Ask Dr. Sinnott

Don’t let the holidays derail your weight management plans. Here are five tips that will help you avoid holiday weight gain:

1. Set up good habits in advance of the holidays. Habits take a while to master before they become part of our routine operating nature. Anticipating that this adaptation period will be at least four weeks, it is important to get our good habits well-rehearsed by Thanksgiving. So, start now before the social peer-pressure begins.
2. Do not skip meals. You cannot make up for a triple helping of Thanksgiving dinner by not eating all day. As a matter of fact, fasting for more than a few hours will put your body into conservation mode, which means that as soon as you start eating again, the excess calories will be converted into body fat for long-term storage. So, that 3000 calorie Thanksgiving dinner can end up as 300 grams (2/3 lbs.) of fat on your frame. Rather, eat sensible meals less than 500 calories every four hours while awake and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
3. Don’t let guilt knock you off the wagon. Okay, so you had some cookies or cake that wasn’t part of your weight management plan. Don’t quit! Some people may take a simple overindulgence or two as an opportunity to give up entirely until after the holidays. We have all seen or done it ourselves. Just remember, it’s not what you do on one day that matters, it’s what you do every day that matters!
4. Don’t be sedentary. Extra calories plus a sedentary lifestyle is double trouble. In addition to controlling your food and drink intake, maintain some degree of healthy exercise. It really doesn’t take much: a brisk walk around a couple of city blocks or a lap around the mall while shopping count as exercise. Not only will the exercise help burn calories, it will help relieve stress, preserve skeletal muscle mass and reduce cardiovascular health risk. (Also, resist stopping at the food court to “recharge.”)
5. De-stress in less than four minutes. Holidays are paradoxically both happy and stressful times. The stress response in our bodies will increase production of hormones such as cortisol that can, among other things, damage our immune system and increase weight gain. During the stressful times, stop and take a few moments to decompress with some simple deep breathing exercises. Close your eyes and count five seconds while breathing in and five seconds while breathing out. Repeat this about 20 times as often as you need daily, and it will help temporarily reprogram your autonomic nervous system. You don’t need to be a monk to master this simple but incredibly effective meditation technique.

There are several studies conducted in both North America and Europe that suggest that plants grown using modern farming practices have a much higher yield but substantially diminished nutrition as compared to plants grown 50 years ago. Using data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a researcher at the University of Texas concluded that, since 1950, there has been a statistically significant decline in six of thirteen nutrients that could be reliably tracked by the data. The decline ranges from 5% to 40% or more for these nutrients. This decrease is probably due to the fact that commercial plant breeders have been selectively breeding plants for what they considered the most desirable traits, appearance and marketable yield (size). Nutritional content is much more difficult to measure and was not even considered by breeders as a selection criteria. As a matter of fact, a report issued by the Organic Center found that the more a tomato weighs the lower its concentration of nutrients such as lycopene and vitamin C. They also found double digit declines in the iron, zinc and calcium content of sweet corn, wheat and potatoes. So, in the quest for more and bigger vegetables to feed a growing population, breeders may have inadvertently been selecting against nutrition.

On the bright side, there has been some recent progress in increasing the amount of vitamin A in carrots and vitamin C in pineapples. So it is theoretically possible to increase nutritional content by traditional plant breeding methods. In the next 5 to 10 years there will likely be super-nutritious vegetables on the market, such as broccoli, with enhanced levels of protective glucosinolates, tomatoes with large amounts of lycopene and cantaloupes with substantial quantities of vitamin A. Consumers are showing a strong trend toward desiring higher quality food, and the fundamentals of economics suggests that unfulfilled consumer demand creates new business opportunity. Until then, choose to eat a wide variety of vegetables and seek out locally grown seasonal produce at farmer’s markets when available. A good rough indicator of nutrition is taste since taste is derived from the production of phytochemical components. If the fruit or vegetable has no taste or is otherwise unsatisfying find a different source for your produce.

The colder temperatures of winter push people indoors to enclosed, warm spaces. The spaces that we share, offices, schools, churches, restaurants and pubs have lots of people and lots of recirculated air. This is great for the incubation and spreading of germs, which is not too great for us. There are around one billion colds each year in the U.S. that cause 189 million lost school days and makes it the leading cause of doctor visits. Flu symptoms cause an additional 20-25 million doctor’s visits and 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

Probably one of the greatest breakthroughs in health came when people recognized that personal hygiene was important for disease prevention. Washing our hands several times a day, especially after handling shared items such as door handles, computer keyboards, and children’s toys goes a long way toward disconnecting ourselves from the most common infection pathways. In the absence of water and soap, moist towelettes (or as my children say, "wipies") or hand sanitizer will remove or inactivate most of the common germs that make us ill. A complementary hygiene technique involves the proper use of a tissue. Tissues are inexpensive, disposable hygiene products. The key word being…Disposable! Sneeze in it or blow into it then throw it away! It’s not reusable and it’s not a souvenir for your pocket (unless you’re a microbiologist). Don’t even get me started on cloth handkerchiefs. They are good for decorating a suit pocket but awful for hygiene.

