Healthsifter by mary desmond pinkowish, since 2003

Fat-Free Salad Dressings: Skip Them

I've heard this before: Using a fat-free salad dressing can be self-defeating, because fats help you take advantage of the nutrients in your salad vegetables. Click here to read about this recent study. Hint: Use dressings with monounsaturated fats to get most benefit from your salad with the least fat consumption.

Overweight? You May Need a Walker or Cane Sooner Than Most

Looking for yet another good reason to shed a few pounds? This one got my attention. Researchers at Purdue University say that as overweight, middle-aged people get older they start using assists like walkers and canes and shower chairs sooner than people who aren't overweight. The story is in ScienceDaily, and here's what one of the investigators, Kenneth Ferraro, says: 

 "Obesity and disability create issues for society, such as in the number of handicap parking spots or availability of larger beds in hospitals and nursing homes. These challenges will escalate as our largest adult population ages," said co-author Kenneth F. Ferraro, a distinguished professor of sociology and director of Purdue's Center on Aging and the Life Course. "Being obese and disabled also fuels a vicious cycle. When you are functionally limited, physical activity is restricted, thereby burning fewer calories, which may lead to additional weight gain. This is another reminder that body weight matters throughout the life course."

Food for thought...Here's the abstract of the original article in The Gerontologist.

Gain Weight, Lose Your Mind?

This article from New Scientist is certainly sobering. But it's more important information about weight gain, especially the pounds we tend to put on at midlife. Here's an excerpt of the New Scientist article about this research, which was conducted at UCLA by Paul Thompson and colleagues and published in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

High insulin levels and type 2 diabetes tend to accompany being overweight and are risk factors for brain tissue loss and dementia. However, the relationship between brain size and body mass index still stood when the researchers accounted for these conditions, indicating that body fat levels may be linked directly to brain shrinkage. Thompson suggests that as increased body fat ups the chances of having clogged arteries, which can reduce blood and oxygen flow to brain cells, the resulting reduction in metabolism could cause brain cell death and the shrinking seen.

I regret the ice cream I had last night, and also the night before (it's hot here). Then again, has anyone quantified the mental health benefits of ice cream? I didn't think so. 

Obesity Linked to Cancer Again, and Teens are in Special Danger

From the Health Blog at WSJ:

Studies have tied obesity to increased risk of pancreatic cancer, but new findings suggest that weight control early in life is especially important. Obesity in early adulthood is associated with both increased risk and earlier onset of pancreatic cancer, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows. In fact, overweight teens are twice as likely to develop pancreatic cancer later in life than similar adults who had never been overweight.

Does Obesity Surgery Break Your Bones?

It's a small, retrospective (backwards-looking) study, but it suggests that people who've had obesity, or bariatric surgery may have a higher risk of fractures in the years following the surgery. People who are obese are actually at a lower risk of osteoporosis than people of a normal weight, but other studies have shown that obesity surgery may alter the way the body absorbs or uses nutrients that preserve or strengthen bone. In this study, conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, people who had obesity surgery were about three times as likely as other people to have a fracture, usually of the hand or foot.  For a more detailed write-up, see MedPageToday. The study was presented this week at ENDO, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society. Overall, the benefits of surgery probably way outweigh any risk associated with foot or hand fractures. Bones heal. But it would be interesting to know more about the ways in which this type of surgery alters metabolism. But hey--this is probably not a deal-breaker. If your doctors recommend this surgery, you should think hard about it. You likely have more to gain than lose (except lb-wise, of course!).