Good Mood Diet Blog

It’s time to be horrified! It’s time to work against a terrifying product that will kill more young women than you've read about in any of the latest news stories. Come on, those of you who are beginning to feel good from following the tips you find in the Good Mood Diet book and on this Web site – please do something, anything that you can to stop this danger…

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the one that asked people to “walk a mile for a Camel” in an ad campaign (kind of a twisted situation for a cigarette company to encourage walking but for an unhealthy reason) has started to market a new cigarette product called Camel No 9, which is aimed at young women. Here’s a quote from the New York Times:

Reynolds, eager to increase the sales of its fast-growing Camel brand among women, is introducing a variety aimed at female smokers. The new variation, Camel No. 9, has a name that evokes women’s fragrances like Chanel No. 19, as well as a song about romance, “Love Potion No. 9.” But don’t look for a Jo Camel to join Old Joe the dromedary on Camel packages, displays or posters. Rather, Camel No. 9 signals its intended buyers with subtler cues like its colors, a hot-pink fuchsia and a minty-green teal; its slogan, “Light and luscious”; and the flowers that surround the packs in magazine ads.

NPR’s Children’s Health Column reports that at a Senate hearing recently, Ohio Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown held up a pink pack of Camel No. 9 ad that was mailed to smokers' homes. "It strains the imagination to think this campaign is aimed at anybody other than 15, 16, 17-year-old girls — something that's pretty morally repugnant," Brown said. R.J. Reynolds denies its ads target teenagers.

Brandweek magazine describes the targeted ad campaign as follows:

The sleek look of the non-menthol's black pack, designed by Gyro Worldwide, Philadelphia, is accentuated with chamfered corners and fuchsia accents, most prominently for its Camel mascot. The menthol pack, actually dubbed "menthe," comes in black and teal. Agency 6, New York, handles POP and print, which runs in March issues of such women's publications as Glamour and Vogue. Internet support includes e-mail outreach to RJR's database of smokers, plus event marketing and sampling at nightclubs. The debut gets an additional push with 50¢ per pack discounts on initial orders from retailers.

Join organizations that are working for a smokefree world. You can find a wealth of resources on the Foundation for a Smokefree America Web site.

Eat Right and Exercise Regularly!
Alice

Nuts are a daily part of the Good Mood Diet plan. I emphasize nuts for their rich vitamin E, antioxidant, unsaturated fat and fiber content. And they taste so good! In the menus I include ballpark peanuts (in the shell) because they take a long time to eat and keep us busy trying to get them open and dispose of the shells.

Pistachios are time-consuming foods to eat too. There may be another good reason to add pistachios to you repertoire of favorite nuts. Researchers reported the results of a study investigating the calming effect of pistachios on an acute stress reaction at the 2007 Experimental Biology meetings in Washington, D.C.

Three groups of subjects followed the American Heart Association’s Step I diet for 4 weeks. One group ate no pistachios, one group ate 1.5 ounces of pistachios and the third group at 3 ounces of pistachios daily. At the end of the four weeks the subjects were put in controlled stress test environments, both physical and mental, and their stress reactions were measured.

The groups eating pistachios showed improvements in blood pressure reactions to stress, whereas the group without pistachios showed no improvements. While the blood pressuring lowering effect was greater in the group receiving 1.5 ounces of pistachios per day, the real benefit came with a decrease in peripheral vascular resistance, or a relaxing of the arteries, which was evident only in the group eating 3 ounces per day. The more relaxed vessels caused the heart to pump more forcefully to maintain adequate blood pressure, but this is a greater benefit than just lowering overall blood pressure. In fact, it reduces the workload on the heart.

The results are not really cut and dry, because by adding the pistachios there were changes to the total fat content of diets that may have also contributed to the observed changes in the stress reaction. But this study is a beneficial addition to the body of evidence that supports my mantra: “You NEED to eat healthy fats!”

Yours in a Good Nutty Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Even though Earth Day was officially April 22nd, in this age of a global climate crisis Earth Day should be every day. Rather than feeling bad and helpless about the environmental disaster occurring in slow motion before my eyes, I choose to feel good by making daily choices that are kinder to the Earth, making every day Earth Day.

One thing that we have made important in our home is to buy locally whenever possible. According to numerous published statistics, most food travels 1,200 miles or more from the farm to your table. When you buy from local farmers it not only helps them survive, but it saves fuel, leading to fewer carbon emissions.

I use these two Web sites, especially when I’m traveling to friends’ homes out of town, to find local farmers markets:

• USDA Farmer Market locator map


• Local Harvest Farmer’s market and family farm locator map

• Home Cookin': Buying local to save the planet

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Well, maybe it wasn't exactly a steam-rolling of pop culture. But the screen-free movement has increased in participation each year during the past decade.

