More on How Sometimes Exercise Can be Bad For You

Exercising too much can be bad for your heart.  This is the second time this topic has come up recently.  Is something up?  That's how these things usually start, but before we worry about that...

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  106 mg/dl
• Weight:  187 lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride on the sweaty express. 
• Mood:  8.5.  Hey, it's Friday Eve and pizza night. 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal with craisins, fruit medley.
• Lunch:  Leftover pasta chilli, one the Charming Mrs. SWMBO's family favorites.  It's quick, easy and cheap. 
• Dinner:  Pizza and salad
• Snacks:  grapes. 

 

Too Much Exercise Can be Bad for You.

Happily, I am in no danger of that.  Marathoners, iron man triathletes and cyclists of the Tour De France class all can develop heart problems from the hours of training and competition.  For some, not all, the long workouts can trigger scarring in the heart and abnormalities in the hearts rhythm.  For some, the injury is temporary and heals.  For others, the damage can become permanent.

The article is here.  The other article that exercise in general could be heart unhealthy for some is here and I wrote about it last week.  Interesting if this starts a cautious view of what exercise can do for or to us.

The study cited by the Daily Mail is about intense physical exertion, what most people try to avoid. The New York Times article was more about people harming themselves intending to help themselves by exercising.  The Daily Mail article is not about exercising for health, but the exhilaration of competition.  Humans where probably never meant to pursue these long, intense levels of exertion.  For some the thrill of doing it is like drug high. For some it's the competition that drives them.  God speed to them, I say. 

That reminds me, congratulations to Ryder Hesjedal of the Garmin - Barracuda team for winning the Giro d'Italia.  He is the first Canadian to win a Grand Tour Event.

Next up is the Tour de France July and then comes the Vuelta de Espana in September.  I admit I have Walter Middy moments when I ride.  In my mind I am not riding on a dark street in Houston, TX, but through a charming French village leading in the Tour de France.  Oh, well.

Anyhoo, the experts quoted here recommend an hour of exercise maximum per day. From what I have always read, a half hour a day, five days a week is all that is really needed for good general health.  Walking briskly is fine.  I am sticking with the bike because I love riding, and I get to fantasize about winning the Tour de France, spraying champagne on the stand and kissing pretty French girls. 

Any time spent beyond one hour does the body no good, if not harm.  But if you crave that endorphin buzz or the chance to go the farthest fastest, go for it I say.  Just beware of the risks.

This made me think of an article in Runner's World.  Running is good for treating and preventing type 2 diabetes and the more running (and by extension, aerobic exercise in general) the better.  There was no upside limit according to the research cited in this article.  For your overall health, that may not necessarily true apparently, although this article probably did not have the extreme athlete in mind. 

This also made me think of what can happen to  cyclists who spend a lot of time on the saddle.  For men, that could mean compressed nerves and blood vessels causing erectile dysfunction.  For woman the compression causes a loss of sensitivity. For some, the compression is only temporary.  Sometimes it can be permanent.

One culprit is the traditional design for the bike saddle and there are seats available to remedy this.  The other is aggressive positioning of the handle bars.  That's good for speed and bad for the naughty bits.

Fat, It Does/Does Not Do a Body Good

Friday Eve, May 17, 2012

Sugar and carbohydrates are making us fat, fat is not the problem.  It's causing us to become obese, diabetic and leading to heart disease. Conversely, the the spread of a Western diet, rich in fat, is making once thin countries obese, diabetic and leading to heart disease. 

In trying to understand what foods I should eat and what I should avoid makes me feel a bit like Rod Serling from the Twilight Zone.  Sometimes it gets so contradictory I feel like starting out by saying, "presenting for your consideration..."  



And really presenting for your consideration...

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level: 94 mg/dl.  Now if would just stay there. 
• Weight:  187ish again.
• Exercise:  45 minutes.  Hard to get going this morning, but the weather was cool and humidity low for Houston.  I was flying again. 
• Mood:  8.0

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal cooked the old fashioned way, in the microwave, and the usual morning fruit medley.
• Lunch:  Chicken Salad Sandwich and some carrots. 
• Dinner:  It's Friday Eve, that means pizza and salad.
• Snacks:  A thin slice of the chocolate desert the Charming Mrs. SWMBO made last Sunday.  Still got a bit of a sugar buzz this time.  Sigh. 

Fat Makes Us Fat.

I am going to start here.  The World Health Organization (WHO) says that Africa is facing a growing problem of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.  The population traditionally has been thin there (sometimes starving, but that's another matter all together) and consumed much of its calories in the form of carbohydrates.  Now as the continent shifts to a more Western style diet, namely high in fat, it is getting the health conditions found in wealthier Western countries.

