Health-Washing: Is 'Healthy' Fast Food for Real?

New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman recently examined the nutritional merits of McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, an apparently "healthy" breakfast item that actually contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than an Egg McMuffin. Yikes. But while it's easy to supersize our scorn for McDonald's, it's worth noting that Mickey D's isn't playing the only shell game in town.

Many other fast-food joints offer healthy-sounding options that aren't exactly health food. What follows are a few examples of health-washing: items that appear wholesome but don't quite deliver on the nutrition front. The problems with the meals may vary, but the takeaway is the same: always scope out the nutrition information on a fast-food restaurant's website before you show up and order. You may be surprised by what you learn.

New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman recently examined the nutritional merits of McDonald's Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, an apparently "healthy" breakfast item that actually contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than an Egg McMuffin. Yikes. But while it's easy to supersize our scorn for McDonald's, it's worth noting that Mickey D's isn't playing the only shell game in town.

Many other fast-food joints offer healthy-sounding options that aren't exactly health food. What follows are a few examples of health-washing: items that appear wholesome but don't quite deliver on the nutrition front. The problems with the meals may vary, but the takeaway is the same: always scope out the nutrition information on a fast-food restaurant's website before you show up and order. You may be surprised by what you learn.

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Sugary soft drinks linked to high blood pressure

Drinking too many sugary beverages appears to raise the risk of high blood pressure, experts are warning.

Findings suggest blood pressure goes up incrementally for every extra can of sugary drink consumed per day.

Drinking more than 355ml a day of sugar-sweetened fruit juice or carbonated drink can be enough to upset the balance, data on over 2,500 people reveals.

The study by UK and US researchers appears in the journal Hypertension.

The precise mechanism behind the link is unclear, but scientists believe too much sugar in the blood disrupts blood vessel tone and salt levels in the body. Non-sugar sweetened diet drinks did not carry the same risk.

The soft drink industry maintains that the beverages are safe to drink "in moderation".

The American Heart Association says people should drink no more than three 355ml cans of soda a week.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
This is another nail in the coffin for soft drinks”
End Quote
Professor Graham MacGregor

Chairman of the Blood Pressure Association
For the study, the participants who were aged 40-59 from the UK and the US were asked to record what they had eaten in the preceding 24 hours on four separate occasions. They also provided a urine sample and had their blood pressure measured.

The researchers found that sugar intake was highest in those consuming more than one sugar-sweetened beverage daily.

They also found that individuals consuming more than one serving per day of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed more calories than those who didn't consume sugary drinks - around 397 extra calories a day.

For every extra can of sugary drink consumed per day, participants on average had a higher systolic blood pressure by 1.6mmHg and a higher diastolic blood pressure by 0.8mmHg.

Overall, the people who consumed a lot of sugar-sweetened beverages appeared to also have less healthy diets and were more likely to be overweight.

But regardless of this, the link with blood pressure was still significant even after adjusting for factors such as weight and height.

Stroke risk

Professor Paul Elliott, senior author of the study, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said: "It's widely known that if you have too much salt in your diet, you're more likely to develop high blood pressure.

"The results of this study suggest that people should be careful about how much sugar they consume as well."

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Someone with a blood pressure level of 135mmHg over 85mmHg is twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as someone with a reading of 115mmHg over 75mmHg.

In the study, the link between sugary drinks and higher blood pressure was especially strong in people who consumed a lot of salt as well as sugar. Excess salt in the diet is already a known to contribute to high blood pressure.

The British Heart Foundation said more research was now needed to better understand the relationship between sugar and blood pressure.

Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietician at the BHF, said it was best to avoid too many sugary drinks because they add extra calories to our diets that can lead to obesity, a major risk factor for heart disease.

Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of the Blood Pressure Association said: "This is another nail in the coffin for soft drinks.

"Not only do they make you obese but they may also put up your blood pressure. Drinking sweet soft drinks is not good news."

A spokesman for the British Soft Drinks Association said the study did not establish that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages in any way causes hypertension.

"Soft drinks are safe to drink but, like all food and drink, should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet," he said.

Drinking too many sugary beverages appears to raise the risk of high blood pressure, experts are warning.

Findings suggest blood pressure goes up incrementally for every extra can of sugary drink consumed per day.

Drinking more than 355ml a day of sugar-sweetened fruit juice or carbonated drink can be enough to upset the balance, data on over 2,500 people reveals.

The study by UK and US researchers appears in the journal Hypertension.

