Cyclists and runners often go on strict diets as part of their training. But do they risk losing muscle and becoming weaker? Not necessarily. Dropping body fat improves your power-to- weight ratio without affecting muscle mass, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. When well-trained cyclists slashed their calorie intake by 40 per cent for three weeks during the off-season, they lost nearly two kilos of fat without losing muscle or compromising their training ability.

WEIGHT loss surgery can be restrictive (closing off parts of the stomach/intestine) or malabsorptive (reducing calorie absorption). These can also be combined. Here are a few bariatric surgical procedures.

ROUXENY GASTRIC BYPASS

• Combines both approaches
• Size of stomach is reduced, through stapling, to restrict intake
• Small intestine is altered to reduce absorption

• The stapled upper stomach is attached to the middle of the small intestine, so food bypasses part of the stomach and the small intestine

LAP BAND OR LAPAROSCOPIC GASTRIC BANDING

• An inflatable silicone band is placed around the upper stomach, creating a small pouch
• This creates a feeling of fullness with lower intake, as the upper pouch empties slowly
• Intended for those severely obese;
• The band slipping out of place or loosening is a complication

SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY

• About 80 per cent of stomach is removed and edges are stapled together
• The remaining narrow sleeve/tube is connected to the intestines
• The irreversible procedure makes one feel full very quickly
• The stapling could leak and reflux could result

BILOPANCREATIC DIVERSION

• A part of the stomach is removed
• The rest is connected to the lowest part of the small intestine
• Upper part of small intestine, where most absorption occurs, is bypassed
• The part of the small intestine containing bile and pancreatic juice is attached to the lower part

CELEBRITIES WHO HAVE UNDERGONE WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY

• Diego Maradona, former soccer player (stapling)
• Randy Jackson, singer, American Idol judge (bypass)
• Sharon Osbourne, wife of Ozzy Osbourne (banding)
• Jennifer Holiday, actor (bypass)
• Khaliah All, daughter of Muhammad Au (banding)

Be it diet, surgery or yoga, there are solutions to the urban Indian woman’s expanding waistline Drink plenty of water to improve digestion and detoxify body Eat breakfast within an hour of waking up and kickstart metabolism; include whole grain carbohydrates and proteins Shut down the kitchen early at night; have dinner half an hour before sunset; make breakfast, not dinner, the meal to sit and eat together Practise portion control and eat in moderation Shift to healthier food and incorporate brown rice, whole wheat, sprouts, freshly pre pared food in main meals and fruits, nuts, whole grain snacks and clear soups as mid meals Use higher grains like ragi (calcium rich), oat bran and oats (good for fighting cholesterol), barley (reduces water retention), bajra and jowar (improves circulation and energy levels, kala chana atta (iron rich), soya (good for female hormones) Change cooking oil every two months

Do not over-consume fibre

Beware of small discomforts like gas, acidity, constipation, bloating and water retention. Step up supportive measures through yoga, walking and breathing exercises, ayurvedic massages and stretching to regulate circulation, improve digestion and help muscle toning and strengthening of joints

Switch to home cooked food

Obesity levels in women in the 15-49 age bracket have gone up from 11 per cent in 1998- 99 to 15 per cent in 2005-06. That is 5.8 crore women. A 2009 survey by the Indian Council of Medical Research showed that 12.3 per cent urban women were obese, as opposed to 2.9 per cent of their rural sisters.

Soya is good for female hormones

Dramatic weight loss can reverse the effects of severe sleep apnoea, says a new study.’Our findings suggest that weight loss may be an effective treatment strategy for sleep apnoea in obese men,’ says study co-author Kari Johansson of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common but under-diagnosed disorder, characterised by 10 second pauses in breathing during sleep, caused by the collapse of the upper airways during sleep.

Moderate and severe OSA (defined as 15 or more pauses per hour) carries an excess risk of vehicular crashes, heart disease and death. Untreated, it is linked with increased risk of traffic accidents, as well as stroke and heart disease. Moderate and severe sleep apnoea also increases the risk of premature death.

People with overweight or obesity are more likely to develop the disease, and men are more affected than women. The Karolinska study included 63 obese men, aged between 30 and 65 years, with moderate to severe OSA. They had undergone continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP, which produces more normal breathing patterns during sleep.

They were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which underwent an intense weight-loss programme, while the other served as a control group, for a period of nine weeks. The results show that the weight loss group lost 19 kilos on average after nine weeks and more than halved the number of apnoea events.

None of the treated patients had severe sleep apnoea, half had only mild sleep apnoea and one in six could be declared healthy, says a Karolinska Institute release. Researchers also noted that the effect of the weight loss programme was greatest in patients with severe sleep apnoea.

