Chances are that anyone reading this is interested in making healthier choices in their daily life. This means that you probably peruse the daily news headlines looking for health information that can improve your lifestyle. And you’ll find it. Well, you’ll find the headlines. Whether or not the information will do you any good is another matter entirely. Learning to read health articles is a lot like learning to read food labels. It’s all written to sound appealing, but you need to learn how to get past the headlines and into the fine print. Here are a few of the latest health headlines and how they may, or may not, have an effect on your life.

Tea strengthens older women’s hips
A new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, involved 1,500 elderly Australian women (70 to 85 years old) who participated in a five-year trial testing the effect of calcium supplementation on osteoporotic hip fractures. Information on tea consumption “was collected at the beginning of the study for 275 participants,” and “all participants filled out a beverage consumption questionnaire at the end of the trial.” By the end of the study, bone mineral density at the hip was 2.8 percent greater in tea drinkers than in non-tea drinkers.

V.M. Hegarty; H.M. May; and K.T. Khaw. “Tea drinking and bone mineral density in older women.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 71, No. 4, 1003–1007.

What it really means. The scientific community was quick to point out that this study was inconclusive but that it was conducted on a large scale with a broad platform and deserved to get some attention. The benefits of tea have been getting a lot of play over the last decade and this certainly diminishes none of what we’ve been hearing. Tea’s components, particularly its antioxidant flavonoids, are thought to benefit us in myriad ways. Since the only potential downside to tea drinking is a small amount of caffeine (and stuff that you might add to it), it’s pretty safe to assume that adding tea to your diet could be a good thing.

Tea is more hydrating than water
From the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition comes information that dispels the common belief that tea dehydrates you. Public health nutritionist Dr. Carrie Ruxton and colleagues at Kings College London looked at published studies on the health effects of tea consumption. “Studies on caffeine have found [that] very high doses dehydrate and everyone assumes that caffeine-containing beverages dehydrate,” said Ruxton. “But even if you had a really, really strong cup of tea or coffee, which is quite hard to make, you would still have a net gain of fluid.”

E.J. Gardner; C.H.S. Ruxton; and A.R. Leeds. “Black tea – helpful or harmful? A review of the evidence.” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007), 61, 3–18. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602489.

What it really means. I added this one next because it’s always a good idea to get more information than to believe one study. This one, though academic, was funded by The English Tea Council. The authors stressed that the work was independent, but the results should still be viewed with some skepticism. Regardless of whether or not the whole dehydrating issue was true, a close look at the work reveals that “experts believe flavonoids are the key ingredient in tea that promote health.” Ah, those again. Tip of the week: drink tea.

Convenience foods are not really convenient
The British Food Journal published the “first academic study” tracking the dinner routines of American families and found out that “convenience foods” didn’t save you much time in the kitchen.

Of the 64 weeknight dinners observed, “70 percent were home-cooked, meaning they were prepared at home, but virtually all of them included some form of packaged convenience food, such as stir-fry mixes, pre-made chicken dishes, frozen vegetables, and canned soup, for example.” Despite these conveniences, dinner wasn’t prepared much faster. The preparation time difference between meals involving more than 50 percent convenience foods and those with limited use of such items (between 20 to 50 percent) was negligible. Meals still took an average of 52 minutes to prepare.

M.E. Beck. “Dinner preparation in the modern United States.” British Food Journal, July 2007, 109(7): 531–547.

What it really means. Unfortunately, the study is far too myopic to be of much use. It doesn’t appear to reflect the way most of us use convenience foods. When I make a convenient meal, it’s generally tossed into the microwave and done in five minutes. The upside to this study is that those who prepare real meals don’t need to use cheaply-produced store-bought sauces and mixes—and this is great. It’s just not what most of us think defines convenience.

Refined sugar is more addictive than cocaine
James Cook University and other research found that sugar was far more addictive than cocaine. Studies showed that 94 percent of rats that were allowed to choose mutually exclusively between sugar water and cocaine chose sugar. Even rats that were addicted to cocaine quickly switched their preference to sugar, once it was offered as a choice. The rats were also more willing to work for sugar than for cocaine. There was speculation that “the sweet receptors (two protein receptors located on the tongue), which evolved in ancestral times when the diet was very low in sugar, have not adapted to modern times’ high-sugar consumption. Therefore, the abnormally high stimulation of these receptors by our sugar-rich diets generates excessive reward signals in the brain, which have the potential to override normal self-control mechanisms, and thus lead to addiction.”

