A Westminster committee warns services are struggling to meet the needs of an ageing population.

After the University of California, San Francisco, banned sales of sugary drinks, employees started downing less liquid sugar – and their waistlines showed it.

In a before-and-after study, researchers found that the ban, begun in 2015, cut employees’ intake of sugary drinks by almost 50%. And within 10 months, their collective waist size had shrunk by almost an inch.

Surprisingly good results

The university is one of a growing number of employers that have stopped selling sugar-laden beverages – in cafeterias and vending machines – in a bid to promote healthier lifestyles. But whether it’s working has been unknown.

The new study, published online in JAMA Internal Medicine, is the first to gauge the effects.

The results were surprisingly good, said senior researcher Laura Schmidt, a professor at the university’s Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

Among 214 employees who were heavy consumers of sugary drinks before the ban, the average daily intake of those beverages dropped by 48% within 10 months. Specifically, they went from downing 35 ounces per day, on average, to 18 ounces.

“That’s pretty big for a simple intervention,” Schmidt said.

The reduced consumption was based on what the workers reported, which, Schmidt acknowledged, can be influenced by social pressure.

Precursor to type 2 diabetes

But the researchers also had biological evidence to back up employees’ claims. People who reported bigger reductions in sugary drinks also showed more improvement in their sensitivity to insulin – a key hormone in regulating blood sugar. Problems with insulin sensitivity can be a precursor to type 2 diabetes.

And then there was the change in belly size. Across the whole study group, average waist circumference dipped by just under an inch.

“The idea that you can tweak this one thing and show that kind of effect is pretty exciting,” Schmidt said.

The policy removed all sugar-added drinks from the university’s cafeterias, vending machines and food trucks – allowing only the sale of bottled water, diet drinks, unsweetened tea and 100% fruit juice.

In addition, more water stations were set up across campus, and there was an educational campaign to explain the motivation to employees, Schmidt said. Given that the university is a health sciences campus, she noted, there was a special element to those motives: Isn’t it against the campus’s mission to be selling sugar?

Education, the study suggested, seems to go a long way.

‘A great policy’

Of the 214 employees the researchers studied, half were randomly assigned to a “motivational intervention” at the outset. It involved a 15-minute interview with a health educator who talked to them about the health effects of sugar, and how to cut back.

It turned out that those employees were more successful in curbing their sugary drink intake – slashing it by over 25 ounces a day, on average.

Jennifer Harris is director of marketing initiatives at the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. She said, “I think it’s a great policy, and it’s great they actually saw benefits. You could argue that employees would just get their sugar-sweetened beverages elsewhere.”

But, she said, the policy might have offered workers a “reminder” that the drinks are not healthy choices.

“Sugar-sweetened beverages are the biggest [source] of sugar in people’s diets,” Harris said.

And cutting them out has no downside, Schmidt pointed out, since they offer no needed nutrients.

More research needed

Could such a policy work outside of a San Francisco medical campus? The employees in this study were not a bunch of professors and doctors; more often, they were in service or technical areas, including cafeteria workers who formerly had access to all the sugar they could drink.

But, Schmidt said, more research is needed to test sugary drink bans at various workplaces, in different areas of the country.

The researchers are now studying the effects of a sales ban at a group of California hospitals. Health systems in other states – including the Cleveland Clinic, University of Michigan, Baylor in Texas, and Geisinger in Pennsylvania – have also instituted sales bans.

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HealthDay

Do you have that one friend who can eat whatever she wants without gaining weight? Maybe she credits a speedy metabolism for her ability to chow down on fries and never feel like her favourite pants are feeling the tiniest big snug. Meanwhile, you’ve been trying to eat nutritiously for months and still can’t seem move the numbers on the scale. Been there.

Here’s the thing: It’s actually possible that your metabolism is just different, (meaning, slower) than your friend’s. In case you’ve forgotten from your high school biology class, metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories for energy. And it’s a complicated process that also involves your oxygen intake and carbon dioxide output (a.k.a. your breathing), the Mayo Clinic explains.

Everyone’s metabolism is different, and those differences are generally based on height and weight, your activity levels, and the biggie, genetics. But knowing how your metabolism operates could be the key to losing weight more successfully — although getting deets on your metabolism is not as simple as, say, taking your temperature or timing how fast you can run a kilometre on a treadmill.

