How safe is your home?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released an alarming report, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals 2012, which is a follow-up to a 2002 report entitled Global Assessment of the State-of-the-Science of Endocrine Disruptors.

Now so far your are probably thinking "So?  Why do I need to know this?"  But the truth is you do need to know this and you need to care.  Both these reports studied the effect of everyday household products made with man-made chemicals that are seriously affecting our health.

The 2002 report commissioned in 1997, the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS), a joint programme of WHO, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Labour Organization, stated in it's general conclusions that:

"Although it is clear that certain environmental chemicals can interfere with normal hormonal processes, there is weak evidence that human health has been adversely affected by exposure to endocrine-active chemicals.  However, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that adverse endocrine-mediated effects have occurred in some wildlife species.  Laboratory studies support these conclusions."

 This document further concluded that there was a need for more in-depth study.

This latest study from the WHO, has found that our health is being seriously affected by chemicals found in every home and may cause breast cancer, asthma, infertility and birth defects.  They call them "gender-bending compounds" and they are used in toys, PVC flooring, car dashboards, and credit cards.  The WHO has even suggested that a ban may be needed to protect future generations.

The 2012 report states it is "reasonable to suspect" chemical substances called Phthalates of harming female fertility and also linked them to rising rates of childhood illnesses including Leukemia.

Another prime chemical suspect is Bisphenol A, which is found in many daily items such as tin cans and sunglasses.

It is thought that these man-made compounds interfere with the natural hormones that are key to our growth, development and general health, hence the name "gender-bending compounds".

The WHO also said that there is "very strong evidence" in animals that they can interfere with thyroid hormones - which can cause brain damage, stunted intelligence, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.

"Significant evidence" also exists linking prostate cancer to agricultural pesticides, and some evidence linking exposure during pregnancy to weight gain in infants and children and potential links to breast cancer.

The report now declares the chemicals as a global threat, the authors of this 2012 report said that humans and animals are exposed to hundreds of compounds, many of which have yet to be identified or properly studied.  Some of these compounds are inhaled in dust, others enter our bodies from food or by simply licking our fingers.

This new report is the most comprehensive to date.  It doesn't just focus on one chemical or one illness, it evaluates all the evidence.

"The diverse systems affected by endocrine-disrupting chemicals likely include all hormonal systems and range from those controlling development and function of reproductive organs to the tissues and organs regulating metabolism and satiety.

"Effects on these systems can lead to obesity, infertility or reduced fertility, learning and memory difficulties, adult-onset diabetes or cardiovascular disease, as well as a variety of other diseases."

What is even more worrying is that the report warns that the chemicals that have so far been assessed by scientists may only be the very "tip of the iceberg".

The key role of hormones in the development of tissues and organs means that unborn babies and young children may be particularly at risk.  The report also states that the rise in some conditions is too rapid to be blamed on genes alone.

"The prevalence of pediatric asthma has more than doubled over the past 20 years and is now the leading cause of child hospitalization and school absenteeism.  Certain birth defects, such as those of the male reproductive organs are on the rise.  The incidence of pediatric Leukemia and brain cancer have risen, as has the incidence of testicular cancer.  These are stark health statistics."

Dr. Maria Neira, Director for Public Health and Environment at WHO, said, "The latest science shows that communities around the globe are being exposed to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and their associated risks.  We all have a responsibility to protect future generations."

The European Union (EU) is trying to tighten up the regulation of gender-bending chemicals.  The WHO also states that wildlife is also at risk and calls for much more research into the chemicals and their effects and also says there may be a case for banning or restricting them.

PHTHALATES:
Used to soften plastics and give cosmetics a silky feel, these are found in children's toys, PVC flooring, shower curtains and credit cards.  In the EU, phthalates are banned from being used in cosmetics but may be found in makeup produced outside of the EU.

Studies have linked phthalates to diabetes, asthma, and male reproductive defects that could affect fertility.  Campaigners advise choosing natural wooden flooring over PVC, metal or wooden toys for children and glass shower screens instead of shower curtains.

If plastic can't be avoided, more rigid varieties should have a lower content of phthalates than softer versions.

BISPHENOL A:

This is a basic ingredient of many common plastics and is found in a wide variety of household items such as; cutlery, CD cases, and sunglasses.  It has recently been banned from baby bottles but can still be found in till receipts and is used to line tin cans.