M. Lenoir; F. Serre; L. Cantin; and S.H. Ahmed (2007). “Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward.” PLoS ONE 2(8): e698. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000698.

What it really means. The study is really fascinating. Though we don’t really need a study to inform us that sugar is highly addictive. A peak at society can tell you that. The truly interesting thing here is the findings of “excessive reward signals in the brain,” which might explain exactly why artificial sweeteners are being linked more and more with obesity.

Diet soda is dangerous
A study of about 6,000 middle-aged men and women, who were observed over four years, at the Boston University School of Medicine showed that those who drank one or more soft drinks a day had a 31 percent greater risk of becoming obese. They had a 30 percent increased risk of developing a larger waist circumference, “which has been shown to predict heart disease risk better than weight alone”; a 25 percent increased risk of developing high blood triglycerides as well as high blood sugar; and a 32 percent higher risk of having low high-density lipoprotein or “good” cholesterol levels. The researchers then analyzed a smaller sample of participants on whom data on regular and diet soft drink consumption was available. Those who drank one or more diet or regular sodas per day had a 50 to 60 percent increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome, a syndrome marked by the presence of usually three or more of a group of factors, such as high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, high triglyceride levels, low HDL levels, and insulin resistance, that are linked to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

R.S. Vasan, MD, professor of medicine, Boston University School of Medicine.
R. Dhingra. Circulation, July 31, 2007: vol 116: pp 1–9.

What it really means. That diet soda is going to the mat. While it’s still a relatively small-scale study (since diet soda is consumed by billions), it’s plenty large enough to loft some serious bombs into the “zero calories is all you need to know” theory of fake-sugar marketing. It also adds credence to the sugar addiction study above. There is no good reason why anyone should drink diet soda anymore. It doesn’t taste as good as regular soda, has no nutritional value, has at least some health risk, and probably even makes you fat.

Vitamin K helps reduce varicose veins
Varicosis, also known as varicose veins, may be attributable to a lack of vitamin K, according to a new study in the Journal of Vascular Research. Inadequate levels of vitamin K may reduce the activity of the matrix GLA protein (MGP), which in turn has been identified as a key player in the development of varicosis. Since vitamin K is required to activate MGP, it is believed that adequate dietary intake of vitamin K is a prerequisite for the prevention of varicose veins.

C. Cario-Toumaniantz; C. Boularan; L.J. Schurgers; M.F. Heymann; M. Le Cunff; J. Léger; G. Loirand; and P. Pacaud. “Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes in Human Varicose Veins: Involvement of Matrix Gla Protein in Extracellular Matrix Remodeling.” Journal of Vascular Research, July 20, 2007, 44(6):444–459.

What it really means. This is one of those “why not” studies, meaning that there’s no reason not to try the solution, just in case it works. Vitamin K is found in green leafy vegetables, some meats, and fermented food products. Since most of us could use more green veggies and naturally fermented items in our diet anyway, it’s a win-win situation.

Drugs’ side effects are worse than the conditions that they’re treating
A 2005 study published in the Archives of Neurology found that dozens of patients using Mirapex or similar drugs developed serious gambling addictions. Hundreds of people have reportedly contacted lawyers about joining class-action lawsuits that allege Mirapex and Requip caused unusual side effects such as compulsive gambling, shopping, painting, and eating.

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has updated the package insert for its restless legs syndrome (RLS) drug Requip. According to the new insert, Requip may cause “pathological gambling” and “increased libido including hypersexuality.” These side effects are reportedly a drug-class-wide thing, which impacts all the drugs belonging to the non-ergoline dopamine agonist class of drugs. Specifically, the insert reads: "Impulse control symptoms, including compulsive behaviors such as pathological gambling and hypersexuality, have been reported in patients treated with dopaminergic agents."
Another RLS drug, Mirapex (which is also used to treat Parkinson’s disease), has reportedly caused similar symptoms. The Mirapex package insert reads: "Patients taking certain medicines to treat Parkinson’s disease or RLS, including
Mirapex . . . have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive."

