Exercising Better School Grades

In staying true to the back-to-school theme, I found this information.  Middle school students who perform more vigorous physical activity than more sedentary students tend to do better in school, according to a new study done by researchers from Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University.  Does this mean that P.E. class is the answer?  “Physical education and activity during the school day reduce boredom and help keep kids’ attention in the classroom,” said Dawn Podulka Coe, the study’s lead author, “but enrollment in PE alone did not influence grades.”

The researchers did find that students who took part in more vigorous physical activities – such as organized sports like soccer or football, or non-organized after-school activities such as skateboarding – did approximately 10 percent better in core classes such as math, science, English and social studies.  According to Coe, “The students who performed better academically in this study were the most active, meaning those who participated in a sport or other vigorous activity at least three times a week.”

The difference between vigorous activity and moderate activity is thought to be related to heart rate. Moderate activities, such as walking or raking leaves, don’t increase the heart enough. Vigorous activities, such as running or swimming for exercise, increase heart rate, causing the exerciser to breathe harder and increase oxygen to the brain.

With school about to start, I urge all parents to take this new study to heart. Get your kids out doing vigorous exercise.  And while this study was performed only on sixth graders, I’m confident the benefits will work for the parents as well!  Be the example for your kids and schedule time for exercise together.

The Backpack Dilemma

With the start of school right around the corner, it’s a good time to discuss backpack safety.  While I don’t believe that backpacks are inherently evil, it is common knowledge that overloaded and improper fitting backpacks can lead to numerous spinal problems and symptoms including back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, and headaches.  In fact, the journal Spine reported that 74% of backpack users complained of such symptoms and also had “poorer general health” than those not using a backpack.

The professional weight recommendation is that a backpack should not weigh more than 15% of the child’s body weight due to the risk of serious back pain and scoliosis complications.  For most kids, this is not a great deal of weight!  Both straps need to be worn over both shoulders and the bulk of the pack should rest upon the lower back.  If you can find a pack with elastic in the shoulder straps, this also relieves some stress/shock of the upper back and neck.

See the chart below to determine how heavy your child's, or your backpack should be.

Apples and Pears

As we put on weight and our body changes shape from an ideal anatomy, we assume two basic body shapes based on two different types of fat.  We either become an apple shape or a pear shape.  There are different health risks and complications with each of these types.  But, as I recently learned, there are different strategies on how to combat these types of fat and body shapes and failure to recognize these will make weight loss more difficult.

The apple shaped body is the result of belly fat otherwise known as visceral adipose tissue.  This is dangerous as this fat gets deep inside the abdomen and crowds the organs.  This apple shape is associated with a greater risk of heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes, gall bladder problems, high blood pressure, and colorectal cancer.  The pear shape has fat that is more superficial and surrounds the muscles of the hips and thighs.  This fat is associated with osteoporosis, varicose veins, life-threatening blood clots, and menopausal symptoms.  In both instances, a person is carrying excess fat and both instances need to include a better diet with exercise programs that include high-intensity cardio training as well as strength training.  Both types of weight are complicated by the stress hormone cortisol.  Research shows that mild exercise such as walking will not affect this hormone levels.  However, high intensity exercise can blast the fat away by increasing human growth hormone.  This means you have to push yourself and work hard, but you also need to take measures to reduce emotional stress as well.  Regarding both body types, sugars and processed carbs must be reduced while protein and vegetable carbs must be maintained.

The difference between apples and pears is that the apple shape is largely from a sedentary lifestyle and high glycemic foods such as sugars and processed grains.  A low glycemic diet coupled with the exercise and stress reduction mentioned above will generally produce results.  Recent research has shown that the pear shape is more involved with various toxins and this toxic stress to the system will alter the adrenal and thyroid hormones.  For this reason, weight on the hips and thighs may be less life threatening, but it’s also harder to lose.  Detoxification protocols are the most effective way to address the fat stored with the pear-shaped body.  These programs include a low-glycemic, healthy diet, but add various supplements to clean the liver, colon, kidney, and gall bladder.  Most experts believe the source of toxicity in these cases is from various pesticides and even heavy metals.  Your detox program needs to address these sources.  Avoiding soy, coffee, alcohol, lunch meats, and the trans-fats will also help when dealing with a pear shape due to their influence on estrogen levels.  Flax seeds, cruciferous vegetables, organic meats, artichoke hearts, broccoli, beets and bean sprouts are foods that have been proven effective in lowering estrogen levels to aid in fat loss.  

Weight loss can often be a challenge, but I’ve seen the difficulty first hand with the pear-shaped body type.  Likewise, I’ve seen these detoxification programs produce results.  We use a 10-day detox by Metagenics.  This is the best program I’ve found over the years to relieve the toxic stress.  However, ten days is often just the jump-start and continued supplementation may be required for 6-12 months when dealing with excessive weight on the hips and thighs.  There are many detox programs out there.  Look into these as a strategy for weight loss and better health.

And the Loser Is . . .

A recent study looked at what foods are the worst if you are attempting to lose weight.  They found that the food that caused a person to gain more weight per serving than any other food out there was potato chips.  They also concluded that eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong foods may be more important than just eating less food in general when it comes to losing weight.

In a similar study, researchers looked at what diet strategy was the most effective.  The two dietary programs that topped the list were the D.A.S.H. program (standing for the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) and the Mediterranean diet.  Both of these diets promote the consumption of vegetables, fruits, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat dairy (in this order of priority).  Likewise, both approaches recommend avoiding sugars, red meat and salt.  In the end, both diets are quite effective in reducing high blood pressure and reducing weight at the same time.  You should also take note that these approaches turn the food pyramid that we’ve been taught since grammar school upside down.  Rather than grains and dairy as the foundation of our pyramid, they are found in lowest priority while vegetables and fruits make up the base.

Whether it’s these two diets or any other effective diet, one thing is clear.  Sugar and table salt must be reduced while vegetables and fruits must be increased.  Our eating habits are just that – habits.  And to change any habit, you must start by changing your beliefs.  You must start looking at sugar, processed snack foods, fried foods, and artificial sweeteners as poisons that are as toxic as arsenic.  They may not kill as quickly as arsenic, but over time the effect is the same.  Commit to making vegetables and fruits along with lean meats such as chicken, fish, turkey, and low fat beef (preferably free-range sources for all of these) the staples of your diet for just one month while cutting sugars, chips, crackers and snacks for just one month and see what happens.  If you don’t notice a favorable change, consider it a failed experiment and go back to your old habits.