Tag Archive for: lifestyle

Healthy Lifestyle? A Tiny 2.7 Percent

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“Only 2.7% of all Americans achieve all four of the basic behavioral characteristics that experts say add up to a healthy lifestyle.”

Sensational? Yes. True? That’s what we’re going to look at this week. The health news reported about a recent study that examined the health behaviors of a group of people who participated in the Nutrition and Health Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2002–2006. The researchers picked four behaviors and assessed them with the best techniques available.

This is not the typical BMI and Food Frequency Questionnaire survey; these are numbers based on excellent assessment equipment . . .

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A Must-See Movie

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The holiday season has been filled with one blockbuster movie after another, but if you want to see a movie that can help you decide what to eat, you have to see “In Defense of Food” with Michael Pollan. It also happens to be free on your PBS station or On Demand depending on your cable or satellite offerings.

There have been many movies that examine the foods we eat today. Most are more political and a criticism of business, government, and especially meat more than anything else. Not this movie. Pollan, a journalism professor, takes a look at food . . .

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Why Now?

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In the last two messages, I’ve challenged you not to waste the entire month of December before changing to a healthier lifestyle after January 1st. Why now? Why didn’t I just wait until the New Year when everyone is “ready”? Maybe the latest report from the CDC will put things in perspective.

Researchers from the CDC and Emory University analyzed data from NHANES studies conducted between 2005 and 2012. They were interested in finding out how many people with high LDL cholesterol were taking medication and making lifestyle changes. There were a lot of results reported in the . . .

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It’s Still Not Over

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Here’s the update on the woman I talked about in Thursday’s message. Over the years, we’ve become email friends and so when I hear from her, it always makes me feel good, mostly because that means she’s still alive. This was no different. She’s had some challenges but more of the self-inflicted kind. I’m going to tell you a little more about her because of what she wrote in her email.

She has chronic kidney disease, and it was her . . .

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It Won’t Be Tomorrow

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This is what I wrote over five years ago:

“I recently got an e-mail from a woman who was in shock. She has a family history of a very serious condition that left many of her relatives dead in their 40s and 50s. She’s in her mid-60s and feels good with some minor issues but none related to what affected her relatives. But when she went to see a specialist to discuss a specific test result, he said, “I’m sorry. It won’t be tomorrow...” She couldn’t really remember much . . .

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“That Saved My Life!”

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This is going to be an opinionated week of messages, starting with a recent conversation. Actually, I’ve had the conversation with many people over the years who feel that at a time when their health was spinning out of control, they heard or read something that made sense, and they feel it saved their lives—a product, a diet, or even a person.

I don’t see it that way. When people get to the point of realizing that the path they’re on is going to kill them, whatever trigger gets them on a better path gets the . . .

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The Problem with Belly Fat

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Let’s take a closer look at abdominal obesity: why it’s worse than having fat more generally distributed, and what could explain the increase (1,2).

There are two types of fat storage: subcutaneous and visceral. Subcutaneous means the fat is stored just under the skin. Though it’s flabby and not great to look at, it’s more a storage location and not metabolically active for the most part. Intra-abdominal fat or visceral fat is more metabolically active. While scientists don’t really know why, conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance are . . .

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