M.L. Dodd, MD; K.J.K., MD; J.H.B., MD; Y.E.G., MD; K.A.J., MST, MD; and J.E.A., PhD, MD.Arch Neurol. 2005, 62:1377–1381.

What it really means. Do some homework before taking your meds. This is in no way an isolated incident. Why do you think all of those pharmaceutical ads have to list a string of possible side-effects that generally take longer to recite than the rest of the commercial? What really gets me is that many of these conditions that drugs are treating are minor and could be remedied by living a healthier lifestyle.

Non-drug intervention works better than drugs for ADHD in children
A five-year study of 135 preschool students with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) found that non-medicinal interventions work effectively to prevent the related behavioral and academic problems in infants. “While medications for ADHD may treat the symptoms,” said George DuPaul, professor of school psychology at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa. and lead author of the study in School Psychology Review, “they do not improve the children’s academic and social skills the way behavioral interventions may.”

The study evaluated early intervention techniques and their ability to decrease aggressiveness and behavior problems while improving academic and social skills in children aged three to five. The interventions, which included individualized programs that emphasized positive support to reinforce behavior at home and school, were highly effective. Specifically, children who received the intervention techniques had:

• A 17 percent decrease in aggression and a 21 percent improvement in social skills at home
• A 28 percent improvement in both categories at school
• Improvements in early literacy skills of up to three times over their baseline status

ADHD, which affects about 7 percent of school-aged children, makes it difficult for children to pay attention and control their behavior. Up to 40 percent of toddlers with ADHD symptoms are suspended from preschool, and 16 percent are actually expelled.

A.K. Jitendra; G.J. DuPaul; R.J. Volpe; K.E. Tresco; R.E. Vile Junod; J.G. Lutz; K.S. Cleary; L.M. Flammer-Rivera; and M.C. Manella. “Consultation-Based Academic Intervention for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: School Functioning Outcomes.” School Psychology Review, August 2007, Vol. 36, #2.

What it really means. While the research is inconclusive, it makes a lot of sense. Our “take a pill and get better” reaction to behavior issues doesn’t seem to be working, which is becoming clearer as the U.S. continues to slide down the scale in terms of world scholastic achievement. It’s promising research, however, and will hopefully lead to us having more accountability about our lifestyles. After all, getting proactive is the Beachbody®/Million Dollar Body™ way. We know it works, and it stands to reason that it will work for kids, too.

Obese children benefit from peer support
The Journal of the American Medical Association took a first look at whether heavy kids benefited from being encouraged to play with more physically active peers. A team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that obese children who lost weight kept it off if they were in a maintenance program. The research, involving 150 overweight 7- to 12-year-olds, is one of the first large-scale studies to evaluate the long-term effects of weight loss maintenance strategies in children. The kids initially lost weight on the same program, and then were split into groups—some with support, others left to their own devices. The longer the kids remained in the active support network, the longer they tended to keep their weight off.

D.E. Wilfley; R.I. Stein; B.E. Saelens; D.S. Mockus; G.E. Matt; H.A. Hayden-Wade; R.R. Welch; K.B. Schechtman; P.A. Thompson; and L.H. Epstein. “Efficacy of Maintenance Treatment Approaches for Childhood Overweight: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” JAMA, October 10, 2007, 298: 1661–1673.

You may be pleasantly surprised to find out that the strong, sleek, sexy body you are working so hard to build should have a lot more in common with a Maserati than a Volkswagen. Now, the VW is an excellent automobile. It’s cute and perky, and gets great gas mileage. These are all great attributes for a car. However, we want our bodies to be “gas guzzlers,” meaning that we don’t want to run all day on a small amount of food or “gas.” We want our engine/metabolism to require more food—the right food—to keep us running fast and lean.So how do we keep our appetite on cruise control? Here are 10 great tips to keep the calories burning, and your hunger satisfied—a winning combination for a high-performance body.