The precise mechanism behind the link is unclear, but scientists believe too much sugar in the blood disrupts blood vessel tone and salt levels in the body. Non-sugar sweetened diet drinks did not carry the same risk.

The soft drink industry maintains that the beverages are safe to drink "in moderation".

The American Heart Association says people should drink no more than three 355ml cans of soda a week.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
This is another nail in the coffin for soft drinks”
End Quote
Professor Graham MacGregor

Chairman of the Blood Pressure Association
For the study, the participants who were aged 40-59 from the UK and the US were asked to record what they had eaten in the preceding 24 hours on four separate occasions. They also provided a urine sample and had their blood pressure measured.

The researchers found that sugar intake was highest in those consuming more than one sugar-sweetened beverage daily.

They also found that individuals consuming more than one serving per day of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed more calories than those who didn't consume sugary drinks - around 397 extra calories a day.

For every extra can of sugary drink consumed per day, participants on average had a higher systolic blood pressure by 1.6mmHg and a higher diastolic blood pressure by 0.8mmHg.

Overall, the people who consumed a lot of sugar-sweetened beverages appeared to also have less healthy diets and were more likely to be overweight.

But regardless of this, the link with blood pressure was still significant even after adjusting for factors such as weight and height.

Stroke risk

Professor Paul Elliott, senior author of the study, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said: "It's widely known that if you have too much salt in your diet, you're more likely to develop high blood pressure.

"The results of this study suggest that people should be careful about how much sugar they consume as well."

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Someone with a blood pressure level of 135mmHg over 85mmHg is twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as someone with a reading of 115mmHg over 75mmHg.

In the study, the link between sugary drinks and higher blood pressure was especially strong in people who consumed a lot of salt as well as sugar. Excess salt in the diet is already a known to contribute to high blood pressure.

The British Heart Foundation said more research was now needed to better understand the relationship between sugar and blood pressure.

Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietician at the BHF, said it was best to avoid too many sugary drinks because they add extra calories to our diets that can lead to obesity, a major risk factor for heart disease.

Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of the Blood Pressure Association said: "This is another nail in the coffin for soft drinks.

"Not only do they make you obese but they may also put up your blood pressure. Drinking sweet soft drinks is not good news."

A spokesman for the British Soft Drinks Association said the study did not establish that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages in any way causes hypertension.

"Soft drinks are safe to drink but, like all food and drink, should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet," he said.

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Fish oil builds muscle mass in cancer patients

For cancer patients, taking fish oil supplements could help maintain and even regain lost muscle mass, according to a new study.

Most patients who took a daily supplement of fish oil for 10 weeks either maintained or gained muscle mass, whereas patients who didn't take anything either maintained or lost muscle mass, the study said.

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"Muscle loss in cancer is partly due to the presence of inflammation," which causes a breakdown in muscle mass, said study researcher Vera Mazurak, of the University of Alberta in Canada.

But fish oils interfere with inflammation, thereby reducing its effect on muscle, Mazurak said. Loss of muscle mass and fat is bad for cancer patients because it hampers their ability to respond to cancer treatments, she said.

Fish oil findings
Mazurak and her colleagues asked 16 patients with non-small cell lung cancer to take a 2.2-gram supplement of eicosapentaenoic acid, a compound in fish oil, once a day during their 10-week chemotherapy treatments. The researchers did not give the supplements to 24 other cancer patients also in the study.

The researchers measured the patients' weight, blood levels of eicosapentaenoic acid, and checked their muscle and fat composition using computed tomography images throughout the study period.
Patients who didn't take any fish oil lost an average of 5.1 pounds (2.3 kilograms) over the 10 weeks, but patients who took the fish oil maintained their weight throughout the study, researchers said.

And the patients who had the highest concentration of eicosapentaenoic acid in their blood during the study period gained the most muscle mass, the study said.

Sixty-nine percent of patients who took fish oil either gained or maintained muscle mass, but 29 percent of people who didn't take the supplement gained or maintained muscle mass, the study said.

There were no differences between the groups in terms of the amount of fat tissue in their bodies over the study, researchers said.

Weight loss and survival
Maintaining a healthy body weight is integral to cancer patients' survival, Mazurak said. Wasting syndrome is common in end-stage cancer patients and results in loss of weight, muscle mass and appetite.

For cancer patients, taking fish oil supplements could help maintain and even regain lost muscle mass, according to a new study.

Most patients who took a daily supplement of fish oil for 10 weeks either maintained or gained muscle mass, whereas patients who didn't take anything either maintained or lost muscle mass, the study said.

