Tag: obesity

Don’t Forget Your Back

Most of us spend a large portion of the day hunched forward.  Think about when you are working on the computer, cooking, driving or even relaxing.  Your typical posture during these activities is head and neck forward, shoulders rounded forward, back curved and hips flexed.    When you remain in this position for an extended period of time, the muscles in the front of the body tend to shorten or contract, while the muscles in the back of the body tend to weaken.    This can be a set up for back, neck and shoulder problems and in addition, tends to make you look shorter, heavier and less confident.

Stretching before and after exercise as well as during the day is often overlooked in the rush to “get your workout in”.   Stretching however, has numerous benefits.   According to a study published in the Annals of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine in September 2016, by I Fekhfekh, et al, dynamic muscle stretching of the knee musculature actually resulted in an increase strength gain in those muscles.  Interestingly, this study also found a decrease in the postural stability of the knee after stretching.    In English, it appears that stretching helps your to build strength, but may decrease the stability of the muscles you stretch at least temporarily.

In general, stretching helps to improve flexibility, joint range of motion, and usually is helpful for injury prevention.    Stretching helps by increasing blood flow to the muscles stretched.  This increased blood flow carries important nutrients to your muscles to allow for muscle growth and repair.  In addition, the increased blood flow helps to wash away muscle “waste” which leads to decreased soreness and inflammation of the muscle.

If allowed to remain in a contracted position for a prolonged period of time, our muscles will shorten.  For example if you spend a large portion of your day sitting in a chair or driving, the muscles in the front of the hips, your hip flexors will shorten.  These muscles have a direct effect on both your posture and your back health.

 

So what should you do?

It is important to stretch the muscles in the front of the body at least daily.

Exercises that focus on the hip flexors:

-Kneeling hip flexor stretch  – in the position of a lunge, allow your back knee to touch the floor and drive the hip of your front leg forward.  This will stretch the hip flexor of the knee on the floor

–Pigeon stretch – extend your right leg straight back and bring the heel of your left leg underneath your right hip.  Then drive your hips forward towards the ground.  Stretch and repeat on the other side.

– Yoga poses such as: low lunge, crescent lunge, upward facing dog, and revolving side angle pose

 

Stretches that focus on the chest muscles and prevent rounded shoulders:

– Door Frame stretch- stand in a doorway or at the corner of a room with your arms up like you were going to stop traffic.  Line your arms up from the elbow to the hand with the doorframe or in the corners of the wall.   Step towards the door and you should feel a stretch in your chest (pectoralis “pec” muscles) and hold for 20-30 seconds.

– Wall slides – stand with your back to the wall and keep your shoulders against the wall.  Walk forward 1-2 steps and slide your arms up and down the wall and squeeze your shoulder blades together.  You should feel a stretch in your upper chest muscles.

–Shoulder squeeze stretch –  clasp your hands together behind your back and slowly try to lift your hands.  Squeeze your shoulder blades together to stretch out the chest wall.

– Yoga poses include : bridge pose, camel pose, cobra pose and cow face pose

 

Stretches for your neck:

– Chin Tucks (Neck Retraction) – keep your shoulders back and your head in a neutral position (eyes facing forwards, chin level) slowly move your head backwards until you feel a slight stretch in the back of your neck.  Hold for 10-20 seconds and repeat.  If needed you can apply a gentle pressure on your chin with your fingertips to press your chin backwards and deepen the stretch.

Incorporating these exercises into your daily routine will help to prevent shortening of the muscles in the front of the body which leads to poor posture and often pain of the neck and back.  As always, if you are having pain which persists you should be evaluated by a certified health care professional to ensure that these exercises are safe for you.

This week we primarily discussed stretching exercises to prevent muscle contraction, and next week we will discuss the importance of strengthening the back muscles to further combat the issues of a hunched posture.

Eating Time With Regard To Exercising

To answer this question, I have been reviewing the literature on this topic and it appears that there is not a general consensus on this subject.  The answers, which are still up for debate seem to depend on the goals you are trying to achieve.   It appears that not only the timing of meals, but the type of meals, and the timing of exercise plays a role on the metabolic effects.

