Is extreme endurance training and competitions like marathons healthy?

 

No one can dispute that regular exercise is beneficial, but sometimes we tend to think that more is better.

The reviewed research investigated the effects of training for, and the participation in endurance competitions like marathon ultra-marathon, Iron-man distance triathlons and very long-distance bicycle racing (Patil HR, et.al.,2012).

In veteran extreme endurance athletes the recurrent injury and repair to the heart muscle that occur in these athletes may essentially create arrhythmias. Chronic excessive and sustained endurance exercise may be associated with diastolic dysfunction, large-artery wall stiffening and coronary artery calcification.

Don't draw the conclusion that exercise is dangerous, and that it is better not to exercise, because that is not true. Most endurance athletes don't even develop these conditions, but if you're thinking about starting to run marathons for health reasons, you may want to rethink that and instead start to do high-intensity interval training. High-intensity interval training takes a lot less time, and has shown to provide numerous health benefits.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.

Reference:

Patil HR, O'Keefe JH, Lavie CJ, Magalski A, Vogel RA, McCullough PA. Cardiovascular damage resulting from chronic excessive endurance exercise. Mo Med. 2012 Jul-Aug;109(4):312-21.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Deep-fried food and the risk of prostate cancer

 

The study referred here investigated if deep-fried food may increase the risk of prostate cancer (Stott-Miller M,et.al.,2013).

Other research suggests that high-heat cooking may increase the risk of prostate cancer possibly because of the formation of carcinogens.

The researchers found a positive association with prostate cancer risk for people that ate french fries, fried chicken, fried fish, and donuts one or more times per week. The association was even slightly stronger for more aggressive cancers.

Since it wasn't clear if it was the high heat cooking or the frying that increased the risk, it's better to just avoid both. To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.

Reference:

Stott-Miller M, Neuhouser ML, Stanford JL. Consumption of deep-fried foods and risk of prostate cancer. Prostate. 2013 Jan 17. doi: 10.1002/pros.22643.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Suprising benefit of walnuts

 

Research has documented that walnuts improve cardiovascular risk factors.

The reviewed research investigated if walnuts may affect the risk of diabetes (Pan A.,et.al.,2013). 58.063 women aged 52 -77 years and also 79.893 women aged 35-52 years were followed over ten years. None of the women had Diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study. The consumption of walnuts and other nuts were assessed every 4 years.

The results showed that women that ate the most walnuts, 2 or more servings per week (1 serving was 28 g) had the lowest risk for Diabetes, but the ones who only ate 1-3 servings per month also showed a reduced risk compared to the women who never or rarely ate walnuts.

The women who ate other nuts also had a lower risk for Diabetes.

Nuts are both a convenient and good snack as long as you don't have too many at one time. They have a very low glycemic index. Nuts can also be sprinkled on berries or a little bit of fruit as a healthy desert.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.

Reference:

Pan A, Sun Q, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Walnut Consumption Is Associated with Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Women. J Nutr. 2013 Feb 20.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

More evidence why interval training is better

 

There has been a lot of research in the last few years on the benefits of interval training. The reviewed study compared interval walking with regular walking (Karstoft K, et. al.,2013).

The participants were people with Type II Diabetes. One group completed 60 minutes of continuous walking. The other group completed interval walking, alternating between three minutes repetitions at low and high intensity. The training energy expenditure and the average intensity were comparable.

The results were very interesting. The VO(2)max, a measure of physical fitness, increased 16.1 percent in the interval group with no changes in the continuous walking group. The body mass, fat mass, and visceral fat decreased only in the interval-walking group. Glycemic control worsened in the continuous walking group with elevated continuous glucose monitoring and increased fasting insulin. The average and maximum continuous glucose levels decreased in the interval-walking group.

The researchers concluded that interval walking is superior to energy expenditure during continuous walking for improved physical fitness, body composition, and glycemic control. This confirms what other research has documented earlier. You get more benefits from exercise if it includes bursts of high-intensity intervals.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.

Reference:

Karstoft K, Winding K, Knudsen SH, Nielsen JS, Thomsen C, Pedersen BK, Solomon TP. The Effects of Free-Living Interval-Walking Training on Glycemic Control, Body Composition, and Physical Fitness in Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A randomized, controlled trial. Diabetes Care. 2013 Feb;36(2):228-36. doi: 10.2337/dc12-0658. Epub 2012 Sep 21.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Eggs, heart disease, and stroke

 

Eggs have had a bad reputation. Many people have been afraid of eating eggs due to high cholesterol.

This has been going on for years, but is there really any evidence that eggs can cause heart disease?

This is what the researchers of the reviewed article wanted to find out (Rong Y,et al.,2013). They reviewed eight articles which included 4.148.095 person-years.

They found that higher consumption of eggs, of up to one egg per day, is not associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease or stroke.

There are many ways you can enjoy eggs. If you have an omelet with some vegetables and beans, you will actually have a very healthy meal especially if you buy organic free range eggs.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.

Reference:

Rong Y, Chen L, Zhu T, Song Y, Yu M, Shan Z, Sands A, Hu FB, Liu L. Egg consumption and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ. 2013 Jan 7;346:e8539. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e8539.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Protect your skin with green tea

 

Most people believe that drinking green tea is a healthy habit. Still the results from the reviewed research may be surprising (Rhodes LE.,et al.,2013).

The participants were women, ranging between the ages of 29 to 59 years old. Their buttock skin were exposed to UV radiations. For 12 weeks, the inflammatory response was measured before and after supplementation with 540 mg of green tea catechins and 50 mg of vitamin C.

The green tea catechins resulted in the incorporation of catechin metabolites into the skin and reduced 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, one of the markers of inflammation.

The researchers stated that this may contribute to protection against sunburn inflammation and potentially longer-term damage.

If you don't enjoy drinking green tea, there is an easier way to get the benefits of green tea. You can also take it in a capsule form. If you use the formula Better Green Tea, you only need to take one capsule per day which is equivalent to approximately 5 cups of green tea.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.

Reference:

Rhodes LE, Darby G, Massey KA, Clarke KA, Dew TP, Farrar MD, Bennett S, Watson RE, Williamson G, Nicolaou A. Oral green tea catechin metabolites are incorporated into human skin and protect against UV radiation-induced cutaneous inflammation in association with reduced production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoid 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. Br J Nutr. 2013 Jan 28:1-10.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Surprising findings related to meat consumption

 

Quite a few studies have been published on the consumption of red meat and the increased risk for heart disease and stroke. The reviewed research is interesting because it investigated the risk of diabetes and meat consumption (Feskens E J, et al,2013).

We are used to thinking that red meat may not be the healthiest food when it comes to the cardiovascular system, but most people would probably not think of it as a risk factor for diabetes.

This study however showed an increased risk of type 2 diabetes for meat consumers. The strongest association was found for processed red meat, but the risk was also, increased for unprocessed red meat.

The researchers suggested the reason may be because of compounds present in meat like saturated and trans fatty acids, cholesterol, protein and amino acids, iron, sodium, nitrites and nitrosamines and advanced glycation end products.

For these reasons it would be better to eat red meat in moderation if eating it at all, and if you're going to eat it use unprocessed and lean meat, prepared at moderate temperatures. Organic free range would also be a better choice.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.

Reference:

Feskens EJ, Sluik D, van Woudenbergh GJ. Meat Consumption, Diabetes, and Its Complications. Curr Diab Rep. 2013 Jan 25.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant