Recently in Exercise Category

Antioxidants increasingly have been praised for their benefits against disease and aging, but recent studies at Kansas State University show that they also can cause harm.

Researchers in K-State's Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory have been studying how to improve oxygen delivery to the skeletal muscle during physical activity by using antioxidants, which are nutrients in foods that can prevent or slow the oxidative damage to the body. Their findings show that sometimes antioxidants can impair muscle function.

Antioxidant

"Antioxidant is one of those buzz words right now," said Steven Copp, a doctoral student in anatomy and physiology from Manhattan and a researcher in the lab. "Walking around grocery stores you see things advertised that are loaded with antioxidants.

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that the antioxidant and pro-oxidant balance is really delicate.

One of the things we've seen in our research is that you can't just give a larger dose of antioxidants and presume that there will be some sort of beneficial effect. In fact, you can actually make a problem worse."

David C. Poole and Timothy I. Musch, K-State professors from both the departments of kinesiology and anatomy and physiology, direct the Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory, located in the College of Veterinary Medicine complex. Researchers in the lab study the physiology of physical activity in health and disease through animal models. Copp and Daniel Hirai, an anatomy and physiology doctoral student from Manhattan working in the lab, have conducted various studies associated with how muscles control blood flow and the effects of different doses and types of antioxidants.

Abnormalities in the circulatory system

Abnormalities in the circulatory system, such as those that result from aging or a disease like chronic heart failure, can impair oxygen delivery to the skeletal muscle and increase fatigability during physical activity, Copp said. The researchers are studying the effects antioxidants could have in the process.

"If you have a person trying to recover from a heart attack and you put them in cardiac rehab, when they walk on a treadmill they might say it's difficult," Poole said. "Their muscles get sore and stiff. We try to understand why the blood cells aren't flowing properly and why they can't get oxygen to the muscles, as happens in healthy individuals."

Some of the oxidants in our body, such as hydrogen peroxide, are helpful to increase blood flow.

Copp said there is a potential for antioxidants to reverse or partially reverse some of those changes that result from aging or disease. However, K-State's studies have shown that some of the oxidants in our body, such as hydrogen peroxide, are helpful to increase blood flow.

"We're now learning that if antioxidant therapy takes away hydrogen peroxide - or other naturally occurring vasodilators, which are compounds that help open blood vessels - you impair the body's ability to deliver oxygen to the muscle so that it doesn't work properly," Poole said.

Antioxidants can actually suppress key signaling mechanisms that are necessary for muscle to function effectively.

Poole said antioxidants are largely thought to produce better health, but their studies have shown that antioxidants can actually suppress key signaling mechanisms that are necessary for muscle to function effectively.

"It's really a cautionary note that before we start recommending people get more antioxidants, we need to understand more about how they function in physiological systems and circumstances like exercise," Poole said.

Mobility for advancing age and diseases like heart failure

Hirai said the researchers will continue to explore antioxidants and the effects of exercise training. Their studies are looking at how these can help individuals combat the decreased mobility and muscle function that comes with advancing age and diseases like heart failure.

"The research we do here is very mechanistic in nature, and down the road our aim is to take our findings and make recommendations for diseased and aging populations," Copp said.

The researchers have published their recent findings in several journals, including the Journal of Applied Physiology, Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology, Microvascular Research, The American Journal of Physiology and Experimental Physiology.

The Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association and intramural awards from the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Despite a general belief among physicians that extreme obesity is too difficult to treat, except with bariatric surgery, researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center have learned a substantial proportion of individuals with extreme obesity can lose 10-percent or more of their body weight through medical treatment that does not include surgery.

10% Loss Improves Risk Factors and Health

Furthermore, even though those individuals are still obese, they have improvements in risk factors and other health markers.

Weight Loss Surgery Not Often Affordable or Reimbursed by Insurance

"This is important, because surgery is not often affordable or reimbursed by insurance," said leading scientist Dr. Donna Ryan. "In fact, many medical treatments are frequently not reimbursed by insurance if they are for obesity. So this research is needed to show that primary care doctors are capable of helping obese patients lose weight to improve health, even those with extreme obesity. "

Ryan said losing only five-percent of body weight can reap healthy benefits for the extremely obese, and nearly 61-percent of those in her clinical trial achieved that. More than 40-percent lost 10-percent body weight or more.

