Obesity Takes Years Off Your Life

It's similar to smoking when it comes to effect on longevity, researchers note

Being obese can shorten your life, a new study shows.

"Moderate obesity typically shortens life span by about three years," said researcher Gary Whitlock, from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. "By moderate obesity, I mean weighing about a third more than is ideal, which for most people would mean being about 50 or 60 pounds overweight."

"By contrast, weighing twice your ideal weight -- say, an extra 150 pounds -- shortens life span by about 10 years," he added.

BMI is a calculation that expresses a relationship between height and weight (see my earlier post). People are considered underweight if their BMI is less than 18.5, normal weight when the BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, overweight when BMI is between 25 and 29.9, and obese when BMI is 30 or more, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The researchers found that men and women whose BMI was between 22.5 and 25 lived the longest For those with a BMI over 25, every 10 to 12 pound increase translated to about a 30 percent increased risk of dying. In addition, there was a 40 percent increase in the risk for heart disease, stroke and other vascular disease, a 60 percent to 120 percent increased risk of diabetes, liver disease or kidney disease, a 10 percent increased risk of cancer, and a 20 percent increased risk for lung disease, the researchers reported.

"Obesity causes kidney disease, liver disease and several types of cancer, but the most common way it kills is by causing stroke and, most importantly, heart disease. Obesity causes heart disease by pushing up blood pressure, by interfering with blood cholesterol levels, and by bringing on diabetes," Whitlock said.

People who are moderately obese with a BMI in the 30 to 35 range reduced their life span by two and four years. For those who are severely obese with BMIs between 40 and 45, their life span was reduced by eight to 10 years. That's comparable to the effects of smoking, Whitlock said.

In fact, people whose weight was below normal also died earlier, due mainly to smoking-related diseases, the researchers noted.

Proper Way of Storing Breast Milk

If you want to store breast milk for when you're not available to breast-feed, the Nemours Foundation offers these suggestions for doing it safely:

* Breast milk can be refrigerated for about two or three days, as long as the temperature is between 32 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit (0 C to 3.9 C).

* Breast milk can be frozen for three to four months in many freezers, as long as the temperature is 0 F (-18 C). But lengths may vary based on the type of freezer.

* Breast milk can be kept at room temperature for four to eight hours, as long as the room is kept at 77 F (25 C) or cooler.

* Always store breast milk in sterile bottles that have a screw cap, a sterilized nursing bag, or tightly-capped hard plastic cups. Always label the bottles with the date that the milk was pumped.

* You can let milk thaw in a refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but never refreeze milk that has been thawed.

Calcium for People with Lactose Intolerance

People with lactose intolerance should restrict their intake of dairy foods and other sources of lactose, which include foods containing whey; curds; milk by-products; dry milk solids; and nonfat dry milk powder. But then how do you get enough bone-enriching calcium?

While it's best to check with your doctor, here are some calcium-rich foods that are probably safe for the lactose-intolerant, provided by the University of Virginia Health System:

* Leafy green vegetables such as broccoli and kale.

* Fish such as salmon and sardines.

* Yogurts with active cultures, which can help make the yogurt easier to digest.

* Foods rich in vitamin D, such as eggs and liver, which help the body absorb calcium.

Too Many Cans of Cola = Bad News to Your Bones

Some women drink diet cola to help keep the weight off, but a new study suggests that drinking diet, regular and decaffeinated cola can actually lower bone density and put women at increased risk for osteoporosis.

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, roughly 55 percent of Americans, mostly women, are at risk of developing the brittle-bone disease, which leaves bones dry, weak, and more likely to fracture.

Cola drinks -- such as Pepsi-Cola or Coca-Cola -- seem to increase that risk, according to research published in today's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The scientists compared how much cola and other sodas people drank to bone mineral density measurements taken from the spine and from three different spots on the hips.

"The more cola that women drank, the lower their bone mineral density was," said Katherine Tucker, study author and director of the Epidemiology and Dietary Assessment Program at Tufts University, in a press release.

Women who drank more cola had reduced bone mineral density at all three hip sites but not at the spine. The link between cola consumption and women's bone loss was unaffected by age, menopausal status, cigarettes, alcohol, or total calcium and vitamin D intake.
Cola consumption did not affect men in the same way. Also, other carbonated drinks were not associated with bone loss.

Chocolate's Benefit to Health

Yale University Associate Professor Dr. David Katz recently tested the blood pressure of 45 adults before and after eating dark chocolate. The results were impressive: just two hours after eating dark chocolate the subjects' blood pressure dropped and their blood flow improved. "This clearly suggests that dark chocolate isn't just good; it's good for you," Dr. Katz said of his 2005 study, one of more than the 20 conducted in the past decade on the health value of cocoa and chocolate.


While more research is needed to determine the long-term effects on people with high blood pressure, the research on cocoa and chocolate is accumulating quickly. Recent research shows that dark chocolate and cocoa may :

· Help your arteries relax and widen, lowering blood pressure, promoting good blood flow and reducing the strain on the heart.

· Help prevent the build-up of plaque that can block arteries

· Have mild anti-blood clotting effects.

The results, published in 2006, were also stunning. The researchers divided a group of 470 elderly men according to how much cocoa-containing food they consumed and tracked them over 15 years. The men who consumed the most cocoa-containing products, the researchers discovered, were half as likely to die from cardiovascular disease as those who consumed the least. In addition, they were half as likely to die from any cause as those who ate the least cocoa-or chocolate-containing foods.