In the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent estimates, there are over 36 million people over the age of 65 and about 200,000 people over the age of 100. And according to the United Nations, by 2013, there will be over 3 million people in the world over the age of 100. So our population is growing and living longer. How are they living longer? Well you could say that one of the reasons is the advancements in medical care and treatment. Certainly in developed nations, that may account for part of the answer. Remember hearing how influenza ravaged the population many years ago? Now we have “flu” vaccinations. In fact we have vaccinations for many serious illnesses that previously eliminated parts of the world’s population.  Advancements in the treatment of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and AIDS have helped prolong life as well.

What else can we attribute the longer life span to-especially in non-developed parts of the world? We have scientific evidence that exercise helps and something that we have known for a while, eating less. It’s true, eating less, the process of taking in less calories as energy, can help you live longer*. That seems like a very basic concept, especially in a world over run by epidemics of starvation and obesity, but it has lots of science to back it up. Of course it goes against the age-old reminders of parents (my parents included) to “eat everything on your plate because there are millions of starving kids in China.” I never knew why parents picked China-now with an expanding population over two billion.

So what does it mean to eat less? The recommended daily calorie intake for a man is about 2500 calories; for a woman it is 2000 calories; for a toddler- 1300 calories and for children ages 7-10 about 1800 calories. Okay, how does that translate into our daily consumption program? Over the past twenty years, our daily consumption of calories has grown and our exercise/ physical fitness time and amount has dropped. As a direct result, those extra calories have hung around and increased the weights and waist sizes (BMI’s) of our adult and child population. Despite the multitude of diets (i.e. low fat, low carb, high protein, etc.), it has been extremely difficult for people to lose the weight once it has been gained and we have been unable to stop the epidemic of obesity. 

What can we do: maybe the following Six Steps For A Healthy Lifestyle :

1. Cut your portion sizes-this is a no brainer-start by cutting down your meal sizes by 10 percent right now. This is evidenced based! Less calorie intakes translates into less obesity, less medical problems and longer life.
2. Cut out processed foods and added sugars. Start by decreasing the white products (white bread, white rice, etc.) which offer no nutritional benefit other than calories. Substitute whole grains whenever possible. Limit and or cut out the sugary drinks (sodas, coffee products with sweeteners and fat, energy drinks with hidden sugars and caffeine). 
3. Increase plant foods in your diet-many studies have shown that a higher consumption of fruits and veggies (loaded with nutrients and antioxidants) is associated with the development of less chronic diseases. Eat lots of colorful salads using limited amounts of high fat salad dressing.
4. Eat low fat, high quality proteins-more fish and plant foods which provide the healthy omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids and nutrients.
5. Eat more mono and poly unsaturated fats-olive oils, nuts (for those non allergic), avocados, salmon, beans, poultry, flax and less saturated fats. Limit your red meat consumption. Use low (or zero ) fat dairy products.
6. Exercise at least ten minutes each and every day-and more if you can. (read “Take Ten” in Nerdel Blog). Ten minutes is a start and much better than nothing. As we grow older, our metabolism slows. It takes more and more exercise just to maintain our weights as we age. Another reason to have a decreased body weight.

My friends, eat less, exercise and live longer. Stay fit and healthy The New Nerdel Way!

 *The following sources were used in preparation of this article. Please check them out!

1. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) (2010, July 25). Light and moderate physical activity reduces the risk of early death, study finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/07/100723112713.htm
2. Calorie Restriction Society International:  http://www.crsociety.org/
3. Caloric restriction and aging as viewed from Biosphere 2 : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7613481
4. Lynn F. Cherkas, PhD; Janice L. Hunkin, BSc; Bernet S. Kato, PhD; J. Brent Richards, MD; Jeffrey P. Gardner, PhD; Gabriela L. Surdulescu, MSc; Masayuki Kimura, MD, PhD; Xiaobin Lu, MD; Tim D. Spector, MD, FRCP; Abraham Aviv, MD. The Association Between Physical Activity in Leisure Time and Leukocyte Telomere Length. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(2):154-158.
5. U.S. Bureau of Census: www.census.gov
6. Graehm Gray: The New Dietary Guidelines For Americans, Part One and Part Two

So let’s talk about some of the side effects of caffeine:
A. Nervousness-make you jittery, even dizzy
B. Insomnia-can’t sleep or can’t sleep well-don’t use at night
C. Reduces coordination
D. May increase alertness*
E. Physical dependence-May develop after three to four cups per day-remember the headache I mentioned-well this is a symptom of withdrawal. Other symptoms may be muscle pain and fatigue.
F. Increases heart rate-can be a cause of palpitations 
G. May improve breathing*-is related to a family of breathing medicines
H. Acts as a diuretic (increases urination)-which could lead to dehydration
I. May act as an appetite suppressant-could be a good thing?
J. Lasts six hours in the body

