Junk Union: Obesity, alcohol and tobacco will balance out efforts to increase overall health

[Bleipriester]

Do you remember these funny comparisons?

Forget them. Almost 60 % of us Europeans are tubby gorging machines that pump eleven liters of pure alcohol into themselves each year. And of course, we smoke like an industrial area.


"“Europeans drink and smoke more than anyone else. We are world champions — and it's not a good record," said Claudia Stein, WHO Europe's head of information, evidence, research and innovation.

She said this could have the most serious impact on young people, since their lives may be shortened unless something is done to reduce consumption of tobacco, alcohol and calories.

Just under 60 per cent of people in the WHO's European region are either overweight or obese, and 30 percent use tobacco. Some 11 litres of pure alcohol is drunk per person per year."

WHO warns Europeans over smoking, drinking and eating too much

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

America has the fattest poor in the world.

That said, in walking around the Mall in DC, and various shopping centers, most of the obese appear to be Latino or black, especially among the kids.

Not a sermon, just a thought.

 

[Bleipriester]

America has the fattest poor in the world.

That said, in walking around the Mall in DC, and various shopping centers, most of the obese appear to be Latino or black, especially among the kids.

Not a sermon, just a thought.

In Germany, you find the fattest share of obese people among the receivers of social benefits, as well.

 

[waltky]

Big ol' belly fat might eventually kill ya...

Fat Belly Increases Mortality Risk
November 12, 2015 - As they get older, many people develop a “spare tire” or roll of fat around the middle. Now comes word that so-called central obesity could dramatically increase the risk of death.

A new study found that normal weight or skinny people with so-called spare tires, where the circumference of their waist is greater than their hips, have a higher mortality rate, even higher than people who are obese. Men with potbellies were twice as likely to die prematurely – primarily of heart disease - compared to an overweight man. Among women with spare tires, the risk of death was 1.5 times higher. The study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at health data collected on some 15,000 individuals.

An overweight man rests on a bench in Jackson, Missouri.​

Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is senior author of the study. He says people who are a normal size all over except for their middles – a condition called central obesity – tend to be less active. “Because their weight is normal, they don’t have to do anything else and they may be less likely to exercise, to go out and be active and to eat a healthy diet," said Lopez-Jimenez. Lopez-Jimenez says fat around the waistline presses up against vital organs, making them work harder. Belly fat is also less metabolically active, meaning it doesn’t process sugar well, which can lead to diabetes.

Lopez-Jimenez says the answer is not to gain weight to even out the body's fat distribution. Instead, he says the healthiest thing people with central obesity can do is eat a diet low in junk food and exercise, building muscles in their arms and legs. “Muscle is fed by sugar. So the more muscle mass the body has, the more sugar will be used," he said. It’s recommended that people of every weight do moderate to intense exercise at least three times a week.

Fat Belly Increases Mortality Risk

 

[waltky]

Women Catching Up With Men...

Study: On Alcohol Consumption, Women Catching Up With Men
November 24, 2015 - Women at greater risk than men of variety of alcohol-related health effects, including liver inflammation, heart disease and cancer, researchers say

Women are getting close to drinking the same amount of alcohol as men in the United States, according to a new study. Writing in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, say women appear to be closing the gap on men. “We found that over that period of time, differences in measures such as current drinking, number of drinking days per month, reaching criteria for an alcohol use disorder, and driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year, all narrowed for females and males,” said Aaron White, the NIAAA’s senior scientific adviser. “Males still consume more alcohol, but the differences between men and women are diminishing.”

Uncle Ferd says, "My kinda woman!"

For the study, White looked at data from yearly national surveys conducted between 2002 and 2012. He found that the percentage of people who had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days had increased for women from 44.9 percent to 48.3 percent. Meanwhile, the figures for men declined from 57.4 percent to 56.1 percent. The number of "drinking days" for women was up from 6.8 per month to 7.3 per month. The number for men declined from 9.9 days to 9.5 days, according to the study.