1. You snooze, you lose. That’s right—researchers believe that lack of sleep affects hormones related to appetite, thus causing you to gain pounds when you don’t get enough sleep. People who slept seven to eight hours lost fifty percent more weight than people who only slept five hours.
2. Raise another glass. That’s water we’re talking about. Most of us mistake thirst for hunger. Mark down how much water you drink in a day. Chances are you will be surprised at how little you drink. Add just two more glasses a day and you’ll be amazed at the reduction in your appetite.
3. Move it and lose it. You don’t just lose calories and weight when you exercise. Intense exercise changes the way your body craves food and can actually suppress your appetite. The breakdown that occurs during a hard workout can also raise your appetite but you tend to get hungry for the types of foods that will repair this damage. One of the best advantages of P90X Extreme Training Workout is that you are going to start craving “premium” quality fuel—naturally.
4. Taste the fruit of knowledge. The mighty apple may have gotten a bad rap in the Garden of Eden, but in the Garden of Eatin’, an apple may be your best friend. Look for a big, delicious, juicy one and take a bite. This fiber-filled food will have you feeling full in no time.
5. Soup it up. Try having a broth-based soup before a meal or as a snack. You can even take your favorite veggie drink, put it in a coffee cup, nuke it, and enjoy a cup of satisfying soup that will fill you up and satisfy your desire for something warm, comforting, and yummy. Just beware of major-label soups as they tend to be high in sodium and use lesser-quality ingredients. As always, it’s important to read the label.
6. More is less. In the case of meals, that’s the truth. Eat small frequent meals to maintain blood sugar levels and keep your appetite and energy levels in control and on target for calorie consumption.
7. Skip rope, not meals. Especially breakfast. If you don’t start the day off with a good breakfast, you wind up with low blood sugar, low energy, and irresistible hunger pangs, and the next thing you know, you are running over to a pizza box, your face is covered in crumbs, and you have severe pepperoni breath. Just remember, a good meal doesn’t mean a traditional meal. Skip the lumberjack special in favor of a bowl of whole-grain cereal or a protein shake with some fresh fruit tossed in, a Beachbody® Meal Replacement Shake in Chocolate or Vanilla, or leftovers from your healthy dinner the night before.
8. Eat your veggies. Yes, your mother was right, but probably for different reasons. Veggies are filled with nutrition, but they will also fill you up. Try a big luscious salad before a meal in a restaurant (instead of scarfing down the bread). Then have a favorite main dish, though you will want a lot less of it, and the rest you can take home for lunch or dinner the next day.
9. Whole grains rule. You aren’t settling for less than what you deserve, and that means complete, healthy, whole grains. Choose the whole-grain bread, brown rice, and multigrain crackers (see #6 in Joe’s article above for more on multigrains) over their anemic white and refined cousins.
10. Speed to succeed. You want a speedy metabolism and high performance when it comes to burning calories, and one of the best ways to get there is to slow down at the dinner table. That means actually taking the time to eat your meal. It takes your brain 10 minutes longer than your stomach to receive the message that you are full. Do an experiment. Tonight at dinner, find out how long you take to eat your meal. If it takes you longer to load the dishwasher, then something’s wrong with this picture.

When we think of Oktoberfest, we think of beer. In America, it’s arguably the only thing we know about this celebration. Since October is also when tailgating, er, football season kicks in, it may as well be national beer month. While this conjures up images of loud men with distended bellies, perhaps it’s time we gave beer another look. A bevy of recent studies seems to indicate that beer may well be the healthiest alcohol we can drink.

This idea may take some getting used to. We tend to see wine drinkers as beautiful and refined. Scotch drinkers are dashing impresarios. Fabulous hipsters favor the martini. And beer, well, you don’t exactly think Tony Horton or Shaun T. Whenever you see a fat guy in American popular culture, a beer is never too far away. Homer Simpson. Norm from Cheers. Willie from Bad Santa. Heck, we even call their slovenly looking stomachs “beer bellies.”

Is all this vilification justified? Maybe not. According to England’s Royal Society of Chemistry’s (RSC) recent study, Beer: Quality, Safety and Nutritional Aspects, beer is loaded with good things: proteins, vitamins, and antioxidants—even fiber. Taken in moderation, beer can offer a host of nutritional benefits.

A very, very brief history of beer in America

Beer has been brewed, in some form, in every culture for about as long as humans have inhabited the planet. But nowhere has it been more important from a cultural perspective than in Europe. When America was colonized, this European influence ensured that we’d become a nation of beer drinkers.

Originally, we were an ale country. When more Germans began arriving, in the mid-19th century, we started drinking more lagers. These lighter-style beers were more easily mass-produced and became the bastion of the early American breweries, run by guys like Pabst, Schlitz, and Miller.