I guess that's good in one respect.  Africa may be getting wealthier.

Two more Western sins are mentioned as well, smoking and lack of exercise. 

Fat Does Not Make Us Fat

Gary Taubes is a writer I respect a lot.  He has been reporting on diet for a long time and has written two very good books (here and here)on the foods we eat, mainly about how sugar and highly processed carbohydrates are making people fat.

He had a good critique of an HBO series called "Weight of the Nation" in the Daily Beast.  The series is about how we eat too much and exercise too little and that explains why we get fat.  We have to better follow the government's food pyramid and watch our portions.  (Note, I don't have HBO and can't watch it, so I depend on second hand reports.  I trust Taubes a lot to report acurately.)

Taubes has long written that the government's food pyramid is wrong and we should be eating less grains and starches, not more.  Portion size is also not that critical.  He notes we as a nation are following the food pyramid and it is not working.  We are getting fat because we are following the government's advice.

For Taubes, calories are not created equal. It's not that we are necessarily eating too much that is making us fat.  We eat too many of the wrong calories in the form of refined sugars and starches.  That in turn affect insulin and  are more likely to make us fat because those foods affect insulin, making us insulin resistant and eventually fat accumulates and we get obese. 

If we want to weigh less, we have to eat less sugar and refined carbohydrates.  Fat really does not matter.  Have cheeseburger, just no bread.

Oh, and exercise doesn't really help either.

Then there is this.

Fat Makes Us Fat. No, Really, It Does.

A very dry scientific paper describing why we get fat and diabetic.  I had to look up half the words in it and it talked way more about cell structure than I really care to know.  The key bit, however, is this:  Eat too much high fatty food and you get fat and diabetic. 

My advise is, as always, find a diet you like, that works for you and that you can stick with for the rest of your life.  There are a lot out there to choose.  And enjoy your life.  You are not getting out alive. 

Fat Tuesday

May 15, 2012


The saying the "fat you eat is the fat you wear" maybe true and eating more fat is good way to lose weight.  Confused? Welcome to the wonderful world of diet information.

But first:

The Numbers:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  103 mg/dl.
• Weight:  188ish lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minutes.  I tried the interval approach this morning.  More below.
• Mood:  7.5.  I am better than I thought.

The Menu:

• Breakfast: Baked oatmeal and fruit and the usual morning fruit medley.
• Lunch:  A potato salad sandwich and leftover cole slaw.  Easy to make and very filling. Carb mania.
• Dinner:  Leftover brisket from Sunday and salad.  
• Snacks:  A small piece of desert the Charming Mrs. SWMBO made on Sunday.  I can't east this stuff anymore.  I get a terrific sugar buzz.

High Intensity Interval Training Update

This morning I tried the one minute interval training I read about yesterday called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).  It's making the most of a small amount of time and it's easy to do.  One minute of high intensity peddling (it works well for the bike and should work well for any aerobic exercise) followed by one minute a low intensity peddling.  What I realized is that my high intensity peddling is my normal pace when I get the groove going.  My normal rate is a high intensity rate.  So I finished by doing what I normally do.

I am so proud of me, but you don't know until you try, right?

The Fat You Eat is the Fat You Wear

Or,  moments-on-the-lips, years-on-the-hips may be true.  People who eat a big, high in fat meal may find the fat they consumed showing up on their waistline within three or four hours after they finished eating according to an Oxford University study.  Your waist is where your body stores fat for the short term.  Ideally, it goes from there to to burned off as energy.  A good reason to be proficient at (HIIT) or doing some physical activity for at least one hour per day, six hours per week.

The surprise is that it was stored so quickly.  Most had assumed that time required was a lot longer, but fat seems to get stored quickly.  If not burned off, the fat is eventually moved from the waistline to the the hips, or thighs or buttocks.  Eat enough of large, high fat meals and you get fat. What a surprise.

Except...

Diabetics did better on a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet

Fat may be good for diabetics looking lose weight and improve their hear health.  From a study done at the Linkoping University in Sweden, 61 type 2 diabetics were randomly placed into one of two groups.  One group was placed on a more traditional low-fat diabetic diet.  The other was placed on a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet.

Both groups lost about the same amount of weight.  The group eating the high-fat diet did have lower blood glucose levels.  The saturated fats in the blood were about the same for both groups, despite the one group eating more fat and the good cholesterol of the high-fat group was actually a bit better than the low fat group. 

The low-fat diet offered no statistical advantage over the high fat group. 

So what does this mean?  I don't know.  My is guess is portion size matters.  The key I think in the first study is the meals were large and had high in fat. In the second, I am guessing the portions were limited and that made all of the difference. If that was the case, makes the Twinkie Diet all the more believable.  I bet this also applies to non-diabetics as well.

