Tempe Family Fun Run & Walk: health

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Fat Is Your Friend

Since the main purpose of the Tempe Family Fun Run is to assist you and your family on your path towards better health, I thought it would be appropriate to briefly touch on a fairly simple way to lose weight. But first, we must overcome a falsehood that has been drilled into your brain: fat is the enemy. My hope is that by the end of this article, you will at least question the previous statement.

So. Stop reading and take a moment to get out all your exclamations, protests, objections, tears, etc. Reading this article with a clear mind will better help you absorb this information so take as much time as you need to set your prejudices aside. Done? Great. Now, say out loud with conviction “Fat is NOT the enemy.”

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Not all types of fat are beneficial. I could (and will in the future) spend an entire blog series on the different types of fats, explaining which ones are health-promoting, what types of foods the various fats are found in, etc. However, the purpose of this article is to plant a seed of truth in your mind that will hopefully grow into a lifestyle change.

When people adopt the view that “fat is bad”, what do they do when they want to lose weight? Well, in America, the answer is obvious if you subscribe to any type of media: adopting a low-fat diet is the way to lose weight.

How many of you out there have had success with that highly marketed and advertised route? I ask because low-fat diets tend to be high in sugar (you have to replace the calories with some other macronutrient so…sugar/carbohydrates it is) and what time has revealed is that high refined sugar intake leads to weight gain.

An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April 2003 interviewed pro-low-carb enthusiast Dr. Robert Atkins (yes, the Atkins Diet doc) and Colette Heimowitz (Director of education and research at Atkins Health & Medical Information Services), pro-low-fat enthusiast Dr. Dean Ornish (founder and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute) and an impartial third party Thomas Wadden, PhD (Professor of psychology and Director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania) to objectively compare the two diets¹. Even though people are able to lose weight by adhering to either diet, Dr. Wadden admitted that the low-fat diet is

“just extremely hard for most people to adhere to. People have to be extremely vigilant if they’re going to adhere to a diet in which only about 10% of calories comes from fat…I think Ornish’s plan is unrealistic for most Americans trying to lose weight...”

Dr. Wadden did express health concerns about a low carb diet, but he acknowledged that “I don’t think we have sufficient evidence at this point; I think we need long-term studies to show what happens when you’re consuming a low carb, high-fat diet for a long period of time.”

What’s funny is that a month later, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (a highly reputable journal) found that people who ate a low carb diet lost more weight than people following a low-fat and calorie-restricted diet²! Also, a study in 2004 found that “compared with a low-fat diet, a low-carbohydrate diet program had better participant retention and greater weight loss. During active weight loss, serum triglyceride levels decreased more and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level increased more with the low-carbohydrate diet than with the low-fat diet"³. I could go on but I think you get the point.

So instead of getting frustrated trying to count calories, stocking up on low-fat (but high sugar) meals, or trying any other type of dieting fad, just stick to reducing the amount of carbohydrates you eat, specifically refined sugars. And if you don’t believe the research, try it yourself for 3 months and see how you feel! I'd love to hear about your experiences with different diets so feel free to leave a comment.

With love,

Ashley Russell

Tempe Family Fun Run Coordinator

www.tempefamilyfunrun.com

Medical Student at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine (SCNM)

N-ACT President

Naturopathic Advocacy and Community Awareness Team (N-ACT) is a student-run club at SCNM that creates the future leaders of naturopathic medicine. Naturopathic medicine helps individuals by treating the root cause of their illnesses using natural methods. For example, we help patients make lifestyle changes and use naturopathic approaches to encourage healthy weight loss.

