Tag: health

The Health Benefits of Physical Activity


Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress

The Health Benefits of Physical Activity—Major Research Findings

  • Regular physical activity reduces the risk of many adverse health outcomes.
  • Some physical activity is better than none.
  • For most health outcomes, additional benefits occur as the amount of physical activity increases through higher intensity, greater frequency, and/or longer duration.
  • Most health benefits occur with at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as brisk walking. Additional benefits occur with more physical activity.
  • Both aerobic (endurance) and muscle-strengthening (resistance) physical activity are beneficial.
  • Health benefits occur for children and adolescents, young and middle-aged adults, older adults, and those in every studied racial and ethnic group.
  • The health benefits of physical activity occur for people with disabilities.
  • The benefits of physical activity far outweigh the possibility of adverse outcomes.

The Beneficial Effects of Increasing Physical Activity: It’s About Overload, Progression,
and Specificity

Overload
is the physical stress placed on the body when physical activity is greater in amount or intensity than usual. The body’s structures and functions respond and
adapt to these stresses. For example, aerobic physical activity places a stress on the cardiorespiratory system and muscles, requiring the lungs to move more air and the heart to pump more blood and deliver it to the working muscles. This increase in demand increases the efficiency and capacity of the lungs, heart, circulatory system, and exercising muscles. In the same way, muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activities overload muscles and bones, making them stronger.
Progression
is closely tied to overload. Once a person reaches a certain fitness level, he or she progresses to higher levels of physical activity by continued overload and adaptation. Small, progressive changes in overload help the body adapt to the additional stresses while minimizing the risk of injury.

Specificity
means that the benefits of physical activity are specific to the body systems that are doing the work. For example, aerobic physical activity largely benefits the body’s cardiovascular system.

intestines

Back in 2007, after a series of mostly ineffective treatments prescribed by doctors, Ms. Enders, then 17, decided to take matters into her own hands. Convinced that the illness was somehow associated with her intestines, she pored over gastroenterological research, consumed probiotic bacterial cultures meant to aid digestion and tried out mineral supplements.

The experiments worked (although she is not sure which one did the trick), leaving her with healthy skin and a newfound interest in her intestines. “I experienced with my own body that knowledge is power,” she writes of the episode in “Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ,” which was published in North America last month after its surprising success in Germany, where it has sold almost 1.5 million copies since its release in March 2014.

reliable information about nutrition

Valuable additional resources that contain reliable information about nutrition are available at the British Nutrition Foundation, Medline Plus, Harvard Nutrition Source and Nutrition.gov. For advanced students, the use of Pubmed is recommended. Pubmed is a public database for the scientific literature in the fields of biomedicine and health that also covers portions of the life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences and bioengineering. PubMed is a free resource that is developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institute of Health (NIH). When using PubMed and other databases, the inclusion of search terms such as “review” and “meta-analysis” is recommended. These are the terms used for certain types of articles that provide a broad overview of a topic. For instance, if you are interested in overview articles about the relation between dietary fiber and colon cancer, enter the search terms “colon cancer” (or “colorectal cancer”), “dietary fiber” (or “dietary fibre”) and “meta-analysis” or “review” using the advanced search tool in PubMed.

Information about the nutrient content of foods is available from the USDA and through Eurofir. Many countries have their own website that provides information on food composition. The website used in the Netherlands can be found here.

Measuring Physical Activity

Measuring Physical Activity http://www.participaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The-January-Research-File_eng.pdf

Physical Activity Measurement http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephanie_Schoeppe/publication/6778339_Physical_activity_measurement–a_primer_for_health_promotion/links/02bfe511842852620a000000.pdf

Questionnaires

(These typically require participants to self-report their level of activity)

International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) – short and long version, multiple languages https://sites.google.com/site/theipaq/questionnaire_links

Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) – available in english and spanish http://dne2.ucsf.edu/public/champs/resources/qxn/

Global Physical Activity Questionnaire – available in multiple languages http://www.who.int/chp/steps/GPAQ/en/

Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire http://www.godin.fsi.ulaval.ca/Fichiers/Quest/Godin%20leisure-time.pdf

Tests

(These can be used to record a value to the activity level of participants)

6 Minute Walk Test http://www.rehabmeasures.org/Lists/RehabMeasures/DispForm.aspx?ID=895

Push up Test at Home (upper body strength) http://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/home-pushup.htm

Squat Test at Home (lower body strength) http://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/home-squat.htm

Sit and Reach Flexibility Test at Home http://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/home-sit-and-reach.htm

Shoulder Reach Flexibility Test http://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/shoulder-flexibility.htm

Rehabilitation Measures Database (some tests may be beyond scope of course project) http://www.rehabmeasures.org/default.aspx

Readings

Series on Physical Activity ★ Recommended by Dr. Steven Blair
http://www.thelancet.com/series/physical-activity
Note: Articles in the Series on Physical Activity are available free of charge if you create a username and password.

