4 Things to Look for to Be Sure your Hot Cereal is actually Good for You

Hot cereal is not just your mother's oatmeal any more. Now that it's been worked over by cereal companies and their marketing departments, its now possible to buy hot cereals that are every bit as crappy as the sugar filled garbage lining the cereal aisle. In addition to a confusing variety of oatmeal products, now you can get wheat, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, bulgar, faro, kamut, chia seeds and combinations thereof.

Whatever you decide to try, here are four ways to help you find the best cereals for  you.

1. Look for whole grain. This is easier than it usually is since most hot cereals are all or nearly all whole grain. Grits and Cream of Wheat or Rice are notable exceptions. Bran as an ingredient counts.

2. Beware of added sugar. As with most cereals, dumping lots of sugar into them can ruin even whole grain cereals. Most whole grain cereals come unsweetened. The notable exception is "instant" varieties which can be loaded with sugar. Skip them. Cooking most hot cereals only takes 10 minutes anyway. Better yet, make them overnight in a slow cooker and they are ready to go when you are.

3. Check the sodium content. Nearly all flavored varieties will have added salt and the rest will advise you to add it during cooking. Don't bother. Dress it up with fruit and nuts and you will not miss the salt.

4. Ignore the marketing BS. Promises to reduce cholesterol, provide antioxidants, deliver pre- and pro-biotics or fill you up with fiber and protein are, while not outright lies, generally much overblown. You would have to eat 3 or 4 servings of most hot cereals to count on them for a daily does of any of these things.

Still, as a rule, whole grain hot cereals that you prepare yourself and top off with fruit or nuts are one of the healthiest breakfast options in the market. They really do have a lot of protein and fiber that will help you feel full till lunchtime. Try a few different kinds, find the ones you like and include them on the menu several days each week.

For Women, Think Waist Rather Than Weight

 

A study published in 2013 in the journal Diabetes Care suggests that waist circumference my be a better indicator of the risk of developing Type-2 diabetes than weight. While the study included only women, there is no real reason to think the same advice would not apply to men. The researchers followed over 135,000 postmenopausal women over nearly 15 years before concluding that waist size predicted diabetes risk better than weight. A large waist circumference indicates an accumulation of fat in the intra-abdominal region - and fat in this area can impact internal organs and is more metabolically active than fat in other areas of the body. When used alone, a weight measurement is not especially accurate at predicting health and heart disease risk either. Used in conjunction with waist circumference, it provides a clearer picture.

In the cited study, women with a waist measurement between 31 and 35 inches had an almost 60% higher risk of developing Type-2 diabetes than those with a smaller waist. Women with a waist over 35 inches had nearly three times the risk as women with a waist under 31 inches.

A larger waist circumference is often caused by intra-abdominal visceral fat. Visceral fat is fat that develops between and around internal organs. This type of fat differs from "regular" fat that sits just beneath the skin and can be pinched. It is deep within the abdomen and is considered to have very high inflammatory activity.

There are several effective ways to reduce your waist circumference in a healthy manner.

• Lifestyle changes, including eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise. This should be your "go to" approach.
  
• Quitting smoking. Which, lets face it, you should do regardless of your waist size.
  
• If you already have type 2 diabetes, metformin and thiazolidinedione medications may provide benefits in helping to reduce waist circumference

If this is a concern for you, speak with your primary care provider to determine the best method for you to reduce your waist circumference if you're over the recommended guidelines. 

 

Decoding Fish Oil Labels

 

If you use or plan to use fish oil supplements, it is important to know what you are getting and, unsurprisingly, the labels can be confusing. As you peruse the nutrition label in the store, keep the following things in mind.

It is the EPA and DPA fatty acids that provide the benefit, not the fish oil itself. The VITAL trail gave participants 460mg of EPA and 380mg of DHA so look for those amounts or better. Only about 25% of the fish oil is EPA plus DPA so use that as a guideline if they are not listed separately.

