March 11, 2007
Get the Full Story on Guinness...Is it really "Good for You?"
Going out for St Patrick's Day?
Well, here's some interesting info on the Holiday Favorite, Guinness Stout.
Is Guinness really Good For You'? This slogan was used by Guinness for many years, and
eventually was dropped decades ago amid controversy about the truthfullness of this claim.
However, the jury is not completely out on this one. The following story posted by the BBC
a few years ago offers some information for you to take into consideration
before your St Patty's celebration!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3266819.stm
Guinness good for you - official
The long-running ad campaign is well-known The old advertising slogan "Guinness is Good for You" may be true after all, according to researchers. A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as an aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks. Drinking lager does not yield the same benefits, experts from Wisconsin University told a conference in the US. Guinness were told to stop using the slogan decades ago - and the firm still makes no health claims for the drink. The Wisconsin team tested the health-giving properties of stout against lager by giving it to dogs who had narrowed arteries similar to those in heart disease. They found that those given the Guinness had reduced clotting activity in their blood, but not those given lager.
Heart trigger
Clotting is important for patients who are at risk of a heart attack because they have hardened arteries. A heart attack is triggered when a clot lodges in one of these arteries supplying the heart. Many patients are prescribed low-dose aspirin as this cuts the ability of the blood to form these dangerous clots. The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, that the most benefit they saw was from 24 fluid ounces of Guinness - just over a pint - taken at mealtimes.
We already know that most of the clotting effects are due to the alcohol itself, rather than any other ingredients Spokesman, Brewing Research International They believe that "antioxidant compounds" in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls. However, Diageo, the company that now manufactures Guinness, said: "We never make any medical claims for our drinks."
The company now runs advertisements that call for "responsible drinking". A spokesman for Brewing Research International, which conducts research for the industry, said she would be "wary" of placing the health benefits of any alcohol brand above another. She said: "We already know that most of the clotting effects are due to the alcohol itself, rather than any other ingredients. "It is possible that there is an extra effect due to the antioxidants in Guinness - but I would like to see this research repeated." She said that reviving the old adverts for Guinness might be problematic - at least in the EU. Draft legislation could outlaw any health claims in adverts for alcohol in Europe, she said.
Feelgood Factor
The original campaign in the 1920s stemmed from market research - when people told the company that they felt good after their pint, the slogan was born.
In England, post-operative patients used to be given Guinness, as were blood donors, because of its high iron content. This practice continues in Ireland.
Pregnant women and nursing mothers were at one stage advised to drink Guinness - the present advice is against this.
The UK is still the largest market in the world for Guinness, although the drink does not feature in the UK's top ten beer brands according to the latest research.
BBC News
And what about those claims that Guinness is a good source for iron? Well, it really isn't, even though it is still common practice in the UK to give Guinness to those who have just donated blood, it contains very little iron. Go to http://www.vhi.ie/experts/diet/diet_q242.jspfor the numbers on this one.
So there you have it, Guinness may have some healthful properties, as long as moderation is practiced. But what about the calories? Truth is, that despite it's thick, almost creamy texture, Guinness has the same or even a slighly fewer number of calories as most other ales. For more info, go to: http://www.theraven.com/beer.html
After all is said and done, a pint of this smooth fermented malt beverage is still
a little more nutritious than my favorite St Pat's specialty item; those green-dye colored Lofthouse Sugar Cookies....
Have fun and have a happy and safe St Patrick's Day!
Christine
March 4, 2007
WHAT CAUSES MUSCLE SORENESS?
This matter was on my mind, perhaps because of all of those hard workouts I did this weekend! If you are as sore as I, perhaps knowing some of the science behind it will help ease the pain a little, along with a few ibuprofens!-Christine
Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Your muscles should feel sore on some days after you exercise. If you go out and jog the same two miles at the same pace, day after day, you will never become faster, stronger or have greater endurance. If you stop lifting weights when your muscles start to burn, you won't feel sore on the next day and you will not become stronger. All improvement in any muscle function comes from stressing and recovering. On one day, you go out and exercise hard enough to make your muscles burn during exercise. The burning is a sign that you are damaging your muscles. On the next day, your muscles feel sore because they are damaged and need time to recover. Scientist call this DOMS, delayed onset muscle soreness.
