid mineral bath. I found it at WalMart. Sometimes you find stuff there, you know?
Soaking in a hot bath, life just makes sense. My knees feel better, my wrists feel better, my shoulders feel better. I can shave my legs and other parts. I can think and breathe and work the crap out. When I get out, life’s a little lighter.
It’s at that point – shaved, dressed and refreshed – when I started writing this blog. I was going to expound on the virtues of mineral baths and positive thinking when Jake the Golden Retriever started barking and I went to the living room to see why.
Crap. Two guys were at the front door. They could see and hear me so there was no faking I wasn’t home.
Are they Obama or McCain? It’s an innate response anymore, given the way things are this election year. Both campaigns have hit our house (and phone) a lot lately.
Wait, I thought before opening the door. Did I put on a bra after my bath?
I looked down and saw that yes, thankfully, I did. I shooshed the dog and thanked the gods even a little more when I opened the door and learned the two guys weren’t from a political campaign. They were fraternity boys selling raffle tickets for some good cause or other.
Then I thought, That’s worse!”
Self-deprecating 45-year-old me wondered why do frat guys have to be so damn good looking when I’m smelling of Vicks Vap-O-Rub, have rosy cheeks, and am wearing no makeup and sporting an oh-so-lovely outfit of grey sweat pants and a baggy white shirt with a permanent Claire spit-up stain at the top?
You’re 45, you’ve felt like crap for two days, you get to be who you are in this moment, Lynn, I told myself.
With just that little affirmation, I felt better. Well, that and remembering that living in a college town, I encounter a lot of students and it’s my civic duty to remind them to be mindful of who they’re interacting with. They can’t be sure if they’re talking to a future professor, or worse, a future professor’s spouse. You really don’t want to piss us off.
“What’s your major?” I asked after they gave me their spiel.
The first guy answered, “Secondary English education,” and the second guy said, “Microbiology,” like I was going to be all impressed. Perfect answers. If they’d said they were accounting or economics majors, I’d have just given them my money and walked back in the house, telling myself it was OK to look like a total goober in public.
“Ah….so you’ll probably have my ex-husband for a prof at some point,” I said to English major boy while I looked through my wallet for a five (I could get one ticket for $1 and six for $5). “Dr. Bodziock.”
English major boy blinked.
“Um, no, not yet,” he fidgeted. “This is my first semester.”
“Oh, well, I’m sure you will at some point,” I laughed.
Microbiology boy looked as sober as his friend, although I doubt either one was sober last night, being Halloween and all.
“You’ll have my husband at some point,” I told him.
“Who’s that?” he said, wide eyed.
“Dr. Bering,” I said.
Whenever I tell a kid I’m married to “Dr. Bering,” the reaction is either joy or fear. There’s no in between.
“So…,” he stuttered. “What kind of teacher is he?”
I give the guy credit for asking me the question. It’s pretty ballsy to ask the wife of your future prof what she thinks of her husband.
“Well, I’ve heard he’s tough, but I think he’s a nice guy,” I said. “You can ask him yourself. He’s walking up the street right now.”
I pointed to scary biochemist Larry who was returning home after walking our other two dogs. I gave English major boy my money and he handed me my tickets. He and his friend thanked me and dismissed themselves faster than my Golden Retriever pees on a tree.
I sat on the ledge and watched them greet clueless Larry with the guttural, “Hey,” that guys do. I thought for a second about my “feeling-like-crap” party and wondered if those boys knew or would have one themselves. Probably. We all do, right? Doesn’t matter if it’s about food or exercise or college studies, we all have them.
I relieved my most recent “crap” feeling with a visit with the people who mean the most to me. As I started feeling better, I used it to conquer a good workout, a yard/garage clean-up and a bath.
I make plans and schedules for the week, but they’re all dependent on feeling physically and emotionally normal with nothing extemporaneous intruding. It’s how we deal with the unexpected that plays into our weight-loss and weight-maintenance lives. We could choose to eat and throw it all out the window or we could be rational. Sometimes I throw it away for a moment, but mostly I take a deep breath and think for second. There’s nothing wrong with distracting ourselves or jumping in a tub. You never know what might happen, right?
My aches and pains are a little more numb tonight than they were on Wednesday. My mind’s had enough time to sort through the crap. Maybe things will be normal this week. Maybe they won’t. I take comfort in knowing that I will figure it out eventually, come what may. I can only make a commitment to eat well and exercise and listen to my body despite (or in response to) the unexpected. If I screw up, well, hey. I’m a work in progress, right?
Here’s my little pink monster grandbaby who makes this commitment a little easier to fight for.
Book Review: Dangerous Grains
Dangerous Grains is about the health hazards of gluten grains. It's co-written by James Braly, an M.D. who specializes in food allergies, and Ron Hoggan, a celiac patient who has written widely on the subject.
Celiac disease is a degeneration of the intestinal lining caused by exposure to gluten. Gluten sensitivity is a broader term that encompasses any of the numerous symptoms that can occur throughout the body when susceptible people eat gluten. The term gluten sensitivity includes celiac disease. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, its close relatives (kamut, spelt, triticale), barley and rye. Wheat is the most concentrated source.
Dangerous Grains is a good overview of the mountain of data on celiac disease and gluten sensitivity that few people outside the field are familiar with. For example, did you know:
- An estimated one percent of the U.S. population suffers from celiac disease.
- Approximately 12 percent of the US population suffers from gluten sensitivity.
