Health

Twitter Updates for 2009-06-15

• It’s all a big fat lie — check it out: http://tinyurl.com/mzwta3 #

Big Fat Lies with Gary Taubes, 02/06/08 Stevens Institute of Technology

Attitude Doesn’t Affect Cancer Survival

I came across this headline today while checking the health news headlines. I like to keep abreast of the latest developments. It’s quite an alarming finding that was talked about by the website WebMD.

The study was said to have followed 1000 patients with head and neck cancer and when they controlled for all variables found that positive outlook had no bearing on improved lifespan.

I felt it to be of utmost importance to address a couple of points, considering how deflating this could be to anyone diagnosed with a serious illness or anyone who knows someone diagnosed with cancer, or really anyone in general.

Here are some points to ponder:

If the same study showed that 1000 patients were able to extend their lifespan with a positive attitude would it have been considered as influential and definite by as many? I think not.

Usually when a comprehensive study is done the implications are restricted to the findings. In other words, technically this study might have indicated there is not benefit from a positive attitude on head and neck cancer but this study did not test the influence of a positive attitude on other diseases.

I’m just saying that usually people are cautious when interpreting findings, but, for instance one expert commented that “The idea that we can control illness and death with our minds appeals to our deepest yearnings, but it just isn’t so.”

Again if a comprehensive study showed favourable findings with respect to cancer survival rates and people started saying it meant that the mind can help the body, I’m sure many experts would articulately comment that the study only looked at head and neck cancer and we cannot discuss the affect of attitude on other illnesses. Yet when people make sweeping statements like the above no one corrects them.

Anyone who has studied mind and body interactions knows that it takes more than a positive outlook to influence health. What good is a positive outlook if you don’t really believe it (at a deep level) How does this study control for that? In other words there are many people that consider themselves to have a positive demeanor, but deep down many may have doubts about the efficacy of a positive attitude on their health. Are they going to be able to account for this in the study?

Have you known people who lead such healthy life styles and appear to have such a positive outlook but yet get very sick? Just because one does everything that it considered “healthy” doesn’t mean they are really positive – at a deep level that is.

For instance I’ve known many people who exercise, eat healthy and appear to have a positive attitude and some of them get sick while others, who don’t appear to lead what’s considered a healthy lifestyle, don’t get sick. Many of the so called healthy people are not that healthy underneath because many might be so rigid in their approach that they are stressed at a deep level.

There is certainly nothing wrong with leading a healthy lifestyle – of course – actually I highly recommend doing so, but if we ignore the basic level of our inner emotions we are not truly healthy.

I do believe that if we can look at this study with the right interpretation it can lead us in the right direction.

What can we learn from this?

I have been personally researching the mind body interaction for many years, surveying many of the leading thinkers in the field. I have come to my own opinion after reviewing an abundance of information available on this topic.

In order to be truly healthy it takes more than a positive attitude, rather it takes a positive outlook at the very basic level of our being as humans. Simply put, we need to really be happy. That is the most important. Many of you have heard the word vibration. Vibration acknowledges the fact that everything in the universe is made up of energy, which vibrates.

When we are in a healthy state we are in a healthy vibration and the opposite is true when we are in a negative vibration. When we are truly at a level of healthy vibration, we not only have a positive outlook, but we can be positive at the core. It is my assertion that maintaining this true level of vibration allows us to be truly healthy and can certainly influence our health for the better.

Closing comments

I am not attempting to discount the physical either. If one has an illness I don’t think there is any harm in getting help from traditional medicine. This is really a topic for another day but suffice to say that I think one has to acknowledge the physical and the spiritual side of things. If we think of being truly healthy at our core, would we not welcome the help of traditional medicine? We would be open to helping ourselves.

On one last note, the study mentions that people often blame themselves for not having a positive attitude when they become sick. This might be true, but I think I’ve gotten my point across that it is most important to have a healthy vibration than merely have a positive attitude. I do agree that people should not blame themselves when they become sick. Rather they should become as proactive as they can to address the points I’ve mentioned and welcome all the help they can receive. It’s not about being right; it’s about being truly healthy.

