Activity plan based on enjoyment and fitness level works best, expert says
SATURDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- For those feeling inspired by the performance of athletes at the Winter Olympics, the National Athletic Trainers' Association has some tips about how to get started on your own race to better fitness and endurance.
First, consider your level of physical fitness. A medical exam can help you figure out if you're in appropriate shape to begin a new regimen or beef up the one you already have. If you're not quite ready, consider a gradual introduction to an activity with the help of a doctor, athletic trainer or other professional.
Take time to think about your mind, not just your body. A 2008 study published in the Journal of Athletic Training found that mental and emotional toughness can help the performance of college athletes.
Setting goals is a good idea, but keep them realistic. And when you choose a sport, try one that you've enjoyed in the past or really want to try, and team up with a pal to keep you motivated.
Some other ideas: Daily and weekly plans can help keep you on track, but have a professional take a look at them to make sure they're doable. And don't let setbacks stop your progress.
"Identifying an activity you really enjoy and working towards a realistic goal is the true key to success," Ralph Reiff, athletic trainer and director at St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis, said in a news release from the National Athletic Trainers' Association.
"Following the wins and losses of professional and Olympic athletes shows us that we can all have the ability to try and try again," Reiff added. "Not only will you feel better when you find the activity that is right for you, but you will look better and improve your physical self and mental state of mind. Then, you can go for your own personal gold."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Dannon must pay consumers up to $45 million in damages for falsely advertising the health benefits of its yogurt, under the terms of a class action settlement reached Tuesday in federal court in Cleveland.
Cleveland lawyers John Climaco and Frank Piscitelli Jr. teamed with attorneys from California and Florida to win the settlement, which was approved by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster.
"There's going to be a lot of money paid because their advertising was not honest," said Climaco, who called it the largest settlement ever obtained in a food product case. He filed the lawsuit two years ago.
Marvin Fong, The PDCleveland attorney John R. Climaco teamed with Frank Piscitelli Jr. and attorneys from California and Florida to win what he called the largest food product damage award ever: $45 million.
The targets of the class action were two Dannon yogurt products -- Activia and DanActive -- pitched in TV ads by actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Activia has been sold nationwide since February 2006. DanActive was introduced in January 2007. No other Dannon products were involved.
Dannon has launched an Internet site designed to answer consumer questions about how to receive up to a $100 rebate check. Deadline to apply for a refund is Oct. 1. The checks could arrive as soon as November.
For checks of $15 to $30, no receipt is necessary. Just fill out the claim form.
For claims of $30 to $100, receipts are required.
The size of the damage checks will depend on the number of claims that are filed.
Climaco, Piscitelli and the rest of the attorneys will seek up to $10 million in fees, plus expenses, Climaco said. Polster will determine the final bill. Any unclaimed money will be donated to charity.
Under terms of the settlement agreement, Dannon must remove the words "clinically" and "scientifically proven" from labels and advertisements of Activia yogurt in reference to claims the product helps to regulate the digestive system. In their place, the words "clinical studies show," or something similar, must be substituted.
Dannon also must note that Activia and DanActive yogurts are food, not treatments or cures for any medical disorder or disease.
Also, Dannon must remove the word "immunity" from DanActive labels and ads, as well as include a qualifier to the claim the yogurt "helps strengthen your body's defenses" or "helps support the immune system." That is only true, the qualifier claims, "when eaten regularly as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle," according to the order.
On its web site, Dannon officials said they settled the lawsuit to avoid the distraction and expense of litigation, and to resume its focus on products that "provide proven health benefits to millions of satisfied customers."
"This resolves the plaintiffs' concerns while affirming the essence of the health claims of Activia and DanActive, which are substantiated by years of scientific research," said Michael Neuwirth, a company spokesman.
About 100,500 new cases of cancer are caused by obesity every year, according to the most comprehensive attempt ever to estimate the cancers attributed to extra weight.
The analysis, released today by the American Institute for Cancer Research, is based on updated cancer data and a report released earlier this year by a panel of experts. Among the types of cancer most strongly linked to excess body fat:
•Breast, 33,000 cases a year caused by obesity.
•Endometrial, 20,700 cases a year.
•Kidney, 13,900 cases.
•Colorectal, 13,200 cases.
•Pancreas, 11,900.
•Esophagus, 5,800.
•Gallbladder, 2,000.
"The list of cancers affected by obesity will almost certainly increase as more research is completed," says Michael Thun, emeritus vice president of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society. "Several other types of cancer – liver, multiple myeloma and certain leukemias – have been linked to obesity in some studies, but this needs confirmation."
Overall, about one-third of U.S. adults are obese, roughly 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight. Obesity also increases a person's risk of diabetes, heart disease and other diseases.