Bisphenol A has been linked to fertility problems, breast cancer, prostate cancer and heart disease.

BROMINATED FLAME RETARDANTS:
These chemicals are linked to a long list of health problems such as; hyperactivity, learning difficulties, low sperm counts and difficulties to conceive.

They are found in sofas, and other soft furnishings, carpets, rugs, computer casings, DVD players and mobile phones.

Also on the danger list are PCBs, chemicals linked to liver cancer and male fertility problems.


Social Nutrition:
You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

Ever wonder why your diet isn't working?

The 6 mistakes we often make.

1. Skipping Breakfast. 
Most people think that skipping breakfast will encourage your body to use it's fat stores for energy instead.  And this is true to a certain extent.  Scientists have found that people who exercise before breakfast burn up to 20% more fat than those who exercise after breakfast (British Journal of Nutrition, Dr. Emma Stevenson and Javier González).  However, Dr. Marilyn Glenville, author of Fat Around the Middle, believes that skipping breakfast can make you hungrier later on during the day and can lead to night time bingeing as the body tries to make up for the lost calorie intake during the day.  The best form of breakfast for people wanting to lose weight is a high protein one; an omelette, smoked salmon, boiled eggs, raw muesli with nuts, etc.  "If you can't face breakfast, eating a handful of walnuts or almonds an hour after waking will be enough to stop you bingeing later," says Dr. John Briffa, author of Escape the Diet Trap.

2.  Falling off the diet wagon at weekends.
Many believe that if you eat healthily all week then you can treat yourself at the weekends.  However, just two days of carbicide a week will make you gain weight.

"They equate their working week with dieting and deprivation, which locks them in the mindset of 'good' and 'bad' eating.  If you feel compelled to overeat every weekend, it suggests that way you're eating most of the time ins't satisfying you," says Dr. Briffa, "You're waiting for the weekend when you can enjoy your diet.  But the healthy eating should be making you feel better, not be your penance."

To avoid the temptation of over eating at the weekend, pepper your working week with small amounts of what your fancy, such as a glass of wine, some cheese or a few squares of good quality plain chocolate.  If you love a fried breakfast on a Sunday morning, just make sure you go back to your healthy eating habits for the next meal.  The damage is really done when you start thinking; "Oh, I've been bad now, so I might as well continue all weekend."  It all about organization and planning, if you know you're going to a dinner party on Saturday night, then be strict with yourself all week, enjoy the dinner party, but get straight back to your healthy habits on Sunday morning.

3.  Diet drinks.
In general it is believed that diet drinks don't have any calories so do not affect weight.

However, a study from the University of Texas Health Science Center, found that people who drank 21 diet drinks a week were twice as likely to be overweight.  Another study that followed diet drinkers over a 10 year period found their waists grew a staggering 70% more than non-diet drinkers' waistlines.  Another study also found that a high intake of diet drinks could increase the risk of Type II Diabetes by 67%.

The problem is that on receiving the sweet taste of the diet drink, the body assumes it will also get the calories to match the taste.  When the calories don't arrive, it triggers sweet cravings that make you eat more.  Sweeteners have also been shown to have a similar effect to real sugar on blood glucose and insulin levels.  So, stick to sparkling or still water with fresh lime or lemon juice, or coconut water.

4.  You can eat as much "healthy food" as you like.
Quite often so called healthy foods such as hummus, pistachios, and peanuts contain healthy fats but also come packed full of calories and quite often "eating just one" is impossible.  Be careful of cereals proclaiming to be healthy, they are often high in sugar.  Read the labels, ingredients are listed by their quantity not alphabetically, so if sugar is first, second or third on the list then put it back on the shelf.  Many food manufacturers disguise the sugar content by using different names such as corn syrup, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, fructose or any other word ending in OSE.

So, no matter how healthy they are, don't keep or buy foods you find moreish.  It's all about choice, if you can't have just a teaspoon of hummus with your vegetables, then choose something different.  Raw almonds or brazil nuts are pretty difficult to binge on, for example.

5.  Fat does not make you fat.
Studies show that the small percentage of people (10%) who manage to lose weight and keep it off, actually eat moderate amounts of fat.

"Fat is highly satisfying," says Zoe Harcombe, "People who avoid it are invariably never satisfied by meals.  Dieters' obsession with low fat products merely fuels a craving for fatty foods, and that's why they end up bingeing on cakes, biscuits and ice-cream - all sources of fat their bodies need."

