Monday, September 17, 2007
Probably Not Good For Your Children
Parents are big on protecting their kids from all kinds of (real and imagined) threats, but they don't always have complete control, and they don't always get it right when they do.
Most parents would agree that sugary sodas are bad for you, and that their kids probably should drink few, if any, of them. The Washington Post reports that school vending machines have been selling fewer and fewer sodas to kids in the last couple of years; this is great news and a triumph for parents and kids health advocates, except for that last nagging detail: what kids are drinking instead.
Parents often substitute fruit juice for sodas, on the logic that fruit is good and natural and has vitamins in. The problem, of course, is that in the US at least, most commercial juices as packed every bit as full of high-fructose corn syrup as are sodas. Even no-sugar-added juices are still, for the most part, just empty high-glycemic-index calories - they have negligible amounts of real vitamins that kids don't get elsewhere (vitamin C is everywhere, and Americans get plenty of it), and no fiber or protein to speak of.
Even worse is the diet soda issue. HFCS is terrible for kids, but aspartame and sucralose can't be much better (aside from the dubious record of sweeteners for general health, there's evidence that they also screw up the body's ability to 'count calories'). So kids should probably stick to water and limited amounts of 100% juice. Which is fantastic news for the beverage people, since the profit margin for bottled water has gotta be off the charts, even compared to soda.
On the topic of hyper children, a second study has found that French maritime pine extract Pycnogenol appears to alter stress hormone levels and help control ADHD in kids. This is really interesting news, but one wonders about the long-term effects of suppressing your kids endocrine system. Also, I wonder if it might also be helpful in treating depression, which involves many of the same hormones.
Most parents would agree that sugary sodas are bad for you, and that their kids probably should drink few, if any, of them. The Washington Post reports that school vending machines have been selling fewer and fewer sodas to kids in the last couple of years; this is great news and a triumph for parents and kids health advocates, except for that last nagging detail: what kids are drinking instead.
Parents often substitute fruit juice for sodas, on the logic that fruit is good and natural and has vitamins in. The problem, of course, is that in the US at least, most commercial juices as packed every bit as full of high-fructose corn syrup as are sodas. Even no-sugar-added juices are still, for the most part, just empty high-glycemic-index calories - they have negligible amounts of real vitamins that kids don't get elsewhere (vitamin C is everywhere, and Americans get plenty of it), and no fiber or protein to speak of.
Even worse is the diet soda issue. HFCS is terrible for kids, but aspartame and sucralose can't be much better (aside from the dubious record of sweeteners for general health, there's evidence that they also screw up the body's ability to 'count calories'). So kids should probably stick to water and limited amounts of 100% juice. Which is fantastic news for the beverage people, since the profit margin for bottled water has gotta be off the charts, even compared to soda.
On the topic of hyper children, a second study has found that French maritime pine extract Pycnogenol appears to alter stress hormone levels and help control ADHD in kids. This is really interesting news, but one wonders about the long-term effects of suppressing your kids endocrine system. Also, I wonder if it might also be helpful in treating depression, which involves many of the same hormones.
Labels: ADHD, artifical ingredients, diet, endocrinology, health, hormones, kids, obesity, Pycnogenol, soda, sugar
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Fat Sack
We are, if you believe the hype, in the midst of a great and terrifying obesity epidemic. Hell, even if you don't believe the hype, a trip to your local shopping mall (especially if you live in the South or Midwest) will provide all the evidence you need. The question then is: why is it happening, and what can we do about it?
Understanding the why can lead to the what-to-do. On top of my list, besides our increasingly-sedentary society, is fructose sweeteners. In the US especially (due to ridiculous sugar tariffs designed to guarantee votes from Cubans in Florida), almost any food you buy is laced with high fructose corn syrup.
Besides being a source of boundless empty calories, new research further confirms that this crap is actively bad for you: compared to glucose-sweetened drinks, volunteers drinking fructose-sweetened ones had increased LDL ('bad') cholesterol, triglycerides, and other measures of atherosclerosis risk. This is why I read labels and avoid the stuff.
What else makes people fat? Stress! Georgetown researchers confirmed that chronically stressed mice got fatter, and put the fat in more unhealthy places (around the abdomen) than did non-stressed mice, and that Neuropeptide Y appears to be a major culprit in this pathway. Blocking NPY made fat cells shrink and excess fat 'melt' away. Ignoring the likely side-effects, where's my anti-NPY?!!
So, if you wanna lose weight: stop eating fructose-sweetened food, be less stressed, and, oh yeah, GET SOME EXERCISE!!!!
On a tangentially-related note, it turns out that those 'probiotic' yogurt thingeys, containing Lactobacillus casei, L bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus, really do reduce your risk of getting diarrhea after antibiotic treatment. Cool!
Understanding the why can lead to the what-to-do. On top of my list, besides our increasingly-sedentary society, is fructose sweeteners. In the US especially (due to ridiculous sugar tariffs designed to guarantee votes from Cubans in Florida), almost any food you buy is laced with high fructose corn syrup.
Besides being a source of boundless empty calories, new research further confirms that this crap is actively bad for you: compared to glucose-sweetened drinks, volunteers drinking fructose-sweetened ones had increased LDL ('bad') cholesterol, triglycerides, and other measures of atherosclerosis risk. This is why I read labels and avoid the stuff.
What else makes people fat? Stress! Georgetown researchers confirmed that chronically stressed mice got fatter, and put the fat in more unhealthy places (around the abdomen) than did non-stressed mice, and that Neuropeptide Y appears to be a major culprit in this pathway. Blocking NPY made fat cells shrink and excess fat 'melt' away. Ignoring the likely side-effects, where's my anti-NPY?!!
So, if you wanna lose weight: stop eating fructose-sweetened food, be less stressed, and, oh yeah, GET SOME EXERCISE!!!!
On a tangentially-related note, it turns out that those 'probiotic' yogurt thingeys, containing Lactobacillus casei, L bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus, really do reduce your risk of getting diarrhea after antibiotic treatment. Cool!
Labels: antibiotics, cholesterol, diet, endocrinology, fat, health, NPY, obesity, science, stress
