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Exercise is great . . . but not that great

This time of year more people are starting or ramping up exercise programs (yours truly included) than probably at any other time of year, but the New York Times wants us all to remember that exercise isn’t a cure-all. Exercise alone is not enough to prevent most diseases and it probably won’t help you lose weight unless you throw in some dietary changes, too. It might not reduce blood pressure, prevent heart disease or stave off diabetes, unless you’re overweight and already showing signs of high blood sugar. But being active may encourage you to make other healthy changes, such as quitting smoking or eating more fruits and veggies. So it’s certainly not worthless to get out there and move.

Gardening counts as activity, at least for older people

We’ve often been told that activities we normally do through the say count as physical activity. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or doing housework can actually make us fitter, the argument goes, but there has long been a debate as to whether gardening counts as moderate activity. The answer seems to be yes, at least for older adults, according to a study from Kansas State University. They watched people ages 63 to 86 to see how much time they spent on different gardening tasks like watering and pulling weeds, and their heart rates were measured throughout to judge intensity. The researchers say things like digging, raking and mulching count as moderate-intensity exercise, while weeding and mixing soil were considered low intensity.

Some ethnic groups more likely to develop gestational diabetes

A study of moms in Australia found that women of South Asian decent were four times more likely than Australia-born women to develop gestational diabetes, and women from the Middle East and North Africa were 2.4 times more likely to have the health problem. Women of lower socioeconomic status were 54 to 74 percent more likely to have gestational diabetes than those in higher income brackets. Pinpointing who is more likely to have the health problem and working on prevention is important because 30 percent of women who have gestational diabetes develop regular type 2 diabetes with the next decade after the initial diagnosis.

Government helps with milk surplus

For years the dairy industry has been growing with increased demand for milk, cheese and other dairy products around the world, but the recession has apparently slowed demand for milk, leading to a huge excess in inventory. Because cows aren’t machines you can just turn off until economic times get better, farmers are forced to keep caring for and milking their herds. The result is a huge stockpile of powdered milk, about $91 million of which is going to the federal government. The price of powdered milk has fallen from about $2.20 a pound in 2007 to 80 cents a pound today. The milk glut has dropped the price of bottled milk by about 6 percent, but it’s still pretty high.

Biggest pachyderm loser drops a ton

Finally, the elephants at the San Diego Zoo have been on a diet since the year 2000 and they have a lot of weight loss to show for it. The seven animals at the zoo have lost a collective 11,314 pounds — one lost a ton — thanks to eating several small meals daily. Their diet is now mostly made of hay rather than the bread, corn and jelly beans that they used to enjoy. They still get some fruits and vegetables. Trainers say the rolly-poly elephants we’re used to seeing at zoos are actually overfed, and that you should be able to see the animals’ muscles under their skin.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 and is filed under Diabetes, Exercise and fitness, Foreign stories (non-U.S.), Nibbles: diet news shorts. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.