Physicians Trained in Intensive Medical Intervention

Ryan and her team spread out across Louisiana to recruit and train practicing physicians and their office staffs in eight cities in what she called "intensive medical intervention," in which physicians used a combination of medication, low-calorie diets and behavior changes. All of the techniques were endorsed by national guidelines for obesity management. Training of physicians and their staffs took about a day and a half.

Funded by the Louisiana Office of Group Benefits, which provides health coverage for state employees, the research team contacted state employees, seeking participants to screen for and enroll in the trial. Nearly 400 participants enrolled in the two-year trial, called LOSS, using the nearest trained physicians.

About half of the participants received the intensive medical intervention, the other half received what Ryan called "usual care." 

Program Starts with Low-calorie Liquid Diet

Those in the intense intervention group were immediately placed on a low-calorie liquid diet. They gradually moved to a low calorie, highly controlled diet using meal replacements, and received weight loss medication and group behavioral therapy that included lessons in exercise, activity, self-monitoring and recommendations for walking, water exercise and weight training. The group sessions were supervised by office staff.

Recommended Activities

• exercise
• activity
• self-monitoring
  
• recommendations for walking
• water exercise
  
• weight training

Success in Daily Routine of Doctor's Practice

"We conducted this trial as close to the reality of a typical clinic setting as we could," Ryan said, "We didn't want to learn just if these strategies worked, but if they would work in the daily routine of a doctor's practice."

Challenge of Keeping Weight Off

Ryan noted that the continual challenge in weight loss is keeping weight off, and that means sticking with a routine.

More than 50% of the LOSS participants stuck with it for two years or more, keeping much of the weight off, but Ryan said that does leave room for improving weight loss maintenance.

The LOSS trial results were published in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is a campus of the Louisiana State University System and conducts basic, clinical and population research.

What aerobic exercise does for your health

According to one of my favorite online health information sources, Mayo Clinic, physical activity is a "best practice" for everyone's health.

Regardless of age, weight or athletic ability, aerobic activity is good for you. As your body adapts to regular aerobic exercise, you'll get stronger and your body's organs get more efficient.

Consider these 10 ways that aerobic activity can help you feel better and enjoy life to the fullest.

Aerobic activity can help you:

1. Keep excess pounds at bay. Combine with a healthy diet to lose weight -- and keep it off.
2. Increase your stamina. But over the long term, you'll enjoy increased stamina and reduced fatigue.
3. Ward off viral illnesses. Aerobic exercise activates your immune system to ward off minor viral illnesses, such as colds and flu.
4. Reduce health risks. Aerobic exercise reduces the risk of many conditions, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as walking, reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
5. Manage chronic conditions. Aerobic exercise helps lower high blood pressure and control blood sugar.  
6. Strengthen your heart. A stronger heart also pumps blood more efficiently, which improves blood flow to all parts of your body.
7. Keep your arteries clear. Aerobic exercise can limit buildup of plaques in your arteries.
8. Boost your mood. Aerobic exercise can ease depression, anxiety and promote relaxation.
9. Stay active and independent as you get older. Aerobic exercise keeps your muscles strong, which can help you maintain mobility, keep your mind sharp and reduce cognitive decline in older adults.
10. Live longer. People who participate in regular aerobic exercise appear to live longer than those who don't exercise regularly.

Learn more at MayoClinic.com

Obesity and its cardiovascular complications affect many African Americans, according to background information in the October 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Standard behavioral treatments for obesity appear to be less successful in African Americans than in whites. Cultural modifications to these standard programs--such as the inclusion of family members and support networks--may enhance their effectiveness.

Enrolling in a weight loss program with a family member or friend appears to enhance weight loss among African Americans, but only if the involved partner attends sessions frequently or also loses weight, according to the report.

The goal of a University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine  study was to achieve and maintain a 5 percent to 10 percent weight loss.

Components of the program included counseling that encouraged self-monitoring of food intake and physical activity, distribution of pedometers, group sessions involving weight and activity checks and skill building, and community-based field workshops such as cooking demonstrations and gym visits.

Weight Loss Results

After 24 months, main participants had lost an average of 5.3 pounds. Participants in the two family groups initially had better attendance and greater weight loss than those in the individual group, but these changes were not statistically significant and decreased over time.

TIP: Personally tailored counseling sessions

However, participants whose partners attended more personally tailored counseling sessions had lost more weight at six months in the high-support group and at six, 12 and 24 months in the low-support group. 

TIP: Choose your partner carefully

In addition, those in both family groups whose partner lost at least 5 percent of their body weight had greater weight loss at six months than those whose partner lost less than 5 percent.

This study was funded by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Laboratory analyses were provided through a General Clinical Research Center Grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Center for Research Resources.

Source: Newswise, Inc

The changing face of American farming is feminine!

Women always played important roles on the family farm. They kept the books, milked the cows and fed the children, often juggling another part-time job while the men worked the fields. Sometimes, they ran the farm after their husbands or fathers died.

But increasingly, women such as Stinar are turning to farming on their own. According to the 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture released this year, more than one in every 10 U.S. farms is run by a woman. In Maryland, the number of farms in which a woman is the principal operator jumped 16 percent between 2002 and 2007. In Virginia, female-run farms also grew by 16 percent. (Source: Washington Post)

A growing number of female-focused farming organizations have popped up in Vermont, Connecticut and Maine. In Pennsylvania, membership in the Women's Agricultural Network, which is affiliated with Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, grew from 100 members in 2005 to 1,000 in 2008.

While men tend to run larger farms focused on such commodity crops as soybeans and wheat, women tend to run smaller, more specialized enterprises selling heirloom tomatoes and grass-fed beef to well-heeled, eco-conscious consumers. These smaller enterprises have gotten a boost from the popularity of farmers markets and programs in which people pay in advance to receive weekly produce baskets, as well as renewed consumer interest in buying locally.

Programs designed for small farms and urban farms include programs such as The Farm to Plate (F2P) Initiative.  They  direct the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, working in collaboration with the Sustainable Agriculture Council and other stakeholder groups, to develop a 10-year strategic plan to strengthen Vermont's farm and food sector.

Here are a few of the women's agriculture resources scattered across the US:

California farming organizations for women include:
California Women for Agriculture
www.cawomen4ag.com/

California Women for Agriculture Salinas Valley
Serving Monterey County regarding agricultural issues in the state and county, and helping with agriculture education and scholarships.
www.salinascwa.org/

Women on U.S. Farms Research Initiative
http://agwomen.aers.psu.edu
These vivid maps and reports make it easier to interpret the ways that American women are involved in farming.

Women and Sustainable Agriculture: Interviews with 14 Agents of Change
By Anna Anderson, 2004, McFarland Publishers
Farmers, researchers, and farm advocates--all the women in this book have dedicated their lives to improving the American food system.

Herstory: Women in Organic Agriculture
Summer 2002 CCOF Newsletter of California's certified organic farmers
www.ccof.org/archives.php

Changing the Way America Farms: Knowledge and Community in the Sustainable Agriculture Movement
By Neva Hassanein, 1999, University of Nebraska Press
Focusing on Wisconsin, this book explores the function and importance of social networks in the sustainable agriculture movement.

MaryJanes Farm
100 Wild Iris Lane, Moscow, ID 83843
888-750-6004;
www.maryjanesfarm.org
Talk about enterprising: here's a stylish magazine that combines home, garden, and farm tips with a catalog of organic farm products.

Women in Winegrowing Calendar
811 Jefferson Street, Napa, CA 94559
707-944-8311, www.napagrowers.org
The Napa Valley Grapegrowers have created a calendar that features 21 community and sustainable farming leaders.

Vermont Women's Agricultural Network
617 Comstock Road, Suite 5
Berlin, VT 05602
802-223-2389
www.uvm.edu/wagn

Maine Women's Agricultural Network
University of Maine Co-op Extension
24 Main Street
Lisbon Falls, Maine 04252
207-353-5550 or 1-800-287-1458
www.umaine.edu/umext/wagn

Pennsylvania Women's Agricultural Network
Pennsylvania State University
302 Armsby Building
University Park, PA 16802
http://wagn.cas.psu.edu

North Carolina State University has been in the forefront of sustainable agriculture at U.S. colleges.
Nancy Creamer, PhD, is director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), a 2,000-acre farm near Goldsboro. The research farm is a joint project of NCSU, NC, A&T University, the NC Department of Agriculture, the NC Farm Stewardship Association, and other organizations, farmers, and citizens.

Kristin Reynolds is a research assistant at the University of California Small Farm Center and one of the writers of Outstanding in Their Fields: California's Women Farmers

ATTRA is funded through the USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service and is a project of the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT),

Show Me The Honey!

"Show me the honey" could very well be the mantra for athletes engaging in endurance sports.

"I recommend honey--honey should be part of a good refueling strategy," nationally renowned nutritionist and fitness expert Liz Applegate of the University of California, Davis, told beekeepers and scientists at the 31st annual Western Apicultural Society conference held recently in Healdsburg.

"I always have my athletes consume honey before and during strenuous exercise," said Applegate, director of sports nutrition at UC Davis and the nutritionist for the Oakland Raiders.

"Honey works," she said.

Applegate, a member of the UC Davis Department of Nutrition faculty, and a newly announced recipient of the 2009 UC Davis Distinguished Teaching Award, explained that the body manufactures and stores glycogen primarily in the liver (glycogen is found in lower concentrations in the muscles). During strenuous exercise, the liver depletes the short-term energy storage of glycogen in about two hours. "If you don't replenish it, it's like a runner hitting the wall or bonking," Applegate said.

"There's no glycogen in any food we eat," said Applegate, herself an athlete who lifts weights, runs and cycles.

Honey, a rich source of carbohydrates, "provides a quick source of energy," she said. It's easy to carry (in packets), easy to consume (no chewing), easy to digest and is easily assimilated. Plus, it tastes good, is inexpensive and easily obtainable, she noted.

Applegate outlined a "carbohydrate feeding scheme" for prolonged endurance events, such as marathon. The marathoner should drink an eight-ounce sport drink at mile 6; consume two tablespoons of honey at mile 12; consumer apple slices and an eight-ounce sport drink at mile 17; and an eight-ounce sport drink at mile 21, for a total of 115 grams of carbohydrates.

Basically, the long-endurance athlete should drink 1/2 to 3/4 cup every 15 to 20 minutes; consume 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates every hour or 100 calories every half hour, and use water, sport drink, fitness waters, energy bars, carb gels and fruit, she said.

"Honey has a positive feel. There's a lot of potential in using honey."

However, Applegate said, there are few, if any, commercial honey-based sports drinks on the market. A few companies, such as Odwalla, sweeten their energy bars with honey. She encouraged her audience to come up with ideas and products for the athletes and others who want quick energy bursts.

"Some athletes eat rice with honey, as both are easy to digest," Applegate said.

Unlike most other sweeteners, honey contains small amounts of a wide array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants collected from the flowers that bees visit. The list includes niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. Honey is also considered an effective antimicrobial agent, used to treat minor burns and scrapes and to soothe sore throats; and as a beauty agent, according to Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and the 2008-09 president of the Western Apicultural Society.

More than 300 different kinds of honey are found worldwide. The color, flavor and fragrance are closely linked to the bees' floral visits

Applegate, highly sought as a keynote speaker at industry, athletic and scientific meetings, serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism; is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine; and a member of the Sports and Cardiovascular Nutritionists, a practice group of the American Dietetics Association. She also writes the popular "Fridge Wisdom" nutrition column for Runner's World magazine.

A graduate of UC Davis with two degrees, she holds a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and a doctorate in nutrition science. Her enthusiasm and informal style make her undergraduate nutrition classes the nation's largest with enrollments exceeding 2,000 annually. She has as many as 650 in each class.

What Science Says About Beach Sand and Stomach Aches

By washing your hands after digging in beach sand, you could greatly reduce your risk of ingesting bacteria that could make you sick. In new research, scientists have determined that, although beach sand is a potential source of bacteria and viruses, hand rinsing may effectively reduce exposure to microbes that cause gastrointestinal illnesses.

"Our mothers were right! Cleaning our hands before eating really works, especially after handling sand at the beach," said Dr. Richard Whitman, the lead author of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study. "Simply rinsing hands may help reduce risk, but a good scrubbing is the best way to avoid illness."

Scientists measured how many E. coli bacteria could be transferred to people's hands when they dug in sand.

They analyzed sand from the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago. Using past findings on illness rates, scientists found that if individuals were to ingest all of the sand and the associated biological community retained on their fingertip, 11 individuals in 1000 would develop symptoms of gastrointestinal illness.  Ingestion of all material on the entire hand would result in 33 of 1000 individuals developing gastrointestinal illness.

In a further laboratory experiment, USGS scientists determined that submerging one's hands four times in clean water removed more than 99% of the E. coli and associated viruses from the hands.

In recent years, USGS scientists have discovered that concentrations of E. coli bacteria in beach sand are often much higher than those in beach water.

Beach SAND is not monioried for E. coli 

Follow-up research at beaches around the nation by many scientists has resulted in similar findings, although the amount of bacteria in sand varies depending on the beach.  Although beach water is monitored for E. coli as mandated in the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act 2000), beach sand is not currently monitored for contamination.

Recent analysis of seven beaches across the nation by the University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that beachgoers digging in sand were more likely to develop gastrointestinal illness after a day at the beach compared to those not digging in sand. The association with these illnesses was even stronger for individuals who reported being partially covered up in sand. 

Because children played in the sand more frequently and were more likely to get sand in their mouths, they were more likely to develop gastrointestinal illness after a day at the beach.

"The excess illnesses we observed among those exposed to sand generally consisted of mild gastrointestinal symptoms, but it is a good idea to be sure to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer after digging or playing in the sand," said Chris Heaney, lead author of the UNC study.

E. coli is an indicator of recent sewage contamination and if it is present, pathogens harmful to human health are also likely present.  The origin of these bacteria is often unknown. They can persist throughout the swimming season, remaining a potential contamination source to beach visitors.

Results of these studies highlight the need to intensify efforts to determine sources of microbial contamination to beaches and associated risk of playing in beach sand.

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

These are not politically correct suggestions!  They are the result of asking why little things like not using bottled water or plastic bags have taken over our imagination.  We need some big solutions for some really big problems. 

We're using FOUR times the natural resources as other folks in the world.  We would need TWO to FOUR planets for everyone to keep pace with our western "lifestyle" choices.  So...we need FOUR X the solutions!  How about these as a starting point for discussion:

Top Ten Things YOU can do to reduce climate change, gluttony, lawlessness, violence, over population...etc. etc. etc.

1. Green your job - be an inside champion to find solutions to green your decisions, purchases, facilities, and company policies.  Business decisions have SO much more leverage than your decisions at home (but don't neglect home, either)

2. Cut the number of children you have to one or none. And encourage young family members to think before they cut the condom.
 
3. Cut down the amount you eat...and eat healthy foods only. Skinny people are healthier.

4. Get exercise by walking where you need to go. If it's too far to walk, use the phone or internet.  At least most of the time.  Reduce your mileage by 80%.

5. Reduce water consumption for bathing, irrigation.  Bird baths work fine on odd days and desk jockey, lazy days. 

6. Use shared transportation as much as absolutely friggin' possible.  You'll  learn a lot about people!  And we need some new and improved people skills! 

7. Buy green, energy efficient products made as locally as possible.  Transportation of all the parts and assembled sub parts and supplies and retail distribution and landfill graveyards add up to a huge number of miles.  Just cut the krap.

8. Build mutually sustainable, positive relationships with everyone in your family, tribe and community.  What we want and need and desire most is human friendship and companionship. So just go for it without all the faldaral.  Shake. Cuddle. Smile. Be nice!

9. Abide by our cultural structure of laws.  Be a good citizen and allow others to live up to their potential as well. A nation of laws cannot survive if it's so corrupt that honest men and women can't make a living.  Enuf said?

10.  Enjoy laughter, joy, natural wonders, people, the arts, and simple pleasures - they pollute less, use less and produce more happiness than any manufactured gadgets!

When we get to this point, we'll all be so happy we won't need gadgets and renewable energy and electric cars and recyclable bottle caps.  We'll be responsible about living and breathing and making a real home and a real community and a real world that can survive our onslaught.  We'll actually be happy.  Simply happy.