As always, make sure you check the serving size so that you are taking the dose that you think you are. It can vary among brands from one pill to three.

Mercury contamination in seafood is a valid health concern. Independent tests from Consumer Lab and others has never found detectable levels of mercury in fish oil supplements.

You can find vegetarian EPA and DHA that has been extracted from algae, and there may be even more reason to look for it than just preferring a non-animal source. Most will have double the fatty acids of fish oil products.

Avoid brands that contain only DHA. This is one case where less is not more.

VITAL Trial and Omega-3s

 

A few days ago we looked at the results of the VITAL trial on the effect of Vitamin D on cancers and cancer deaths. The study concluded that Vitamin D had no real value as a preventative measure but that it showed promise as a component of cancer therapy in that reduced cancer deaths were observed among those given 2,000IU daily.

The same study also looked at how effective fish oil was as a preventive measure against heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death from any cause. The trial included nearly 26,000 healthy men and women who were given 1g of fish oil, 2,000IU of Vitamin D, both or a placebo for roughly 5 years. Earlier research, mostly observational studies, suggested that eating fish may lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.

The study found no statistically significant reduction in a composite of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths among those getting the omega-3 fatty acid from the fish oil. But wait! There's more.

When heart attacks, strokes and deaths from cardiovascular events were examined separately there was no effect on strokes or deaths. But a 28% reduction in heart attacks was observed. "Our findings add to the biological plausibility that omega-3s have benefits for heart health," said study co-author Dr. JoAnn Manson in an interview in Nutrition Action newsletter. 

Among those who began the trial eating little or no fish, heart attack risk was reduced by 40% compared to those taking a placebo. For those who began the trial consuming 2 or more servings of fish per week, the supplementation had a negligible benefit.

Based on VITAL results, the bottom line on omega-3 supplements seems to be that they have little or no impact as a preventive measure for strokes or for reducing death from cardiovascular events. If you eat little or no fish, the supplements may be valuable in lowering your risk of heart attack. Better yet, just include 2 servings of fatty fish in your diet and don't worry about it.

Less Annoying Calorie Counting

 

If you are serious about losing some weight, you are going to have to consume fewer calories than you burn off between your resting metabolism and your activity. Its that simple, if not necessarily easy. But calorie counting can be a cumbersome, time consuming and, lets just say it, annoying chore. So much so that most people simply won't do it. This is a shame because it works.

But today you can find a host of apps that take most of the drudgery out of counting calories. Yes, you still have to enter what you eat and your activities each day. But the modern herd of apps have such improved user interfaces and large databases of foods and activities that you can do so in just minutes per day. Also, most apps will track your progress (motivating!) and report your overall nutritional status as well (educational!). They will usually allow you to create custom foods or activities for things that you enter often and most offer a free version that is probably all you will ever need..

Here are four of the most popular apps for you to consider. (I have used Chronometer for almost 2 years, lost 30 pounds, am stable at my goal weight and spend maybe 15 - 20 minutes a day using it - but I am a retired engineer and enjoy that sort of stuff. All four offer a free version with the option to upgrade to Premium for a cost. Personally, I think the free version is all you will need. In any case you can try the free versions and see which is the best fit for you.

MyFitnessPal

All Data Verified?            No.
All Entries Complete?     No. Mostly just the info on the nutrition label.

Pros: Extensive chain restaurant data, built-in local restaurant locator, free syncing with popular health and fitness apps and tools.

Cons: Calorie estimates for non-chain restaurants can be grossly inaccurate, the "projected weight loss" feature is simplistic and not very accurate.

Lose It!

All Data Verified?            No.
All Entries Complete?     No. All contain calorie counts but some nothing else.

Pros: Very easy to adjust the serving sizes to what you actually eat, desktop and mobile versions that are automatically synced and nearly identical.

Cons: Pushy ads for the company's other products can be annoying, tool that is intended to match photos of your food to the database is unreliable (its new so likely will get better).

