wellness minute junk science [
Warning: parse_url(/wp-content/plugins/podpress/podpress_backend.php?action=getduration&filename=http://media.libsyn.com/media/wellnessminutes/Dr_Fitness_and_the_Fat_Guy_Wellness_Minute_07062008_Junk_Science.MP3) [function.parse-url]: Unable to parse url in /home/drfitn5/public_html/wp-content/plugins/podpress/podpress.php on line 151
0:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In today’s Wellness Minute we give you some tips on how to tell if a study you read in the news is really valid or junk science. If it involves an exotics fruit from a faraway country - beware. Make sure the study says it was “double blind;” that there were more than a handful of participants tested; that it was done over a long period of time. Also see who funded it - a lot of times there is a self serving bias in order to promote results that benefits the funder. Also which journal was it published in? Take a listen right now to hear Dr Fitness’ tips. Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s Wellness Minutes improve your health in 3 minutes a day or less. Now available on iTunes right here

A funny thing happened to me the other day when I was reading PLoS, a peer-reviewed open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science. They had this research that explained that you might live an additonal 14 years if you do four fairly simple things…

1. Drink alcohol in moderation
2. Don’t smoke
3. Exercise
4. Eat an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables

Now it’s nice to know that what I have been saying forever has been re-confirmed and you would think adding 14 years to your life would be encouragement enough for most people… but still a lot of people are finding it difficult to do these 4 simple things and that’s kind of frustrating.

Now the really big dilemma I have is should I tell the Fat Guy about this study? Do I really want him around for an additional 14 years?

Just as everyones perception of portion sizes have been distorted it seems that our perception of what fat people look like has also been distorted. A recent study by Dr. Matthew M. Davis, a University of Michigan professor of pediatrics and internal medicine shows that parents are the last to realize that they’re kid should drop a few pounds.

Here’s a tip from the Fat Guy to determine if you have a fat kid - if you are buying clothes for your kid and it has an L or XL then you’re kid is probably overweight. I don’t know if you knew this but L stands for Large and XL stands for Extra Large. you see that is not just the size of the shirt it is also the size of the person wearing the shirt.

Here’s a recap of the results of the study… The Michigan researchers said that, too, suggests parents underestimate their children’s weight.

If your kid is overweight here are three easy things you can do…Weight Loss Tip 1-stop bring junk food into the house. The last time I checked kids don’t do the shopping and most kids are not going to waste their allowance on Pop Tarts. Weight Loss Tip 2-don’t let your kid weasel out of PE make sure your kid does some physical activity every day. Make him walk the dog, make her play outside whether they want to or not. And Weight Loss Tip 3-no liquid calories - more water more watered down fruit juice. That’s pretty much all they should be drinking.

Don’t Throw away your calcium supplement just yet but a seven-year study of 36,282 women ages 50 to 79 gave half the participants 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 400 units of vitamin D. The study showed better hip bone density in the group given supplements, but they ranked no better statistically in avoiding fractures of all kinds. The biggest study ever of calcium and vitamin D supplements for older women showed they offered only limited protection against broken bones, raising questions over what has been an article of faith among doctors and nutritionists

The stat they used to throw around was that 1 in 200 didn’t survive bariatric surgery. Now a new study says that 1 in 20 men 35-44 don’t make it. Whoops looks like they were off a little.

“The findings appear in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
Some previous studies of people in their 30s to their 50s — the most common ages for obesity surgery — found death rates well under 1 percent.

But in a study of 16,155 Medicare patients who underwent obesity surgery, more than 5 percent of men and nearly 3 percent of women aged 35 to 44 were dead within a year.” Read more