World AIDS Day—There’s Still Work to Be Done

December 01, 2008

December 1 is World AIDS Day. This year’s annual event has special significance given that it is the 20^th World AIDS Day as well as the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS. We have made tremendous progress over the last two decades in fighting HIV/AIDS – the disease has gone from a death sentence to essentially a chronic disease. Think about it – you don’t often hear anymore about people dying of AIDS. Rather, people with AIDS are dying of diseases like heart disease, stroke, and cancer. In a weird way, that represents progress.

Despite these successes, AIDS remains a disease that has significant impact on society. Over 1 million people are living with HIV, and there are over 56,000 new cases a year. By the time you finish reading this posting, someone will be infected with HIV.

That Milkshake Has How Many Calories???!

October 21, 2008

If you’re watching your weight, you might be interested in a new law just passed in California. Starting next year, chain restaurants will have to print the calorie content of their foods in brochures for customers. And beginning in 2011, they’ll have to post calorie counts right on the menu. That means the 500 calories in that fruit smoothie or the 600 calories in a muffin will be staring you in the face when you order.

What’s the point, beyond the shock value? Some people think it’s a bad law. They say the government should stay out of our food choices. Others say we all need better information to make educated choices about our food. You may not know that New York City passed a similar law a few months ago, and guess what? All of a sudden the low-cal choices were so popular, restaurants started running out of them! I have to confess that on a recent trip to NYC, I opted out of the blueberry muffin when I saw how many calories it had as well as its fat content. I opted for a bran muffin instead – and it was actually better than I thought. I probably would not have made that choice if those numbers were not literally in my face!

It’s too soon to know whether New Yorkers have lost weight thanks to their law, or whether Californians will get skinnier thanks to theirs. But here’s why knowing those calories might be good for your diet:

• You might be underestimating the calories in the food you’re served. When asked about restaurant foods like a burger and fries or pasta with cheese sauce, people in one study misjudged by hundreds of calories!
• Fast food often has more calories than the same dishes cooked at home. Extra fat and sugar make foods taste good. And at many restaurant chains, the folks are sometimes more interested in cost and preparation time than in making things low-cal or healthy. In the past, they also were concerned that "healthier" choices would not sell.
• Foods that look healthy aren’t always diet-friendly. A vanilla milkshake (my favorite kind!) at one popular chain restaurant has about the same number of calories as a cheeseburger and fries.

Even if your local restaurants aren’t required to post calories, you might notice that some are getting on board. Yum Brands—the company behind KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s, Taco Bell, and A&W—will put calories on the menu starting this year, not just in California but nationwide.

Of course, if you’re trying to stay healthy, the calorie count isn’t the only thing you need to know. Keep an eye on fat content and try to get plenty of fruits and veggies. Don’t go too low on the calories in a meal, either, or you might wind up so hungry that you’ll overeat later. To get a rough idea of the calories you need each day, try the calorie counter provided by Discovery Health.

Related Links:

About Dr. John Whyte

Join the National Body Challenge FREE!

Watch Video of Expert Advice on Health & Nutrition

Find Healthy (and TASTY!) Recipes

Strength Training

August 16, 2007

I was thinking recently about how we talk about weight.  We say things like, "I've put on a few pounds," or "He's carrying a little extra around the middle."  Well, as long as you're carrying all that weight around, why not use it to help you lose it? 

Seriously!  You don’t need anything but your own body weight to build up muscles and lose that extra flab.  The trick is, you’ve got to move weight to lose weight.

One part of moving that weight is aerobic exercise, the running, biking, swimming, and other vigorous movement that we all know we should do.  Aerobic exercise is important for a healthy heart and lungs, and it burns plenty of calories.  But I’m talking about another kind of exercise, one that you can do in your spare time without a single piece of equipment.  When I say "move weight," I'm talking about strength training.

Strength training means exercises that are meant to build and strengthen muscles.  It can include weightlifting and resistance training with weight machines or heavy rubber bands.  You don’t have to hit the gym to do it, though.  Strength training also includes exercises that use your own body to make your body better.  Push-ups use your own weight to add muscle to your arms, shoulders, and chest.  Squats build thigh muscles and firm your backside by balancing and lifting the weight of your torso.  Calf raises shape your lower legs using nothing but the pounds you carry around every day.

Another great thing about using your own weight to lose weight is that you can do it just about anywhere, any time.  Need a break at work?  Try a few standing pushups:  place your hands flat against a wall, bend your elbows to lean in, and then slowly push back out again.  Got a few minutes to spare after breakfast?  Use the kitchen counter to do some squats.  Hold on to the counter for balance, place your feet about a foot apart, then bend your knees and slowly lower your backside toward the ground.  Go as low as you can (without actually sitting) and then slowly stand up again.  Can’t get all the way down?  Don’t worry!  Every bit you can do counts.

