Different Psychosocial Factors Predict Adoption, Maintenance Of Physical Activity Program

Duh.

"The health benefits of regular physical activity are well documented, yet only 32 percent of adults in the United States engage in regular exercise. Now a new study by researchers at The Miriam Hospital offers some new insight into the role of social and environmental influences on physical activity behaviors.

According to the study, published online by the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, a person who is starting a physical activity program is influenced by different psychosocial factors than a person who is trying to maintain such a program...

'Although it's premature to draw any definitive conclusions, our report suggests some directions for future research.'"

Yep.

And that direction is to do no more silly research like this in the future.

Extra Cash From Government Program Linked To Higher Risk Of Adult Obesity

No surprise here.

"While a poverty-alleviation program launched by the Mexican government that has been modeled in the United States and around the world has led to improved health and cognition outcomes in children, a new study by University of California, Berkeley, researchers says that the cash component of the program has a downside for adults.

The program, called Oportunidades, provides money to impoverished families on the condition that they participate in health-promoting activities, such as getting annual health checkups and attending nutrition and hygiene education seminars. This is in contrast to traditional welfare programs that provide cash to families based solely upon their income or where they live.

The study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that adults in households that received more cash from the program were more likely to be overweight, obese and have higher blood pressure than those who had received less money over time."

Frankly, I am suspicious of the alleged "improved health and cognition outcomes in children."

Still this outcome was 100% foreseeable, except to the brain dead researchers and the fools who provided the funding.

"'It's a controversial finding because it suggests that adults are not necessarily spending the money wisely for themselves,' said Lia Fernald, UC Berkeley assistant professor of public health nutrition and lead author of the study. 'It's not clear why the cash is having this effect, but it could be because people who suddenly have more cash are able to buy more high-calorie soft drinks, alcohol or snacks that they couldn't afford before, though we did not analyze how the money was spent in our study. This result could also reflect trends in the developing world, particularly in rapidly changing economies, of increased availability of foods high in fat and sugar in place of healthier cereals, fruits and vegetables.'

The surprising study results come on the heels of an earlier paper, authored by the same UC Berkeley researchers, which showed that overall, the conditional cash transfer program was linked to better health outcomes among adults."

This outcome is not "surprising" and likely the "earlier paper" is wrong.

In fact, the only "controversial" thing about this study is that it places responsibility on people and not "the system."

Far be it from any study to suggest that people are the problem.

Still, this is why there is a poveresity epidemic. We essentially pay people to overeat since they do not spend the money given to them in better ways.

As long as they keep throwing money at the non-money problems self-generated by the calorically irresponsible, it will be wasted.

Stop being taken for a ride. Assert yourself to stop the madness.

Soybeans No Longer A Musical Fruit? Victory Over Soy's 'flatulence Factor' - Journal Of Agricultural And Food Chemistry

A new way to raise your blood pressure.

"Soybeans may drop off the list of musical fruit. Scientists in Singapore are reporting victory over some consumers' No. 1 complaint about soy products - the "flatulence factor" caused by indigestible sugars found in soy. In a study scheduled for the November 12 issue of ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they describe a method for significantly reducing the amount of flatulence-causing carbohydrates in soy yogurt..."

So much for the tooting the horn about the "health benefits" of soy.

Cancer Patients' Response To Chemotherapy Improved By Eating Fruit And Vegetables

Crap research, misleading headline, par for the course.

"The leading cause of death in all cancer patients continues to be the resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy, a form of treatment in which chemicals are used to kill cells."

Of course, it could never be that "The leading cause of death in all cancer patients" is poor, ineffective chemotherapy agents.

"Now a study by UC Riverside biochemists that focuses on cancer cells reports that ingesting apigenin - a naturally occurring dietary agent found in vegetables and fruit - improves cancer cells' response to chemotherapy...

'In therapy you want to kill cancer cells,' explained Cai, the first author of the research paper. 'But to stop cell growth and to kill the cell, p53 first needs to be moved to the cell's nucleus to function. Apigenin is very effective in localizing p53 this way.'