In an animal study by Sasaki published in Nov 2014, his findings suggest that eating in the morning and exercising later in the afternoon or evening has a more beneficial effect with regard to body fat and weight gain.  In the group that ate early and exercised later, the was less body and fat weight gained.  In addition, there was an increase in skeletal muscle weight gain.    So according to his findings, eat earlier in the day and exercise later for increased fat loss and increased skeletal muscle weight gain.

Bo published a study in Dec 2015 in the International Journal of Obesity that found that the same meal consumed in the evening resulted in a decreased resting metabolic rate and increased insulin response. In English, this means that you will essentially burn more Calories by eating a meal in the morning then you would by eating the same meal in the afternoon or later evening. Furthermore, multiple studies have observed that skipping breakfast is correlated with obesity, elevated BMI (body mass index) and increased waist circumference.

According to KJ Hackney in a study published in the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, consuming protein before heavy resistance training (weight training) results in an increase in resting energy expenditure (increased metabolism) as compared to consuming carbohydrates prior to heavy resistance training.   Other research suggest that whey protein is beneficial because it is fast absorbing and contains branched chain amino acids, specifically leucine, which has anti-catabolic (muscle breakdown) and increased anabolic (muscle building) signaling.

For trained athletes who are competing in endurance (long time or long distance) exercises, the recommendation at this time is to consume low glycemic carbohydrates or complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, heavy mixed grain breads, or most vegetables.  Exercising in a fasted state compromises fuel stores and results in less than optimal performance.    There is also some research to suggest that high fat or even protein intake before exercise can be beneficial as well.  Therefore, again there is no definitive consensus on the type of food to consume prior to exercise.

In another study, published by Sasaki in 2014 in the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, eating between 1 and 4 hours before exercise resulted in no difference in the metabolism of trained subjects.    The metabolism of both carbohydrates and fat oxidation remained the same despite the timing of intake.  Thus, as long as you eat between 1 and 4 hours before exercise there is no difference in the body’s ability to metabolism fat and carbohydrates afterwards.

Obviously, eating a very heavy meal immediately before exercise is not recommended because your body will shunt blood to your stomach and GI tract to help with digestion and this blood flow will be at the expense of your muscles.    Small meals with moderate complex carbohydrates and protein, such as an almond milk smoothie, with protein powder and a little fruit, eaten at least 30 before exercise may be ideal.  This allows for some digestion to occur prior to exercise and allows for fuel stores to replenish.

With regard to eating after exercising, the British Journal of Nutrition published a study in 2013 by NM Farah, that contradicts the above studies, and demonstrated that there may be an advantage for body fat regulation exercising before breakfast instead of after breakfast.

Further research suggests that eating a meal right after resistance exercise (weigh training) may increase muscle mass and decrease adipose (fat) tissues as opposed to eating a meal several hours after weight training.  After your workout, your body needs to repair itself and restore the energy you just burned.    For the first 2 hours after your workout, your body uses your food intake to refill your muscle energy stores.  Two-hours post exercise, this ability to store energy decreases by about 50%, and then those Calories are more likely to be stored as fat.

As was discussed in prior articles, insulin sensitivity is very important.  The more resistant you are to insulin, the more likely you will have issues such as abdominal obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.   By eating within 2 hours after exercise, there is a beneficial effect on your body’s insulin sensitivity for the next 24 hours.

A small meal at least 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to exercise appears to refuel your energy stores and enable more optimal performances during exercise.   Eating within 2 hours of completing exercise helps to refuel your muscle glycogen stores and appears to enhance metabolism and increase insulin sensitivity for the following 24 hours.    Our bodies are remarkably complex and depending on genetics, environment, and baseline level of fitness, our needs are different.   As always, it is important to listen to your body and eat accordingly.

The Danger of Sugar in Our Diets

In the 1980’s and 1990’s we were all told to eat low fat because the fat in our foods was leading to obesity. It turns out that this may have been one of the greatest public health mistakes in the modern error.   Food companies jumped on the low fat bandwagon with fervor and quickly churned out tons of low fat products. Unfortunately, the fat in these products were replaced with sugars, artificial sweeteners and simple carbohydrates. When fat is removed from food, the food tastes bland. Therefore, companies add in “natural and artificial flavors” as well as sugars to improve the taste profile   The inclusion of artificial flavors, natural flavors, sugars, and sugar substitutes into our foods can be harmful to our health and well being.

Research has shown that it is not the fat consumption in our diets that leads to obesity, metabolic syndrome, impaired cholesterol levels, diabetes and heart disease, but the simple SUGARs.   It turns out that when we consume too much sugar, it is converted into fat and stored by the body. In addition, sugar consumption drives hunger and further sugar consumption. This is a negative cycle that is very difficult to break. This is because sugar consumption actually stimulates the centers in the brain that are activated in drug addiction and drug seeking behaviors.

We are all brainwashed into thinking we should be eating low fat, but current research shows this is absolutely incorrect. It is still prudent to keep the amount of fat we are eating to a reasonable amount, but more important then the amount of fat, is the type of fat we are eating.

Just the other day, I overheard a conversation on regarding which candies were the best choices if you were going to “cheat” during Halloween.   I heard, “eat a ‘Milky Way ®’ or a ‘Peppermint Patty ®’ because they have very little or no fat.”   While it is true that these candies are relatively low in fat, they are both very high in sugar. By eating simple sugar without fat, all you are doing is driving your hunger cravings.     Most of us remember the quote, “Snickers really satisfies you ®”.   In some sense, this is a true statement. That is because Snickers contain actual peanuts.   To be clear, I am not promoting eating Snickers, but just stating that the peanuts in the Snickers bar will provide protein and fat and offset some of the rapid blood sugar rise seen with other candy bars.

It appears that the fruit in sugars is not actually that good for us either. Fruits contain fructose, and excess fructose is turned into fat by our livers. In addition, too much fructose in our diets appears to be the driving force for metabolic syndrome (abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, impaired lipids, cardiac disease, etc).   So, does that mean we should avoid fruit in our diet? NO.   When eaten whole, rather then juiced, fruit provides us with many important nutrients, fibers and even fats (think avocado). Fruit consumed whole is digested by our bodies as a “whole package”. We are able to extract out important nutrients and utilize them appropriately.   On the other hand, fruit juice, is processed by our body the much same way as simple sugars found in candy.   If you are making smoothies or juice drinks it is important to use the whole fruit instead of just the liquid.

Complex carbohydrates are handled differently by our bodies because it takes more time for these molecules to be broken down.   Therefore, the sugar rise after eating a complex carbohydrate is slower and more consistent.

Getting back to the idea of low fat, it appears currently the best thing you can do for yourself is to allow yourself to eat good fats. In addition, to help with satiety (the feeling of fullness), fat is required for numerous functions in our bodies.

Why do we need to eat fat?

  • Fat serves an important energy source
  • Certain ‘essential fatty acids” cannot be made by our bodies and need to be consumed as part of our diets
  • Nerve cells are coated by fat as an insulation for proper electrical signaling in the brain and nervous system
  • All of our cell membranes have fatty acids in them – the type of fatty acids in the cell membrane determine the flexibility of our cell walls
  • Fat is required for proper immune function

As was mentioned in a previous article, fat can be broken down into several categories; Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), Polyunsaturated (PUFA) and Saturated fatty acids (SFA).   We actually need a combination of all three types of fat in our diets.   It appears that monounsaturated fats such as those found in olive oil, nuts, seeds, and dark chocolate help our heart health and protect against chronic disease and inflammation.     Certain polyunsaturated fatty acids are also beneficial, particularly, those foods that contain Omega-3 Fatty acids.   This type of fat is found in salmon, chia seeds, walnut, flaxseeds, enriched egg yokes, natto (fermented soy) and cod liver oil.

The jury is still out with regard to saturated fatty acids. It remains true that trans-fats, such as those found in margarines, vegetable shortening and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, are still associated with significant health problems. However, certain saturated fatty acids, such as those obtained from grass fed meats, grass fed butters appear beneficial. In a review article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in March 2014 by Rajiv Chowdhury et al,, no link was identified between saturated fat and heart disease.

So, based on the most current research, it seems most prudent to significantly restrict your simple sugar intake, (including fructose and artificial sweeteners) and stick to whole, non-processed full fat foods.