What are the benefits of strength training?  First of all, building up your muscles changes your metabolism.  You’ll use calories more efficiently when you have a higher ratio of muscle to fat.  Strength training increases your bone mineral density, which will help ward off osteoporosis.  It raises your endurance, which means you can be more active for longer periods without feeling tired.  It gives you better balance, it makes you stronger, and it makes you look better, too.  A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat.  As you gain muscle and shrink fat, you can actually lose inches off your waist and thighs.

So get that weight moving, and keep reminding yourself:  You’ve got to move it to lose it!

Related Links:

About Dr. John Whyte

National Body Challenge

Nutrition Advice from Discovery Health Experts

Green is Good For You

July 26, 2007

“Going green” helps keep the planet healthy, but what can it do for you?  It’s true that turning off the air conditioner and recycling your trash don’t have immediate health benefits.  But keeping an eye on the environment can be good for your body, too. Going green can help reduce your risk of cancer, protect your heart, trim your waistline, and even make you happier!

Drive less, walk more.  Why it’s green:  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, by leaving your car at home twice a week you can prevent about 1,600 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.  Why it’s good for you:  Walking or biking to work is a great way to get more exercise into your day.  Even if you take public transportation, you’re still walking more than if you drove your car door to door.  People who exercise regularly have lower blood pressure, less risk of diabetes, and a lower risk of colon cancer than people with sedentary lifestyles.  Exercise is also a proven way to fight depression.

Think globally, eat locally.  Why it’s green:  Eating local means choosing foods that were produced nearby.  A lot of what’s at your grocery store was trucked in from out of state or out of the country, burning fossil fuels all the way.  By shopping at your local farmer’s market, you can cut out that long-distance step.  Why it’s good for you:  Just-picked fruits and veggies taste better than most of what you’ll find at the grocery store, which makes it easier to get your five servings a day.  Plus, if you’re shopping at the farmer’s market, you won’t be tempted by high-fat snacks, sugary sodas, or the candy aisle.

Cook for yourself.  Why it’s green:  Frozen dinners come in a plastic tray, in a plastic wrapper, in a cardboard box.  That’s a lot of trash for just one meal!  Cooking from scratch creates substantially less waste.  Why it’s good for you:  In additional to all that packaging, convenience foods tend to be heavy on salt, which can contribute to high blood pressure, and on unhealthy saturated fats, which are thought to raise LDL or “bad” cholesterol.  When you cook for yourself, you control the ingredients.

Eat your veggies.  Why it’s green:  Growing fruits and vegetables is easier on the planet than growing cattle.  A rib-eye steak takes about eighteen times more fossil fuel energy to produce than the same amount of protein from grain.  Why it’s good for you:  A diet low in red meat and high in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products has been proven to help control high blood pressure.  You don’t have to cut out meat entirely.  Just aim for small servings of lean meat or poultry (6 ounces per day) along with other healthy foods.

Related Links:

About Dr. John Whyte

Wellness Center

Get Fresh with Sara Snow

Do You Have to Do it Yourself?

July 18, 2007

Maybe it started with all of the “Do it yourself” reality television programs.  Or maybe it began when Home Depot and Lowes started popping up on every street corner. No matter the reason, it has become clear that more and more of you want to “Do it yourself.”  Of course there is something very satisfying about admiring the new shutters that you, yourself, put on the front of your home.  And there is a sense of pride that comes with telling your neighbor, “I put the sauna in the bathroom all in one day.”  But there is more to doing it yourself than the finished product.  For many, there is a trip to the hospital. 

Most of you are not thinking about the possibility of injury when you decide to take on a home improvement project.  You might be thinking of how nice it will be to finally get started on those roof repairs and about the money you will save by not hiring a professional.  But the truth is that you won’t be finishing the roof anytime soon and you definitely won’t be saving any money if you land yourself in the hospital!  The take home message here is that home improvement projects are not without risk of serious injury.  Just ask the two million people who ended up in the emergency room for ladder related injuries from 1990 to 2005.  The same study that published those numbers found that nearly all of those who reported the locale of their injury were at home when they got hurt!

If your heart is set on a “Do it yourself” task, try to make the endeavor as safe as possible.  Before you begin the project, plan carefully so that you know exactly what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.  And if you aren’t sure, take advantage of the (often free) workshops that many of the home improvement stores offer.  Also, if you are doing a project that will turn your house into a construction site for a few weeks, block off the area so that others in the house will not stumble across a potentially hazardous situation.

Finally, although it may be very satisfying to “Do it yourself,” keep in mind that you don’t have to.  There are people who are specially trained to clean your gutters and finish your basement.  They know exactly what to do and how to do it.  That is why we pay them—so that we, unharmed, can enjoy our new kitchen cabinets and our new backyard patio.  And no, you may not be able to brag to your neighbors about doing these things all by yourself.  But you will still be able to admire the work.  You just won’t have to admire it from the back of an ambulance.

Related Links:

About Dr. John Whyte

Dr. G Talks about Men and Injuries

Signs and Symptoms of a Head Injury