Low fat food is a waste of time for people wanting to lose weight because when real fat is removed so is taste and texture which then needs to be replaced, usually with sugar and flour, which are nutritionally poor.

The human body also needs dietary fat as certain vitamins are only fat-soluble.  Vitamins such as; A, D, E and K need the presence of fat to enable the body to absorb them.

So, add some butter to your steamed vegetables and make sure you are getting enough Omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish, coconut oil, walnuts, flaxseed, etc., there is some evidence that these fatty acids may help the body to burn fat.

6.  Diets don't work.
At least not for longterm weight loss.

Most people who go on a strict diet, lose weight initially but a strict diet is difficult to maintain, and soon the dieter has stopped and the weight goes back on - and then some!  This is repeated periodically over the years - each time a little more weight is gained.  This cycle gave birth to the name "yo-yo dieters".

On a very strict diet, the body thinks that it's starving so compensates by switching on all the mechanisms it possesses to store food.  "One of these [mechanisms] is hormones.  Last October, a University of Melbourne study of 50 overweight women and men showed that after dieting, our hormone levels start to work overtime and react as though our bodies are starving.  The study found that participants' levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, was 20% higher than before they went on the diet, and their levels of leptin, a hormone that suppreses appetite and registers satisfaction after eating, were lower." (Professor Alexander Miras, a obesity researcher at University College London).

"The only diets that have been proven effective for longterm weight loss in randomized controlled studies are those that focus on higher amounts of protein and vegetables, and limit carbohydrates to those with a low glycaemic index (GI)," says Professor Miras.

Statistics:

• 98% of people who go on a diet, regain the weight within a year.
• The famous 10% who didn't regain the weight - keeping off anything from 13kg to 136kg for 5 years or more, did it by:
• 78% ate breakfast everyday
• 75% weighed themselves at least once a week
• 62% watched less than 10 hours of television a week
• 90% exercised moderately for an hour everyday - most walked as their chosen form of exercise.

Social Nutrition:
You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

Preventing Type II Diabetes

There are lots of different body shapes.  Perhaps the most well known and most talked about - especially among women - are the "pear" and "apple" shape.  The pear shape means you carry more weight around your hips, this is the least dangerous to your health as the fat is subcutaneous and doesn't cause problems, on the down side it is also the most difficult to lose.  The apple shape is when you carry excess weight around your middle - this goes for men too!  Out of the two, the apple shape is the most dangerous to your health.  The excess fat around the middle is located behind the abdominal wall and can circulate freely in the blood.  On the up side it is actually the easiest to lose.

If you have a thicker waist than you used to, then you need to keep a few things in mind.  This is an indicator of a pre-diabetes condition which, if left untreated, could result in more serious health problems such as Type II Diabetes and heart disease.  One in eight women over the age of 35 are affected by pre-diabetes.  A thick waist is a warning sign that you have a build-up of fat around your internal organs.  This visceral fat is associated with the release of proteins and hormones that have a range of health implications which include affecting our cells' sensitivity to insulin.  You can do a simple test to see if you are at risk.  Using a tape measure, measure your waist just above the hipbones.  The tape should be snug around your middle but not dig in, relax, exhale and mesure.

Waist measurements as a risk factor for pre-diabetes:

80cm or more in women

94cm or more in men

Pre-diabetes can be modified easily through lifestyle changes.  It is not actually an illness but it should be taken seriously as a preventive measure.  Pre-diabetes means that your blood glucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for you to be diagnosed with Type II Diabetes - yet.  "Half of the people with pre-diabetes will go on to develop Type II Diabetes within 10 years." says Professor Melanie Davies, Honorary Consultant Physician and Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester.

Quite often, people associate Type II Diabetes and pre-diabetes with eating too much chocolate or sweet, sugary foods - it does, of course, influence weight gain and therefore increases the risk but sugar is just one type of carbohydrate.  Others include potatoes, pasta, bread and fruit.  On digestion, these foods are turned into glucose - another type of sugar - so blood glucose levels rise naturally after eating carbohydrates.  Pre-diabetes is a combination of genetic and environmental factors such as weight and activity levels.

It is very important to be aware of the risk factors of pre-diabetes as there are no symptoms.  Unless your blood glucose levels are tested, you won't know you have it.  As with Type II Diabetes, your risk of pre-diabetes is higher if you're over 40 years of age - or over 25 years of age if you are black or South Asian.