Government Should Tackle Child Obesity, Most Americans Say Tongue Cancer Increasing in Young, White Females Gadgets Phone Home for Daylight Saving Time Update Album: A New Face for Ötzi the Iceman Mummy
"Muscle loss in cancer is partly due to the presence of inflammation," which causes a breakdown in muscle mass, said study researcher Vera Mazurak, of the University of Alberta in Canada.

But fish oils interfere with inflammation, thereby reducing its effect on muscle, Mazurak said. Loss of muscle mass and fat is bad for cancer patients because it hampers their ability to respond to cancer treatments, she said.

Fish oil findings
Mazurak and her colleagues asked 16 patients with non-small cell lung cancer to take a 2.2-gram supplement of eicosapentaenoic acid, a compound in fish oil, once a day during their 10-week chemotherapy treatments. The researchers did not give the supplements to 24 other cancer patients also in the study.

The researchers measured the patients' weight, blood levels of eicosapentaenoic acid, and checked their muscle and fat composition using computed tomography images throughout the study period.
Patients who didn't take any fish oil lost an average of 5.1 pounds (2.3 kilograms) over the 10 weeks, but patients who took the fish oil maintained their weight throughout the study, researchers said.

And the patients who had the highest concentration of eicosapentaenoic acid in their blood during the study period gained the most muscle mass, the study said.

Sixty-nine percent of patients who took fish oil either gained or maintained muscle mass, but 29 percent of people who didn't take the supplement gained or maintained muscle mass, the study said.

There were no differences between the groups in terms of the amount of fat tissue in their bodies over the study, researchers said.

Weight loss and survival
Maintaining a healthy body weight is integral to cancer patients' survival, Mazurak said. Wasting syndrome is common in end-stage cancer patients and results in loss of weight, muscle mass and appetite.

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Feline Urethral Obstruction

Cooper ES, Owens TJ, Chew DJ et al: A protocol for managing urethral obstruction in male cats without urethral catheterization, J Am Vet Med Assoc 237:1261, 2010.

Urethral obstruction (UO) is a fairly common medical condition in male cats that typically requires emergency treatment. The standard treatment for UO involves medical stabilization of cardiovascular and metabolic derangements, correction of electrolyte abnormalities with IV fluid administration, and relief of the obstruction by urethral catheterization. Standard treatment for UO may require a number of days in the hospital at considerable expense. The investigators performed a clinical trial involving 15 male cats with UO where standard treatment had been declined by owners due to cost concerns. They speculated that pharmacological manipulation of stress, urethral tone, and discomfort could help alleviate some of the functional components of the obstructive process (urethral spasm and edema) and the patients might not need urinary catheterization. Excluding the most severely affected patients, 15 cats were enrolled in the study and were administered acepromazine, buprenorphine, and medetomidine. Decompressive cystocentesis was performed up to three times daily and fluid therapy was administered as needed. The cats were placed in a quiet, dark environment to minimize stress. Criteria for successful treatment were spontaneous urination within 72 hours and discharge from the hospital. Treatment was considered successful in 11 of the 15 cats. While this protocol cannot be recommended as an alternative to conventional management at this time, it could serve as an alternative to euthanasia when financial constraints prevent more extensive treatment. [VT]

Related articles:

O'Hearn AK, Wright BD: Coccygeal epidural with local anesthetic for catheterization and pain management in the treatment of feline urethral obstruction, J Vet Emerg Crit Care 21:50, 2011.

More on cat health: Winn Feline Foundation Library

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Cooper ES, Owens TJ, Chew DJ et al: A protocol for managing urethral obstruction in male cats without urethral catheterization, J Am Vet Med Assoc 237:1261, 2010.

Urethral obstruction (UO) is a fairly common medical condition in male cats that typically requires emergency treatment. The standard treatment for UO involves medical stabilization of cardiovascular and metabolic derangements, correction of electrolyte abnormalities with IV fluid administration, and relief of the obstruction by urethral catheterization. Standard treatment for UO may require a number of days in the hospital at considerable expense. The investigators performed a clinical trial involving 15 male cats with UO where standard treatment had been declined by owners due to cost concerns. They speculated that pharmacological manipulation of stress, urethral tone, and discomfort could help alleviate some of the functional components of the obstructive process (urethral spasm and edema) and the patients might not need urinary catheterization. Excluding the most severely affected patients, 15 cats were enrolled in the study and were administered acepromazine, buprenorphine, and medetomidine. Decompressive cystocentesis was performed up to three times daily and fluid therapy was administered as needed. The cats were placed in a quiet, dark environment to minimize stress. Criteria for successful treatment were spontaneous urination within 72 hours and discharge from the hospital. Treatment was considered successful in 11 of the 15 cats. While this protocol cannot be recommended as an alternative to conventional management at this time, it could serve as an alternative to euthanasia when financial constraints prevent more extensive treatment. [VT]

Related articles:

O'Hearn AK, Wright BD: Coccygeal epidural with local anesthetic for catheterization and pain management in the treatment of feline urethral obstruction, J Vet Emerg Crit Care 21:50, 2011.