The Answer to a Question I Never Thought About.

May 4, 2012

The Numbers for Today:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  93 mg/dl.  Put me in a good mood all day until later this morning.
• Weight:  188 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minute ride.
• Mood:  6.5.  The Charming Mrs. SWMBO had some major and expensive car problems later in the morning. 

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Leftover pizza and the usual fruit medley.    Pizza and coffee, the perfect breakfast.
• Lunch.  Leftover sausage and leftover brown rice. 
• Dinner:  To be determined.  Going out with visiting in-laws. 
• Snacks. A slice of cheese and some dried apricots. 

The Answer to a Question I Never Thought About. 
I guess it has long been assumed that doing an aerobic exercise should not be followed by a strength training exercise.  The thought was doing both together would lessen the effectiveness of each.  Do aerobic one day, lift weights the next.  I never knew that, never thought about that.

Now, two studies show it's not only okay to combine them, it's probably more efficient to to combine them. More bang for the sweaty buck.  

And now I know.

Isn't this the approach used in the late night infomercials?  Muscle confusion I think it's called.  The ones that say if you buy the video and really follow the program, you can ripped and blast the fat away in just 90 days?  Getting ripped  and blasting fat sounds painful.


Diabetes in China
As here in the USA, diabetes in China is a growing problem.  The number of diabetics grews by 30% in just seven years.  That's an amazing and disturbing increase.  Large costs in human and financial terms to follow, guaranteed.  The article is here.

Since China eats a lot of rice, it is assumed by many that carbohydrates from rice was the problem.  Apparently not.  It's from a change in diet from China's growing wealth.  They can afford to eat more and exercise less, just like here in America. More foods with more unsaturated fats are thought to be a key reason for the increase. 

I have also read a few months ago that the Chinese Han do seem to have a genetic bias to getting diabetes.  The change in diet is seemingly not helping that.

Maybe they will soon have their own versions of late night infomercials selling programs to blast and rip. 

Inflammation has Put Me in a Bad Mood.

May 2, 2012

As if I didn't have enough to worry about, but first My Numbers for today.

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  101 mg/dl
• Weight:  188 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes.
• Mood:  7.5.  

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  Morning Fruit Medley, Last of the carb fest tofu/blackbean salsa on the last of the cornmeal/wholewheat pancakes.
• Lunch:  Leftover sausage from the weekend made into a taco and leftover cabbage stuff for garnish.  Oddly tasty. 
• Dinner:  Pinto Beans on spanish rice and a salad. The carb overload continues. 
• Snacks. A couple of slices of cheese. 

Diabetes, Asthma, Inflammation, Oh My 
Diabetics have a higher rate of heart disease, dementia, arthritis and  vision problems if the diabetes is left untreated or resists control.  Now we can add asthma to the fun parade. 

The reason for the increase in these life threatening conditions?  Inflammation. There it is again, inflammation.  Cut down on the inflammation, in this case in the lungs caused by excessive fat cells, and the problem fades away.

The way to fade the problem is the usual advice lose weight and exercise, plus increase the amount of omega 3 oils and eat foods with a low glycemic index, such as yams, quinoa and broccoli to keep the glucose levels in a tight range. 

Was Grumpy Diabetic?
Another problem with too high or uncontrolled glucose is mood swings.  Fun stuff, this diabetes.  Patients with high levels of glucose are more likely to suffer bouts of depression, anger and anxiety and have an overall lower quality of life.  Who has a good life when you are mad and moody all of the time?  Lots of details here.

What to Eat
Your trip to a happy, un-inflammed life can start here, diabetic foods to eat and not eat.

A Brief History of Meters.
To keep the good times rolling, a history of meters.  Really, amazing little devices and amazing what a camera and good schtick can do. 

Bravo, Kerri.

The Crazy, Costly World of Diabetes Care.

April 25, 2012

The Numbers for Today:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  113.  Must have been the dark chocolate last night
• Weight:  189lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes on the bike and the hot, sweaty weather is coming back. 
• Mood:  7.5.

The Menu: 

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal with craisins cooked in cinnamon/apple herb tea, fruit medley. 
• Lunch:  Leftovers sandwich and some Cuties, or Smarties, or whatever those little oranges are.
• Dinner:  Split pea sauce over barley, salad. 
•  Snacks, a little bowl of brown rice

Diabetes is Expensive.
Seems to be theme lately, the costs of treating type two diabetes.  

Britain, like America, is getting fatter and getting type two diabetes.  Britain, like America, is basically broke. The situation is worse in Britain because the all of the cost are paid for by the National Health Service (NHS).  Right now there 3.8 million diabetics in the U.K., and most of them are type two diabetics. About 80% of the National Health Services diabetes budget of £9.8 billion diabetes budget goes to treating the complications of type two diabetes and the problem is only getting worse.