Understanding how your metabolism works requires specific kinds of testing, as well as a qualified professional to interpret those results and translate them into a customized weight-loss program. Interested in learning more? Here’s all the info from experts on what various types of metabolic testing involve, plus who should be getting tested.

First: What does a metabolic test reveal exactly?

Metabolic testing measures how many calories a person burns while at rest (also called resting metabolic rate, or RMR), according to the Center For Metabolic and Weight Loss Surgery at Columbia University.

RMR tells you what your basic daily caloric needs are for maintaining your weight if you sit around doing nothing all day. Knowing that rate paves the way to more accurately calculating how many calories you would need to consume per day to lose weight.

In other words, if you’re dieting constantly but not getting the results you’re hoping for, metabolic testing could help you understand your body better and lead to more weight loss.

“A metabolic test can be very helpful for weight-loss goals because it is a fairly accurate way to know how many calories you need [to lose weight] while still allowing your body to function properly,” says Dr Joanne Donoghue, exercise physiologist and associate professor at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Striking that just-right caloric balance is important, says Donoghue. On a very basic level: Consume more calories than your body requires at rest and you gain weight; too few calories, and your body may slow down its metabolism in order to conserve energy, which can also lead to weight gain.

If your metabolism seems like one big mystery, that’s because it typically is for the average adult who hasn’t done a metabolic test. But a metabolic test gives you actual numbers to work with so you aren’t just guessing at your caloric needs.

READ MORE: 9 Ways To Prep For Your Fitness Assessment And Score Better Results

What are the different types of metabolic tests out there?

There are a few different ways to approach metabolic testing, but not all of them are the best choice — or even available — for the average person. These are the most common metabolic tests and what they involve:

• Direct calorimetry: This measures your body heat to determine the number of calories you burn. Typically, you would sit inside a special chamber for about an hour while the machine does its thing. It’s basically considered the gold standard for RMR testing in terms of accuracy — but it’s so expensive and high-tech that it’s very rarely used outside of a research or laboratory setting.
• Indirect calorimetry: This measures how much oxygen you consume compared with the amount of carbon dioxide you breathe out. It’s more portable, affordable and accessible than its counterpart, meaning this is likely the option you’ll be given if you’re signing up for testing through your gym. You simply wear a mask or lie down under a hood while a machine takes your oxygen and carbon dioxide measurements for about 15 to 20 minutes. Even though it’s lower-tech, Donoghue says it’s still pretty accurate.
• VO2 max test: If you are an athlete who wants to optimize caloric intake or lose weight, you may also benefit from something called a VO2 max test, which measures your body’s ability to consume oxygen. For this test, you wear a breathing mask while running on a treadmill to determine how much oxygen you consume when you’re running at your hardest. It’s one of the most accurate tests for cardiorespiratory fitness, according to the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

If you’re not an athlete, you should probably stick with just testing your RMR using one of the first two options.

How accurate is metabolic testing?

In general, metabolic testing via indirect calorimetry is a reliable way to obtain information about your body that you might not otherwise have. But it’s also important to remember that a lot of the testing accuracy comes down to the equipment being used and who’s doing the testing and interpreting the results — more on that in just a sec.

Be wary of body composition tests that claim to predict your RMR and stick with indirect calorimetry, when possible. “There are body composition tests like hand-held dynamometers or scales that try to predict RMR, [but those] are prediction values and some more accurate than others,” Donoghue explains. “Indirect calorimetry, when done correctly, has the least amount of error.”

A 2017 review of data in the Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism concluded that while predictive methods of testing are “questionable,” indirect calorimetry is a valuable resource for calculating nutrition needs and managing chronic health conditions.

If I want to get my metabolism tested, where can I do it? How much does it cost?

Originally, getting a metabolic test was a pretty exclusive thing, offered only at hospitals and weight-loss clinics. Now, it’s much more accessible, with many gyms and fitness centres, sports medicine facilities, and dietitian offices offering the testing.

Of course, that’s a “buyer beware” situation. Private- or corporate-owned facilities, like your local health club, may not be using the most accurate equipment (or keeping it running smoothly). Don’t be afraid to ask questions about the equipment being used and the professional guiding you through the test. Ideally, it should be a certified personal trainer, registered dietitian, or an exercise physiologist.

