Call for your Health

Evidence has been accumulating during the last decade, showing a positive relationship between dynamic resistance training and health enhancement. Weight training (exercising the major muscles of the body at an intensity level of 70% to 90% of maximum strength) rather than weight lifting (lifting maximum loads in power or olympic style) has produced these changes. Very recent studies have shown that cardiac patients can benefit from appropriately planned weight training programs. Although weight training had always been considered too dangerous for cardiac patients, 25 cardiac patients participated in 3 years of circuit weight training. As a group, they had a 24% increase in strength and a 12% increase in cardiorespiratory endurance.Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by the deterioration of bone, which ultimately leads to bones that are so fragile that they fracture at the slightest provocation. Women are much more susceptible than men to this diseases. Women can protect the integrity of the skeletal system by maintaining a normal menstrual status, by being adequately nourished, and by participating regularly in an exercise program that includes weight training.

Cardiorespiratory development should be the focal point of a physical fitness program. However, it should not be the only component. Evidence has steadily mounted during the last decade regarding the growing importance of muscular development for fitness, health, and aesthetic purposes.The body contains more than 600 muscles, and 65% of these are located above the waist. All muscles, regardless of location, respond to the physiological law of use and disuse. “Use it or lose it” is an axiom that applies to all human beings during every phase of the life cycle. Americans tend to become more sedentary as they age. The declining stimulation results in a progressive shrinking and weakening of the muscles.

With few exceptions, notably cross-country skiing, rowing, and swimming, aerobic activities provide limited stimulation of upper body musculature. Sedentary living neglects the muscular system entirely and accelerates the loss of muscle tissue and body strength. The need for resistance training was illustrated in a study of runners during a 10 year period. Runners who did no resistance training suffered muscle atrophy in their upper bodies while maintaining muscle size in their legs. Their arms, which received little stimulation from jogging, decreased in circumference.

The loss of muscle tissue leads to a predictable loss in muscle strength. By the age of 74, 28% of american men and 65% of american women cannot lift objects that weigh more than 10 pounds. Because of this limitation, everyday functions taken for granted by the young become physical challenges, including opening bottle caps and jar lids, carrying groceries, and climbing stairs. If muscle atrophy progresses unabated, walking without assistance or an aid becomes very difficult if not impossible and the likelihood of falling increases.

Strength remains essentially unaffected to approximately 45 years of age and then declines by 5% to 10% per decade thereafter. On the average, people lose 40% of their muscle mass and 30% of their strength by the time they reach the age of 70. The aging process itself is responsible for only minor changes in the ability of muscles to generate tension. Inactivity, which results in muscle atrophy (loss of muscle mass), is the major contributor to the loss of strength as people age.

Resistance training ideally begins during middle or late adolescence and continues throughout life, but starting at any age provides significant benefit if training is done properly. For example, 12 weeks of weight training increased the strength and size of the exercised muscles in men aged 60 to 72. Strength training also improved the ability of the trained muscles of these older people to use oxygen. Even frail men and women with an average age of 90 years responded positively to 8 weeks of resistance training. These very old subjects averaged a 174% increase in strength and a 9% increase in muscle size. After training, they walked a specified course 48% faster than they could previously. Two subjects discarded their walking canes and walked unassisted. Of three subjects who could not rise from a chair without using their arms before training, two of them were able to accomplish this feat after training.

The same research team expanded on this study by including more subjects (100, average age 87 years), by increasing the number of resistance exercises performed, and by increasing the length of the training program to 10 weeks. Muscle strength increased dramatically, muscle mass by 3%, walking speed by 12%, and stair climbing by 28%.

These studies indicate that the muscular systems of older people are indeed trainable. Improving or maintaining muscle strength enhances mobility and independence during the later years. Cessation of training leads to physical decline at all age levels. Four weeks of detraining led to substantial decreases in maximum strength.

Nutritive Sweeteners

Sweeteners that provide calories, or food energy, are considered nutritive sweeteners. Each one provides about the same number of calories per gram. Sugars occur naturally in fruits, vegetables, honey, and milk. They are the building blocks of complex carbohydrates, such as starch. All carbohydrates must be broken down into usable energy blood sugar which is also called glucose. This occurs in the digestive tract or the liver.

Non nutritive Sweeteners

Non nutritive sweeteners do not contribute any food energy to the diet. The most widely used non nutritive sweetener is saccharin. It is approximately 300 times as sweet as sucrose and is colorless, odorless, and water soluble. Americans consume nearly 25 pounds of non nutritive sweeteners per year. This is an increase of 20 pounds per person since 1973.

Cyclamate is another non nutritive sweetener. It is 30 times sweeter than sucrose and has no aftertaste. The disadvantage of cyclamate is that it was linked with cancer and banned from the marketplace by the food and drug administration (FDA) in the late 1960s. The delaney clause, the 1958 food additives amendment of the pure food and drug act, prevents the addition of compounds that have been shown to cause cancer. Although recent studies do not prove that cyclamate causes cancer, there are still sufficient concerns to keep it from being reapproved.