By 2035, according to the journal Diabetic Medicine, diabetes will cost the NHS £16.8bn, 17% of its entire budget.  That course is thought to be unsustainable and will bankrupt the NHS system. 

Everybody could spare themselves the financial and human expenses of treating the condition by mostly by avoiding it in the first place. The NHS is trying to shift from treatment to prevention.  Or is that too much work, the cynic in me asks? Easier to just show up at the NHS clinic, get a pill and let the doctors treat whatever else happens.

The cynic in me also says nothing is really going to happen unless the patients are responsible, with there own money, for their own treatment.  Only then will people start to really take care of themselves.

You can read all about the coming "auto wreck" here and here.

Exercise Lessens Diabetes Risk.  
Something for the Brits to consider, from Runner's World,exercise lessens the risk diabetes and the more you do, the better.

More for the Cynic in Me
More for the Brits to consider.

A guy named Steve Cooksey was a type two diabetic.  He was tired of being sick, changed his diet to the Paleo-diet and seriously worked out.  He's no longer a type two diabetic and he shares his success to the world through his Diabetes-Warrior website.  He did what the NHS hopes will happen in Britain, people taking the initiative to help themselves.

He is passionate about his healthy life and he shares that passion with anyone who will give him the time of day.  His passion rubbed a nutritionist group in North Carolina, where he lives, the wrong way and now the state is threatening him with jail time unless he learns to be quiet.

His approach was not their approach and they did not appreciate his criticisms of them. He hurt their feelings, in other words. Poor babies, they just don't like adults, freeborn citizens, making up their own minds about how to run their lives or what they would like to eat.

Glenn Reynold at Instapundit asked "what the hell is  wrong with North Carolina?"  Nothing, if you accept that the official Those-Who-Better bunch just wants a docile lot to line up at an Obamacare clinic, get a pill and let the doctors treat whatever else happens.  Then worry about the rising costs, just as in Britain.  Look where that got them and how much did it cost the government if people followed the Mr. Cooksey? Apart from the legal issues, I mean.

The Big Celebrities Edition

Tuesday April 24, 2012

My numbers for today:

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  99 mg/dl.  Hey, I'm a 99%er!
• Weight:  189 lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minute bike ride. 
• Mood:  7.0.  

Menu:

• Breakfast:  The usual fruit medley, the usual oatmeal and craisins infused with apple/cinnamon herbal tea. 
• Lunch: Leftovers in a bun and a couple of cuties.  Hey with spicy mustard, everything tastes good
• Dinner:  Chicken salad
• Snacks:  Some leftover mashed potatoes and a slice of cheese.

Celebrity Diabetic, Randy Jackson

The American Idol judge is a type 2 diabetic with a message that this condition can lead to heart and circulatory problems and he puts in a plug for American Idol as well.

He had a number of symptoms that he never understood as type 2 symptoms and a fear of going to the doctor for a diagnosis of what was wrong.

I can appreciate all of that.
Further proof that Homer Simpson is right, that those Hollywood celebrities know everything?  As the saying goes, if it inspires just one person to be healthier, it's all worth it. Given the rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes, I hope he inspires and motivates others to be checked.


Some Woman You Have to Love
It's hard not to admire Mari Ruddy.  Her determined attitude can inspire anybody to do good, or well, depending.

She is a type one diabetic and has survived two bouts of breast cancer and a mastectomy.  Never mind all of that, she prefers to be thought of as a motivational speaker, an executive coach for schools and nonprofits, a triathlon participant and the founder of Team WILD (We Inspire Life with Diabetes).  She started Team WILD to get woman with diabetes to safely exercise.

She is also the originator of the Red Rider Teams that ride in the American Diabetes Association's Tour for the Cure.  The Red Rider Teams are those in the Tour who have diabetes.

And the Stars Come Out to Celebrate Diabetes. 

Sort of.  Celebrity Chief Emeril Lagasse, Late Show with David Letterman announcer Alan Kalter and 650 bottles of wine raised money for the Diabetes Research Institute and another charity. 


Emeril's menu for the $300 a head event was roasted filet mignon with Gulf blue crab, mushroom fondue on a bed of spring field peas with a truffle sauce.  You can read about it and look at the human stars here.

I have no idea if that is a sound meal for a diabetic, but who cares. It sounds wonderful.  Feast today, diet tomorrow.  There was no mention in the article if a desert was served.  I would have skipped it to remain virtuous and enjoyed another class of wine. The Charming Mrs. SWMBO could always drive home.