Fad diets may not be all that bad

Posted by Charles Waisbren on July 29, 2015 at 12:00 PM

Fad diets do indeed get a bad rap.  In fact, I feel that what they really do is help "jump start" you on the way to a healthier diet.  Fad diets are like diving into the pool before you start to swim.  Once you get into the water, it is easier to start your strokes.  A fad diet gets us off our usual consumption of excessive foods and initiates a different eating routine.  I vote yes to any and all changes from what has gotten us overweight.

   If drinking protein drinks and eating fruits and vegetables for a couple of weeks is going to jump start your motivation to overhaul your eating regimen, then go for it.

 

Great benefits from early to bed; early to rise

Posted by Charles Waisbren on July 26, 2015 at 3:29 PM

I have been preaching this to my family for years.  There are great benefits from going to bed early and arising early.  You tend to sleep more deeply and for sure you actually get more total hours of restorative sleep without the interruption of that obnoxious alarm. Upon awakening (often when the "non converts" are still sleeping), there is wonderful quiet time to read and have a leisurely breakfast.

Recently, reader Bob asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. Unfortunately, there are none, that I know of.

However, there are a ton of other great benefits.

 

 

Strengthen core to reduce back pain

Posted by Charles Waisbren on July 22, 2015 at 12:00 PM

Oh, our aching back....  The old body isn't what it used to be.  The answer to why our back hurts lies in our wall mirror: our sagging middle.  With age, abdominal muscles atrophy and hence don't provide the support that they used to.  Our back muscles get overwhelmed by trying to compensate.  As we age, we need to fight back!

So you don’t want to go on high blood pressure pills

Posted by Charles Waisbren on July 15, 2015 at 12:00 PM

The ball is in your court.  Weight loss and sodium restriction are the backbone of nonpharmacologic therapies to treat high blood pressures.  Medications can indeed be avoided but not without lifestyle changes.  Some new alternative approaches to hypertension might have a place in our armamentarium as well.

The most effective treatment for knee osteoarthritis

Posted by Charles Waisbren on July 08, 2015 at 12:00 PM

Yup….  Our old knees ache.  The most effective way to relieve our pain when “push comes to shove” are injections of hyaluronic acid or corticosteroids.  This requires having a needle inserted into our knee joint and being injected with one of these substances.  The good news is that knee injections often are able to relieve our pain for a significant period of time.   The bad news is: who wants to be injected?

One alcoholic drink a day lowers risk of heart failure

Posted by Charles Waisbren on July 01, 2015 at 3:15 PM

Sign me up!  It looks like moderate consumption of alcohol might actually be good for you.  The idea that moderate drinking protects against cardiovascular disease makes sense biologically and scientifically. Moderate amounts of alcohol raise levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or “good” cholesterol), and higher HDL levels are associated with greater protection against heart disease.

Weight training vs. treadmill: Which burns more fat?

Posted by Charles Waisbren on June 16, 2015 at 11:30 AM

The bottom line here is you can be thin and blubbery.  Indeed, diet and aerobic exercise is the best pathway to be thin. For sure you lose more weight with a careful diet and aerobic exercise over diet and weight training.   However, for trimming abdominal fat, that ghastly collection of lipids by our belly, weight lifting is more effective in burning the middle away. 

Sugar vs inactivity: Which causes obesity?

Posted by Charles Waisbren on June 10, 2015 at 11:34 AM

All day in the office, I hear the excuse of “being unable to get to the gym” as the reason for an inadvertent weight gain.  Nonsense!  It is all in the intake.  Biking for 40 minutes burns 230 calories.  That isn’t even a bagel with cream cheese.  When you are gaining weight, you have to reassess your intake.  When you want to drop weight, you have to dramatically reduce your intake.  Indeed, it is just that simple.