Acesulfame (Sunette) is the most recent sweeteners to be introduced. It was approved by the FDA in 1988 for use in chewing gum, powdered drink mixes, puddings, and nondairy creamers. It is 200 times sweeter than sucrose, it contributes no calories because it is not broken down by the body.

Does the use of artificial or intense sweeteners lead to weight reduction? Or, do they actually increase hunger and lead to weight gain? A summary report 46 of published studies reveals mixed results. Studies involving young children (2 to 5 years old) and normal weight young men show that they compensate for any reduction in calorie consumption by eating more. For example, in one study of young men, researchers reduced the caloric content of lunch by 400 calories, largely by substituting aspartame for sugar. The young men made up for their caloric deficit on every day of the study, and their daily energy intakes remained constant despite their reduced calorie lunches. In contrast, other studies show that older children and lean or overweight women don’t compensate much when artificial sweeteners are used. In one study, a 400 calorie deficit at breakfast led to a 110 calorie increase at lunch, with no further compensation the rest of the day. In another study of obese and lean women, those who ate lower calorie breakfasts had lower total energy intakes at the end of the day. In still another study of 19 to 50 year old women, the use of intense sweeteners, such as those found in no calorie soft drinks, was associated with a drop of 165 calories in energy intake each day. These studies indicate that low calorie compensation is influenced by the body’s inherent need for energy. People who require more energy compensate for low caloric intake by eating more, people who require less energy (overweight adults) don’t compensate by eating more.

Although a consensus opinion about the relationship between artificial sweeteners, hunger, and body weight has yet to emerge, there is no evidence that the consumption of intense or artificial sweeteners leads to weight gain. Neither can it be proved conclusively that it leads to weight loss. There are no hard data on how many people might become overweight if low calorie foods were not available.

Other Common Nutritive Sweeteners

Included in this group of sweeteners are corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sugar alcohols, and aspartame. Corn syrup is often used in foods as a partial or complete replacement for sucrose (table sugar) because it is less sweet and provides texture. High fructose corn syrup is sweeter than sucrose and is the main nutritive sweetener in soft drinks. Because it is sweeter, it can be used in smaller quantities, which results in a slightly lower calorie product. Sugar alcohols, such as sorbitol, are less sweet than sucrose and are used to add texture to hard candies and gums. Aspartame, which is marketed as nutrasweet, has about the same number of calories as sucrose but is 180 to 220 times as sweet. Therefore only a small amount is needed to sweeten products. The taste of aspartame is similar to that of sucrose, and it leaves no aftertaste. Because aspartame is derived partially from the amino acid phenylalanine, products containing it must be labeled to warn individuals who have the inherited disease phenyl ketonuria.

An estimated 8 of every 10 Americans will suffer a back injury sometime during their lives. It is the most common symptomatic complaint for both genders in the 25- to 60-year-old age group when visiting a physician’s office. The estimated annual cost of medical care for low back pain is approximately $13 billion.The high incidence of low back pain may be primarily attributed to mechanical factors,s including excess weight, poor posture, and lack of physical fitness. Most low back pain involves muscle and ligament strain and inflamed joints along the vertebral column. Some injuries involve disks that herniated or tear, resulting in the gel like inner substance escaping and exerting pressure on the spinal nerves. Back pain also occurs as a result of injuries sustained from accidents, falls, lifting objects incorrectly, participation in sports, arthritis, and osteoporosis.

Approximately 90% of all back problems occur in the lumbar region of the spine. The spinal column consists of bones (the vertebrae) and represents the only bony connection between the upper and lower halves of the body. Located between the bones of the spine are rings of tough fibrous tissue, the disks, which act as shock absorbers and keep the vertebrae from rubbing against each other. The spinal column is shaped and consists of three naturally occurring curves. When these three curves are balanced, the body weight is evenly distributed and movement occurs fluidly. Misalignment in this region applies substantial stress to the concave, or inner, side of the curve. The more pronounced the curve, the greater the stress because of the uneven distribution of weight on the bones and disks.

Being overweight stresses the low back through excess weight that pulls the spinal column forward, accentuating the lumbar curve and putting pressure on the disks. Research indicates that weak abdominal muscles and lack of flexibility in the lower back and hamstring muscles promote fatigue and poor posture. Fatigue also causes the pelvis to tilt forward, increasing stress on the spinal column and its supporting structures. Wearing high heeled shoes tilts the pelvis forward, causing discomfort or pain in the low back.

Stress may be a factor in inducing or prolonging low back pain. Muscles that are under constant tension result in tightness and fatigue in the low back. Exercises that develop and strengthen the abdominal muscles and those that stretch the low back and hamstrings are invaluable in preventing low back pain. Exercise also contributes to weight control, is an excellent stress reducer generally and specifically for the muscles exercised, and develops the antigravity muscles the calves, front and back of the thighs, hips, back, and abdominal’s, thereby contributing to correct posture.

If a back problem occurs, you should consult a physician for treatment. If surgery is suggested, you should seek a second opinion and explore alternative treatments. Many back problems can be treated with williams flexion exercises and mckenzie’s extension exercises. The selection depends on the type of problem being experienced and should be made by a health care professional.