More on cat health: Winn Feline Foundation Library

Join us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

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Highly-anticipated Scoliosis Exercise DVD by Dr. Kevin Lau set to release March 02, 2011!

Highly-anticipated Scoliosis Exercise DVD by Dr. Kevin Lau set to release March 02, 2011!

Health in Your Hands Offers Scoliosis Patients New Tool to Gain Real Results in Reversing Condition’s Progression without Invasive Surgery
Dr. Kevin Lau, D.C., acclaimed author of Health In Your Hands: Your Plan for Natural Scoliosis Prevention and Treatment, announces the release of his highly-anticipated Scoliosis Prevention and Correction Exercise DVD on March 02, 2011. The carefully designed exercise program is Dr. Lau’s latest addition to his book’s comprehensive program for scoliosis patients worldwide to live a scoliosis-free life.

More information can be found in this PressDoc:
http://pressdoc.com/p/000c27

Highly-anticipated Scoliosis Exercise DVD by Dr. Kevin Lau set to release March 02, 2011!

Health in Your Hands Offers Scoliosis Patients New Tool to Gain Real Results in Reversing Condition’s Progression without Invasive Surgery
Dr. Kevin Lau, D.C., acclaimed author of Health In Your Hands: Your Plan for Natural Scoliosis Prevention and Treatment, announces the release of his highly-anticipated Scoliosis Prevention and Correction Exercise DVD on March 02, 2011. The carefully designed exercise program is Dr. Lau’s latest addition to his book’s comprehensive program for scoliosis patients worldwide to live a scoliosis-free life.

More information can be found in this PressDoc:
http://pressdoc.com/p/000c27

Read More

Launch of Innovative New iPhone App for Patients to Track Individual Progression of Scoliosis

Launch of Innovative New iPhone App for Patients to Track Individual Progression of Scoliosis

Health In Your Hands Launches Innovative New iPhone App for Patients to Track Individual Progression of Scoliosis at Home
Dr. Kevin Lau, D.C., author of "Your Plan for Natural Scoliosis Prevention and Treatment - Health In Your Hands" book and exercise DVD, announces the release of a Singapore made application called ScolioTrack, an innovative new iPhone application which places an instrument similar to a doctor's scoliometer into the hands of scoliosis patients worldwide. The device proves much safer than x-ray technology and can be used in between doctor's visits to track one's individual condition.

More information can be found in this PressDoc:
http://pressdoc.com/p/000bzf

Launch of Innovative New iPhone App for Patients to Track Individual Progression of Scoliosis

Health In Your Hands Launches Innovative New iPhone App for Patients to Track Individual Progression of Scoliosis at Home
Dr. Kevin Lau, D.C., author of "Your Plan for Natural Scoliosis Prevention and Treatment - Health In Your Hands" book and exercise DVD, announces the release of a Singapore made application called ScolioTrack, an innovative new iPhone application which places an instrument similar to a doctor's scoliometer into the hands of scoliosis patients worldwide. The device proves much safer than x-ray technology and can be used in between doctor's visits to track one's individual condition.

More information can be found in this PressDoc:
http://pressdoc.com/p/000bzf

Read More

Vitamin D may help keep blood sugar under control

(Reuters Health) - Drinking yogurt with extra vitamin D may help people with diabetes regulate their blood sugar, a study from Iran finds.

In the trial, 90 adults with diabetes were divided into three groups, all given daily yogurt drinks: one group received plain yogurt, one got yogurt with extra vitamin D, and one was given yogurt with extra vitamin D and calcium.

At the end of 12 weeks, "we found a relatively remarkable improvement" in blood sugar levels in the groups that got extra vitamin D, compared to the plain yogurt group, co-author Tirang Neyestani, associate professor at National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute in Iran, told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

Past studies on the role of vitamin D in diabetes have not been able to show cause and effect.

It's noteworthy that this study does, and that it suggests vitamin D has a positive effect on people with type 2 diabetes, said Dr. Anastassios Pittas, assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He was not part of the study.