Let me know what you think…do you know of relevant cases? Have a similar opinion or a different one? Post a comment below.  I’d love to hear from you.

- Matthew

Atkins Diet

The weight loss with the Atkins diet occurs predominately through a process called ketosis.  Ketosis is the presence in the blood of substances called ketones. Ketones are produced when there isn’t enough glucose in the bloodstream, and fats have to be used. When fats are used excessively as fuels, they are eventually converted to ketones.

Certainly in the early stage of the Atkins Diet, this is the case.  Slowly as more and more carbohydrates are added, Ketosis may stop but carbohydrates are still quite low during this stage of the Atkins Diet.

Here is a summary of the of the Akins Diet:

Phase 1: Induction phase of Atkins Diet

Restrict consumption to 20 grams each day, obtaining carbohydrate primarily from salad and other non-starchy vegetables.

Phase 2: Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) of Atkins Diet

Add carbohydrate, in the form of nutrient-dense and antioxidant rich foods, by increasing to 25 grams daily the first week, 30 grams daily the next week and so on until weight loss stops. Then subtract 5 grams of carbohydrate from your daily intake so that you continue sustained, moderate weight loss.

Phase 3: Pre-Maintenance stage of Atkins Diet

Make the transition from weight loss to weight maintenance by increasing the daily carbohydrate intake in 10-gram increments each week so long as very gradual weight loss is maintained.

Phase 4: Lifetime Maintenance of Atkins Diet

Select from a wide variety of foods while controlling carbohydrate intake to ensure weight maintenance and a sense of well being. The Atkins diet maintains this lifestyle is the foundation for a lifetime of better health.

Originally, I was quite against the Atkins Diet; however, a naturopath and I were discussing it and she mentioned that the Atkins Diet may be good for some people who need to really lose weight.  Once the weight is off they could move to a healthier diet.  This suggestion made sense to me and I did want to lose weight, so I did some reading and decided to give it a try.  I did in fact lose weight and found that a lot of meals were quite satisfying as I could eat generous portions of meats.

After a while, I was tiring of all the meat, and eating this much meat was counterintuitive to me.  While vegetables are allowed on the diet, I don’t feel the Atkins Diet emphasizes them enough.  I feel that vegetables should form a large portion of one’s diet. So, while I did lose weight and was eating pretty good portions, I just didn’t feel the Atkins diet was balanced enough, not enough carbs and vegetables.

Ayurvedic Diet

Ayurveda, based upon the universal natural law of balancing the five elements (ether, air, fire, water and earth) that make up the physical body. When one or more of these elements go out of balance because of improper diet and life style, various diseases and mental disturbances can manifest. Ayurveda explains that these five elements are kept intact in the body by three subtle forces called doshas. The key to maintaining physical and mental health is in keeping these elements and doshas in harmonic balance through proper diet, herbs and life style, otherwise early aging and various diseases can manifest.

The three doshas are called Vata (sattva), Pitta (raga) and Kapha (tama). These three doshas can even be traced back to the very beginning of creation as representing the three Gods in Vedic wisdom Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. Vata is the underlying subtle force ruling over ether and air, Pitta rules fire and Kapha is responsible for keeping the water and earth elements in balance. One or more of these doshas or elements will predominate in every individual living entity creating seven possible body types. By knowing which type you are by symptoms the proper diet and herbal treatment can be established for you.

Personally I felt this diet encourages you to eat 6 various tastes of food, such as: bitter, sweet, sour, salty, pungent, and astringent.  This allows for some tasty dishes.  Many Ayurvedic practitioners don’t maintain that you have to follow their diet strictly, but rather gear your diet in the direction of your Dosha type.  I didn’t stay on this diet very long as I found it such an adjustment, especially with the high amounts of dairy and ghee (clarified butter), I found it somewhat counterintuitive, considering the higher amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol.

It does stress really more of a vegetarian style of eating, so this aspect could certainly be healthy.  Also, it stressed smaller breakfasts, larger meals, and very small suppers.  My body just didn’t seem geared this way.  Again, I felt this a little counterintuitive, as I felt a good solid breakfast and supper would be important and that meals shouldn’t be skipped.  Overall, I didn’t stay on the diet very long and it was definitely not my favourite

Bloodtype Diet

Briefly, the premise is that what people eat should depend on their blood type. For instance, Type O’s are the dominant, hunter-caveman type that require meat in the diet, that Type A’s are docile vegetarians, while Type B’s are dairy-eating omnivores.

