BlueSkies Newsletter- February 2010
Welcome to the February edition of the BlueSkies newsletter. We hope that you find the articles informative and useful.
In this edition, we look at:
Also this month, find out why walking is so good for you, what Quinoa is and the nutritional benefits of including it in your diet.
If you have any comments or there is a particular topic that you would like us to cover in the future, please contact us by e-mail.
Is Your Lifestyle Increasing Your Risk Of Cancer?
Research has shown that poor diets, drinking and lack of exercise can be blamed for nearly 80,000 Britons per year developing cancer needlessly. This figure placed Britain at the bottom of the four countries studied (Brazil, America and China were the others).
So, should we all be thinking about eating better, drinking less alcohol and taking more exercise? Looking at the results of this study by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), it would appear so! In fact, the study concluded that 39% of the 12 major cancers in Britain could be prevented by healthier lifestyles.
Some of the most telling findings from the WCRF report were:
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Bowel cancer could be reduced by 43% if people ate less red meat and processed meat
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Breast cancer cases would be likely to drop by 42% if we consumed less alcohol
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Mouth, pharynx and larynx cancer cases could be cut by 67% if more fresh fruit & vegetables were eaten.
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75% of oesophageal cancer cases could be prevented if people ate more fruit & vegetables, drank less alcohol and maintained a healthy weight.
Possibly more worrying is the fact that obesity rates in the UK are soaring, we are taking part in less physical activity, eating more highly-processed, high-calorie foods and drinking more alcohol - this means that cancer rates are likely to continue rising if we do not do something about this.
The good news is that increasing cancer rates are not inevitable - we CAN become more active, eat more healthily, reduce our alcohol intake and maintain a healthy weight if WE WANT to! The key words here are WE and WANT - for individuals to improve their llifestyles, they need to be motivated to do so themselves.
Here are a few more interesting research findings which give us even more evidence about healthy living reducing cancer risk:
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A 2009 study involving 60,000 people showed that vegetarians are less likely to develop certain cancers including bladder, blood, bone marrow and stomach cancer. However, the protective effect did not appear to stretch to bowel cancer.
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A chemical found in green tea has been shown to slow the progression of prostate cancer. This has led to the prediction that it may help men manage low-risk prostate tumours.
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Cancer Research UK has stated that men are at a greater risk of cancers that affect both sexes - they are 60% more likely to develop the cancer and 70% more likely to die from it. This is purported to be due to the fact that men are more reluctant to adopt a healthy lifestyle and less likely to visit the GP.
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Women have been warned that consuming just one alcoholic drink a day causes an extra 7,000 cancer cases per year in UK women, most of which are breast cancer. What's more, the risk goes up the more a woman drinks. One alcoholic drink per day causes a 12% rise in the risk of breast cancer, a 10% rise in rectal cancer, a 22% rise in gullet cancer, a 29% rise in mouth cancer and a 44% rise in throat cancer.
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Regular exercise can cut your risk of colon cancer by 24%. Bowel cancer is the 3rd most common form of cancer in the UK but this 2009 study showed that even regular walking reduces the likelihood of developing this disease. However, the most active subjects were the least likely to develop bowel cancer.
Exercise Of The Month - Walking
Walking is possibly one of the most cost-effective ways of boosting your health & fitness - all you need is a decent pair of walking shoes or trainers. Walking for 30 minuters, 5 times a week at a pace that makes you slightly out of breath will iimprove your health & fitness at the same time as toning your bottom and leg muscles. Walking is a great activity for pretty much anyone including people of all ages, post-natal women and people with diabetes and high blood pressure. It will raise your metabolism at the same time as using calories making it a fantastic weight mangement activity too. In addition, walking offers a great way to explore cities & countryside alike and it is an activity that the whole family can take part in.
NB If you not used to activity, over 60 or have a pre-exisiting medical condition, consult your GP before beginning any activity programme. Also, if you're just starting out, remember to take it slowly and build up the duration and intensity of your activity gradually.
Eating To Gain Weight
OK, so it's not the question that we get asked most frequently but we often hear "How do I put weight on?". Whilst a lot of people are trying to lose weight after Christmas and the New Year, there are others who are continuously trying to gain weight, whether for health or performance. This article looks at how you can gain weight the healthy way.
Firstly, we want to make one thing clear. If you feel that you are underweight and are struggling to gain weight, we recommend that you visit your GP to make sure that there is no underlying medical condition that could be causing this. If your GP does not come up with any medical reason for you not to be able to gain weight, then the following advice should help you.
It's important to remember that it's not just the 'type' of foods that you eat that will dictate how much weight you gain. In fact, it's your total calorie intake in relation to your calorie expenditure that is the key. For example, if you do a lot of exercise or have an active job, you will need to eat a lot more food than a sedentary person to balance your energy expenditure. Plus, you will need extra calories to gain weight.
One strategy that many people adopt in an attempt to gain weight is to eat more foods such as nuts and seeds as these foods are relatively 'calorie-dense'. Although eating nuts and seeds is a good thing to do to try to gain weight, you need to make sure that you're ADDING these to your diet rather than substituting them for something else. Also, you would have to eat a lot of nuts & seeds every day for a fairly long time to see your weight go up. So, if you've tried these foods, don't give up on them as they are a healthy, high-calorie food that can hlep you to gain weight when used in combination with other strategies.