It takes at least eight hours to feel this type of soreness. You finish a workout and feel great; then you get up the next morning and your exercised muscles feel sore. We used to think that next-day muscle soreness is caused by a buildup of lactic acid in muscles, but now we know that lactic acid has nothing to do it. Next-day muscle soreness is caused by damage to the muscle fibers themselves. Muscle biopsies taken on the day after hard exercise show bleeding and disruption of the z-band filaments that hold muscle fibers together as they slide over each other during a contraction. Scientists can tell how much muscle damage has occurred by measuring blood levels of a muscle enzyme called CPK. CPK is normally found in muscles and is released into the bloodstream when muscles are damaged. Those exercisers who have the highest post-exercise blood levels of CPK often have the most muscle soreness. Using blood CPK levels as a measure of muscle damage, researchers have shown that people who continue to exercise when their muscles feel sore are the ones most likely to feel sore on the next day.
Many people think that cooling down by exercising at a very slow pace after exercising more vigorously, helps to prevent muscle soreness. It doesn't. Cooling down speeds up the removal of lactic acid from muscles, but a buildup of lactic acid does not cause muscle soreness, so cooling down will not help to prevent muscle soreness. Stretching does not prevent soreness either, since post-exercise soreness is not due to contracted muscle fibers.
Next-day muscle soreness should be used as a guide to training, whatever your sport. On one day, go out and exercise right up to the burn, back off when your muscles really start to burn, then pick up the pace again and exercise to the burn. Do this exercise-to-the-burn and recover until your muscles start to feel stiff, and then stop the workout. Depending on how sore your muscles feel, take the next day off or go at a very slow pace. Do not attempt to train for muscle burning again until the soreness has gone away completely. Most athletes take a very hard workout on one day, go easy for one to seven days afterward, and then take a hard workout again. World-class marathon runners run very fast only twice a week. The best weightlifters lift very heavy only once every two weeks. High jumpers jump for height only once a week. Shot putters throw for distance only once a week. Exercise training is done by stressing and recovering.
This article first appeared on and is posted with permission from www.drmirkin.com This is a great website for all issues concerning
health and fitness. Plus, a wealth of healthy, delicious recipes!
February 26, 2007
How Lack of Exercise Shortens Lives
Many recent studies show that people die from inactivity, not just from aging. We know that as people age, they lose muscle, their immunities weaken and because of their weakened immunity, they are more likely to die of cancer and infectious diseases. As you age, you lose your ability to kill germs because of lack of muscle. When germs get into your body, you must make white blood cells and proteins called antibodies to kill them. Antibodies and cells are made from protein and the only place that you can store extra protein is in your muscles. When you have large muscles, you have a ready source of protein to make antibodies and cells. When you have small muscles, you have a very limited source of amino acids to make protein, so your immunity may be inadequate to kill germs.
You need antibodies to control cancer cells also. Each day, every healthy body makes millions of cancer cells also. Your white blood cells and protein antibodies are necessary to ferret out and kill these cancer cells. You develop cancer when these cancer cells survive and start growing. Having large muscles gives you the source of protein to make antibodies that kill cancer cells as well as germs. Furthermore, when your skeletal muscles are small, so is your heart muscle. A strong heart can withstand arteriosclerosis and infections that can kill a weak heart.
Lack of exercise causes muscles to get smaller. With aging, it takes increasingly longer to recover from exercise. When older people get injured or get tired too soon or feel sore too early, they do less and less or they stop exercising altogether. Instead, they should be exercising more intelligently so they can retain their muscles.
A major advantage of competing in sports at any age is that you can learn good training techniques and how to avoid injuries. If you can exercise into your nineties and beyond without quitting or getting injured, you can retain muscle mass, keep up your immunity and live longer and healthier.
This article is posted with permission from www.drmirkin.com This is a great website for all issues concerning
health and fitness. Plus, a wealth of healthy, delicious recipes!
February 18, 2007
Sports = Bad Knees? Not Necessarily
You've seen them, the stiff-kneed former athletes, veterans of countless surgeries to repair the damage done by too much time squatting at the plate, zig-zagging across the football fields or pulling up short to hit the jumper.
Watching them hobble along, the signs of knee arthritis are obvious and painful, and it's enough to make you glad you never made it past your varsity squad.
But what about those folks who remain active all their lives? Are they at risk of developing debilitating knee arthritis too?
Not according to a recent study from researchers in the U.K., which looked at the relationship between moderate exercise and knee osteoarthritis.
Lead researcher A.J. Sutton and colleagues from the University of Leicester gathered information on 216 patients who had experienced arthritis after age 40. This data was then compared to a larger group that did not have arthritis.
While a previous knee injury did appear to signal a higher risk of knee arthritis, this was not the case for moderate activity.
''Our data does not support the suggestion that increased use of the knee joint through moderate sporting and exercise participation wears out the joint and therefore increases the risk of knee osteoarthritis,'' writes Sutton in the August issue of Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.