One smart move by the TV Turnoff campaign was involving schools by having students signing pledges and reaping modest rewards for completing a screen-free week. Another wise strategy: Including all screens (computers, video games, cell phones) as part of the turnoff initiative.

If you think this is just a bit of anti-media overdrive, consider these mood-altering facts from the National Institute on Media and the Family organization:

• The average American child grows up in a home with an average of:
  
  • 3.6 CD or tape players
  • 3.5 TVs
  • 3.3 radios
  • 2.9 VCRs/DVD players
  • 2.1 video game consoles
  • 1.5 computers
- Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005


• In addition, video game players have become ubiquitous in children's homes:
  • Eighty-three percent of kids, 8 to 18, have at least one video game player in their home.
  • 31 percent have 3 or more video game players.
  • 49 percent have video game players in their bedrooms.
- Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005


• Children, ages 8 to 18, spend more time in front of computer, television, and game screens than any other activity in their lives except sleeping. That’s 44.5 hours per week, or 6.5 hours per day of “screen time.”
- Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005


• More than half of children surveyed (ages 10 -17) use their computer at home to access chat rooms.
- National Public Radio, 2000


• A third of all American children ages 8 to 17 said the Web would be the medium they would want to have if they couldn't have any others. Television was picked by 26 percent of kids; telephone by 21 percent and radio by 15 percent.
- MediaPost Communications, 2002, May 2


• One-third of kids (12-14) own a cell phone, while 57% of teens (15-17) own a cell phone.
- Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005

TV Turnoff families have discovered there is life – and conversation – beyond television (and the Internet and video games, and … You get the idea). Kids and parents alike discover they feel better by decreasing media use during the turnoff week. They might, say, sleep better turning out the lights rather than falling asleep to Letterman or Nickelodeon. Maybe they don’t feel so mentally screen-logged when skipping the Net surfing or hours of video gaming. And more than a few participants insist they feel less depressed with the TV in the off position.

And, hey, you can enjoy those Good Mood meals with more conversation and less soundtrack laughter.

It’s a worthy experiment for all of us, not just families with kids and not just in late April. Maybe you can pick a media-free day of the week or certain hours of the day. Your future good moods will thank you.

Bob Condor

I am often asked by women approaching menopause what kind of diet would be right to help them through the rougher moments. Honestly, there isn’t much I’d change in The Good Mood Diet. I have many, many peri- and post-menopausal women in my practice, and who participated in the original Good Mood Diet Clubs around Seattle. Their reports have consistently been that the diet really helps balance out the highs and the lows of the mood swings. They sleep better, and their energy levels soar.

Many women use hormone-related supplements such as black cohosh, dong quai, red clover, ginseng and yam to deal with hot flashes and other symptoms. There is no consensus in the research on whether these supplements work or not. My patients report that some products work for them, others don’t. Some products work at first, but then lose their effect over time.

A recent study investigating black cohosh examined how the use of this herb might relate to breast cancer risk. The researchers compared 949 women with breast cancer to 1,524 healthy controls. Women who reported taking black cohosh were at 61 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to those who did not use the herb. In addition, those who used an herbal preparation derived from black cohosh, Remifemin, had a 53 percent reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

There is some understanding of how this may occur at the cellular level. Studies have shown that black cohosh can block cell growth. It is also an antioxidant, important for keeping cells healthy, and it has been shown to have anti-estrogen effects.

There is still much more research to be done to discover whether these observations can truly be supported by cause and effect data. Black cohosh can have serious negative side effects, including progressive inflammation of the liver. So before you begin to use this supplement, talk with your medical professional. Use of this supplement should be done under the supervision of a physician.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I come from Kansas. I grew up in the tiny town next to Greensburg, Kansas, the town that got blown off the map last Friday night. No, I don’t know Dorothy… but I think my mother went to school with her. (Ha!) Since I live on the West Coast (as do my two sisters) and my mother is 92 years old and lives on her own in the house she grew up in, just a few miles from tornado touch-down spots, I was full of worry all weekend. The news cameras showed the town that was most damaged but there is much damage for hundreds of miles from the center of that town.

After talking with my wise ol’ mother all weekend, I am amazed at how much the health and fitness information I talk about every day for work has to do with getting through an emergency like a night of Kansas twisters [or California quakes, or Washington windstorms, or …]. Here’s what we discovered:

Eat right

Eat a balanced meal at appropriate times throughout each day. The Twister Lesson is that you just never know when a disaster or smaller emergency will occur and you will be required to live for hours or perhaps days on whatever the last meal you ate was. A “cola and candy bar” diet won’t fuel you well if the sky is falling and you need to pack up your family and “head out toward Dodge” (that’s the next town to the west of the recent storm center!)