Nuts and seeds tend to be high in 'healthy fat' or unsaturated fat. One thing to avoid when trying to gain weight is simply eating a lot of junk foods as these may damage your health - to gain weight, your diet still needs to be healthy. However, you could probably afford to take a more relaxed approach to high calorie treats at the moment.
To gain weight, you basically have to reverse the guidelines that are given to those trying to lose weight, whilst still maintaining a balanced diet. You could try to following tips:
Increase your portion sizes and eat more regularly
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Choose thick sliced bread or cut your own slices thickly
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Buy larger baking potatoes than normal
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Increase the amount of pasta or rice that you eat with your meals
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Pour yourself larger bowls of cereals in the morning
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Eat meals from larger plates or bowls
Increase the calorie content of your normal meals e.g.
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Add dried fruit to your breakfast cereals
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Add avocado to your salads
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Drink fruit juices or smoothies instead of water
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Roast vegetables in olive oil instead of steaming or boiling them#
Eat higher calorie protein foods e.g.
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Choose full fat dairy products instead of low fat
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Add seeds and nuts to your meals and snack on them during the day
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Eat oily fish such as salmon and mackerel often
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Add beans and pulses to sauces and soups
Eat more 'healthy fats' e.g.
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Use higher fat dressings such as olive oil on salads
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Use more 'healthy oils' in cooking e.g. sesame, rapeseed or walnut oils
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Use full fat olive oil spread on toast, in sandwiches, in mashed potato and on jacket potatoes
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Make yourself 'healthy' flapjack bars and cakes to snack on using rapeseed oil or olive oil spreads - click here for recipes
We hope that this advice helps you, if you are trying to gain weight. If you need further advice, why not contact us to discuss a dietary analysis?
Food Of The Month - Quinoa
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is often called a 'superfood' which a fairly audacious tag! However, in this case, it seems as though we have a food that may actually live up to this claim.
Quinoa is a 'complete' protein food, making it an ideal choice for vegetarians and vegans as the traditional complete protein sources in our diets tend to be meat, fish, dairy products and eggs (for more information on proteins and what constitutes a complete protein, click here).
What's more, quinoa is a gluten-free seed which makes it an ideal alternative to pasta & rice for those of us who follow gluten-free diets. It also possesses high levels of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, B-vitamins, vitamin E and fibre.
Quinoa is quick and easy to prepare and it has a texture similar to cous-cous. This makes it an extremely versatile carbohydrate which is ideal in salads, as a side to a main meal and with sauces such as Bolognese. So, if you're looking for a nutritious alternative to your traditional carbohydrates or want to try to boost your protein intake, why not try Quinoa?
Can Exercise Do You More Harm Than Good?
We're all told that we should be doing more exercise and activity but what if increasing our activity levels could be increasing our risk of conditions such as arthritis? Well, a recent study from the US has suggested that this may be true for middle-aged men and women who overdo it on the exercise front.
The study which was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, looked at the exercise habits of over 200 'normal weight' men and women aged between 45 and 55 who were taking part in varying amounts of physical activity. The researchers found that those people who were doing the most exercise were the most likely to suffer knee damage. Not surprisingly, running and jumping activities were found to be more likely to cause cartilage and ligament damage than swimming and cycling.
Osteoarthritis (the most common form of arthritis) affects around 8 million people in the UK and it causes degenerative damage to joints resulting in pain, swelling and stiffness. However, it has long been believed that regular, moderate exercise is beneficial to people who have this condition which is in contrast to the findings of this recent study.
Although this study does provide a warning to people regarding the type and amount pf physical activity, it should certainly not put anyone off being active or becoming active. What is clear is that high volumes of high-impact physical activity such as running and activities that involve jumping may damage cartilage in the knee, therefore increasing the risk of osteoarthritis.
On the other hand, lower-impact activities such as swimming and cycling offer fitness benefits without putting the cartilage at risk. However, low-impact activities do not offer the protection against osteoporosis which can be gained through weight-bearing activities such as walking and jogging.
The key is to get the balance right - mix different types of activity together to provide the health & fitness bebnefits along with the 'loading' necessary to avoid osteoporosis without overloading the cartilage and risking osteoarthritis!
It is also important to ensure that, if partaking in high-impact activities, you invest in a decent pair of shoes/trainers which provide the necessary support and cushioning. If you haven't done so before, it's worth visiting a specialist shoe shop to have your gait (the way you walk/run) analysed and get professional advice on the type of shoes that you need.
As a spokeswoman from the Arthritis Research Campaign said, following the release of the results of this study, "We have known for years that certain high-impact sports and jobs are associated with an increased risk of osteoarthritis, particularly of the knee, but for the vast majority of people exercise is good.....Most people can exercise without any problems, but if you have had a joint injury or torn cartilage or ligaments you should be cautious about weight-bearing exercise, and swimming and cycling may provide a better option for you."
Thanks for reading!
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