Anything I need to know before going in for a metabolic test?

There’s not much you need to do to prepare — except fast the morning of your test, and not just from food.

“Restrain from having any caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine — and don’t exercise,” advises Donoghue. “If you’re tested within a few hours of any of these, the accuracy of your test will be greatly affected.” Beyond that, because it’s your resting metabolic rate that’s being tested here, there’s no pressure on you to do much of anything (basically, you get to chill).

One final thing: Remember that your results are just numbers, and without a plan in place to do something based on those numbers, it won’t change your weight-loss results.

The bottom line: Metabolic testing can definitely give you insight into how many calories your body burns at rest and how to create a calorie deficit. But shelling out for a metabolic test is only step one; step two is working with a personal trainer or registered dietitian to create a personalized caloric goal and fitness routine for weight loss.

^{This article was originally published on www.womenshealthasa.co.za}

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Sarah Bradley



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Without question, peanut butter is one of the best foods out there — you can spread it on bread for a sammie, add it to smoothies, spoon it on oatmeal, or in my case, simply grab a spoon and eat it straight from the jar. (No shame, here.)

However, when it comes to storing this magical spread (you know, if you don’t eat the entire jar in one sitting)… that’s where things get a little controversial. Some people keep it on the pantry shelf while others swear by popping it right into the fridge.

Personally, I’m a room temperature sort of girl, but I have wondered if I’m making the right choice in terms of safety, taste, and texture. So, I asked Alex Lewis, a dietitian for Baze, to weigh in on whether or not you should refrigerate peanut butter.

Give it to me straight: Do you need to refrigerate peanut butter?

If you’re able to keep your peanut butter in a cool, dark place, you don’t need to refrigerate. “In a cool, non-humid climate, you have three to four weeks before the oil may go bad, meaning if you can go through a jar in less than a month you should be okay to not refrigerate,” she says. “However, because life is unpredictable, I always refrigerate mine just so I don’t run the risk of wasting it — and wasting my money!” she adds.

One caveat: If you found your peanut butter in the refrigerated section of the store (which is unlikely, but it could happen), then store it in the fridge when you get home to be safe.

“Ultimately, check the label of your specific peanut butter. If refrigeration is recommended, it will say ‘refrigerate after opening’ somewhere on the label,” Lewis says. Otherwise, it’s really personal preference.

What if it’s natural peanut butter?

It might be a good idea to refrigerate natural peanut butter (Lewis recommends it), but it’s certainly not required. Here’s the thing: Natural peanut butter is just peanuts and salt, no processed ingredients — which is great, but that also means the oil tends to separate from the ground-up nuts. If you refrigerate after stirring, it’ll help keep the solids and oils together, says Lewis.

Another perk to the fridge: “The oils in the peanut butter can go rancid after a few weeks if you’re in a hot climate,” she says, so a cool environment can help stave off that outcome.

Does peanut butter ever expire?

Okay, so now that you know the oil can “go bad” after a couple weeks, you’re probably wondering what that means exactly. “The oils within the nut butter can go rancid,” says Lewis. “Additionally, peanut butter that doesn’t contain preservatives is at a higher risk for growing mould,” she says. No matter the date, if you notice mould in your peanut butter, throw it out ASAP. And if it smells funky, go buy a new jar.

Otherwise, follow these guidelines:

• Natural peanut butter: Enjoy it in less than a month if you store it in the pantry. If stored in the fridge, it keeps up to several months.
• Preservative peanut butter: Stored in the pantry, it stays good for two to three months. It’s fine in the fridge for up to nine months.
• Unopened jars: Go by the expiration date on the label.

FWIW: If you do decide to refrigerate your peanut butter, “you may find it hard to get out of the jar and spread,” says Lewis. Her quick tip? “Take out the serving of PB you want and let it sit at room temperature to soften for a little bit ahead of serving — this also tastes better in my opinion!”

Bottom line: It’s not essential to refrigerate your peanut butter, but it will keep the product good for a longer amount of time.

^{This article was originally published on www.womenshealthsa.co.za}

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Isadora Baum



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