Health Pulse Eating for your joints When we talk about arthritis, we often mean osteoarthritis (OA), the type that often occurs in older people after years of “wear and tear” on the joints. Whether you already have it or would like to prevent it, the most important dietary step which you can take – by far – is to lose excess weight. It’s not just your lower-limb joints that will thank you: obese individuals have three times the usual risk of getting OA of the hand. And you need only lose 10% of your weight (20 pounds if you weigh 200) to see a significant improvement in your pain level, function and quality of life. Youmay have heard that people with arthritis should avoid so-called “nightshade” vegetables, such as tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. Well, you can safely drop this statement into the “urban myth” basket. Other than weight loss, research hasn’t uncovered any dietary strategy that alleviates or prevents OA. If you have a more inflammatory form of arthritis, such as rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, experts recommend staying away from foods that contribute to inflammation, a group that includes added sugars, preservatives, deep-fried foods – and in this case, white potatoes. On the flip side, you can serve yourself liberal portions of anti-inflammatory foods such as salmon, trout, nuts and soybased foods. Trout amandine, anyone? Source: jointhealth.org It’s all about diet in this issue of Health Pulse – strategies that can help and others which you may want to revisit. Alcohol where’s the calorie label? This just in: alcohol does have calories. OK, you knew that. What you may not know is just how many. That’s not entirely on you: packaged foods and drinks have nutrition labels, which list the number of calories, but wine, beer and hard liquor do not. Here’s how many calories standard servings of alcohol will add to your tally: • A 12-ounce (about 350 ml) bottle of beer: about 150, on average (with wide variations) • 5 ounces (about 150 ml) of wine: same as above • A 1.5-ounce shot of hard liquor: 100 calories; add a glass of coke and you’re looking at 200 • And let’s not even talk about that White Russian (400 calories). If you ignore these calories, you could find yourself 16 pounds heavier by year’s end. So don’t “forget” to count them. Other common-sense tips: use low-calorie mixers, drink water between drinks and sip your drink slowly. Moderation, just like whiskey, is an acquired taste. Source: healthafter50.com The truth about detox diets The NewYear is upon us, and you’ve no doubt been baited with innumerable ideas for starting afresh – like detoxing. The word refers to dietary regimens and procedures – from juice fasts to enemas – that are supposed to reset your metabolism and rid your body of harmful substances (toxins). Before buying that juicer, consider this bald fact: there is no evidence that detoxing does any good. The idea that toxins accumulate in the colon and poison us dates back to ancient times. But here’s the thing: the human body itself knows exactly how to self-cleanse. Our skin, airways and intestines block out most harmful substances. For good measure, the liver – the body’s Chief Processing Officer – converts toxic substances into less harmful ones. To finish the job, the digestive system eliminates these substances in the urine and stool. A detox plan won’t help this process along. If anything, it may rob you of essential nutrients and disrupt your body’s natural mechanisms. And if you’re trying to lose weight, consuming the tiny amount of calories in most detox regimens will do nothing but downshift your metabolism. So what to do instead? Boring but effective: eat healthy foods in moderate amounts. To maintain healthy bowel function, follow the Dietitians of Canada’s advice to consume “a well-balanced diet that includes a variety of foods, dietary fibre and fluids.” Source: healthafter50.com 40 | www.snowbirds.org
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