How much exercise do you need each day?

Thirty minutes won't cut it. The LA Times reports:

A recent study found that overweight and obese women needed to exercise about an hour a day, five days a week to sustain weight loss. The findings bolster what some health experts — and those who have lost weight and kept it off — have been saying for years: copious amounts of exercise and adherence to a strict diet are necessary to take off the pounds and keep them at bay.

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Photo: I took this photo in Indonesia at Obama's so-called "Madrasah." Read about my visit to the school here.

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What nutrition can do for your brain

Maybe a lot reports the Economist. What the article neglects to mention is that exercise may be even more beneficial.

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California bans trans fats

Dr. Yancy said a 2 percent increase in trans-fat intake could result over time in a 25 percent increase in the likelihood of developing coronary artery disease. "These are data we are just now beginning to understand," he said. "It is pretty clear now that it was a mistake for us to embrace these fats."

Under the new law, restaurants, bakeries, delicatessens, cafeterias and other businesses classified as "food facilities" will, in the preparation of any foods, have to discontinue use of oils, margarine and shortening containing trans fats. (NY Times)

Trans fats are nasty. Kudos to California.

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Your fat friends made you fat

It's small step for science, but a giant excuse to escape personal responsibility for your behavior. The Times reports that spending time with fat people increases your odds of becoming obese yourself. Imagine the potential for new lawsuits!

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New carpet is toxic

Remember concerns raised, some time ago, about how toxic a carpet can be? What has happened since? The Townsend Letter reported in 2001:

Recent conversations with EPA officials and the Anderson Lab confirm that no followup studies have been done since the early 1990's. Another example of how the political/scientific partnership carefully avoids studying problems which might yield results unfriendly to industry.

The article provides a good synopsis of some issues concerning the safety of carpeting.

Some recommendations for safer carpet handling include:

• air the carpet before you install it
• avoid exposure to a newly installed carpet
• use felt padding
• tack or staple the carpet rather than glue it
• consider a HEPA air purifier

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Air fresheners hazardous, contain toxic chemicals

Plug-in oils to dryer sheets, fabric softeners and detergents are increasingly ubiquitous, but just how safe are they? According to a University of Washington study, all these products pose a hazard to your health. Fox News reports:

In fact, researchers said all six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws. . . .

For example, a plug-in air freshener contained more than 20 different volatile organic compounds. Of these, seven are regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws.

Steinemann had this advice for consumers.

"Be careful if you buy products with fragrance, because you really don't know what's in them," she said. "I'd like to see better labeling. In the meantime, I'd recommend that instead of air fresheners people use ventilation, and with laundry products, choose fragrance-free."

Also see this Seatle PI report on the recent research study.

This finding will come as no surprise to Jotman readers. See this previous Jot Your Life post, or this report at Jot Around the World about the Asian air freshener epidemic.

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An experiment in cyber meditation

Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

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Finally, a valid reason to make yourself healthier

In an article entitled "Disease Prevention Programs Worth the Investment" USN reports:

Community-based health programs aimed at diet, exercise, smoking prevention and other known risk factors for chronic diseases could cut health-care costs in the United States by $16 billion a year, a new report says. . .

It's as if the ultimate -- or the only valid -- justification for educating public about health issues is to save the country a lot of money. People are funny.

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Stomach may hold keys to wine's health benefits

The Economist reports on new research that may explain how red wine delivers health benefits.

In particular, red wines are rich in polyphenols, a group of powerful antioxidants that are thought to protect against cancer and heart disease by destroying molecules that would otherwise damage cells. How the polyphenols in wine exercise their beneficial effects, though, has been mysterious. That is because they do not seem to travel in any quantity from the stomach into the bloodstream.

The answer, Dr Kanner has found, lies in the stomach itself. The digestion of high-fat foods such as red meat releases oxidising toxins. One in particular, called malondialdehyde, is implicated in arteriosclerosis, cancer, diabetes and a host of other serious diseases. Dr Kanner suspected that the key to wine’s protective effect is when, precisely, it is consumed. He hypothesised that if the polyphenols arrive in the stomach at the moment when the fats are releasing malondialdehyde and its kin, then this might stop these toxic materials from getting any farther into the body. . . .

Based on these results, Dr Kanner and his colleagues argue that looking for antioxidants from wine in the bloodstream was a mistake; they do not need to be there to be useful. Their research also suggests that the habit of eating fruit at the end of a meal is a healthy one. Many fruits, too, are rich in polyphenols (wine is, after all, just fermented fruit juice). By treating them as dessert, these fruits arrive in the stomach at the point when meat-digestion is poised to do its worst—nipping the problem in the bud, as it were.

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