Energy Balance Basics
http://www.gebn.org/energy-balance-basics

Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2003/

Physical activity and health – A Report of the Surgeon General
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/index.htm

Exercise & Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide from the National Institute on Aging
http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/exercise-physical-activity/20-frequently-asked-questions

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/summary.aspx

Examining The Use of Evidence Based and Social Media Supported Tools in Freely Acessible Physical Activity Internvetion Websites
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/264795563_Examining_the_use_of_evidence-based_and_social_media_supported_tools_in_freely_accessible_physical_activity_intervention_websites

Tools, Calculators and Resources

American Council on Exercise
http://www.acefitness.org/acefit/tools-and-calculators/

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention – Benefits of Physical Activity
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/health/index.html?s_cid=cs_284

How fast does the Grim Reaper walk?

BMJ. 2011 Dec 15;343:d7679. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d7679.

How fast does the Grim Reaper walk? Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis in healthy men aged 70 and over.

Stanaway FF1, Gnjidic D, Blyth FM, Le Couteur DG, Naganathan V, Waite L, Seibel MJ, Handelsman DJ, Sambrook PN, Cumming RG.

Author information

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the speed at which the Grim Reaper (or Death) walks.

DESIGN:

Population based prospective study.

SETTING:

Older community dwelling men living in Sydney, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS:

1705 men aged 70 or more participating in CHAMP (Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

Walking speed (m/s) and mortality. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was used to calculate the area under the curve for walking speed and determine the walking speed of the Grim Reaper. The optimal walking speed was estimated using the Youden index (sensitivity + specificity-1), a common summary measure of the receiver operating characteristics curve, and represents the maximum potential effectiveness of a marker.

RESULTS:

The mean walking speed was 0.88 (range 0.15-1.60) m/s. The highest Youden index (0.293) was observed at a walking speed of 0.82 m/s (2 miles (about 3 km) per hour), corresponding to a sensitivity of 63% and a specificity of 70% for mortality. Survival analysis showed that older men who walked faster than 0.82 m/s were 1.23 times less likely to die (95% confidence interval 1.10 to 1.37) than those who walked slower (P = 0.0003). A sensitivity of 1.0 was obtained when a walking speed of 1.36 m/s (3 miles (about 5 km) per hour) or greater was used, indicating that no men with walking speeds of 1.36 m/s or greater had contact with Death.

CONCLUSION:

The Grim Reaper’s preferred walking speed is 0.82 m/s (2 miles (about 3 km) per hour) under working conditions. As none of the men in the study with walking speeds of 1.36 m/s (3 miles (about 5 km) per hour) or greater had contact with Death, this seems to be the Grim Reaper’s most likely maximum speed; for those wishing to avoid their allotted fate, this would be the advised walking speed.

Nearly half of all seafood consumed globally comes from aquaculture

Nearly half of all seafood consumed globally comes from aquaculture, a method of food production that has expanded rapidly in recent years. Increasing seafood consumption has been proposed as part of a strategy to combat the current non-communicable disease (NCD) pandemic, but public health, environmental, social, and production challenges related to certain types of aquaculture production must be addressed. Resolving these complicated human health and ecologic trade-offs requires systems thinking and collaboration across many fields; the One Health concept is an integrative approach that brings veterinary and human health experts together to combat zoonotic disease. We propose applying and expanding the One Health approach to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders focused on increasing consumption of seafood and expanding aquaculture production, using methods that minimize risks to public health, animal health, and ecology. This expanded application of One Health may also have relevance to other complex systems with similar trade-offs.

Access to nutritious foods of animal origin, including aquatic animals, was crucial in the evolution of hominids and early human brain development [1•]. Aquatic animals contain essential nutrients, such as iodine and omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), that are generally limited in other animal foods. While, historically, consumption of seafood has been important for humans, overfishing and other factors (e.g., population growth, pollution, ocean acidification) have greatly decreased wild fish stocks and damaged marine resources [2•]. In response to declining marine resources and an increasing demand for seafood, aquaculture has grown dramatically in the past four decades. In 2011, aquaculture accounted for nearly half of all seafood consumed by humans [3], and global aquaculture production continues to increase at a rate of 6 % per year [4].

The Fast Metabolism Diet

Haylie Pomroy has helped countless clients lose up to 20 pounds in just 4 weeks –all through the fat-burning power of food. Hailed as “the metabolism whisperer,” Haylie reminds us that food is not the enemy, it’s the rehab needed to rev-up your sluggish, broken-down metabolism and turn your body into a fat-burning furnace.

On this plan you’re going to eat a lot. You’re going to eat three full meals and at least two snacks a day – and you’re still going to lose weight. What you’re not going to do is count a single calorie or fat gram. You’re going not to ban entire food groups. You’re not going to go carb-free or vegan or go cold turkey on the foods you love. Instead, you’re going to rotate what you’re eating throughout each week according to a simple and proven plan carefully designed to induce precise physiological changes that will set your metabolism on fire.

Phase I (Monday-Tuesday): Lots of carbs and fruits
Phase II (Wednesday-Thursday): Lots of proteins and veggies
Phase III (Friday-Sunday): All of the above, plus healthy fats and oils
Continue reading “The Fast Metabolism Diet”