Think back; what was the makeup of the meals you ate in the past 24 hours? Could you survive in a cross-country trek? If you had to hunker-down in the basement? Authorities say we should all have three ways to survive for three days without any help from others. Are you fueled from your past meals in a healthy way? Is your house, car and workplace stocked with food and water for you and your family to live on if you can’t go to the store again for days?

Exercise Regularly

Does your regular exercise routine make you as strong and flexible and capable of moving as you might need to be if there was a disaster about to strike? The Twister Lesson is that crawling out of the rubble or being able to walk across town to get to safety won’t be easy. Are your legs strong enough and do you have good walking shoes with you at work, in your car and when you travel? Are your arms strong enough to help you get to safety or to save other people? My tiny little mother was able to re-stock the basement’s storm room while navigating the 20 or so stairs several times each night. She even practiced slipping off the bed and crouching under it in case she heard the roar of a tornado above the siren. Are you ready for motions like that, in case of an emergency?

I guess I’m just lucky. I had parents that taught me how to be self-sufficient, eat a variety of healthy foods in moderation, and to be active. These life skills paid off for Mother again this weekend and she’s doing fine after the sleepless nights and worrisome days watching the sky and listening to a record breaking number of disaster sirens. She didn’t have to save her own life this time. But she was prepared and though kind of frail and on her own, she was sure she could do enough to be safe and that enabled her to not be afraid. The Twister Lesson for you would be Get Ready. You don’t know what the next day can bring. Health and fitness practices aren’t just for cosmetic purposes; they will extend your life and may save your life in the case of an emergency.

Be safe! Be strong! Stay fit and fueled!

Alice Lockridge, MS Phys Ed,
and as I’m known in St John: Madeleine McMillan’s middle daughter

As I read Alice’s blog yesterday, I was inspired by her Twister Lessons to write my own blog about really good reasons for taking care of ourselves — more reasons bigger than fitting into smaller-sized pants or feeling attractive at the high school reunion. Here are some lessons I’ve learned:

The Stroke Lesson

When my mother-in-law had a stroke at an early age, the damage to her brain was devastating. The lack of oxygen to her brain left her literally speechless and immobile. She had to relearn the alphabet, relearn how to use a spoon to feed herself, and she attended physical therapy for months to be able to speak and walk again. In our efforts to help and support her, we learned about brain injury and recovery.

We learned that, much like excellent strength and aerobic fitness helps Alice’s husband live well with diabetes (LINK), the more you do with your mind, the better equipped you are to recover from injuries. By keeping your brain active, you build neural pathways. If you suffer a brain injury like a stroke, you’ll probably recover better if you have already tried new and challenging activities, done puzzles, learned a new dance, or changed jobs.

The Torn Ligament Lesson

One of the very first times my husband and I left our baby with a babysitter was supposed to be a chance to celebrate. We traveled to a friend’s new house in the suburbs (that’s where houses are big enough to hold ping pong tables inside the house). So we dusted off our old ping pong skills and enjoyed a few rallies before, Pop! — my husband slipped and twisted the knee that had been bothering him for many months. The pop sound was the tearing of his ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament.

The good news is that, as a part-time bicycle commuter, his leg muscles were strong enough to prevent even more tearing. Those strong leg muscles also enabled him to hobble around until his surgery, where the surgeon discovered the ligament was so badly damaged that it was only his muscle tone that kept his knee from moving in very disturbing directions. After surgery, he was instructed to do strengthening and stretching exercises several times a day. These exercises take discipline and endurance. Having trained for sports and having done many challenging hikes, mountain bike rides and thrilling ski runs, my husband knew how to stick with the exercises and work for a goal.

With months of dedicated physical therapy, he recovered 100 percent of his strength and range-of-motion. It was hard work, but it would have been much, much harder if he wasn’t already in good shape and hadn’t before worked toward a challenging goal.

It’s not just to live longer that we take care of ourselves; it’s to feel better while we’re alive. With that, I’m off to clean some vegetables for tomorrow and have that hot cocoa.