Other risk factors are the same as for Type II Diabetes:

• Being overweight
• Having a close family member (parent or sibling) with Type II Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• History of heart attack or stroke
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) together with being overweight or having had gestational diabetes

The more risk factors you have, the greater your risk of pre-diabetes.

Pre-diabetes is a health hazard because it can seriously damage your body.  As well as the increased risk of having Type II Diabetes, research shows that persistently raised blood glucose levels can cause longterm damage, especially to your heart and circulatory system.  "Someone who has pre-diabetes has a 50% higher risk of developing heart disease than someone with normal blood glucose levels - and that's regardless of whether or not they eventually develop diabetes," says Professor Davies.

However, it is fairly easy to correct this problem.  All you need to do is ensure a balanced diet and get more exercise, just doing this can take your body back to its pre-high-sugar state and cut your risk of Type II Diabetes.  It has also been proven that these lifestyle changes are even more effective than drugs.  The US Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and other large studies, have shown that losing just 5-7% of your body weight, eating more healthily and exercising regularly prevents or delays diabetes by nearly 60%, while the drug Metformin reduced the risk of developing diabetes by just 31%.  It's so easy that age isn't even a factor, people aged 60 or older who made these lifestyle changes in the DPP lowered their risk of developing Diabetes by 70%, and many others in the lifestyle intervention group returned to normal.

So, change your diet and move more for a healthier future.


Social Nutrition:
You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

The Tabata Protocol

We all know that exercise is essential in our lives.  It improves health, both physically and mentally, but one things us humans are really good at is finding excuses not to exercise.

10.000 years ago if a human was hungry he/she had to move to find food and most of the time they had to run after their dinner to catch it before eating it.  Human life 10.000 years ago was much more active and foods were healthy - lots of fruit and vegetables and occasional meat when it could be caught.

Our lifestyles and our diets have changed beyond recognition but our digestive tracts have not.  Our diets are full of refined carbohydrates, too much sugar, too much and too many processed foods... and sedentary lifestyles, long work hours, long hours in front of a screen both at work and at home.

The major excuse for not exercising is "lack of time, lots of women use the excuse that they don't want to ruin their hair getting it sweaty.  What ever the excuse, we need to get over it and find the time to exercise.

It has also been suggested recently that extreme endurance training such as marathons and triathlons may cause heart problems in some people; "There is very little to gain from doing more than about an hour of exercise a day." said Dr. James O'Keefe, a cardiologist at Saint Luke's hospital in Kansas City, "Extreme exercise is not really conducive to great cardiovascular health."

So on the one hand we  know that exercise is essential for good health, and on the other we have the excuses, the reasons for not running a marathon, etc.  So what is the answer?  How can we get beneficial exercise and fit it into our busy schedules?

Well, a Japanese scientist, Izumi Tabata, designed a training method called the Tabata Protocol or High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).  It consists of a 10 minute warm-up and then a 4 minute workout.  The 4 minutes are divided into 20 second high-intensity sprints with a 10 second rest in between each one.  For example: you cycle as hard as you can for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds and repeat cycling for 20 seconds - 10 second rest until you have completed the 4 minutes.  You can choose and vary different exercises for the 20 second periods: cycling, running, squats, lunges, sit-ups, etc.

Izumi Tabata studied a group of P.E. majors who were members of various varsity sports teams doing the 4 minute workout, and a control group who cycled at moderate speed for 60 minutes.  Using the Tabata method, the results were amazing.  After doing the routine for 5 days a week for 6 weeks, the study group boosted their aerobic fitness by 14%.  The control group increased their aerobic fitness by only 10%.  Result:  the high-intensity 4 minute workout was more effective than an hour of moderate cycling.  The study group also improved their anaerobic capacity (a measure of how long the men could exercise at top capacity) by 28%.

The method seems to be taking the fitness world by storm, and is something we should all consider doing.  It is hard work, but the results are seen quickly and are beneficial.  The variety in the exercises means less boredom and also greater muscle toning is achieved than just running or cycling for a long time.  Give it a go!  Who knows!  It's easier to fit into a our busy schedules, and you don't even need to join a gym, you can do this at home.

There are plenty of webs with videos and ideas for changing workouts so google "Tabata" or "Tabata Protocol" and decide what's best for you.  Good luck!




Social Nutrition:
You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com