Apigenin is mainly found in fruit (including apples, cherries, grapes), vegetables (including parsley, artichoke, basil, celery), nuts and plant-derived beverages (including tea and wine)...

'Our study advocates the inclusion of vegetables and fruit in our daily diet to help prevent cancer,' said Liu, the research paper's coauthor."

Clearly these conclusions are wrong/unsupported.

If they want to get a handle on whether eating fruits and vegetables improves the response to chemotherapy, they could analyze the real world outcomes of true vegetarians (not the trendy who eat fish, for example, and label themselves "vegetarian" - so-called pisco-vegetarians) and omnivores/carnivores.

Further, they do not translate the amount of this miracle substance used in the study, into kilotons of fruits and veggies per day, assuming that the digestive process does not alter the stuff rendering it even less useful than is claimed.

And, there is not a mention of how this stuff helps "to prevent cancer," in this article of their authorship.

This is, in a word, bulls**t that they expect you to swallow whole.

Watch out for the pits.

White adults who see discrimination often overweight

Perceptions of the perceptually impaired.

"Certain white adults who say they've been discriminated against in their daily lives are more likely to be obese than their peers who haven't perceived personal discrimination, a new study finds.

The study of U.S. adults, reported in the American Journal of Public Health, found that perceived unfair treatment was associated with increased abdominal girth...

Participants were weighed and interviewed about their health habits and demographics. They were also asked about perceived discrimination -- including how often they believed they'd been treated disrespectfully, received poorer service than other people or felt threatened or harassed."

These are the same people whose perceptions are so bad that they cannot tell they are killing their children with food.

Shut up you fat whining child abusers and lose the weight.

New Link Identified Between Tart Cherries And Risk Factors For Heart Disease

More crap intended to harm you financially while helping them pocket your bucks.

"New research continues to link tart cherries, one of today's hottest 'Super Fruits,' to lowering risk factors for heart disease. In addition to lowering cholesterol and reducing inflammation, the study being presented by University of Michigan researchers at next week's American Dietetic Association annual meeting, found that a cherry-enriched diet lowered body weight and fat - major risk factors for heart disease."

Here is a rule of thumb. Anytime you see a food item preceded by the modifier "Super," you are being scammed. Do not buy the stuff expecting it to do what the press release or MSM story claims.

There is, however, a pit of truth in the rotten fruit above.

It is the "today's hottest" con part. The truth is that all this trash talk about food is temporary. Give any of it a while and new data will supplant the old.

And the new data are likely to be less enthusiastic.

So who put this s**t out?

"The study was funded by the Cherry Marketing Institute, which provided an unrestricted grant to the University of Michigan to conduct the research and was not directly involved in the design, conduct or analysis of the project."

And where do they suggest you go for more misinformation about this pit-i-full bull?

"The Cherry Nutrition Report posted on http://www.choosecherries.com/."

Don't choose the industry party line.

Choose to be smart instead.

Beta-blockers not best for high blood pressure

Still think there is a safe weight loss drug?

"A class of drugs once widely used to lower blood pressure -- beta-blockers -- may actually lead to heart problems, a study concludes."

And these drugs have been around for many years.

You can be certain that the longer the malpractice known as diet drugs is out there, the more problems there will be.

Rising risk for obese kids: middle-aged arteries

Kudos, fatsos.

"A glimpse inside the neck arteries of obese children and teens reveals cardiovascular systems more like those of 45-year-olds, researchers said Tuesday.

Scientists using ultrasound imaging detected fatty deposits more typical in middle-aged adults than in children as young as 10, underscoring worries about accelerated risks of heart disease decades earlier than once thought possible."

Another result of nutritional child abuse from calorically irresponsible parents.

Enforce CAPTA against:

the parents,

the docs who see these kids and don't report the abuse and

the teachers who are as complicit in the abuse as the docs.

That would be a good start.

Stop nutritional child abuse.

Diet drug 'doubles weight loss'

See the article below.

"An anti-obesity drug vastly outperforms currently available rivals, early trials suggest.

Danish tests of tesofensine, reported in The Lancet, found dieting patients on the highest doses lost up to 12.8kg (28.2lbs) in six months.