Liz Diether-Martin,
Editor, The Good Mood Diet Web site

As you know from reading The Good Mood Diet and from this Web site, Dr. Kleiner strongly recommends incorporating fresh-ground flaxseed in your daily diet. The benefits of flaxseed go way past adding a nutty flavor and a bit of crunch. Says Dr. Kleiner:

Flax is a very good source of plant-based (EPA and DHA) omega-3 fats. And ground whole flax seeds contain an important fiber, lignin, that isn’t found abundantly in our diets. Flax is a good source of lignins. Lignins are known to contribute to gut health in a similar way as probiotics, the good bacteria found in yogurts. It stimulates the immune system of the gut, along with adding a healthy fiber for general gut health. (You won’t get that fiber from flax oil.)

Well now Dr. Kleiner has found a great article by Rosie Schwartz, a Toronto-based consulting dietitian. Fabulous flaxseed details the health benefits of ground flaxseed and gives good advice about buying and storing flaxseed and incorporating it into your diet. Among the benefits cited by the article: improvements in blood sugar and cholesterol levels, antioxidant properties, improved artery health, and protection against hormone-sensitive cancers.

Happy reading,
Liz Diether-Martin,
Editor, The Good Mood Diet Web site

Parents, let’s have a quick raise of hands; who has used the television to buy yourself some time to breathe, think, talk, cook or bathe? Certainly a large portion of us. My hand is up. My daughter and I used to cuddle up and “watch” Arthur shows. Honestly, I was taking delicious, delicious naps while she watched.

But here’s an alarming statistic: Forty percent of 3-month-old infants are regularly watching TV, DVDs or videos and that number jumps to 90 percent by age two, according to University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute researchers. Among those who watched TV, DVDs or videos, the average daily viewing time jumped from one hour per day for those children younger than 12 months to more than 1½ hours a day by 24 months.

The number of regular watchers jumps to an astounding 90 percent of 2-year-olds, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute.

“Exposure to TV takes time away from more developmentally appropriate activities such as a parent or adult caregiver and an infant engaging in free play with dolls, blocks or cars,” said Frederick Zimmerman, lead author of the study and a UW associate professor of health services. “While appropriate television viewing at the right age can be helpful for both children and parents, excessive viewing before age 3 has been shown to be associated with problems of attention control, aggressive behavior and poor cognitive development. Early television viewing has exploded in recent years, and is one of the major public health issues facing American children.”

“… We discovered that many parents believe that they are providing educational and brain development opportunities by exposing their babies to 10 to 20 hours of viewing per week,” said Andrew Meltzoff, co-director of the UW’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences and co-author of the study with Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrics researcher at Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute and a UW associate professor of medicine.

“But parents should feel confident that high-quality social interaction with babies, including reading and talking with them, provides all the stimulation that the growing brain needs. It’s not as though TV or a DVD provides an extra vitamin of some kind in the first two years of life, where we concentrated our research in this study,” continues Meltzoff.

The researchers conducted random telephone surveys of more than 1,000 families in Minnesota and Washington with a child born in the previous two years, and found the median age at which infants were regularly exposed to media was 9 months.

Even though educational content was the top reason given by parents, only about half the infant viewing time was reported to be in what researchers classified as a children’s educational category. This included educational TV programs such as “Sesame Street” and “Arthur” and DVDs or videos such as “Blue’s Clues.” The remaining viewing time was roughly split among children’s non-educational programs, baby DVDs or videos and grown-up television.

You can learn more about the study from Newswise and University of Washington News.

Also, our own Bob Condor wrote a column citing this and another study on kids and television: Living Well: Tune in to your children's TV habits.

Liz Diether-Martin,
Editor, The Good Mood Diet Web site

One of the biggest changes for most people who start The Good Mood Diet is the larger protein intake. It won’t take you long to notice the difference, starting with the egg at breakfast. I know that the little extra protein will make you feel more satisfied between meals, lift your mood, and feed your mind and your muscles while helping you burn fat. A new study has also shown us exactly that.

Researchers at Purdue University just published the results of their study that investigated the acute and chronic effects of meals and diets made up of 30% of calories as protein (just like The Good Mood Diet). They measured indicators of energy expenditure, macronutrient use, appetite, and appetite-regulating hormones during weight loss in women over a period of 9 weeks.

They found some great stuff. Not only did the higher protein diets eaten over time influence energy and protein metabolism in a positive way to enhance weight loss, but each individual higher protein meal had a unique influence on appetite suppression and satiety. This was shown through both self-report as well as altered hormone responses.

So you don’t have to wait 9 weeks to feel the difference. Make sure to include something with protein at every meal and snack. One meal is all it takes, so get started today!