Excess weight raises cancer risk in different ways, says Tim Byers, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Denver. For breast and endometrial cancer, it seems to be an estrogen problem, he says. Women who are overweight after menopause have more estrogen circulating in their blood, which increases cancer risk. For esophageal cancer, obesity leads to acid reflux, which damages the lower part of the esophagus.
Donna Ryan, an oncologist and president of the Obesity Society, says several hormones and factors involved in obesity may lead to cancer. "Insulin is a prime suspect," she says. "Insulin resistance and elevated insulin levels frequently occur in obese people. Insulin is a very powerful cellular growth factor, and it affects cancer cells."
To lower your risk for cancer: Lose weight, increase physical activity and eat healthier, says Anne McTiernan, director of the PreventionCenter at Fred HutchinsonCancerResearchCenter in Seattle.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 15 November 2009 17:16 )
All fibers may not be created equal
Naturally occurring fiber has many health benefits. But the jury is out on fiber added by manufacturers.
By Elena Conis
January 11, 2010
If your diet lacks fiber, it's your own fault. High levels of the cholesterol-lowering,
regularity-inducing substance can now be found in many breads, pastas, cereals -- even yogurts, cakes and juices. Some foods, such as whole wheat bread, are naturally high in fiber. A growing number of products, however, proudly proclaim their high-fiber content, such as Arnold's Double Fiber Bread and Yoplait's Fiber One yogurt, getting some or all of their fiber from so-called isolated or functional fibers -- ingredients with names like inulin, maltodextrin and polydextrose -- that manufacturers intentionally add to foods to boost total fiber content.
Whether these isolated fibers have all of the same health benefits as the naturally occurring ones remains to be seen.
"We just don't know if they all act the same," says Jennifer Nelson, director of clinical dietetics and nutrition at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "They have not necessarily been studied to see if they're beneficial."
Studies have shown that naturally occurring fiber, which nutrition experts call dietary fiber, can help reduce blood cholesterol levels, prevent constipation and reduce the risk of hemorrhoids and diverticulosis, which causes pouches to form in the large intestine.
This type of fiber comes from the parts of plants that are resistant to human digestive enzymes and may help people feel full, thereby aiding in weight loss. Some studies have also linked a high dietary fiber intake to a reduced risk of colon cancer.
Dietary fiber comes in two forms -- one form dissolves in water, the other doesn't -- and both are found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains. But these are foods that Americans just don't eat enough of anymore, says Mian Riaz, director of the Food Protein Research and Development Center at Texas A&M University in College Station.
Women younger than 50 need about 25 grams of fiber per day, and men younger than 50 need 38 grams (the daily values are a few grams lower for adults older than 50). But on average, American women get about 13 grams and men 17 grams, according to a 2005 report by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine.
Food manufacturers have striven to help consumers fill that gap, identifying and developing a variety of fiber sources to add to everyday foods.
Some of these fiber sources are manufactured in the lab; maltodextrin and polydextrose, for example, are long chains of glucose and other molecules that are strung together. They're considered fiber because, like naturally occurring fiber, they're resistant to digestion, says Mary Ann Johnson, professor of foods and nutrition at the University of Georgia in Athens and a spokeswoman for the American Society for Nutrition.
Other types of added fiber are called isolated fiber because they're undigestible material extracted from plants. Inulin, commonly extracted from chicory root, is an example. Other examples include soy hulls, oat fibers and sorghum fibers.
These isolated fibers perform some of the same functions as dietary fibers; they can help prevent constipation and can make people feel more full after eating. Because of this, they are sometimes called "functional" fibers, says Riaz, who is also a spokesman for the Institute of Food Technologists.
But they're not the perfect equivalent of fiber that's naturally found in foods, Riaz says. "They help, but not that much. They don't have the same functionality of a whole grain."
That's because isolated or functional fibers lack the array of vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants and plant chemicals found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables and that are known to benefit health, says Jennifer Anderson, professor of food science and human nutrition at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
According to Food and Drug Administration guidelines, a food can be labeled a "good" source of fiber if a serving contains at least 2.5 grams of fiber and "high" in fiber if a serving contains at least 5 grams. Some breads and cereals billed as high in fiber get their fiber not from isolated or functional fibers but from whole grains, such as wheat bran, corn bran or whole grain oats.To get a fiber source with the benefits of a whole grain, Nelson recommends looking for the word "bran" on the ingredient list. She also recommends looking for a product with familiar-sounding ingredients, as opposed to hard-to-interpret chemical names.
"Don't just look at the number [of fiber grams] or the health claims," Nelson says. "Dig down into the ingredients."
Better yet, says Johnson, get as much dietary fiber as possible from whole foods.
"People may want something more convenient," Johnson says, but "getting back to whole foods is really the best way to go."
Few issues divide the worlds of conventional and alternative medicine quite so starkly.
