The Secret to Permanent Weight Loss

Before writing this post I did a quick web search for news about weight loss, diet, and exercise.  I was amazed by what I found. Here are the headlines from articles that are based on research that came out in the last three months: “Exercise is good…but it won’t help you lose weight“, “Exercise beats dieting for Weight Loss“, and “Diet and Exercise are not enough”  Wow talk about confusing!  No wonder people struggle with weight loss.

The truth is that all three of these headlines and articles are true, but need to be understood a little deeper.

The first article is making the point that no matter how much you exercise if you eat a diet full of sugar and other refined carbohydrates you will not lose weight. Unfortunately, this is exactly what comprises the standard American Diet (or SAD). As the author of the study says, “You cannot outrun a bad diet.” The authors also correctly conclude that a diet high in fat and low in sugar and carbs is best for weight loss.  Let me repeat that; a high fat diet, low carb diet is best for weight loss.

The next headline, “Exercise beats Dieting for Weight Loss”, is talking about data that shows that as people age they usually become less physically active.  Most Americans do not reduce their food intake so this inactivity seems to lead to weight gain. The conclusion that if you don’t exercise you will tend to put on unhealthy weight (such as increased BMI and waist size) is correct, but by not explaining WHY this happens this article misses something very important.  Guess what else changes as we age, our hormones.  And are hormone levels affected by exercise?  You bet!  So the actual mechanism for this weight gain is that as hormone levels go down unhealthy weight goes up.

Now the third headline makes sense.  The authors of this study conclude that Diet and Exercise are not enough because there seems to be a “biological cause” that limits the effectiveness of diet and exercise in some individuals.  Hormone imbalance is the biological factor that can make weigh loss very stubborn. One of the most common hormones that can be out of balance and lead to difficulty losing weight is Thyroid hormones.  The stress hormone cortisol is another.

So to lose weight you do have to eat well, exercise regularly AND have healthy, balanced hormones.

If you have questions about Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture, or if you have struggled with weight loss and want to see if your hormones might be the reason why, visit us at Orlando Acupuncture.com

Western Medicine catches up to 3,000 year old Chinese Wisdom that Ice delays healing.

In 1978, Gabe Mirkin, MD coined the term RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). Health care practitioners and laypersons alike are quick to recognize RICE as the ‘gold standard’ treatment for acute injury. All of my patients know that in Chinese Medicine we seldom recommend Ice for any injury. Now the very same physician who coined the term RICE, Dr. Gabe Mirkin, is admitting that there is a lack of evidence to support the therapeutic use of Ice.

Dr. Mirkin describes how ice delays healing in his 3/2014 Article, Why Ice Delays Recovery. “Inflammatory cells rush to injured tissue to start the healing process. The inflammatory cells called macrophages release a hormone called Insulin-like growth Factor (IGF-1) into the damaged tissues, which helps muscles and other injured parts to heal. However, applying ice to reduce swelling actually delays healing by preventing the body from releasing IGF-1.” He goes on to say that, “anything that reduces your immune response will also delay muscle healing. Thus, healing is delayed by: cortisone-type drugs, almost all pain-relieving medicines, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, immune suppressants that are often used to treat arthritis, cancer or psoriasis, applying cold packs or ice, and anything else that blocks the immune response to injury.”

Why is Ice therapy recommended so often if there is little evidence that it works? Well old habits die hard people, physicians, therapists, and laypersons alike are used to the RICE protocol, and so they continue to use it. The science supports the 3,000 year old Chinese theory that blood flow is the key to health and injury healing. Activities that increase blood flow such as acupuncture, stretching, and exercise improve tissue healing and repair, speeding up healing. Things that that limit blood flow, such steroid and non-steroid anti-inflammatory medications, ice, and compression impair or slow the healing process.

Even the National Athletic Trainer’s Association August 2013 position statement on the management of ankle sprains states that there is “limited” clinical evidence for ice therapy. However, they found stronger evidence that functional rehabilitation, proprioception, and balance exercises improve healing.

So, yes, it seems like “everybody” other than your Acupuncturist recommends ice for injuries. Now you know that “everybody” might not have read the research.

Sources: RICE: The End of an Ice Age, April 4, 2014 by Joshua Stone stoneathleticmedicine.com/2014/04/rice-the-end-of-an-ice-age/ http://www.nata.org/sites/default/files/ankle-sprains.pdf

Want to learn more about Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine, Health, or Natural Pain Relief in Orlando?  Check out our website: OrlandoAcupuncture.com

Exercise is better than drugs for 3 of the top 4 causes of Death in the US

It is obvious and amazing at the same time.  Obvious because we all know that exercise is “good for us”.  Amazing because prescription drugs are often the first thing prescribed for most of these conditions, and not exercise.  The kicker is that not only does the exercise work as well if not better, the potential “side effects” of exercise are pretty much all good ones, more energy, less stress, improved physical appearance, etc.  Whereas, most prescription medications have many possible negative side effects.  I thought this was a great study when it came out in Oct, 2013 and below is a copy of the Health Report I put out in my clinic about it.