- Gluten can damage nearly any part of the body, including the brain, the digestive tract, the skin and the pancreas. Sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms are absent.
- Both celiac and other forms of gluten sensitivity increase the risk of a large number of diseases, such as type 1 diabetes and cancer, often dramatically.
- The majority of people with gluten sensitivity are not diagnosed.
- Most doctors don't realize how common gluten sensitivity is, so they rarely test for it.
- Celiac disease and other symptoms of gluten sensitivity are easily reversed by avoiding gluten.
Dangerous Grains also discusses the opioid-like peptides released from gluten during digestion. Opioids are powerful drugs, such as heroin and morphine, that were originally derived from the poppy seed pod. They are strong suppressors of the immune system and quite addictive. There are no data that conclusively prove the opioid-like peptides in gluten cause immune suppression or addiction to wheat, but there are some interesting coincidences and anecdotes. Celiac patients are at an increased risk of cancer, particularly digestive tract cancer, which suggests that the immune system is compromised. Heroin addicts are also at increased risk of cancer. Furthermore, celiac patients often suffer from abnormal food cravings. From my reading, I believe that wheat causes excessive eating, perhaps through a drug-like mechanism, and many people report withdrawal-like symptoms and cravings after eliminating wheat.
I know several people who have benefited greatly from removing gluten from their diets. Anyone who has digestive problems, from gas to acid reflux, or any other mysterious health problem, owes it to themselves to try a gluten-free diet for a month. Gluten consumption has increased quite a bit in the U.S. in the last 30 years, mostly due to an increase in the consumption of processed wheat snacks. I believe it's partly to blame for our declining health. Wheat has more gluten than any other grain. Avoiding wheat and all its derivatives is a keystone of my health philosophy.
Another notable change that Sally Fallon and others have pointed out is that today's bread isn't made the same way our grandparents made it. Quick-rise yeast allows bread to be fermented for as little as 3 hours, whereas it was formerly fermented for 8 hours or more. This allowed the gluten to be partially broken down by the microorganisms in the dough. Some gluten-sensitive people report that they can eat well-fermented sourdough wheat bread without symptoms. I think these ideas are plausible, but they remain anecdotes to me at this point. Until research shows that gluten-sensitive people can do well eating sourdough wheat bread in the long term, I'll be avoiding it. I have no reason to believe I'm gluten sensitive myself, but through my reading I've been convinced that wheat, at least how we eat it today, is probably not healthy for anyone.
I'm not aware of any truly healthy traditional culture that eats wheat as a staple. As a matter of fact, white wheat flour has left a trail of destruction around the globe wherever it has gone. Polished rice does not have such a destructive effect, so it's not simply the fact that it's a refined carbohydrate. Hundreds, if not thousands of cultures throughout the world have lost their robust good health upon abandoning their traditional foods in favor of white flour and sugar. The medical and anthropological literature are peppered with these stories. I'm aware of one healthy culture that traditionally ate sourdough-fermented whole grain rye bread, the Swiss villagers of the Loetschental valley described in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
Overall, the book is well written and accessible to a broad audience. I recommend it to anyone who has health problems or who is healthy and wants to stay that way!
a post is a post
Happy November!
I stole this badge from Sara.
I will be attending my conference all day today and I may have something interesting to say once its over.
I'm hoping to hang out with Jacqueline and her husband John this evening (and tomorrow, too), though, so it make take me a couple of days to post anything substantive.
I just counted. I've brought three of Jacqueline's garments with me, one of her pieces of jewelry and her Songbird Scarf. And I have more at home, too.
The differences in weight gain associated with high-fat diets indicate that genetically-determined factors contribute to obesity
According to new research from the Monell Center, the degree of change in blood triglyceride levels following a fatty meal may indicate susceptibility to diet-induced obesity. The findings open doors to new methods of identifying people, including children, who are at risk for becoming obese.
Triglycerides are a form of fat that is transported in the blood and stored in the body’s fat tissues. They are found in foods and also are manufactured by the body.
“These findings suggest we may someday be able to use a simple blood test to identify those at risk for obesity,” said senior author Mark Friedman, PhD, a behavioral physiologist at Monell. “The ability to identify more susceptible individuals would make it possible to target obesity-prevention resources on those who need them most.”
The global obesity epidemic is thought to be caused in part by consumption of a diet high in fat and carbohydrates, which promotes weight gain. This propensity to gain weight and become obese when consuming a high-fat diet is at least partially controlled by genes, with some individuals gaining more than others while eating the same diet.
In the study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, Friedman and lead author Hong Ji, PhD, screened rats for vulnerability to diet-induced obesity by measuring the increase in blood triglyceride levels following a single high-fat meal. They then fed the rats a diet high in fat over the next four weeks.
The researchers were able to predict which animals would become obese over the four-week period by examining the earlier metabolic response to the high-fat meal: the smaller the triglyceride change, the greater the weight gain.
There currently are no simple biomarkers for predicting susceptibility to diet-induced obesity, and thus no clinical tests that assist physicians in identifying those at risk for becoming obese. The current findings suggest that a change in blood triglyceride levels may someday be used as such a tool.
Future studies will entail a thorough investigation of the mechanism behind differences in the change in blood triglycerides.
“The differences in weight gain associated with high-fat diets indicate that genetically-determined factors contribute to obesity,” notes Friedman. “We have shown that these genetic factors are related to the body’s ability to burn fat. We now need a better understanding of how this relates to blood triglyceride levels.”
Source: Machines Like Us