According to a profusion of Web sites, clinics and wellness spas, the typical American diet of processed foods, pharmaceuticals, stress and lack of exercise is clogging up our lower intestinal tracts, leaving them inflamed and lined with waste—and leaking toxins into the body that cause problems ranging from headaches and chronic fatigue to arthritis and cellulite. All that "stubborn fecal matter" also contributes to bulging bellies and expanding waistlines, cleansing proponents claim.
Eliminating the buildup, either with supplements or laxatives, or by flushing the colon with warm water—a practice known as "hydrotherapy" or "colonics"—can dramatically improve a person's health and well-being, proponents claim. "Colonics help people get rid of what's in there, so they have a sense of 'Wow! That's what I should feel like,' " says Kim Dupre, who is owner of WellvilleHealingArtsCenter in Durham, N.C., and certified by an international organization of colon hydrotherapists.
Gastroenterologists pooh-pooh many of those claims. Healthy colons are self-cleaning, they say, and evacuating the colon via other means can do serious harm, even causing the sluggishness the cleansing purports to fix. "I've seen a lot of colons and the notion that people have pounds of feces and evil toxins built up in there is pure fantasy," says John I. Allen, a Minnesota gastroenterologist who has performed more than 20,000 colonoscopies, including many in patients who haven't drunk the traditional medical cleansing preparation beforehand. Claims for colonics and other forms of cleansing, Dr. Allen says, "just play to people's fears and desire to lose weight."
The notion of emptying the intestines to cure illness was common in many ancient cultures, too. Egyptians performed enemas in rivers using hollow reeds. Colonic irrigation was been a staple of European spas for centuries, and it was all the rage in 17th-century Paris to have several enemas a day.
In the U.S., colon cleansing was common until the early 19th century, when conventional physicians began to challenge the lack of scientific evidence and condemn some practitioners as quacks.
In recent decades, colon cleansing has ridden a wave of interest in alternative medicines. Hydrotherapy spas—from storefront clinics to luxury resorts—have sprung up, especially in the South and West. And the Internet has fueled a boom in sales of at-home cleansing products. Generally combinations of fiber, herbs, vitamins and stimulants, they often make enticing claims ("Ever wonder how the stars lose weight so quickly?" "Flush out up to 30 pounds!"). Some Web sites feature photos of long strands of rubbery-looking goo that customers claim they have expelled. ("I have lost some of the most horrific things you could imagine, and I have proof!")
Gastroenterologists say that about 15% of the population suffers from constipation at some point, and some conditions and medications increase it. The best remedies are to increase dietary fiber, ideally from whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and to consult a physician before trying other measures.
Some gastroenterologists worry that colonics can wash out beneficial bacteria and create infections, abscesses and electrolyte imbalances; there have been cases of rectal perforations. That is one reason that some hydrotherapists are pushing states to have formal licensing procedures. As of now, only Florida licenses colon hydrotherapists. Texas requires patients to have a doctor's prescription; Rhode Island prohibits the practice.
Brian Landzberg, a Manhattan gastroenterologist, says people's notion that they have pounds of backed-up stool in their colons is helping to feed distorted body images. He says he frequently sees patients who have abused laxatives in an effort to lose weight or flatten their stomachs. "Those are some of my toughest patients to treat," he says, because overuse of some bowel stimulants can damage the nerves and walls of the colon and prevent it from functioning properly.
Some patients, he says, are so convinced they are constipated that only transit marker studies—which follow the passage of small markers through the intestine via X-ray—can persuade them that their "transit time" is normal. "There is a degree of obsession that goes along with this," says Dr. Landzberg. "You can't just accept a patient's report that they are constipated."
Even "natural" laxatives, such as the plants senna and cascara, can harm the bowel, Dr. Landzberg says, adding, "The public has grown increasingly wary of the side effects of pharmaceuticals. I would like to see people bring that same degree of healthy skepticism to 'natural' products."
Where practitioners of conventional and alternative medicine do agree is in recommending improvements in the average American diet, to avoid gastrointestinal problems and lower the risk of colon cancer.
"We do see a lot of constipation in Western civilization," says Dr. Landzberg. "We don't drink enough fluids. We are too sedentary, we have weakened abdominal muscles, and we don't take enough fiber in our diets. But the answer to that is not artificial colon cleansing. A well-balanced diet with a good portion of soluble fiber—with lower fat and a calcium supplement—makes a happy colon."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Dannon must pay consumers up to $45 million in damages for falsely advertising the health benefits of its yogurt, under the terms of a class action settlement reached Tuesday in federal court in Cleveland.
Cleveland attorney John R. Climaco teamed with Frank Piscitelli Jr. and attorneys from California and Florida to win what he called the largest food product damage award ever: $45 million.