These findings were published in the British Medical Journal.

London, Nov. 28: Skipping breakfast will be of no help if you want to stay fit, instead, a bowl of wholegrain cereal first thing in the morning can ensure a trim and healthy body, concludes a study.

Researchers have found that porridge or muesli in breakfast not only helps shed pounds but keeps them off too.

They have found that it stops people turning to fatty and sugary snacks later in the day.

One in five Britons has admitted that he or she skips breakfast, but researchers claim they are simply fooling themselves because the “starv­ation behaviour” makes them more likely to eat biscuits, sweets and cakes during the day.

In fact, people who tuck into cereals packed with wholegrain and fibre in the morning are less likely to binge eat, said the researchers.

Studies have found these cereals protect against many diseases and help maintain the heart and healthy blood sugar levels and body weight.

One study has shown that a bowl of cereal for breakfast could reduce the risk of heart disease by a fifth.

Being low on the glycaemic index, wholegrains help to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity.

They also have a major role in keeping people feeling full.

“Those who skip breakfast generally have an overall less healthy diet. This means they eat snacks and tend not to eat enough fruit and veg,” the Daily Express quoted Chris Seal, Professor of Food & Human Nutrition at Newcastle University, as saying.

Scientists at King”s College London found that although people who eat cereals take in more calories overall than those who don’t, they are more likely to have a normal body mass index, the indicator for obesity.

“We found evidence to support that those who skip breakfast have the highest intakes of fat and increased consumption of high-fat snacks,” said Dr. Katrina Campbell from King’s.

The report found evidence that skipping breakfast on a regular basis was associated with a 4.5 fold increased risk of obesity.

People who eat breakfast were found to eat more vegetables and tended to be leaner and less likely to gain weight over time.

Other studies reviewed, of more than 17,800 men, found that those who consumed breakfast cereals, regardless of type, consistently weighed less than those who ate them less often.

“There is good evidence that skipping breakfast or consuming an inadequate breakfast may contribute to an inadequate dietary intake. These dietary deficits are rarely replenished by other meals in the day.

“To take advantage of the potential benefits of breakfast it is important that a distinction is made between promoting a nutrient-rich, healthy breakfast choice, such as breakfast cereal, as opposed to simply promoting breakfast.” Another study by researchers at Oxford Brookes University found that simply eating breakfast cereals for at least one meal a day led to significant and sustained weight loss,” concluded the report’s authors.

Washington, Nov 10  : A major, long-term study of pregnant mothers and their foetuses as well as infant children has been launched to determine just how profoundly environmental factors early in life influence the onset of diseases such as obesity and diabetes in later years.

The study by three Singapore biomedical institutions, inspired by research evidence showing that the environment in which a baby is conceived, born and grows up determines the child”s growth and development.

The research will involve scientists from the KK Women”s and Children”s Hospital (KKH), the National University Hospital (NUH) and the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), which is part of ASTAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research).

For the study, led by Dr. Chong Yap Seng, the team of Singaporean and international researchers is recruiting a total of 1,200 expectant mothers.

The study will initially track children from foetal development to 3 years of age, and subsequently, if further funding is secured, as they grow up to become adults.

“Present strategies for the management of obesity and diabetes are focused on the prevention of secondary complications rather than primary disease,” said Chong.

“There is increasing evidence that a baby”s environment from conception to birth determines its childhood development and lifelong health and that factors in early development are major causes of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus,” said Sir Peter Gluckman.

Knowledge gained from the study will be of immense importance to Singapore, said Associate Professor Dr. Kenneth Kwek.

And with the increased prevalence of obesity and diabetes in Singapore, there is a need to study the “Asian Phenotype” as much information about these diseases originates from studies conducted in the west.

Research, however, indicates that Asians seem more prone to metabolic diseases at lower body mass index.

Also, different ethnic groups seem to be at different risk levels, said Chong.

“The development of this research is timely as these diseases are rapidly increasing in prevalence throughout the world, especially in Asia. While much research in this area has been conducted in Caucasian populations, data has suggested that aspects of the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases could differ between Asians and Caucasians, and also differ between the various Asian ethnic groups.

“There is an urgent need to try and identify biomarkers, such as epigenetic changes, that indicate increased risk for metabolic diseases and use these to tailor interventions for individuals at risk,” added Dr. Chong.

New Delhi, November 09  : Children who take sweetened beverage a lot at age five are more likely to be overweight when they reach the age of 15, a new study has claimed.

The research led by Dr. Laura Fiorito from the Pennsylvania State University in University Park has found that daily intake of beverages like sodas and fruit and sport drinks at an early age results in more body fat during the following 10 years.