You can read more about the study by Heather J. Leidy, Richard D. Mattes and Wayne W. Campbell at Effects of Acute and Chronic Protein Intake on Metabolism, Appetite, and Ghrelin During Weight Loss.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

As a child, my family had a tradition of taking pictures during the holidays. The Thanksgiving picture was at the turkey-topped table, Christmas was in front of the tree, etc. I don’t really know why but my baby book has a series of Easter Sunday pictures of my sisters and me standing in a line in front of the French doors in our living room. What those doors have to do with Easter or Spring or Sunday escapes me but all the Easter outfits were modeled and photographed right there.

This week, I came across and really noticed what must be the first in this series of photographs. I found a black and white picture of my Mother and Father that was taken in 1954 in front of the French doors in that exact same pose and at the same angle where they would soon begin to pose their children. What I notice is that they are thinner, look stronger and have better posture than most of the young people starting families that I work with today. Yes we, as a country, are getting heavier and unhealthier and this picture showed me the difference. My dad lived to be 94 and didn’t have heart disease or cancer. My mother is going strong at 92 and dressed up in a new Easter outfit last month.

My parents tried to teach me many things, some of them I forgot or completely ignored. But I’m really beginning to pay attention to their lessons on how to be able to grow really old and stay healthy. Their ability to be healthy into their 90s started way back when that first family Easter picture was taken. They purchased, prepared and made sure we ate simple foods, never anything fried (except chicken infrequently). They ate small portions, on what most people call “salad plates” for every meal except Sunday dinner. They drank water (brought in from the farm’s well). We only had soda pop on Sunday afternoons and we split a can two-ways. We almost never ate out because the only restaurants were a burger hut out at the highway and a coffee shop that closed at 4 p.m. We even walked home from school for lunch.

Just imagine, I never ate a slice of pizza until I was almost out of high school on a date with a guy who drove me to the next bigger town. So those days are long-gone but when we wonder why we’re not as healthy as we could be, we need to remember how things used to be and could be again in your home. Remember to start fresh and take advantage of the green season to…

Eat Right and Exercise Regularly!

Alice Lockridge

The topic of movement is Alice’s territory, but every once in a while I’ve got a burning desire to talk about it, too. And so, it seems, do the researchers and brainiacs at the Mayo Clinic.

Endocrinologist Dr. James Levine has been struggling with the ever-increasing weight of his patients and its impact on their short- and long-term health. With so many of us sitting all day at our desks doing what is required to put a roof over our heads, maintaining an active lifestyle is a goal very difficult to put into motion for the majority of Americans.

Why not think outside the box, or cubicle, as it may be? Voilà: the vertical workstation. A fully functional workstation attached vertically to a treadmill where you can not only walk to work, but walk AND work at the same time. Dr. Levine’s research has found that most people can function completely normally in their jobs while walking about 1 mile per hour.

According to Dr. Levine, “If obese individuals were to replace time spend sitting at the computer with walking computer time by 2 to 3 hours a day, and if other components of energy balance were constant, a weight loss of 20 to 30 kg a year could occur.” (That’s 44 to 66 pounds for us non-metric folks.)

Note Dr. Levine’s point of “if other components of energy balance were constant.” Translate that science-speak into “as long as you don’t eat more now that you’re getting a little exercise.”

This is such a great idea, being active at work. Now, if you or your company don’t have the $1,600 to shell out for the vertical work station, you can start with what I use while I sit at my computer planning programs to keep other people fit: sit on an exercise ball. I bounce, I stretch, I roll around, and truly, I don’t fall off. It keeps me from slouching because it’s so uncomfortable to sit that way on the ball. I work on my balance and my strengthening my abs, even while writing this blog. And it only costs a few dollars.

So whatever you do, even if it’s standing up and walking around your desk or the room every hour, get some activity at work. It’s a great change of pace.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

You can read more about Dr. Levine's vertical treadmill on CBC News: Standup desk that fits over treadmill lets workers walk while they work.

I am asked over and over about whether we should be choosing organically produced foods. My answers, whenever possible, are based on scientific evidence. An article titled Children Face Exposure to Pesticides in yesterday’s Washington Post again confirmed one of the most scientifically sound reasons for going organic: the contamination of the environments around the homes and schools of children living near orchards and farmland.

Here in Washington State, as well as in California and Oregon, migrant farm workers’ dwellings often abut the orchards and fields where crops are grown. Schools are typically very close by. When chemicals are sprayed on crops and trees there is a wafting of the spray beyond the edges of the fields and orchards into the playgrounds and yards nearby. Studies have shown high levels of pesticide contaminants and metabolites in the blood and urine of children living near these fields, and higher than normal rates of cancer and other illnesses within the surrounding communities.

