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How my guilty pleasure could make you healthier
13th March 2009
• How my guilty pleasure could make you healthier
• Watch your waist and keep obesity at bay
• How the world's ugliest plant can reduce hunger
I have a confession to make...
I love Holby City.
Well, maybe love is too strong a word. I don't
serenade it or send it chocolates, but if it's on when
I'm in I watch it. And recently I've even started
recording it if I'm out.
Of course, most weeks plot lines are taken up with
who's sleeping with who, who's fallen out with who,
and sometimes - when it gets really confusing - who's
sleeping and falling out with who at the same time.
But this week's episode made an interesting point...
A man was admitted to hospital suffering from chest
pains and a terrible hacking cough.
His usually doctor had been treating him for five
years. He'd had various operations, had been given
various treatments, but the real cause of the problem
was simple...
It was him.
This guy smoked like a chimney and ate out at
restaurants practically everyday, not skimping on the
cheese board by the looks of it.
He was seriously overweight, he drank too much
alcohol, he smoked... and as a result he was slowly
but surely killing himself.
Now, over the course of these five years, the doctors
had recommended he cut out the fags and booze, and
eat more healthily... but he never did.
He blamed it on his job (he was in some sort of
corporate fundraising job which involved a lot of
entertaining)... but then it's ALWAYS easy to blame
your problems on something else.
But Holby had put a new policy in place called Zero
Tolerance.
Basically, this meant that the hospital would treat
people in an emergency, or who were ill by accident or
through no fault of their own. But if their illness was a
direct result of their behaviour, the hospital would not
help them until they started helping themselves.
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In this case, the hard drinking, hard smoking, hard
eating man was told to have a meeting with the
nutritionist, start living more healthily, and lose two
stone. The doctor wanted to see him in two months to
see how he was progressing, but refused to give him
drugs or keep him on the ward until he started taking
responsibility for his own health.
Naturally this lead to people sleeping and falling out
with each other, but it raised a very good point - and
one that I agree with to an extent...
People SHOULD take more responsibility for their
own health. It's up to us to look after ourselves and
doctors to look after us when things go wrong. But we
need to make an effort in the first place...
And keeping your weight in check in a great place to
start.
Watch your waist and keep obesity at bay
There are dozens of ways to find out if you're
overweight, but new evidence suggests that the best
way is to look at your hips and waist.
Apparently, the amount of body fat stored around the
abdomen, compared that stored on the hips, is a more
accurate gauge of likely health risks than BMI (Body
Mass Index).
To check your fat distribution, simply divide your
waist size by your hip size. This will give you your
ratio.
So if you have a 30-inch waist and 40-inch hip
circumference, your ratio would be 0.75.
But if you have a 41-inch waist and 39-inch hips, then
it's ratio of 1.05.
It's clear that the lower ratio you have, the better off
your health is likely to be.
The risk of heart disease rises sharply for women with
ratios above 0.8 and for men with ratios above 1.0. |
Here's a basic guide:
- Women whose waistlines are over 31.5 inches and
men whose waists measure over 37 inches should
watch their weight.
- Any more than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in
men has been associated with an increased risk of heart
disease.
(In one 2000 study, a high triglyceride level, along
with a waist measurement of over 36 inches, meant a
higher likelihood of heart problems for men.)
So, what do you do if you have too much fat around
your waist, but just can't stop eating?
Maybe a remote desert tribe in Africa have the
answer...
How the world's ugliest plant can reduce hunger
The world has many ugly, menacing looking plants,
but this one wins first prize.
The Hoodia Cactus sprouts about 10 spiky tentacles the
size of long cucumbers. Inside is an unpleasant-tasting,
fleshy substance.
(Are your taste buds going yet?)
The thing is, this plant could hold the answer to the
problem of over-eating.
The San Bushmen of the Kalahari, one of the world's
oldest tribes, have eaten the Hoodia for thousands of
years to stave off hunger during long hunting trips.
When South African scientists tested it, they
discovered a previously unknown molecule - now
called P 57.
Turns out, it's a natural appetite depressant.
One BBC reporter was brave enough to travel out to
the desert and meet this prickly monster face to face. |
She ate about a couple of mouthfuls of Hoodia at about
six in the evening, then began the long haul back to
Capetown.
She went to bed around midnight without eating and
skipped breakfast the next day. She managed some lunch
without really feeling hungry.
Her full appetite gradually returned that evening, 24
hours after eating Hoodia.
And this doesn't seem to be a one off reaction.
When the first human clinical trial was conducted, a
morbidly obese group of people were told to watch
television, read and eat.
Half were given Hoodia, half a placebo.
Fifteen days later, the Hoodia group had reduced their calorie
intake by 1000 a day!
How P57 works
Dr Richard Dixey explains how P 57 actually works:
'There is a part of your brain, the hypothalamus. Within
that mid-brain there are nerve cells that sense glucose
sugar.
'When you eat, blood sugar goes up because of the food,
these cells start firing and now you are full.
'What the natural cactus Hoodia seems to contain is a
molecule that is about 10,000 times as active as glucose.
'It goes to the mid-brain and actually makes those nerve
cells fire as if you were full. But you have not eaten. Nor
do you want to.'
So if I don't get a padlock for the fridge door, I should try
Hoodia.
But if you're tempted to take it, make sure you consult your
doctor first.
That's all for today.
I'll be back again on Sunday with my news, tips and ideas to
help keep you healthy and happy! |
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