Eating healthy and staying hydrated are also very important preventative health measures especially during the germy winter months. People tend not to feel thirsty as much when the weather is cooler but the air may actually be quite dry, which means we still need to stay hydrated. The lining of our nose, lungs, mouth and GI tract are all moist and they are also the place where germs enter our bodies. Having these cells moist keeps their barrier functions fully intact and may help prevent germs from invading our bodies. Also, a body that is not adequately hydrated or is deficient in key nutrients will not be performing optimally and will be more prone to the effects of germs. Additionally, studies in the U.S. and Europe have shown that dietary supplementation with certain nutrients (i.e. vitamins A and C, zinc, and selenium) and botanical agents (such as garlic, Echinacea, astragalus, and larch arabinogalactan) may add measurably to our defenses.

Getting exercise and adequate rest are also very important in maintaining optimal immunity. Exercise helps the body’s production of infection-fighting cells and also drives circulation of the lymphatic system. Also, the increased body temperature and sweating from exercise creates an environment that is inhospitable for pathogens to attach and replicate. Adequate rest adds to the body’s defenses. Grandma knew this intuitively, and it has been borne out in numerous scientific studies as well.

Having lived in Phoenix, Arizona, for most of my life, I know what ‘hot’ feels like. Summer temperatures routinely exceeded 115 degrees Fahrenheit. This didn’t stop us from taking long hikes, mountain biking or rappelling in the torrid Sonoran Desert even during the summer. The trick, we knew, was to avoid exertion during the hottest part of the day (noon to 4 p.m.) and remaining well hydrated. Hydration is not just drinking when you feel thirsty. By the time your body feels thirsty, it is already significantly water deficient. Hydration is an around-the-clock process, especially during summer. It takes some advance planning. Failure to do so could lead to dehydration, which causes muscle cramping, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that people maintain a balanced diet and drink plenty of fluids in the 24 hours prior to physical activity. (Actually, this seems like a common-sense recommendation for everyone, everyday!) According to ACSM, two hours prior to exercise or physical activity, individuals should consume 0.5 liters (around 17 ounces) of water and continue drinking water thereafter to replace fluids lost by sweating. The amount of fluid lost from sweating will obviously depend on the individual’s weight, metabolism and the physical environment but will generally be between 0.4 and 1.8 liters per hour. ACSM recommends that runners, for example, should drink around 0.8 to 1.0 liters per hour of water to stay well hydrated. This means that a couple of one-liter water bottles will be enough to keep you going strong for at least two hours. The ACSM also recommends that pure water is the best source of hydration for activities lasting one hour or less. After that point, “sports drinks” that help replace lost electrolytes and provide energy may give additional benefits. Following exercise, individuals can fully rehydrate by drinking around 1.5 liters of water for each kilogram of body weight lost. This should not be consumed all at once but preferably over the course of several hours with foods or snacks.

Health authorities also generally agree that consumption of caffeine and alcohol should be avoided since both of these substances act as diuretics and will increase the amount of fluid loss by urination. Also, advancing age, certain drugs or medical conditions may make certain individuals more prone to dehydration.

This sounds like it would be a simple yes-or-no question, but it becomes quite complex when one starts probing various information sources. From a classical nutritional standpoint, the data is still mixed. Some studies suggest that there are higher levels of nutrients such as iron, zinc and antioxidants in organically grown produce. Others studies have found no significant differences. This may be due to the fact that plant varieties and even individual plants can vary widely in the amounts of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that they contain. For example, certain types of cantaloupes can have four times the vitamin A content of other cantaloupe varieties and a beneficial phytonutrient in broccoli, glucosinolates, can vary by as much as 50-fold from plant to plant. Still, even though this advantage isn’t clear cut, there are other factors to consider.

Organic crops are grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. This means that there will be no residue of these chemicals in the organic fruits and vegetables that you eat. Some argue that the products of American agriculture are unquestionably safe and the amounts of pesticide residue which may be present poses no significant health risk. But the way I see it, these residues do not add value to my food and might add risk to my food. Also, how much of the food that is in our grocery stores is actually grown in the United States and how much is imported? So if I can afford organic produce and value the difference, (which I do) I prefer to buy organic fruits and vegetables when the option exists. Other than the direct impact on our own health, another factor to consider is organic farming’s impact on other people. Using organic farming methods definitely poses less risk of soil, water and air contamination than use of synthetic chemicals so it is better for the global population as a whole. It must certainly be a positive factor for the farm workers who don’t have to apply toxic chemicals and constantly be exposed to pesticide and herbicide residues as they tend crops and harvest the produce. Personally, I also appreciate that organic produce is often grown by small, local growers. I believe that organic farmers, whether the operation is large or small, have made a positive choice that I would like to reward economically with my purchasing dollars.