*Please be aware that I am not a licensed physician, and am therefore not yet qualified to give medical advice, treat or diagnose.*

1. Stephenson, Joan. “Low-Carb, Low-Fat Diet Gurus Face Off”. Journal of the American Medical Association (2003) Vol 289: 14, 1767–1769.
2. Samaha, FF, Igbal, N, Seshadri, P, Chicano, KL, Daily, DA, McGrory, J, Williams, T, Williams, M, Gracely, EJ, Stern, L. “A Low-Carbohydrate as Compared with a Low-Fat Diet in Severe Obesity”. New England Journal of Medicine (2003) Vol 348: 2074-81.
3. Yancy Jr, WS, Olsen, MK, Guyton, JR, Bakst, RP, Westman, EC. “A Low-Carbohydrate, Ketogenic Diet versus a Low-Fat Diet To Treat
Obesity and Hyperlipidemia: A Randomized, Controlled Trial”. Annals of Internal Medicine (2004) Vol 140: 769-777.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Partners on Your Journey to Good Health

I thought it’d be appropriate to start our first blog post with some insight as to why a group of medical students have decided to dedicate several months of their free time (free time in medical school is an oxymoron but indulge me) planning and promoting the Tempe Family Fun Run & Walk. Personally, I find it easier to support a cause or attend an event when I have a better understanding of the motivation behind it and I’m hoping you operate that way too. So, let’s begin!

A 2010 study in the International Journal of Obesity made a disturbing observation:

“…individuals are reaching a higher prevalence of obesity earlier in the life course, they are experiencing a greater cumulative exposure to excess weight over their lifetime, which will likely have profound implications for future rates of obesity-related chronic diseases and mortality within the US population.”

Of course, we cannot predict what will happen in the future, or how these trends change over time, but the implications are daunting. Have we inadvertently created the first generation of Americans that will not outlive their parents?

While that may sound like an absurd question, let’s take a gander at some statistics. According to the CDC, obesity rates in children and adolescents have tripled since 1980! Since this event is taking place in Tempe, Arizona, let’s look a little closer to home. In Arizona, as of 2007, 30.6% (almost 1/3!) of our children, our legacy, our future leaders of this country, are overweight or obese. And even though 30.6% may not be a jaw-dropping number to some, things aren’t looking brighter as they transition into adulthood. As of 2010, 73.5% of men and 57.1% of women in Arizona are overweight or obese. Now, if those numbers don’t have you picking your jaw up from off the floor, I don’t know what will.

So what is the price we pay for having a society of predominantly overweight or obese families? From a financial standpoint, we’re talking about a twelve-digit figure. As of 2008, $147 billion was spent on medical care costs due to obesity. But what about the mental health costs? 1 in 5 Americans suffered from a mental illness last year. (We can explore the link between weight, particularly diet, and mental health, in a future blog post.) And let’s be honest, can we really put a price on the health, longevity, and happiness of our children? Would you want to?

So, going back to the beginning of this article, why wouldn’t medical students, the future leaders of health, create an event that encourages and supports families in their journey towards better health and happiness? I mean, besides the whole med-student=no-free-time thing :)

As icing on the cake (ok, maybe not the best analogy), this event was created with families in mind. We have cut our costs significantly and sought out support from generous sponsors to make our event affordable for families to attend. $40 will allow a family of 4 ($5 for each additional person after 4; children 2 and under free) to participate in the 5K. Participation in the 5K (running, walking, jogging, skipping, crawling, or some combination) includes a t-shirt, goody bag, AND you are entered into a raffle just for completing the race. That means if you came in 1^st, 5^th, 25^th, 250^th, you have an equal chance of winning. However, for those gung-ho competitive types, we will be timing the race in case you want to set a new personal best.

As if that wasn’t enough, we are making the health fair portion of our event FREE. Yes, I said FREE! So even if you can’t afford to participate in the 5K (of course, we highly encourage you to try), you still have the opportunity to get all the information and resources you need to start your family on the path to good health. We’re even having a DJ, bounce house, face painting, and an appearance from the Tempe Firefighters (barring emergencies) so your kids won’t be bored to death.

So please, as medical students with, you guessed it, no free time, accept this gift we’re humbly giving to you: better health, a healthier family, and a happy you.

As Lao Tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” so let the Tempe Family Fun Run & Walk be your first step on a lifelong journey of good health.