Instead, they argue, the potential benefits of regular physical activity, such as reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes, ''greatly outweigh'' the risk of developing knee arthritis. And, protective measures such as warming up and learning proper technique can help lessen the risk of sports injuries that may cause problems later in life.
Source: Annals of Rheumatic Diseases 2001, 60, 756-764
This appeared in ACE FitnessMatters,
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February 11, 2007
Sugar in Sports Drinks Can Cause Stomach Cramps
A study from the Netherlands shows that sugar in sports drinks slows absorption and increases stomach cramping in running races shorter than 12 miles. (International Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 26, 2005). Fluids pass through your stomach and are absorbed almost immediately in your intestines. Exercise slows fluid passage from the stomach but does not affect intestinal absorption. Sugar added to drinks can delay stomach emptying to increase risk for cramps. Another study from the University of Utah, reported in the same journal, shows that taking a salty drink just before exercise increases endurance. Dehydration is the most common cause of fatigue during exercise in fit men and women. This study used salted drinks of placebo (unsalted) drinks with two groups of cyclists, and demonstrated a significant improvement in an endurance time trial as well as better maintenance of blood volume in the group that had the salted drinks.
Anything that increases blood volume should increase endurance. Taking in fluid before exercising increases blood volume, and using salty drinks increases blood volume more than pure water. But a major problem with salty drinks is that they usually taste awful. You can accomplish the same results by drinking water, soda, or any other beverage you like and eat a handful of salted peanuts or other salty food before and during your endurance events. When you're not exercising, don't get in the habit of using sports drinks or any other sugared drinks to quench thirst. they;'ll add up to a lot of calories with little other nutritional value. Use plain water or a calorie-free beverage instead.
This article is posted with permission from www.drmirkin.com This is a great website for all issues concerning
health and fitness. Plus, a wealth of healthy, delicious recipes!
January 11, 2007
Stay warm! Tips for Endurance Sports in Winter
by Christine Karkow
With the recent cold spell we have experienced here in Reno, participating in outdoor endurance sports such as running and cycling become even more of a challenge than usual. Sometimes, we might opt for the treadmill or the stationary bike instead of subjecting ourselves to the cold, but there is something to be said for braving the elements and forging ahead with your planned workout outdoors, low temperatures or not!
Should you decide to venture outdoors for nice long run, bike ride or even if you go for a day of back-country skiing or snowshoeing, I offer some practical advice for Endurance Winter Sports.
- Dress in Layers-
- an effective layering combination includes a moisture-wicking base layer that will dry quickly, such as polypropylene, next to the skin, an insulation layer, such as micro-fleece, and a wind-blocking yet breathable and lightweight outer layer.
- Cotton Kills!
- Never wear cotton!! This is because cotton is a very poor transporter of liquids, it will get very wet as you sweat, holding that moisture right next to your skin, which will make you get really cold, really fast. Polypropylene and Capilene are made to wick moisture away from the skin and to dry quickly, which keeps you dry and thus allows your body to maintain its temperature. The oldest high-tech material, wool, is extremely effective at keeping you warm even in wet conditions. Some performance sportswear companies offer well-made, thin wool garments that can be used for an insulation layer as well as a base layer.
- Always Wear a Hat!
- Between 70 to 80 percent of body heat is lost through your head. Therefore, it only makes sense to wear a good hat that will give your ears protection from the wind as well as helping you to keep your heat loss to a minimum. As with the other layers, look for hats made from fleece, Polypropylene or wool; materials that are effective at transporting moisture.
- Stay Hydrated and Nourished!
- Just as in summer, we lose a lot of water through sweating and breathing while we exercise. In the winter, this doesn't seem as obvious because you may not realize how much you are sweating beneath the clothes you are wearing. Plus, during very cold temperatures, (below 15 degrees) the humidity in the air is very low, meaning that your fluid loss through exhaled air increases greatly. Carrying a sports drink (that doesn't contain High Fructose Corn Syrup or caffeine) is a good idea if you are going out for more than 30 minutes. Not only does this keep you hydrated, but also helps fuel your body and stay warm.
Companies such as Patagonia, Adidas, Under Armour, Pearl Izumi and Helly Hanson all make excellent base, insulation
and outer layers, and they can be found locally as well as on the web!
Have fun out there and stay warm!
Past SWAC Fitness Info Articles
- Should you perform behind the neck pull downs?
- Caffeine Helps!
- Run a Race for your Goals!
- Don't Blame Metabolism for Weight Gain
- Get the Full Story on Guinness...Is it really "Good for You?
- What Causes Muscle Soreness?
- How Lack of Exercise Shortens Lives
- Sports=Bad Knees? Not Necessarily!
- Sugar in Sports Drinks
- Dressing for Winter Endurance Sports