Fiorito along with her colleagues noted the beverage habits of 166 non-Hispanic white girls between the ages of 5 and 15, reports the China Daily.

Keeping other factors linked to weight and body fat levels in mind, it was noted that girls who drank two or more sweetened drinks daily had higher percentages of body fat.

Hence, they had greater chances to be overweight than girls who drank lesser amounts of such beverages.

Among the 5 and 15 year old girls drinking less than one drink, the researchers found about 16 and 19 percent overweight, respectively.

Similarly, those drinking 2 or more sweetened drinks, about 39 percent were overweight at 5 years, while and 32 percent were the same when 15 years old.

Fiorito suggested that young children should be provided with milk and water instead of too much of sweetened drinks, as it was also observed that body fat and weight did not vary depending on how much milk or juice made from 100 percent fruit the girls drank.

The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

London, Nov 9 : Over 100,000 types of cancers are caused by obesity, according to an American study.

Excess body fat makes a person vulnerable to cancer by increasing the amount of hormones like estrogen circulating in the body and disrupting how the body processes insulin, which is linked to higher risk of cancer.

It also triggers low-grade inflammation in the body, which is increasingly being found to play a role in cancer.

Researchers from American Institute for Cancer Research suggest that people should maintain a normal body weight and remain physically active throughout life.

Weight gain after a cancer diagnosis is also likely to affect the outcome, say researchers.

“An increasing number of studies suggest that regular physical activity improves cancer survival, even among survivors who are overweight or obese,” the Independent quoted AICR researchers as saying.

“Public awareness of the link between obesity and cancer risk is alarmingly low,” said Alice Bender, MS, RD, Nutrition Communications Manager at AICR.

“We are working towards a day when obesity is right up there with tobacco in the public eye,” Bender added.

The AICR estimates show that excess body fat is linked to 49pct of endometrial cancers , 35pct of esophageal cancers 28pct of pancreatic cancers, 24pct of kidney cancers, 21pct of gallbladder cancers, 17pct of breast cancers and 9pct of colorectal cancers.

Washington, Nov 4 : For overweight women looking forward to becoming mothers, here’s some bad news: a new study has shown that obese women are as much as 28 percent less likely to become pregnant and have a successful pregnancy.

The study, conducted by Barbara Luke, a researcher in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine””s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, focused on data of nearly 50,000 women using assisted reproductive technology.

The results showed that women who are simply overweight have a 14 percent less chance of a successful pregnancy.

“The results are not surprising; obesity is a state of inflammation and is not a good environment for conception or foetal development. The key message is to lose weight, prior to conception, and focus on pre-conception health issues. Once you become pregnant, the baby is developing in that environment,” Luke said.

As part of the research, Luke””s team looked at the effect increasing body mass index had on a woman””s ability to become pregnant using assisted reproductive technology and how obesity affects pregnancy outcomes.

They compared outcomes to women with normal body mass index (BMI of 18.5-24.9). Women were classified as overweight (BMI of 25 to 29.9), Class 1 obesity (30-34.9), Class 2 (35-39.9) and Class 3 (40 or greater).

They found that women at Class 3 obesity were 35 percent less likely to become pregnant; Class 2 resulted in a 28 percent less chance; 9 percent for Class 1; and 3 percent for overweight women.

Of the obese women who were able to become pregnant, the odds of stillbirth were increased more than twofold.

Among live births, the odds of premature birth significantly paralleled increasing obesity: from 16 percent for overweight women to 34 percent for women at Class 3.

“If you are thinking about starting a family, get into the best physical shape possible. Control the factors you can – such as drinking alcohol and smoking – and remember, body weight is just as important,” Luke said.

Last month Luke was awarded the 2009 Scientific Program Prize Paper for her presentation on maternal obesity research at the 2009 American Society of Reproductive Medicine international meeting in Atlanta.

Washington, Oct 30 (ANI): A new study has revealed that teenage girls’ weight or perception of their weight might play a role in their participation in risky sexual behaviors.

The research team from University of Pittsburgh showed that those girls who were both sexually active and overweight, or who thought they were overweight, were less likely to use condoms than normal-weight sexually active girls.

Moreover, underweight girls were also less likely to use condoms.

“This study will contribute to sexual health education prevention efforts, which can be tailored to address how cultural norms regarding body size may influence adolescent sexual decision making,” said lead researcher Dr Aletha Akers, M.P.H., assistant professor of gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

“Knowing how a girl perceives her weight may be just as important as knowing her actual weight,” Akers added.

The study involving nearly 7,200 high school girls from 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey, half reported ever having sex suggested variability in the girls” sexual activity and sexual risk-taking behavior based on their ethnicity and actual or perceived weight.

The study results are published in the journal Pediatrics. (ANI)