This is twice the level achieved by drugs such as sibutramine and rimonabant...

The drugs did produce side-effects, ranging from dry mouth and insomnia to nausea and diarrhoea, with the highest dose increasing patients' blood pressure, a concern given that many obese patients may have heart problems or diabetes...

Professor Steve O'Rahilly, an obesity expert at the University of Cambridge, said: 'If we could treat obesity like we treat high blood pressure, with safe, effective and affordable drugs, this would be an enormous boon to health care.

'However, to date obesity drugs that have been effective have not been safe, and conversely those that are safer are relatively ineffective.

'The results with this new drug demonstrate that, over a six-month period, it is quite effective.

'However, as the drug is likely to have actions on parts of the brain not involved in weight control, the risk of serious side-effects on longer term administration will need to be watched very carefully."

Which they probably will not/cannot do as complications surface years after drugs are released.

There are better ways to shed the pounds.

Anti-obesity drug use suspended

More malpractice news about the malpractice known as diet drugs.

"The European drugs watchdog is recommending doctors do not prescribe the anti-obesity drug rimonabant, also known as Acomplia.

The European Medicines Agency has said the risk of serious psychiatric problems and even suicide are too high."

Really, it is better to lose the pounds without the twin malpractices of drugs and surgery.

School-Based Physical Activity Interventions Ineffective for Childhood Obesity

Who could have seen this coming? Why, Fitness Watch readers, of course.

"School-based physical activity interventions to address obesity in children have no effect on body mass index (BMI) or other anthropometric measures of overweight or obesity, a systematic review of the literature concludes...

Meta-analysis of the data revealed that the difference between intervention groups and the control groups in mean change in BMI was −0.05 kg/m2 (95% confidence interval, −0.19 to 0.10), indicating that BMI is not affected by school-based physical activity intervention. There was also no consistent improvement in any other measures of body composition, such as body fat percentage, skin-fold thickness, lean mass, waist circumference, and waist-hip ratio."

In other words, school-based physical activity interventions don't do squat and are a waste of resources.

Which makes perfect sense, since exercise is a terribly inefficient way to lose weight, any weight loss effects of exercise (rare) are easily undone and parents are killing their children with Calories more quickly than exercise could ever overcome even under the most ideal of settings.

If anyone is serious about helping kids by saving them from their calorically irresponsible parents:

report fat kids to the authorities so they can be helped,

report docs and teachers who do not fulfill their responsibilities as mandatory reporters to the authorities and

stop paying for the diseases of choice that fat people get.

Smoking Cessation Drug Linked to 1,001 New Serious Adverse Events

As will diet drugs.

"The smoking-cessation drug varenicline (Chantix) has been associated with 1,001 serious adverse events -- including 50 deaths -- during the first quarter of 2008, a drug-safety watchdog group said today.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices said that total put varenicline at the top of its list of drugs associated with serious injuries during the quarter. Heparin was second. The institute's drug-safety watchers include Curt D. Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., of Wake Forest.

Since varenicline was approved in 2006, there have been 3,325 reported serious injuries in the U.S., including 112 deaths, the institute said."

Still think there is a safe drug that will "cure" your overfatness?

There ain't and there won't be.

Diet drugs are malpractice and unnecessary.

Drop the weight naturally.

More Women Have Healthy Eating Habits Than Men, Survey

Then why are women more likely to be obese than men? (and see here and here for arguably conflicting research results)

"New International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation research suggests women are more likely than men to be taking advantage of and eating foods to maintain overall health and wellness as well as for more specific benefits like improved feelings of fullness and digestive health. The new insight comes from further study of this year's 3rd annual IFIC Foundation Food & Health Survey, which examines what consumers are thinking and doing about their food, nutrition and health."

The point?

It is tough to rely on the studies.

Rely on Calories in, Calories out.

China closes herbal drug firm linked to deaths

More Traditional Chinese Medicine.

"China, battling to restore trust in its products amid a tainted milk scandal, has closed a local pharmaceutical company whose herbal injections have been linked to the deaths of three people.