The light—some would say watery—taste now associated with mass-produced American beer didn’t come around until World War II, when brewers started substituting the traditional ingredients of beer with more available ingredients. Bland became synonymous with “American beer” until the rise of microbreweries in the late 20th century. Now Americans are privy to more varieties and a larger selection of beers than any place on earth. The epicenter of the beer world now seems to be Portland, Oregon, which is commonly referred to as “Beervana.”

If beer is good, why are beer drinkers fat?

Before we discuss the benefits of beer, it’s important to note that beer isn’t some magical nectar of the gods. It requires moderation. The reason Homer and Norm have those bellies is that they don’t just drink one beer, they drink a lot of beer. A six-pack (a seemingly perfectly round number for many beer drinkers) of pretty much any beverage in a day is going to have some negative side effects, just due to the number of calories consumed. An excess of beer can be especially detrimental for three reasons: carbonation, calories, and alcohol. Carbonation can neutralize stomach acids and this hampers digestion, so people trying to lose weight should avoid beer with meals. Calories, well, we all know what calories do. The average beer has 150 calories. When Homer drinks ten beers, he’s consuming over 1,500 calories—before a donut even crosses his lips!

About 70 of those calories come from alcohol, an extremely controversial substance when it comes to its effects on the body. The over-consumption of alcohol is responsible for all sorts of nasty things, including cirrhosis of the liver and addiction. However, the RSC study, along with several other studies, indicates that two or three alcoholic drinks a day greatly reduce mortality rates, especially those involving cardiovascular disease.

That said, alcohol has also been found to inhibit muscular protein synthesis, which is the whole point of working out to begin with! So popping a cold one after that big basketball game or that P90X Workout Video probably isn’t the best idea. Best to wait a few hours.

One final note on the negative effects of beer. Germany actually has beer purity laws (enacted in 1516) that guarantee that their brews are made of nothing but water, hops, yeast, and barley. We have no such laws in America, so you never know exactly what you’re getting. Most of the bigger brewers put rice or corn in their beers to keep prices down. They can also load it with preservatives and chemicals. As a general rule, if you’re looking for a healthy beer, the smaller the brewer, the better the beer. In fact, most small brewers proudly boast about their ingredients.

So what’s so good about it, anyway?

Recent studies have been revealing many positive associations between beer and health. These include a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease, an improved mental state in women, and increases in life span. Drinking beer can help reduce homocysteine levels, lower triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol, and reduce blood clotting. An important note is that a constant here is moderate consumption, but that should go without saying. So let’s take a closer look at just what’s in beer that makes it healthy.

One might be inclined to lump excessive carbohydrates in with the list of beer’s problems, but this just isn’t the case. Although it does have some carbohydrates, the idea that each brewski is a carb bomb is a myth. Generally, there are 5 to 11 carbohydrate grams in one 12-ounce bottle of beer. Milk has 18 grams. Soft drinks have 36 grams.

Thanks to its malted barley, beer also contains protein, at the rate of 0.7 to 2.1 grams per bottle. While most of the larger proteins are lost during the brewing process, beer still contains all the essential amino acids.

Malted barley also gives beer plenty of vitamins, particularly B vitamins. A bottle of beer can contain 10 to 20 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of niacin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and folate. But mass-produced beer lovers take note: beer’s riboflavin comes from its barley, as well as its yeast. Beers brewed with barley substitutes such as rice (Budweiser, for example) contain fewer vitamins.

Another benefit of drinking beer is the water, which, among other things, prevents dehydration and helps maintain electrolyte balances. A bottle of beer has between 327 and 337 grams of water, as opposed to 12 ounces of wine, which is 302 to 323 grams water, or soft drinks, which have 315 grams of water.

Because good beer uses good, pure water, you’ll also find a lot of minerals within, although which ones and how much depends entirely on the water’s source. It’s safe to say you’ll usually find a good amount of potassium and magnesium, and plenty of calcium.

Both hops and malt add several phenolic compounds into the mix. Many of these compounds are the same as or similar to the antioxidants found in wine, tea, and several fruits and vegetables, all of which have been known to protect against cardiovascular disease. So it would appear that “The French Paradox” applies to ale drinkers as well.

So get out there and enjoy your Oktoberfest with the knowledge that you could be doing yourself some good. Just don’t overdo it.