The Blood Type Diet is not a diet that I personally had much success with.  I didn’t really lose that much weight and I found myself feeling that I was out of balance in my meals.  I really felt I was lacking a lot of carbohydrates, since I was the type A.  Just for the heck of it I tried the other blood types, again I felt out of balance.  I didn’t lose much weight.

Caloric Restriction

This diet requires you to count calories.  The basic premise is that in order to lose weight or keep your weight down reduce the amount of calories.  In other words eat less.

While I did lose some weight because I was always counting calories, I felt very regimented and controlled which made it hard to stay on this diet long term. While a certain amount of cheating is probably fine, I really felt tempted to cheat on this diet.  One good thing about counting calories is that it does make people conscious of calories.  Certainly portion control is a part of any proper diet.

Glycemic Index Diet

The diet may seem simple since foods are generally chosen from the low G.I. (Glycemic Index) food list, but it gets complicated when you create a meal made up of many different food items, each with a unique G.I value. The idea is to make sure most items which make up every meal have a low Glycemic index, thus the overall G.I of the meal stays within the low to medium range.

The Glycemic Index is a measuring system to find the extent of which various foods raise the blood sugar level. The benchmark is white bread, which has a Glycemic Index of 100. The higher the score, the greater the extents of blood sugar raise. E.g. Dextrose scores 138 (HIGH) whereas fructose 31 (LOW).

One positive point about the G.I meal plan is it’s possible for dieters to enjoy the odd “treat” item once or twice each week, maybe an occasional dessert after a light dinner. As long as these “bad” items are NOT eaten alone it should not ruin the diet plan.

Mediterranean Diet

I did some dabbling with a Mediterranean diet.  I certainly enjoyed the food and the wine, which is said to be optional, although I think it’s widely accepted use in the culture makes it an important, but not necessary, part of the diet. I didn’t lose any weight on this approach, probably due to the high carbs;

I certainly like its promotion of good monounsaturated fats, for instance the extensive use of olive oil in the diet. I also like the way Italians cook their pasta, al dante, to the bite, which makes it a little more chewy. This chewiness means that it is actually lower on the glycemic index

South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet does not cut out the consumption of carbohydrates as drastically as Dr. Atkins. As a matter of fact, from the beginning of the third week, people on The South Beach Diet can start eating most fruits. Fruit is high in carbohydrates but they are considered good carbs.

The South Beach Diet is not a low carb diet per se. It actually encourages eating what it considers to be the good carbs. The book explains what the good carbs are. The diet is divided into three phases. Phase one is a two week period in which the dieter’s intake of carbohydrates is almost nil. In the second phase the good carbs are re-introduced slowly. These are most of the fruits and whole grains. The third phase is a life long maintenance phase which is how one should eat always. In that sense it is a diet in the right sense of the word. It is not about deprivation and feeling deprived which could lead to yo-yo dieting. In The South Beach Diet, as is the case with other lower carb diets, certain foods are not recommended ever such as refined sugar, white bread, refined white rice, and pasta made with refined flour.

The South Beach Diet focuses on selecting “good carbs” and “good fats”.  “Good carb” meaning lower carbs that are lower on the glycemic index.  “Good fats” meaning monounsaturated fats.

The South Beach Diet has 3 phases.  Phase 1, 2, and 3.

Phase 1 – smallest portions, lower carbs

Phase 2 – slightly bigger portions, more carbs

Phase 3 – Maintenance Phase – One would stay on this for life.  Adjust portions that allow you to maintain weight.

The South Beach Diet certainly is close to a diet that I really like.  Like most diets, it emphasizes portion control.  Also, it’s promotion of good quality carbohydrates and good monounsaturated fats is very healthy. The only thing I’m not crazy about is the fact that the meals are not quite balanced in their proportions of carbohydrates, protein and fats.  In particular, phase 3 is a little too high in carbohydrates for my liking.