China last month expanded a product recall for Wandashan Pharmaceutical, a company based in northeastern Heilongjiang province, after the injections caused adverse reactions in six people, three of whom died.

Investigators from China's food and drug watchdog, the State Food and Drug Administration, had found the problem drugs were contaminated with bacteria after being soaked with rain at one of the company's storage areas in southwestern Yunnan province."

Good excuse.

"Rather than dispose of them, employees repackaged them for sale, the watchdog said in a notice posted on its website (www.sda.gov.cn) on Friday."

A yen saved, is a yen earned.

"The case comes as China grapples with a string of health scares involving melamine-contaminated milk and other dairy products, that have made thousands of infants ill and prompted recalls of Chinese-made goods from around the world."

Well, at least WHO has its head on straight.

Not.

Fructose Hampers Hormone That Controls Appetite, UF Study Finds

Hmmm...

"Could all those years chewing candy and slurping sugary sodas come back to haunt you? Perhaps. A new University of Florida study in rats shows that a fructose-filled diet blocks the appetite-controlling hormone leptin from doing its job, setting the body up for future obesity.

Leptin is critical in controlling appetite and energy expenditure, and scientists have long linked leptin resistance to obesity. And several studies have shown that overconsumption of fructose, a sugar found in everything from apples to cookies, could be playing a significant role in the obesity epidemic. But the UF study, recently published in the American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, is the first to link fructose and leptin resistance."

Apparently it is time to give up apples (and other fruits).

Actually, the study does demonstrate something of value.

"To test how fructose affects leptin, the researchers studied two groups of rats. The rats in both groups received the same number of calories each day, but one group received chow containing 60 percent fructose while the other was kept on a fructose-free diet.

'After six months, we could not detect any differences between the two groups of rats, with the exception of an elevation in blood triglycerides in rats on the high fructose diet,' Shapiro said. 'They had identical body weight and fat, as well as blood levels of leptin, insulin, glucose and cholesterol.'"

Note that as long as caloric intake was controlled, the body weights were "identical."

It is all about Calories in, Calories out.

Don't believe anyone who tells you different.

If you are ready to lose weight, reasonably and sensibly, go here.

Waste From Gut Bacteria Helps Host Control Weight, UT Southwestern Researchers Report

We are just one molecule away from a "cure"!

"A single molecule in the intestinal wall, activated by the waste products from gut bacteria, plays a large role in controlling whether the host animals are lean or fatty, a research team, including scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center, has found in a mouse study.

When activated, the molecule slows the movement of food through the intestine, allowing the animal to absorb more nutrients and thus gain weight. Without this signal, the animals weigh less.

The study shows that the host can use bacterial byproducts not only as a source of nutrients, but also as chemical signals to regulate body functions. It also points the way to a potential method of controlling weight, the researchers said."

Or, just eat lots of laxatives with your meals.

Just goes to show that what goes around, comes around.

Years ago, I wanted to write the "S**t and Stay Thin Cookbook"

Memo to self - reconsider writing book in light of this new, ground-breaking research.

Obesity, Abnormal 'Reward Circuitry' In Brain Linked By Imaging Studies

Wrong reward circuitry.

"Using brain imaging and chocolate milkshakes, scientists have found that women with weakened "reward circuitry" in their brains are at increased risk of weight gain over time and potential obesity. The risk increases even more for women who also have a gene associated with compromised dopamine signaling in the brain.

The results, drawn from two studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at the University of Oregon's Lewis Center for Neuroimaging, appear in the Oct. 17 issue of the journal Science. The first-of-its-kind approach unveiled blunted activation in the brain's dorsal stratium when subjects were given milkshakes, which may reflect less-than-normal dopamine output."

The real, abnormal reward circuitry is the one that pays for these fatsos and their diseases of choice.

Interrupt that and you will see fatso-ness plummet.

Fight back.

2008 Nutrition Trends Survey Released By American Dietetic Association

BFD.

