{"id":8800,"date":"2017-09-04T14:05:37","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T19:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/?p=8800"},"modified":"2021-08-03T22:03:40","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T03:03:40","slug":"moving-eating-protect-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholehealthchicago.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/04\/moving-eating-protect-heart","title":{"rendered":"Moving and Eating To Protect Your Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the great pleasures of Chicago is summer. We\u2019re outdoors and moving around, whether jogging, swimming, biking, walking the dog, slamming a volleyball, or tossing a Frisbee. And because we\u2019re all wearing fewer clothes, we can tell in a single furtive glance if we\u2019re happy with our weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, well,\u201d you think, \u201cI might have a few extra pounds but at least I\u2019m active.\u201d Being overweight myself, I\u2019ve frequently fallen prey to the myth that it\u2019s okay to carry a few extra pounds as long as I\u2019m active. I\u2019d fling my avoirdupois onto my bike or elliptical, throw myself into a crack-of-dawn five mile power walk, or vow a level of activity that would shame Sisyphus pushing his boulder<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now comes some research that shows just how we\u2019ve been fooled by this notion. No matter how active I\u2019ve been, being overweight remains a health risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An analysis of more than half a million people in Europe with 12 years of follow-up<\/a> showed that compared with healthy-weight individuals, the overweight and obese had a higher risk for heart attacks regardless of their activity levels<\/u>. The risks were further increased by well-known factors like high blood pressure, lipid abnormalities, and diabetes, but pure-and-simple overweight had risks, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was undeniably a huge study, gathering data on those half million people for a dozen years. During that time, 7,637 people had heart attacks. And while many had familiar risks that could cause heart disease<\/a>, when researchers filtered out those risks they discovered no shortage of heart attack sufferers whose risk factors included nothing more than being overweight or obese. In addition, activity level was no guarantee of protection. Conclusion: There\u2019s no such thing as a healthy, risk-free overweight or obese person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UK cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, MD, might have the most elegant phrasing of this idea with his \u201cYou can\u2019t outrun a bad diet.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the study, researchers used body mass index (BMI) tables to classify people as normal, overweight, or obese. You can calculate yours here.<\/a> Any BMI over 25 is considered a potential risk. There are limits to the accuracy of BMI, making waist measurement a potentially more reliable gauge. Your risk goes up with a waist size more than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eating healthfully
<\/strong>So whether you\u2019re inside at a health club or outside running along the lake you must also eat healthfully. And speaking of healthy eating, now that Amazon has promised to drop the Whole Foods\/whole-paycheck pricing (so far I\u2019m unimpressed) and excellent organic foods are available at virtually any large grocery store, a reasonable question is \u201cWhat exactly is healthy eating?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The easiest way is to avoid additives like the plague they are. If you eat an apple, that\u2019s it. If you cut it up, add some cinnamon, and put it into a NutriBullet, you\u2019ve got some tasty cinnamon applesauce. On the other hand, if you buy Mott\u2019s \u201cNatural\u201d Cinnamon Applesauce, you get apples, high fructose corn syrup, water, cinnamon, ascorbic acid, and so-called natural flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We think unhealthy means processed foods, but this isn\u2019t always the case. Medscape Editor-At-Large George Lundberg, MD, reminds us that processed food is any food that has been altered from its natural state in some way, either for safety reasons or for convenience. Cooking, freezing, canning, drying, and pasteurizing are examples\u2014many quite healthy. Thus, processed food is not the demon. You must look more particularly at what\u2019s been added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A whole lot of stuff is regularly added to processed food. Don\u2019t trust the marketing hype on the front of the box. Read the ingredients list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From labels in Dr. Lundberg\u2019s pantry: Multigrain Wheat Thins lists 22 ingredients, including sugar, molasses, salt, and canola oil. All-Bran lists nine, including salt and sugar. Creamy peanut butter lists 15, including sugar, salt, corn syrup, and hydrogenated vegetable oil (aka trans fats). Ranch dressing lists 18, including sugar, salt, and canola oil. In many processed foods, you\u2019re swimming in sugar, salt, oil, and additives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things to avoid
<\/strong>Always read the label on any food you\u2019re considering (better yet, eat mainly foods that don\u2019t have labels). What should you try to stay away from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n