Exercise is as effective as medications for preventing diabetes and repeat heart attacks, and it is potentially better than medication for averting additional strokes, according to an analysis published in 2013. The large-scale investigation found doctors had a better chance of preventing death in patients recovering from a heart attack or stroke by prescribing light fitness instead of pills. It is the first time scientists have compared the benefits of exercise with heart medication such as statins and beta blockers. Examining data on 340,000 patients who had been diagnosed with heart disease, chronic heart failure, a stroke or diabetes, the findings published in the British Medical Journal have been touted as revolutionary.

Researchers analyzed previous studies and found no marked change between the outcome of exercise and drugs for people who have diabetes or heart disease.  For stroke victims, the research swung overwhelmingly in favor of exercise, showing it was far more likely to prevent death than drugs. The study leader Huseyin Naci, of LSE Health and Harvard Medical School, said more people are consuming prescription drugs but far fewer are exercising. “Exercise is a potent strategy to save and extend life in coronary heart disease and other conditions,” said Mr. Naci, “We think exercise can be considered or should be considered as a viable alternative or in combination with drug therapy.”

The results showed that in three of the four conditions studied, exercise was as effective as, or possibly more effective than, drug treatments. This wasn’t the case for heart failure, a progressive weakening of the heart’s ability to pump blood to the rest of body. Exercise has also been shown to be helpful in the short term in a number of other conditions, including depression, cognition, blood pressure and cancer treatment. Mr. Naci and his colleagues plan to study some of these other diseases in future work. He cautioned that patients with existing health conditions should talk to their doctor before stopping medication.
Sources: New York Times online, Wall Street Journal Online, and CDC.gov  http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f5577   – BMJ study.

Want to learn more about Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine, Health, or Natural Pain Relief in Orlando?  Check out our website: OrlandoAcupuncture.com

 

3 Ways to Make Exercise Fun

Everyone has heard that exercise is good for you.  The web is filled with articles about the many health benefits of exercise, and new research finds that light exercise is even better than treatment with prescription drugs at preventing 3 of the top 4 causes of death in the US.  So why don’t more people exercise regularly?  I think that for most people exercise is seen as a chore, something they do not like to do.  The idea that exercise is no fun is exactly what needs to change!

Before we look at ways to make Exercise more fun let’s look at why exercise has all of these heath benefits.  Everybody knows that our bodies are made up of cells and these are organized into functional units, or tissues such as muscles, tendons, and organs.  Each one of these cells and tissues gets its nutrition from blood.  So in very simple terms better blood flow equals better health.  And guess what exercise does?  It activates our built in pump (the Heart) to increase blood flow.

Three keys to make exercise more fun:

1) Relax

The benefits from exercise come from increased blood flow.  Guess what happens when we are stressed?  We tighten up our muscles, decreasing blood flow, and limiting our physical and mental performance.  Can exercise be relaxing?  Of course!   Even in the most intense and difficult athletic endeavors such as professional sports and the Olympics you hear the best athletes say that they are at their best when they can “relax” and get into their groove.  So have a relaxed attitude when you exercise to get the most out of it.

2) Pick your favorite activity and make it exercise.

So many things can be exercise.  Simple things such as walking the dog, biking, doing yard-work, etc.  My favorite exercise is Chinese Qi Gong, or energy exercises that are the basis for what most people know as Tai- Chi. (For more info on this topic see flowing zen.com)  I like this type of exercise because it strengthens the entire body and makes you feel refreshed and energized afterwards, not tired or worn out, and it can be done indoors or outside without any equipment.

Other great ideas for exercise include going outside and playing with your children.  Simple activities such as shooting a basketball, throwing a Frisbee, etc. are great exercise. By the way, the exercise is good for you and your kids.  Here in Florida swimming is an exercise that I recommend to lots of patients because is it very low impact and can be done without aggravating joint injuries.

If you like a structured, group activity there are lots of classes at local gyms, but my favorite is to look for a local meetup group that does a sport that you enjoy, such as volleyball, racquetball, or tennis.  Activities such as Yoga can also be done in a group or individual setting.

3) Enjoy!

Once you have selected your favorite exercise or two be sure to enjoy it!  If you enjoy the activity you are much more likely to keep doing it, and guess what makes all exercise better for you?  When you actually do it! So smile when you exercise and truly enjoy it.  And if that changes, pick up something else.  Just keep going so that your exercise becomes a regular part of your daily life.  This way it will become a good, lasting habit.

So yes, I know that many of us are stuck indoors with the bitter cold of Winter right now, but Spring is just around the corner and many fun, indoor activities are excellent exercise too.  So chose your favorite physical activity, do it regularly, and enjoy!

Want to learn more about Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine, Health, or Natural Pain Relief in Orlando?  Check out our website: OrlandoAcupuncture.com