Stop Dieting And Start Pounding Your Bones

Two recent studies by diet and health researchers confirm that dieting alone is not the best or the healthiest way to go about weight loss.

Dennis T. Villareal, M.D., Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, and colleagues studied the effects of weight loss on bone loss in 48 adults with an average age of 57. Nineteen were assigned to follow a calorie-restricted diet, 19 to eat the same number of calories and begin an exercise, and 10 to receive information on healthy lifestyles only when requested.

All participants were weighed at the beginning of the study and again after one, three, six, nine and 12 months. Bone mineral density was measured every three months.

After one year, those in the calorie restriction group lost an average of 18.1 pounds, those in the exercise intervention group lost 14.8 pounds and those in the healthy lifestyle group maintained their weight. Individuals in the calorie-restriction group also lost an average of 2.2 percent of their bone density in the lower spine, 2.2 percent at the hip and 2.1 percent at the top end of the femur--all high-risk fracture sites.

There were no significant changes in bone mineral density in the exercise or healthy lifestyle groups.

Muscles pulling on bones during exercise is thought to produce strains in the skeleton that stimulate new bone production. "Our results are consistent with an osteoprotective effect of exercise-induced mechanical strain on the skeleton and consequent increase in bone turnover," the authors continue.

In another study, a Washington University team of scientists studied healthy 50- to 60-year olds whose body mass index was between 23 and 30, placing them at the high end of normal weight or overweight. Of the 34 study participants, 18 dieted and 16 exercised to lose weight.

After one year the participants lost an average of between 9 and 10 percent of their total body weight.

Those who dieted lost muscle mass while those who exercised did not. This is because the exercisers routinely challenged their muscles, which prevented muscle tissue from degrading. A subgroup that did 30 minutes per day of extra exercise lost an average of 18 percent of their total body weight with no loss of muscle tissue.

The lesson is clear. If you diet alone to lose weight you are only creating a lighter bag of skin. For healthy weight loss you must work your muscles and pound your bones.

Here is a simple formula that you can use to lose two pounds of body fat per week. One pound of fat = 3,500 calories. If you do nothing to change your eating habits, and exercise to burn 7,000 calories per week, you will lose two pounds of body fat per week and keep or build your bone density and muscle at the same time. A win-win.

Putting your feet on the ground at about 75 counts per minute burns .078 Calories/Minute/Pound of Body Weight, or more easily remembered, 7.8 calories per minute, or 468 calories per hour, per 100 pounds of body weight.

A 200 pound person would require about 7 1/2 hours per week of exercise that pounded their feet on the ground 75 times per minute. Use this formula to convert for your situation:

(Your Body Weight/100) * 468 * (Steps Per Minute/75) = Calories Per Hour. Divide 7,000 by the Calories Per Hour figure and that is how many hours of exercise per week you must do to lose 2 pounds of body fat. If you cannot find a way to lose 2 pounds of body fat per week then shoot to eliminate 1 pound of body fat per week. That is still 52 pounds of healthy weight loss per year.

Obesity At The Time Of Prostate-Cancer Diagnosis Dramatically Increases The Risk Of Dying From The Disease
Obese men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer have more than two-and-a-half times the risk of dying from the disease as compared to men of normal weight at the time of diagnosis, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The findings by senior author Alan Kristal, Dr.P.H., and colleagues appear online and will be published in the March 15 print edition of the journal Cancer. [click link for full article]

First UK Study To Determine How General Practice Professionals Can Tackle Adolescent Obesity
Academics at the University of Hertfordshire are conducting the first UK study to investigate how health professionals based in general practice can help adolescents who are obese to lose weight. [click link for full article]

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie: Fat Camp Counselors?
We truly live in the age of the airhead. The next season of 'reality' show The Simple Life will have Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie as camp counselors. "The girls[...] will be guiding the children through a week of weight loss and fitness exercises." (src)...

DVT Awareness Survey Findings For Respondents In High-Risk Groups: Obese Individuals
Up to two million Americans are affected each year by DVT, with up to 600,000 hospitalized. Its primary complication, pulmonary embolism (PE), claims up to 300,000 lives annually -- more than breast cancer and AIDS combined. The Coalition to Prevent Deep-Vein Thrombosis (DVT) recently sponsored an online survey of a nationally representative sample of consumers and physicians. [click link for full article]

Philips 598: The Phone For Weight-Conscious Women
Philips are releasing a cell phone targeted towards women. What's intriguing about the phone is the feature set. The features include both a Body Mass Index calculator and a Basal Metabolic Rate feature. Apparently women need to be able to calculate their BMI anywhere anytime....

Americans Still Not Eating Enough Fruits And Vegetables, According To Two Recent Studies
"Eat your vegetables" has been heard at the dinner tables of America for a long time. Has the message gotten through? Since 1990 the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has recommended consuming at least two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables daily. However, two studies published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine clearly show that Americans are not meeting the mark. [click link for full article]

Red Pepper: Hot Stuff For Fighting Fat?
Food scientists in Taiwan are reporting new evidence from laboratory experiments that capsaicin - the natural compound that gives red pepper that spicy hot kick - can reduce the growth of fat cells. The study is scheduled for the March 21 issue of the ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. [click link for full article]