Nutritionix Track

All Data Verified?            Yes.
All Entries Complete?     Yes. Some entries do have more detail than others.

Pros: easy to search for common foods both generic and brand name, Freeform feature lets you type in what you ate rather than searching for it item by item, and it has a voice entry feature.

Cons: Using Freeform requires additional inputs to adjust serving sizes, does not track progress over time (they are working on it).

Chronometer

All Data Verified?            Yes.
All Entries Complete?     Yes.

Pros: Most complete nutritional breakdown, very comprehensive database, graphically tracks progress over time, super easy set up.

Cons: Pop up ads can be annoying, not simple to set custom nutrition goals.

The odds are good that one of these will suit your needs and give you a powerful new weapon in your personal Battle of the Bulge. 

I'd love to have your feedback if you use any of these, and welcome other suggestions as well.

New Findings on Vitamin D

 

Vitamin D is touted for all sorts of health benefits, so it is no surprise that is it the subject of many studies and trials. For example a recent double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 2 sites in Sao Paulo, Brazil concluded that large doses on Vitamin D were ineffective in treating Covid-19 symptoms. 

In an interview published in the January/February edition of Nutrition Action newsletter, JoAnn Mason, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-leader of the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) delivered mixed news about the efficacy of Vitamin D for heart health and cancer prevention.

The VITAL study includes almost 26,000 men and women from across the U.S. and investigates whether taking daily dietary supplements of Vitamin D3 (2000 IU) or omega-3 fatty acids (Omacor® fish oil, 1 gram) reduces the risk for developing cancer, heart disease, and stroke in people who do not have a prior history of these illnesses.

First the bad news. Over the 5 year study period, no reduction in cardiovascular events was observed among those taking 2,000IU of Vitamin D. Even among those who began the study with a low blood level of Vitamin D, no benefit was observed. There was also no observed reduction in new cancers among the Vitamin D takers.

But there was good news too. Looking only at those who had been in the trial for at least two years, a significant 25% reduction in cancer deaths was observed. So while the study showed no reduction in new cancers, it did indicate a reduction in cancer deaths.

"If Vitamin D makes cancers less invasive, less aggressive, and less likely to metastasize, you might see a reduction in cancer deaths," Dr. Manson theorized.

While this was not a conclusive finding and additional research is needed, it suggests a possible role for Vitamin D as part of cancer therapies. And of course, it does not question the benefits of Vitamin D for bone health or its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties. 

Next time we will take a look at what VITAL says about Omega-3 fatty acids.

High Blood Pressure Raises Dementia Risk

 

If you have high blood pressure in middle age, you have an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia as you grow older, according to a meta-analysis reported in the Berkeley Wellness Letter. Mounting research suggests that having high blood pressure in midlife may harm your brain down the line and that taking aggressive measures to lower elevated blood pressure might help preserve cognition later in life. Indeed, the NIH and several Alzheimer’s disease associations list keeping blood pressure at healthy levels as one of the steps to help maintain cognitive health.

The studies included in the review linked high blood pressure (130/80 or higher) when 35 - 45 years old to increased risk for cognitive impairment at age 70. People who aggressively treated their blood pressure to keep it at 120/80 or lower developed fewer of the brain lesions associated with cognitive decline than those who's blood pressure remained higher. Systolic pressure (the first, higher number) appeared to be the most important factor with pressures above 140 especially risky.

It makes sense that high blood pressure is bad for the brain. After all, it can harm small blood vessels that nourish brain cells, resulting in damage that increases the risk of dementia as well as stroke. And vascular factors may affect amyloid and other neurodegenerative protein deposits in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's. If the latest findings are confirmed by other ongoing trials, that will be another reason to lower elevated blood pressure to as close to normal as possible—to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. 

The best option is to lower blood pressure via lifestyle changes such as losing excess weight, improving diet, exercising, limiting sodium intake, and not smoking. Such steps may make drugs unnecessary or, if medication is needed, allow you to take a lower dose or fewer drugs. Do it now, while you can still remember.