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I hope this finds you all well. You’re writer
is officially pregnant now, as in big belly and everything. I’m
due the end of August, so we may need to skip a newsletter
in September. I know it will be difficult to live without
me popping up in your “in” box, but we’ll
see, maybe I can handle it. In the meantime, I hope
you are enjoying the warmer weather as much as I am – it
was long winter, but a little warmth did come right in time
-- it was getting difficult to close my coats. I’m
really looking forward to the summer sun – but I’m
sure that won’t last too long!
There was slim pickins’ in women’s health news
this month but a few interesting articles that I’m
sure got overlooked. The new food pyramid came out – that’s
always exciting, especially since according to another study
only about 4% of us have a “healthy lifestyle”. There
was also an interesting article this month about how older
black women are much less likely to break bones – even
with lower bone density. And finally, since
I’m pregnant and it always seems we know someone who
is, we should be aware of the importance of DHA and Omega
3’s, especially since most of us are avoiding fish
because of the mercury content and/or PCB’s.
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT
YOU WERE DOING PRETTY WELL
According
to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, only 3%
of Americans hit all four points that add up to a “healthy
lifestyle” – and these four points are 1. Non
smoker, 2. Maintain a healthy weight, 3. Eat the minimum
of recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables and 4.
Exercise for at least 30 minutes, 5 times a week. On
the good side, 76% of Americans don’t smoke, on the
not so good side only 40% of us maintain a good weight and
less than a quarter of us get the recommended fruits and
vegetables (23%) and regular exercise (22%). About
14% of us hit three indicators, and 34% hit two. Hitting
all four points has been shown in several studies to reduce
the risks of heart disease and diabetes. Not hitting
these four points is a true contributor to the high cost
of our health care.
Not surprisingly, women faired better
than men – 4.2%
of us hit all four points compared with 1.9% of men and higher
income households (5%) and college graduates (5%) did slightly
better. Maybe this is why they revamped the food
pyramid…
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/165/8/854
THE NEW FOOD PYRAMID
is definitely
a marked improvement and the web site is actually quite
good and useful. As
a result, anyone eating as part of a federal program, like
school lunches, should be getting better nutrition soon. Unfortunately,
there are no regulatory measures curbing the sale of junk
food in schools or requiring calorie disclosures at fast-food
restaurants – but let’ hope this is a move that
will gain momentum. The new website is www.mypyramid.gov and
it has some useful features like tips for incorporating more
fruit into the diet as well as a chart that constitutes what “a
serving” is – comparing it to servings we usually
see in the grocery stores or in cafes and restaurants. It’s
still a triangle with stripes but instead of the old horizontal
bars, it now has vertical ones and a person hiking up the
side to show the importance of exercise. The real value
and details are on the website. You put in your age
and sex and exercise amount and it gives you a calorie based
consumption diet that is broken down by food groups. Fruits
and vegetables get the most volume, reflecting what was discussed
above. There is also a push towards
whole grains and limiting fats and sugars. Some are
complaining that the new pyramid will be too difficult to
follow – it does limit calories quite a bit. But the
reality of the situation is that we have been super-sizing
for way too long and need to pay attention to what’s
on our plate. Take a look, see what you think.
Again, www.mypyramid.gov
ONE HALF OF INDIVIDUALS OVER 50 ARE
AT RISK FOR FRACTURES
from osteoporosis. Any man or women with low bone mineral
density (BMI) is at higher risk This article confirmed that
black women with a lower bone mineral density also had a
higher risk of fracture. Differences became apparent
when researchers compared the fracture rate of African American
Women compared to that of white women with similar BMI’s – the
fracture rate among black women was 30-40% lower, which is
quite significant. In other words, among black women
and white women with the same profile and risk of fracture,
the black women don’t incur non-spinal fractures at
nearly the same rate.
Researchers are speculating that
black women may have lower bone turnover, better repair,
a difference in hip axis or bone size differences. However, there may be biological
markers that are shared by both groups women, like bone metabolism,
more prominent in black women that may account for the lower
rate. Stay tuned, these women may very well hold a
key to a better understanding.
http://www.4woman.gov/news/english/525474.htm
FOR THE LITTLE ONE
in the tummy.
It’s been my experience
that most MD’s are not as up to date as they could
on the nutrition end of things. Maybe your doctor is
fabulous and I just overstepped myself here, but it’s
simply not my experience. I haven’t eaten fish
since I got pregnant -- mostly because I can’t remember
which ones are okay – I know that tuna is out for mercury,
salmon is out for PCB’s, is Halibut or Striped Bass
okay? I can’t remember – I always say that
I’ll print out a list, but I forget. The party
line is that one can of tuna a week is fine, but I’m
not doing that. What if my can got more mercury that
the “average”? We are talking about a heavy
metal and a fetus. Besides, for the first trimester – I
couldn’t stand the smell/sight of fish.
So what’s the deal here…There are two types
of Essential Fatty Acids -- omega-3 and omega-6. (they are
called “Essential” because the body can not manufacture
them itself) Most Americans get plenty of Omega 6 – which
is in just about all the vegetable oil that we consume – like
safflower and corn. (I’m not talking any bad fats here – they
are HARMFUL) For optimum health, the key is to balance
Omega 6’s to Omega 3’s at a ratio of 1:4. Omega
-3’s are mostly found in fish oils and flax seed. Fish
oil contains EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA docosahexaenoic
acid). Most fish oil supplements are 18% EPA and 12% DHA,
or a total of 30% omega-3.
A lot of people have heard of the
benefits of Omega 3’s
and the role they play in heart health and skin health but
I want to focus here on the “little one”. (my
step father calls her “Catchatory”, as in Chicken)
Fats make up sixty percent of the
brain and the nerves that run every system in the body. And your brain sends
chemical messengers throughout the body, telling each organ
what to do. Prostaglandins are a hormone-like substance
that are a very important part of these chemical messengers. It
is essential fatty acids that produce prostaglandins. This
all stands to reason that good fats = good brain health and
development.
Why Omega 3’s are so key is that when the body is
deprived of the essential fatty acids that they need to grow – the
cells develop a fatty acid that may actually be harmful. These
acids have been found to be elevated in those that suffer
from depression or ADD. It’s generally a result
of too much hydrogenated fats or omega-6 fats –adding
omega-3 actually reduce the effects of bad fats or too much
omega-6.
The most rapid brain growth occurs during the first year
of life, with an infant’s brain tripling in size by
their first birthday. During this time period the
brain will consume 60% of the energy ingested by the infant. Again,
it makes sense that getting the right kind of fat greatly
affects brain development – and if mother’s
milk is any indication – consider that 50% of the calories
of mother’s milk is fat.
There are some new studies that back
all of this up – one
that was published in Jan. 2005 of Pediatric Research. This
was an animal study, not a clinical one, but one that showed
interesting relationships between DHA and brain development. Another
had to do with vision – Omega 3’s are also associated
with good eye development and neural development – this
was published in September 2004 in the Journal of Nutrition.
But the logic is enough for me. I take 200mg. a day
of both DHA and Omega 3. I like and trust Nordic Naturals – they
make ones that are “deodorized” so I don’t
get the back lash from others I’ve tried.
She has no excuse now not to be the
genius she’s expected
to be! (yes, I’m kidding). For more info:
http://www.softecare.com/Ingredients/omega-3_fetal_development.cfm
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T040900.asp
http://www.meg-3.com/LifeStage/Pregnancy.asp
That's it for this month! As always,
check out our website for lots more information at www.oonahealth.com. In Good Health,
The Oöna Team
Questions or comments? Write valerie@oonahealth.com
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