Is caffeine the most popular drug in the world today? It certainly may be! Hundreds of millions of people all over the world consume caffeine, daily, in one form or another. Is it good for our kids? In small amounts, not on a regular basis, it may not be bad. In constant and large quantities the answer is no. Of course check with your doctor or health professional first before allowing your kids to have it in any form! We don’t want our kids using drugs and certainly don’t want them addicted to anything, even caffeine. Like anything, the use of caffeine has to be monitored. Shouldn’t we let these new entrants into the coffee market know what they are getting by showing them the amount of fat and sugar in each drink they order? Of course we should. Will that info help change their decision-maybe! Maybe they are unaware of the actual contents-and simply focus on the taste? Maybe they don’t particularly care? Maybe it’s peer pressure. We should make them aware of what they are consuming. Give them the information and education. Maybe each Barista should discuss the implications of the drink with each individual. That one on one interaction could make a difference. Then they can make an informed choice.

I remember taking a Driver’s Education class in school. We watched endless movies of what could happen by speeding, drinking alcohol or doing drugs and even being a passenger in a car with a driver under the influence. It was in your face reality. It worked on some of us. Maybe we need to use this shock like education with food. Let’s bring back a retooled-“Food, Fitness and You” class and show kids what obesity is, what coronary artery disease is and what diabetes is-what it looks like, what it feels like, what the consequences of having it are. Kids are into reality shows. So let’s bring it to them. It will stick to some, and it’s certainly worth the effort to get a portion of our young adults on the nutrition/fitness education bandwagon. 
Remember always check with your health care professional before using any type of drug or medicine even if it is over-the-counter.
My friend’s stay fit and healthy The New Nerdel Way.

The following sites were used in preparation of this article: please check them out!
1. Center For Science In The Public Interest: www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm
2. AOL Health: www.aolhealth.com/2010/07/19/kids-and-coffee-a-growing-and-unhealthy-trend/
3. Neuroscience for Kids: www.faculty.washington.edu/chudler/caff.html
4. Starbucks nutritional information: www.starbucks.com/menu/nutrition
 

SIDE BAR:

What is the pancreas: it is an organ in the body that hangs out behind the stomach and its job is to produce hormones (think of them as tiny messengers) like INSULIN that are released in response to sugar (glucose)-and the insulin’s job is to balance the sugar.

Pancreatic Cancer: is a cancer of the pancreas-about 40,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with this condition and approximately 35,000 die from the disease. It is a bad disease-only a 30% survival in three years and less than 5% of those diagnosed are alive after five years.

I would say that this is a fairly alarming study-wouldn’t you? How many people in the world consume soda on a daily basis-even drinking them a few times a day. We know that sweetened sodas have been associated with diabetes and obesity. And of course we all know that the sweetener high fructose corn syrup has similar associations and implications (e.g. increase of appetite, diabetes and obesity). In this study, there was no association with juice and pancreatic cancer. That’s good news for all of us juice drinkers. But don’t forget-juice too can raise the blood sugar levels, causing a corresponding rise in the insulin levels. The glucose then falls but the insulin stays elevated-a cause for developing obesity and diabetes. Also, this study only focused on carbonated (bubbles-fiz) sugar-sweetened drinks and not sports drinks or diet soft drinks. There has been some evidence that diet drinks may actually increase appetite and desire for more sweeteners. Another issue is that carbonated drinks are one of the main sources of sugar in the diet-so sugar levels may be one of the suspected causes of increased pancreatic cancer risk in the current study.

So where do we go from here? Well, my suggestion is to be extremely careful with all sugar sources in your diet. Stay with fresh natural fruits. Eating a fruit is always preferred to drinking the juice-its better for the glycemic load.

SIDE BAR:

Glycemic index and load: This tells you how the food you eat  affects blood sugar and insulin. The lower the glycemic index or glycemic load, the less it affects blood sugar and insulin levels. For example: apple juice has a glycemic load of 12, but the apple has a glycemic load of 6.  This means that your blood sugar will rise much more (almost double) when you drink the juice compared with eating the fruit.

As for sweetened sodas, watch out. They are a group of bad actors. Not only are they associated with diabetes, obesity and cancer, but they also have an association with tooth decay, bone loss and tooth loss. Some sodas are even loaded with caffeine that can have a deleterious effect on your heart-can make your heart beat faster and irregular. Who needs that? And as for diet sodas: although they have mostly zero calories, and will not affect your daily calorie counts,  they have been reported to a. increase your appetite-thereby negating the effects of the zero calories, b. they increase your desire for more sugary/sweetened items-again this is not good if drinking a diet drink leads to eating more sugar, c. They have zero nutritional value, d. the sweetener Aspartame has been cleared by the FDA as safe. It breaks down to phenylalanine. So people with Phenylketonuria (PKU)-can’t break down phenylalanine-must stay away.

Stay tuned for more Graehm Gray on exactly what you are drinking and eating. For more information on nutrition, please visit the Food & Nutrition section of the Nerdel News.