In type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, the body has trouble using insulin to process glucose from foods, resulting in excessive levels of the sugar in the bloodstream. Vitamin D is thought to help regulate the body's sensitivity to insulin and possibly insulin production by the pancreas.

Going back to the 1980s, numerous studies have linked vitamin D to a lowered risk of diabetes, however others have found no benefit. A recent report showed no link between women's blood levels of vitamin D and their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, for example. (See Reuters Health story of February 22, 2011.)

Few studies have directly tested the theory by giving people vitamin D and
then seeing how they compare over time in diabetes-related measurements with similar subjects who did not consume the vitamin.

In the new study, 55 women and 35 men were divided into groups of 30, and all drank their assigned yogurt twice a day. The plain yogurt contained150 milligrams of calcium, the vitamin D-fortified yogurt had 500 international units (IU) of vitamin D and 150 milligrams of calcium, and the doubly-fortified yogurt contained 500 IU of vitamin D and 250 milligrams of calcium.

After three months, the plain yogurt group's average blood sugar increased from 187 to 203 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). In both the fortified-yogurt groups, blood sugar dropped from 184 to about 172 mg/dL. Blood sugar levels above126 mg/dL are considered to be diabetic.

It's odd that the blood sugar of those who didn't receive extra vitamin D got worse, Pittas said. This could make it seem that the improvement in the vitamin D-fortified group was greater than it actually was, overstating the finding.

The plain-yogurt group also had an increase in hemoglobin A1C, a sign of raised blood sugar levels over time, while both vitamin-D groups' A1C numbers decreased.

In addition, people who got the fortified yogurt lost an average of two to five pounds during the study, while the plain-yogurt group stayed about the same.

Although this difference may seem small, it may have affected the participants' blood sugar levels, Pittas said.

"Weight loss by itself, regardless of what causes it, can improve diabetes," he told Reuters Health

(Reuters Health) - Drinking yogurt with extra vitamin D may help people with diabetes regulate their blood sugar, a study from Iran finds.

In the trial, 90 adults with diabetes were divided into three groups, all given daily yogurt drinks: one group received plain yogurt, one got yogurt with extra vitamin D, and one was given yogurt with extra vitamin D and calcium.

At the end of 12 weeks, "we found a relatively remarkable improvement" in blood sugar levels in the groups that got extra vitamin D, compared to the plain yogurt group, co-author Tirang Neyestani, associate professor at National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute in Iran, told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

Past studies on the role of vitamin D in diabetes have not been able to show cause and effect.

It's noteworthy that this study does, and that it suggests vitamin D has a positive effect on people with type 2 diabetes, said Dr. Anastassios Pittas, assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He was not part of the study.

In type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, the body has trouble using insulin to process glucose from foods, resulting in excessive levels of the sugar in the bloodstream. Vitamin D is thought to help regulate the body's sensitivity to insulin and possibly insulin production by the pancreas.

Going back to the 1980s, numerous studies have linked vitamin D to a lowered risk of diabetes, however others have found no benefit. A recent report showed no link between women's blood levels of vitamin D and their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, for example. (See Reuters Health story of February 22, 2011.)

Few studies have directly tested the theory by giving people vitamin D and
then seeing how they compare over time in diabetes-related measurements with similar subjects who did not consume the vitamin.

In the new study, 55 women and 35 men were divided into groups of 30, and all drank their assigned yogurt twice a day. The plain yogurt contained150 milligrams of calcium, the vitamin D-fortified yogurt had 500 international units (IU) of vitamin D and 150 milligrams of calcium, and the doubly-fortified yogurt contained 500 IU of vitamin D and 250 milligrams of calcium.

After three months, the plain yogurt group's average blood sugar increased from 187 to 203 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). In both the fortified-yogurt groups, blood sugar dropped from 184 to about 172 mg/dL. Blood sugar levels above126 mg/dL are considered to be diabetic.

It's odd that the blood sugar of those who didn't receive extra vitamin D got worse, Pittas said. This could make it seem that the improvement in the vitamin D-fortified group was greater than it actually was, overstating the finding.

The plain-yogurt group also had an increase in hemoglobin A1C, a sign of raised blood sugar levels over time, while both vitamin-D groups' A1C numbers decreased.

In addition, people who got the fortified yogurt lost an average of two to five pounds during the study, while the plain-yogurt group stayed about the same.

Although this difference may seem small, it may have affected the participants' blood sugar levels, Pittas said.

"Weight loss by itself, regardless of what causes it, can improve diabetes," he told Reuters Health

Read More