"Increasing numbers of American adults are aware of the importance of nutrition and physical activity and are taking steps to eat a healthy diet and engage in exercise, according to the American Dietetic Association's nationwide consumer opinion survey, Nutrition and You: Trends 2008."

So what?

Awareness doesn't mean squat. Action does.

"Taking steps," eh?

What steps?

Most likely steps to the fridge.

And if people try to act, they follow crap like this because they do not know better: see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, for starters.

"In each ADA survey since 1991, ADA has used respondents' answers to a number of different questions to segment consumers into three groups representing people's overall attitudes toward maintaining a healthy diet and getting regular exercise:

* I'm Already Doing It: Consumers who feel that maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise are very important; are concerned about diet, nutrition and overall fitness; and feel they are doing all they can to eat a healthy diet.

* I Know I Should: Consumers who feel that maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise are very important, but may not have taken significant actions to do all they can to eat a healthy diet.

* Don't Bother Me: People who do not feel diet and exercise are very important to them and are the least concerned with their overall nutrition and fitness.

Results of ADA's 2008 survey show the percentage of people in the Don't Bother Me category has dropped substantially, especially from 2002 (32%) to 2008 (19%). "This is the first year the Don't Bother Me group has represented less than one-third of the population," said registered dietitian and American Dietetic Association spokesperson Jeannie Gazzaniga-Moloo. She noted that the segment had been as large as 40 percent in the mid-1990s.

'The steady increases we are seeing among the I'm Already Doing It segment appear to represent movement away from Don't Bother Me, while the I Know I Shoulds remain relatively constant - 38% in 2008, and 30% in 2002.

'These trends tell us people are paying more attention to their nutritional and physical activity needs and are increasingly doing what they need to do to eat right and be healthy,' Gazzaniga-Moloo said."

Clearly wrong and a good reason why the ADA should shut-up.

People may be increasingly doing something (or possibly "paying more lip service to their nutritional and physical activity needs"), but that does not mean they "are increasingly doing what they need to do to eat right and be healthy."

They are almost certainly following doomed to fail programs advocated by persons like the ones mentioned and linked to above.

Don't just do it.

Do it right.

And don't fall for the crap of the experts, including the ADA.

Periods Of Excessive And Rapid Weight Loss May Be Associated With Internal Hernia After Bariatric Surgery

More complications from the malpractice known as bariatric surgery.

"For the first time, surgeons have linked internal hernia with excessive and rapid weight loss after undergoing minimally invasive surgical treatment of morbid obesity. (Internal hernia is a defect in the abdominal cavity that allows abdominal structures, such as the intestines, to move out of their natural position. However, the condition can be corrected surgically before it leads to potentially serious bowel obstruction.)"

Yippee! Another surgery can "fix" it.

"The surgical group also is counseling patients who have lost an excessive amount of weight in a short period of time after a bariatric operation to consult a surgeon if they have suspicious symptoms. 'We caution patients if they start to develop episodes of abdominal pain or bilious vomiting that they should consult their surgeon and go through a workup,' Dr. Bour said."

Yummy "abdominal pain or bilious vomiting."

Wonder why you almost never hear about this stuff in the MSM.

Whatever.

Stay tuned.

They will link more complications of this malpractice "for the first time" as time passes.

You can bet your fat ass on that.

Hospitals See Drop in Paying Patients

More good news from the recession.

"In another sign of the economy’s toll on the nation’s health care system, some hospitals say they are seeing fewer paying patients...

While the full effects of the downturn are likely to become more evident in coming months as more people lose their jobs and their insurance coverage, some hospitals say they are already experiencing a fall-off in patient admissions.

Some patients with insurance seem to be deferring treatments like...weight-loss surgeries — the kind of procedures that are among the most lucrative to hospitals. Just as consumers are hesitant to make any sort of big financial decision right now, some patients may feel too financially insecure to take time off work or spend what could be thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses for elective treatments."

Any drop in IMHO malpractice is good.

And anything that makes fat people consider doing something smart, like losing weight without surgery or drugs, is good, too.

"'It’s safe to say hospitals are no longer recession-proof,' said David A. Rock, a health care consultant in New York."

Hallelujah!