NIAAA Director George F. Koob said the findings are concerning, adding that women are at greater risk than men of a variety of alcohol-related health effects, including liver inflammation, cardiovascular disease, neurotoxicity and cancer. The study showed a significant increase in binge drinking by 18- to 25-year-old women not in college, but a significant decrease among males. For those in college, there was no increase in binge drinking for men or women. Researchers said they still can’t identify the reasons women are narrowing the gap, but that “employment, pregnancy, or marital status” do not seem to be factors.

Study: On Alcohol Consumption, Women Catching Up With Men​

​

 

[waltky]

Granny gonna start feedin' it to Uncle Ferd's fat g/f when she comes over for dinner...

Pasta May Decrease Chances of Becoming Obese: Study
July 05, 2016 - Great news for pasta lovers. A study by researchers in Italy suggests it doesn’t make you fat and may even reduce the chances of obesity.

Writing in the journal Nutrition and Diabetes, researchers say the Mediterranean diet staple “contributes to a healthy body mass index, lower waist circumference and better waist-hip ratio."

A new study claims pasta is not fattening if eaten in moderation and along with other staples of a Mediterranean diet.​

The findings from the Department of Epidemiology at the Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Health Care Mediterranean Neurologic Institute in Pozzilli, Italy were based on an analysis of the diets of more than 23,000 people. "In popular views, pasta is often considered not adequate when you want to lose weight. And some people completely ban it from their meals,” said Licia Iacoviello, head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology at the institute. “In light of this research, we can say that this is not a correct attitude.”

Iacoviello, however, added that pasta should be consumed in moderation as part of a diet that includes a variety of Mediterranean staples such as fresh vegetables and fruits, unrefined grains, nuts, olive oil and legumes, among others. Many studies have shown that a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Pasta May Decrease Chances of Becoming Obese: Study

 

[waltky]

Citrus Fruits May Head Off Obesity-Related Diseases...

Antioxidants in Citrus May Head Off Obesity-Related Diseases
August 21, 2016 - Eating citrus fruit could head off chronic diseases that are related to obesity, a growing health problem in many parts of the world, according to a new study.

Diabetes, heart disease and liver disease are increasing as more people pack on the kilos. But there’s a substance in citrus fruits called flavanones, which are antioxidants that help people’s bodies reduce the amount of oxidative stress. The diseases linked to obesity are caused by oxidative stress and its related inflammation. When humans consume a fatty diet, their fat cells produce reactive oxygen species that harm cells. When fat cells become too large, which they do in obese individuals, they produce higher levels of reactive oxygen species that overwhelm the body, causing inflammation and disease. Researchers say antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables, such as citrus flavanones, help fight reactive oxygen species and reduce oxidative stress in animals that eat a high fat diet.

Paula Ferreira, a graduate researcher at the Universidade Estadual Paulist in Brazil conducted the research. The month-long experiment by Ferreira and colleagues involved 50 mice, feeding them either a normal diet, a high fat diet, or a high fat diet with three flavanones. Investigators found the mice that ate a high fat diet, but no flavanones, had significantly higher levels of cell damage, than mice that ate a normal diet. Mice on the high fat died had 80 percent more cell damage markers in their blood and 57 percent in the liver compared to rodents fed a normal diet, report researchers. But mice fed a high fat diet plus the three flavanones - hesperidin, eriocitrin and eriodictyol - had a reduction in cell damage markers compared to mice on a standard diet. Reductions in the liver ranged from 50 to 64 percent depending upon the flavanone given compared to those on a high fat diet alone.

Clementines and oranges​

Researchers said the obese mice became healthier consuming citrus flavanones even though they did lose any weight. “Our results indicate that in the future, we can use citrus flavanones, a class of antioxidants, to prevent or delay chronic diseases caused by obesity in humans,” said Ferreira. It’s also possible, said researchers, that citrus could be beneficial to people who are not obese but eat a fatty, Western-style diet, she said. Ferreira said the best way to get flavanones is to drink them, like orange juice. “Many of the citrus juices, because citrus juice has high amounts of ... these compounds.”

The researchers presented their findings at the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting in Pennsylvania, the largest scientific society in the world. Investigators next plan to conduct human studies, to see whether it’s healthier to give citrus flavanones in juice or pill form, or whether they have the same effect.

Antioxidants in Citrus May Head Off Obesity-Related Diseases