So even if the science is not there to tell us without a doubt that eating organic foods is better for our health, there appears to be no doubt that eliminating the application of chemicals to our crops and orchards will improve the lives and health of the families who live near and work in the fields.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Earlier this week, Dr. Kleiner wrote about a study that shows that, hey, if overweight workers were to use a vertical workstation – basically slow-walking at one mile per hour on a treadmill fitted over a desk – those workers would lose up to 66 pounds in a year. I found the study and the vertical workstation intriguing as well.

The calories burned were determined by measuring exhaled breath rather than putting the 15 study volunteers on scales. The researchers then extrapolated the numbers to figure out calories burned. Even at 1 mph, the vertical worker is burning about 100 calories more than sitting down. The Mayo Clinic inventors of "treadmill-desk," James Levine and Jennifer Miller, were co-authors of the study. They report that the desk would sell for $1,600.

OK, in theory, it's a much better idea than most every infomercial machine I can think of. But you might want to start by investing in a pedometer. A pedometer, which costs $25 and up for a good one, will also encourage you to take more steps. First, because you simply become aware of how many steps you get on typical days. Second, because once you realize that a goal of 10,000 steps will help you drop weight if needed – especially those last five to 10 pounds – you will be looking for ways to boost your daily totals.

Try this resource for pedometers that meet the Good Mood Diet seal of approval: Exercise Express.

Chapter 6 in The Good Mood Diet lays out the research from University of Tennessee and American College of Sports Medicine that makes the case for striving to hit 10,000 steps most days of your year. You will not only lose pounds if desired but also significantly reduce body fat percentage. And, of course, those steps will improve your mental clarity and mood too.

Once those vertical workstations come down in price, I might be looking for one myself. In the meantime, consider using a therapy ball as your desk chair rather than a conventional seat. You will burn some added calories (though not the full 100 at the vertical workstation) and improve your muscle tone and overall balance. Plus, when it's time for a work break, your exercise equipment is right there on hand!

Bob Condor

• Fluids should be cool.


• For moderate exercise that lasts an hour or less, water is sufficient for replacing lost fluids. If you like flavored drinks better, then use flavored beverages.


• For intense exercise that lasts less than 1 hour and exercise lasting more than an hour, carbohydrate-electrolyte sport drinks are best.


• Drink 2 cups of fluid 2 hours before exercise.


• Drink 4-6 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise.


• After exercise, drink 20-24 ounces (2½-3 cups) of fluid for every pound of body weight lost during exercise.

Experts say you need to do at least 10 strength-building exercises to keep your muscles firm, toned and strong.

• Find 10 strengthening exercises that use different muscle groups (major ones that move big body parts).


• Do the exercises against some kind of resistance that makes it hard to repeat 10 times.


• Do the set of 10 exercises at least twice a week.


• Use a slightly harder resistance once it becomes easy to repeat an exercise 10 times.

Get started with a simple routine that is easy to remember. Later you can do slight variations on the basic routine and avoid boredom. My favorite top 12 exercises for the general public with no special needs are:

1. Stand-ups and sit-downs (also known as "squats")


2. Pull downs, chin-ups, or high pulley pulls


3. Shoulder press


4. Step-ups (about 8 inche steps)


5. Seated rows


6. Chest press (also known as "bench press")


7. Curls-ups on the ball


8. Lateral curl-ups on the ball


9. Biceps flexions


10. Triceps extensions


11. Lateral rises


12. External rotation of hips

Eat right and Exercise regularly,
Alice Lockridge, MS Phys Ed

If you haven’t picked up The Good Mood Diet yet, then you don’t know that I don’t expect you to be perfect, nor do I expect you to follow the diet plan perfectly. While some people may start the program and follow it exactly, others are more comfortable trying a few things, or maybe even one thing for a week or two, and then adding bits and pieces over time.

For instance, one of my favorite foods on the plan is the hot cocoa at night (the microwave recipe is in the book). I know that some people start just with that. Then after a week they might find that they’re sleeping better, and waking well rested. And now they’re hungry in the morning, and have the time to eat breakfast, so that gets added next. In a week or so you might find that you really feel like having some activity, so then you add the smoothie or another snack after exercise. And so on. Before you know it, you’re following the whole plan. Now you have a baseline of how great you can feel.

At some point in the future, life intervenes, and you might find some things dropping out of your daily menu. In short order you will notice that you don’t feel as great as usual, and you won’t like it. But you’ll know exactly what to do it about it: return to The Good Mood Diet.

The good news here is that this is the last diet you’ll ever have to follow. It’s a plan for a lifetime; what you’ll follow and return to during the good times, the easy times, and even more importantly during and after the hard times. Each time you eat what you need to eat you’ll feel better than you did before. What’s more, you really can feel great while you lose weight!

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I received a lovely e-mail last week from a woman who has been following The Good Mood Diet. Along with a number of other things, she mentioned that since following the plan she has realized that what she used to think of as a single portion, or serving, of nuts, was really three servings. Now that she’s on the plan she has adjusted her portion sizes, and she is doing well in both mind and body.

The misconception of portion sizes is widespread, and most dietitians report that their patients or clients are eating more than they think they are. If you base your idea of a portion size on what is served to you at a restaurant, then your concept is much larger than what I call a portion size in The Good Mood Diet book.

So in case you’re struggling with what you think is a very large volume of food on the plan, check the serving sizes in Appendix A at the back of the book. And when you are eating away from home, pay attention to the amount of food on your plate. Sharing dishes can be a great way to control how much you eat and spare your wallet at the same time.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

The daily hot cocoa is good for your heart in more ways than one.

We’ve been hearing about how the polyphenols in natural cocoa powder may help lower blood pressure for several years, but an article was just published showing that cocoa powder may help lower bad cholesterol and elevate good cholesterol. That’s really good news.

A study conducted in Tokyo, Japan investigated the influence of natural cocoa powder on the blood cholesterol profiles of 160 subjects who had either normal or high cholesterol profiles. The subjects gave baseline blood levels, drank a cocoa beverage for 4 weeks, and then were tested again. All subjects showed improvements in their cholesterol profiles, but those subjects with high cholesterol levels showed marked improvements. This was especially significant in lowering the bad cholesterol (LDL) and raising the good cholesterol (HDL).

Few things will help raise HDL. Here’s the list that we know of today (other than medications):

• Stop smoking


• Do aerobic exercise


• Lose weight


• Cut out trans fats from your diet


• Increase the monounsaturated fats in your diet, those from nuts, seeds, nut and seed butters, olives, olive oil, avocados.


• Add soluble fiber to your diet, those from oats, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

Cocoa powder can now be added to this list. Yum!

Yours in a Really Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

I don’t know about you, but long holiday weekends at my house often means lots of time to cook fun foods that I don’t otherwise have time to prepare. Sometimes it’s for entertaining others, sometimes it’s just for us. That usually means lots of leftovers. If your food has been served family style, whether inside the house or outside for a picnic, leftover foods run the risk of bacterial contamination.

There has been a general misconception that re-heating foods in a microwave is a guarantee against food-borne illness. But this is not correct. Microwaves do not heat foods from the inside out, as commonly believed. They cook from the outside in. If you don’t rotate foods, stir, or check for internal temperature, then cold spots are left where bacteria can survive.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed leftover roast pork from a picnic that was reheated in a microwave was the culprit of a salmonella outbreak in 10 of 30 people attending the picnic. The same pork reheated in a skillet or conventional oven caused no problems for the other 20 people who were at the picnic. The same kind of data has been shown in other studies of food-borne illness outbreaks, finding that foods reheated in a microwave were not heated thoroughly enough to kill the bacteria.

When reheating foods, make sure they are thoroughly heated evenly regardless of the method that you use to reheat them. If you use a microwave, rotate, stir, or check for internal temperature to ensure food safety.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Last week I listed my top 12 favorite exercises for building strength. This week I'm letting you know that you don’t need expensive equipment for strength-building. All you need is some way to make your exercises harder when moving against some sort of resistance. You will probably need a different resistance tool for each exercise. The goal is to find a level of resistance that makes each exercise hard to repeat 10 times.

Here are my favorite tools, some purchased, others found around the house or work:

• Jumbo Rubber Bands


• Bunge cord style rubber bands


• Surgical tubing rubber straps


• hand-held weights


• large cans of food


• milk or fruit juice jugs (screw on lid tightly)


• bricks


• Books with straps around them


• Socks filled with rocks (tied at the opening)

Strong muscles are metabolically hungrier (so they burn more calories even during rest peroids) than weak, soft muscles. By making your body strong, you can eat more food without having to worry about it being stored as fat. Hungry muscles are the only thing that burns your body fat and having stronger muscles make them hungrier even when you are resting. The goal is to get stronger so you can metabolize every bit of the food you eat.

Eat Right and Exercise Regularly!
Alice Lockridge, MS Phys Ed

Let’s get this out of the way right up front. Is the barbecue putting your health in danger? It might be. Does that mean you should trade in your grill for a stew pot? Not yet.

For years nutritionists have been watching the research about the chemical changes that happen in foods when protein and fat are cooked at very high temperatures. Recent reports point to the production of a new class of toxins, advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), which develop during cooking and accelerate aging and serious chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. While it sounds like a barbecued burger could do you in as surely as a smoking habit, the comparison isn’t even close. When it comes to grilling, broiling and even oven frying, moderation and variety are the keys to good food and good health.

AGEs are triggers of reactive oxygen species. A high production of reactive oxygen species plays a significant role in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, renal disease, and diabetes. They also stimulate the inflammatory response and the systemic immune response that has been linked to instigation of arterial plaques in the development of cardiovascular disease, and they are often elevated in diabetic subjects. AGEs may be associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. While AGEs are produced as a normal part of metabolism, they have also been identified in food, especially in foods with significant protein and fat content that have been processed using high heat, such as grilling, roasting and broiling.

If you are already following the recommendations for The Good Mood Diet you are automatically selecting foods that are generally lower in AGEs. A diet low in processed foods and abundant in fruits and vegetables, with several daily servings of dairy, including eggs, fish, poultry and vegetable proteins as your major protein sources is going to be low on the AGE scale.

How you prepare your foods on a regular basis is also important. According to Karen Friedman-Kester, MS, RD, LDN, a faculty member in the Culinary Arts Program at Harrisburg Area Community College and our Good Mood Diet expert chef, poaching fish and braising meats, along with stewing and microwaving, are the cooking techniques that produce the fewest AGEs. Stir-frying would likely follow next on the list. “Braising is a form of poaching for meat,” says Friedman-Kester. “Sear it lightly and then add liquid and simmer to break down the tough connective tissue of the meat.” Meats that work best for braising include sliced turkey, veal, pork and low fat meats that can’t be tenderized with dry heat.

It’s probably clear by now that the key to a diet low in AGEs is to include the great variety of foods naturally low in AGEs, and to include smaller amounts of foods that are high in AGEs, using high heat cooking methods like grilling and broiling on an occasional basis.

It’s what you do day in and day out that matters. So if you live in the sunbelt (or not) and use your grill every day, it’s probably prudent to get out of the sun and use your indoor stovetop and oven more regularly. When you do grill or broil, stick with fish and vegetables most of the time. But when it comes to opening day at the ballpark, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day holidays, a burger or steak on the grill can still be part of the celebration.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner

Forty years after Twiggy became the first supermodel and the idol for millions of teenage girls of the sixties revolution, the fashion industry has gone retro. And yet, the sylph-like physique of Twiggy looks like the picture of health compared to the emaciated skin and bones bodies of today’s runway models. While the models appear morbidly thin in real life, in fashion photographs their flaws and sick-looking skeletal angularities are hidden or brushed-away through the magic of computer-enhanced technology creating an image of beauty, rather than of illness.

The concern? That today, as in the 1960’s, these models represent an idealized image of beauty. Different than in the 1960’s however, this more extreme yet perverted, air-brushed image of glamour may indeed impact the physical and emotional well-being of a generation of girls and young women worldwide.

While a tiny minority of youth will develop diagnosable eating disorders, it is likely that as many as 20% to 30% of adolescent girls engage in unhealthful dieting behaviors. According to the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Over 59% of female and 29% of male adolescents in grades 9 to 12 were trying to lose weight during the 30 days preceding the survey.


• Over 18% of girls and 8% of boys had gone without eating for 24 hours or more to lose weight.


• Many had also used diet pills, vomited or taken laxatives to lose weight in the past 30 days. *

Though the desire to lose weight to be thin rather than overweight may seem admirable, several studies have observed a strong association with dieting and being overweight. Dieting during adolescence often includes food restriction and denial of hunger cues. These types of behaviors have been associated with overeating in adolescents. Researchers suggest that restriction may give rise to binge eating. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2004 showed that overweight students ate an average of only two meals a day, while normal-weight students ate three or more meals per day. Other researchers have reported that dieting and radical weight-loss efforts predicted greater subsequent weight gain and increase the risk for obesity later in life. *

Even athletes are not immune to the impact of dieting on life-long body weight maintenance. Athletes participating in sports that require weight-related performance classes often are subject to weight cycling behaviors (boxers, weight lifters, wrestlers). Saarni and colleagues in Finland have recently shown that male athletes who participated in repeated cycles of weight loss and regain during their youth had a greater risk of weight gain and predisposition to obesity compared to a matched group of men with no athletic background. The researchers conclude that “Chronic dieting with weight cycling may be harmful for permanent weight control.” **

Sources:
* Spear BA. Does dieting increase the risk for obesity and eating disorders? J Am Dietet Assoc 2006;106(4);523.

** Saarni SE, et al. Weight cycling of athletes and subsequent weight gain in middleage. Internat J Obesity 2006;30:1639.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner