ION® Nutrition

Is a new Georgia law going to make it easier for kids to lose weight or harder that they have to? That is one of the many questions that will be bounced around thanks to a piece of recently passed legislation that calls for Georgia elementary school children to be weighed and measured twice a year by school officials.

The legislation requires schools to track kids’ body mass index, a combination of height and weight used to determine whether the child is healthy. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Carter (R-Tifton) requires that schools post the aggregate BMI information on their Web sites and follow state regulations on offering physical education classes.

Carter said the bill would work much like test scores, with schools reporting their data so parents could check out how they measure up to other area schools. Children would be weighed in a confidential office setting and their personal data would not become public.

Arkansas was the first state to implement such a rule, in 2003. The bill, which mirrors legislation in several other states, passed 37 to 13 after a heated debate.

Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome) said “the long arm of the government� should stop reaching into peoples’ private lives. He said worries that schools’ will pressure children to lose weight and stigmatize them, mimicking what he worried school officials would say: “Come on, pick it up fat kid, we’re not going to get money if you don’t!��

It’s not the first time lawmakers have tried to take up childhood obesity. Carter introduced a bill in 2006 that would have required more PE for Georgia elementary and middle schoolers, but the measure failed.

The topic of steroids continues to be a main topic of discussion Capitol Hill. While statistics show that use of steroids among high school athletics is decreasing, the executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations says they remain a serious health threat to every young athlete in America. Following is a look at his presentation before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee.

Bob Kanaby, executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), speaking before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on February 27, said that steroid use not only threatens the integrity of sport, but even more disturbing are the health risks to young adults.

Kanaby was among the leaders of all high school, Olympic, college and professional sports organizations who spoke at the hearing entitled “Drugs in Sports: Compromising the Health of Athletes and Undermining the Integrity of Competition.� The hearing was called by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer
Protection to explore findings of performance-enhancing drug use among athletes at all levels of competition.

Kanaby shared the organization’s structure and purpose with the U.S. House subcommittee, noting that the NFHS is composed of the 50 state high school associations plus the District of Columbia. He said the NFHS strives to increase participation levels in high school sports, which has occurred for 18 consecutive years; minimize the risks of participation in sports through the publishing of playing rules in 17 sports; and protects and promotes these sport experiences as learning tools for young people to prepare for life.

Following is the remainder of Kanaby’s testimony before the U.S. House subcommittee:

“According to studies, more than one million young people in the United States have used steroids at least once in their lifetime. Other studies indicate over one-third of high school steroid users do not participate in interscholastic sports. The most recent data released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in December 2007 reveals a steady decrease in the use of steroids by eighth, 10th and 12th graders since
2004.

“This statistical improvement is hopefully one indication of a growing awareness among student-athletes of the dangerous consequences of steroid use. Such awareness may be attributed in part to the NFHS’ enhanced educational outreach efforts that commenced in 2005 through an initiative titled “Make the Right Choice.�

The program offers brochures, DVDs and posters for state athletic associations to distribute among their member schools. Separate resources are also available for coaches/athletes and parents.

“Coaches are another segment of the high school community that should be well-informed on the risks associated with performance-enhancing drugs. The NFHS’ Coaches Education Program has rapidly expanded in recent years, and 40 state associations have either adopted or endorsed it. The cornerstone of the initiative is to educate coaches on emphasizing ‘teachable moments’ that arise in the course of interscholastic competition. One ‘teachable moment’ addresses steroid use, education and prevention; the module includes a discussion between a football coach and student-athlete on the use of steroids.

“State athletic associations are sovereign entities; they are not subject to the control of the NFHS, and they make their own decisions about steroid testing. In January 2008, the Texas University Interscholastic League announced a two-year program with the National Center for Drug Free Sport, which also conducts testing for the NCAA and two other state associations. Prompted by a $3 million/year appropriation from the state legislature, the random tests are projected to affect between 40,000 to 50,000 student-athletes by the conclusion of the 2009-10 school year.

“Two other state athletic associations, Florida and New Jersey, have already established testing programs, and both entities also utilize the services of the aforementioned National Center for Drug Free Sport. New Jersey pioneered the testing of high school athletes in 2006-07, targeting five percent of its state championship competitors.

Although only one of 500 participants tested produced a positive sample, the association has praised the deterrent effects of the program.

Florida’s policy is ‘random’ at the individual level, but targets athletes in the sports of football, baseball and weightlifting. “The Illinois High School Association is the most recent state to adopt steroid testing procedures. In January, its Board of Directors approved a plan effective for the 2008-09 academic year, and similar to New Jersey, testing will be conducted on participants in state finals competitions. A number of other state associations address steroid use without a comprehensive testing plan.

For example, Connecticut adopted a regulation that denies athletic eligibility to student-athletes if their respective local school districts discover steroid use. Many other associations, such as the Iowa High School Athletic Association and Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, distribute educational resources through their Web sites for parents, coaches and students, and many of these materials are provided by the NFHS.

“As previously mentioned, the NFHS has no authority to demand that state associations implement steroid testing policies. Absent a federally mandated and funded program or some other plan, economic pressures will keep many states from adopting testing programs. The consequences of “false positives� are so severe that only the highest quality testing programs are acceptable. Such programs are very expensive.

Conclusion

“For the aforementioned reasons and as educators, we urge that any help from Congress should be focused on a twofold strategy. The first would be to support the deterrent that random testing provides. The second, and very critical companion, is a strong educational outreach designed to support the deterrent with accurate and effective educational initiatives.
“There is much to do on a proactive basis. We can assist with both initiatives and stand ready to cooperate as best we can – with Congress, the professional sports represented here today. Thank you for inviting me.�

Other sports leaders who addressed the U.S. House subcommittee were Bud Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball; David Stern, commissioner of the National Basketball Association; Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League; Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League; Jim Scherr, chief executive officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee; Donald Fehr, head of the Major League Baseball players union; Paul Kelly, leader of the hockey players association; Gene Upshaw, head of the football players union; Billy Hunter, head of the basketball players association; Myles Brand, president of the NCAA; Travis Tygart of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency; and Alexander Waldrop, chief executive officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

The panel is considering introducing legislation that would force anti-doping measures on all sports in the United States.

“It’s going to take us a few months to come up with a bipartisan piece of legislation,� said Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illinois), the chairman of the subcommittee. “The contours of the legislation have not been in any way shaped at this time. Not even in a broad sense. The goal is to ultimately have a national standard, as it relates to HGH and also anabolic steroids.�

This is an interesting story about how even thin people run the risk of having excess weight around their internal organs. The story is worth the read.

Thin people might be fat on the inside
Internal fat around organs can increase diabetes and heart risks

If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.

Some doctors now think that the internal fat surrounding vital organs like the heart, liver or pancreas — invisible to the naked eye — could be as dangerous as the more obvious external fat that bulges underneath the skin.

“Being thin doesn’t automatically mean you’re not fat,� said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps� showing where people store fat.

According to the data, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim. “The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined,� said Bell, whose research is funded by Britain’s Medical Research Council.

Without a clear warning signal — like a rounder middle — doctors worry that thin people may be lulled into falsely assuming that because they’re not overweight, they’re healthy.

“Just because someone is lean doesn’t make them immune to diabetes or other risk factors for heart disease,� said Dr. Louis Teichholz, chief of cardiology at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, who was not involved in Bell’s research.

Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores — a standard obesity measure that divides your weight by the square of your height — can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside.

Of the women scanned by Bell and his colleagues, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had excessive levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.

Relating the news to what Bell calls “TOFIs� ¬– people who are “thin outside, fat inside� – is rarely uneventful. “The thinner people are, the bigger the surprise,� he said, adding the researchers even found TOFIs among people who are professional models.

According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are essentially on the threshold of being obese. They eat too many fatty, sugary foods – and exercise too little to work it off – but they are not eating enough to actually be fat. Scientists believe we naturally accumulate fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.

Still, most experts believe that being of normal weight is an indicator of good health, and that BMI is a reliable measurement.

“BMI won’t give you the exact indication of where fat is, but it’s a useful clinical tool,� said Dr. Toni Steer, a nutritionist at Britain’s Medical Research Council.

Unhealthy skinny people
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some suspect it contributes to the risk of heart disease and diabetes. They theorize that internal fat disrupts the body’s communication systems. The fat enveloping internal organs might be sending the body mistaken chemical signals to store fat inside organs like the liver or pancreas. This could ultimately lead to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, or heart disease.

Experts have long known that fat, active people can be healthier than their skinny, inactive counterparts. “Normal-weight persons who are sedentary and unfit are at much higher risk for mortality than obese persons who are active and fit,� said Dr. Steven Blair, an obesity expert at the University of South Carolina.

For example, despite their ripples of fat, super-sized Sumo wrestlers probably have a better metabolic profile than some of their slim, sedentary spectators, Bell said. That’s because the wrestlers’ fat is primarily stored under the skin, not streaking throughout their vital organs and muscles.

The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “Even if you don’t see it on your bathroom scale, caloric restriction and physical exercise have an aggressive effect on visceral fat,� said Dr. Bob Ross, an obesity expert at Queen’s University in Canada.

Because many factors contribute to heart disease, Teichholz says it’s difficult to determine the precise danger of internal fat — though it certainly doesn’t help.

“Obesity is a risk factor, but it’s lower down on the totem pole of risk factors,� he said, explaining that whether or not people smoke, their family histories and blood pressure and cholesterol rates are more important determinants than both external and internal fat.

When it comes to being fit, experts say there is no shortcut. “If you just want to look thin, then maybe dieting is enough,� Bell said. “But if you want to actually be healthy, then exercise has to be an important component of your lifestyle.�

A recent study on exercise relating to overweight people shows that they are just not getting the results they want. But researchers say they shouldn’t be discouraged.

In fact, a group of exercisers showed that many have added some muscle. Researchers tested 687 adults aged 18 to 39, measuring their body fat and using magnetic resonance imaging to look at their muscles and fat. The volunteers did 12 weeks of 45- to 60-minute workouts of their upper arms, working the biceps and triceps.

Everyone gained strength and muscle. But the overweight and obese volunteers gained 4 percent to 17 percent less than those of normal weight. But researchers said the differences could be genetic.

The story is worth a read.


Overweight people get less out of exercise
Study: Obese develop less strength, muscle in workouts than lean people

Overweight and obese people get less out of resistance training than leaner people do, researchers said in a study that suggests the overweight may have to try harder to get results.

But it does not mean they should give up, said the researchers, who noted the differences were small.

“People who are overweight and obese experience numerous health benefits from exercise training programs even in the absence of significant amounts of weight loss or improvements in cardiopulmonary physical fitness,� Linda Pescatello of the University of Connecticut and colleagues wrote in their report, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

They tested 687 adults aged 18 to 39, measuring their body fat and using magnetic resonance imaging to look at their muscles and fat.

The volunteers did 12 weeks of 45- to 60-minute workouts of their upper arms, working the biceps and triceps.

Everyone gained strength and muscle. But the overweight and obese volunteers gained 4 percent to 17 percent less than those of normal weight. The differences could be genetic, the researchers said.

“People with overweight and obesity have alterations in skeletal muscle structure and function compared to those who are normal weight that could also contribute to variability in the exercise response,� they wrote.

Supplements no help
In a second study in the same journal, Jacob Baty and colleagues at the University of Texas found that carbohydrate and protein supplements prior to and during exercise did not help people exercise more efficiently.

But their 34 male volunteers who drank a high-protein, high-carbohydrate supplement did show less muscle damage, Baty’s team reported.

“By consuming a carbohydrate-protein supplement similar to the one used in our study at a similar schedule during exercise, athletes can significantly reduce the amount of muscle damage produced in a given resistance exercise bout,� the researchers said.

That could mean competitive athletes might reduce the time they must rest between workouts, they added.

Dan Marino and friends swear by theirs. Oprah swears by hers. It seems like more Americans are doing the diet thing to shed pounds. But are all these diets working?

Check out this story to see where your weight loss regimen fits in.

Most diets work about the same
People lost 10-15 pounds on programs, weight loss drugs and gained it back

Looking for that perfect diet? Researchers have bad news — all diets have just about the same result, and none of them are great, U.S. researchers reported.

A typical diet helps people lose an average of 6 percent of their weight, typically 10 to 15 pounds, and most people put it all back on after five years.

Weight loss drugs are similarly ineffective in the long run, said Dr. Michael Dansinger of the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.

“It’s disappointing but I am optimistic that we can do better in the future. We are learning some of the factors that improve the effectiveness (of diets),” said Dansinger, whose study is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The news is bad for those who hoped a gentler approach to dieting might be more effective over the long-term. Programs that made people eat fewer calories worked better, as did those that involved more frequent visits to either diet groups or to a counselor’s office.

But there is good news — even a small, temporary weight loss can benefit health, Dansinger said.

“A modest weight loss of six percent that is partially maintained for five years is likely to have important health benefits such as delaying the onset of diabetes,” he said in a telephone interview.

Dansinger and colleagues looked at the results of 46 trials that included nearly 12,000 people.

About half were on diets. Dansinger said it was difficult to find good studies that included a control group not on a diet. It was also hard to find studies that followed people for more than three years.

The only commercial program included in the study was Weight Watchers. Most were government or university-sponsored programs.

No studies that included food or shakes were included because they did not include a non-dieting group for comparison.

“The results we found, 6 percent weight loss after one year, is in the same ballpark as most of the studies of weight loss, including studies of weight loss medications,” Dansinger said.

“We also found the weight loss gradually goes away so that about half the weight loss was gone within three years and almost all the weight loss was gone within five years. That that is also similar to what has been found with weight loss medications.”

Dansinger said some of the studies included exercise, but his analysis was not designed to tell whether exercise helped weight loss last longer.

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, with a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis and cancer.

Here’s a nice little refresher course on the importance of making sure your child eats the right foods at the right time during athletic events. The story is worth the read.

How to feed and fuel young athletes
Timing, size and type of meals matter — so do fluids

By Karen Collins, R.D.

Parents typically love the attention to fitness that stems from their children playing sports, but they’re often uncertain about the best way to provide fuel and fluid for their young athletes.

Special care is probably not needed to fuel preschoolers for sports events. In preschool “sports� events, children typically run around as much as they would in their unorganized play.

After a few years, though, youths may need more attention. Too much food in the stomach during sports activity is uncomfortable, but some food is needed to fuel muscles for peak performance and to prevent fatigue and light-headedness from low blood sugar. Meeting fluid needs, especially during hot weather, is a concern for athletes of all ages.

Sports nutrition experts recommend eating from two to three hours before competition. For Saturday morning sports, that means getting up early enough to eat two hours ahead of the activity. For events in the early to mid-afternoon, breakfast and lunch are important. And for late-afternoon sports, add a light afternoon snack as well. Fuel for evening sports means all of these meals plus an early light supper.

Choose foods that can be easily digested, such as complex carbohydrates. (Oily, greasy foods can take more than two to three hours to digest.) Good choices include bread, pasta, cereal, bagels and pancakes. You might also include juice or a fruit such as applesauce or a banana. Provide a modest amount of low-fat protein in pre-game meals, too. Good choices include fat free or low-fat milk or yogurt, one egg or chicken (plain or in a sandwich with little mayonnaise or added fat, as opposed to high-fat chicken nuggets).

Stay hydrated
An equally important part of before-sports nutrition is drinking enough fluid. Dehydration is uncomfortable, hurts performance and, at extremes, can be dangerous. Pre-game meals should include one or two cups of water. From 20 to 30 minutes before the activity, youths should drink one to two cups of a cool drink to arrive fully hydrated. Outside of sports time, the preferred beverage to relieve and prevent thirst is water. Avoid soda, juice and fruit drinks right before the event; their sugar content can cause stomach cramps and nausea during strenuous exercise.

During sports time, recommended beverages for adults and children may differ. Research suggests that part of the increased problem with overweight in adults and children is our consumption of calorie-containing drinks. During sports for adults, water is usually the recommended beverage, except for events lasting longer than an hour or intense “start and stop� sports such as hockey or basketball.

But some sports nutritionists point to studies showing that children drink more when given flavored, lightly sweetened “sports drinks� than when given water. Because of concerns that youths can develop dehydration and high body temperature more quickly than adults, the nutritionists suggest youths drink sports drinks during and just before sports. These drinks contain about 6 percent sugar (about 14 grams) in 8 ounces; soft drinks and juices contain more than 10 percent sugar (about 25 grams) per eight ounces. Avoid “energy drinks,� which are loaded with sugar and caffeine (a diuretic).

Some parents find it helpful to mark lines on kids’ drink bottles as a guide to help them drink enough throughout the game or practice. About 5 to 9 ounces (depending on age and size) every 15 to 20 minutes is recommended. Studies show that our bodies are not good at sensing how much fluid we need and we can easily “voluntarily dehydrate� by not drinking enough even when more fluid is available.

Some professionals recommend you could try weighing your child before and after a sports event. Weight lost in such a short time is fluid loss, and your child can rehydrate by drinking one cup of fluid for every half-pound lost. Weighing also helps you learn how much fluid is needed for your youth to stay hydrated.

Anytime a story leads with germs hiding in your nose – germs that can basically kill you, you have to pass it along. Check out this story by Boston Globe writer Stephen Smith and know that science is on your side. ~~ Michael Pallerino

Germ busters

As antibiotics lose their punch, researchers use old idea and cutting-edge science to control bacteria

By Stephen Smith

At this very moment, there’s a good chance that germs capable of killing you are hiding out in your nose. They sound like characters straight out of some apocalyptic opera: Streptococcus pneumoniae , Staphylococcus aureus .

Most of the time, they’re just along for the ride, causing no real harm. But under the right circumstances — say, for example, when you’re sick with the flu — they can spawn life-threatening illnesses, everything from pneumonia and meningitis to bouts of flesh-eating bacteria.

There isn’t much that doctors and patients can do about those germs until after they turn dangerous. And even then, the best weapons in the medicine cabinet, antibiotics, aren’t what they once were.

So now, scientists led by Rockefeller University researcher Vincent
Fischetti are developing a way to eliminate lurking bacteria before they can do harm. The approach is one part medical history, one part cutting-edge science.

Nearly 100 years ago, scientists began exploring whether viruses called phages could be used to combat bacterial infections. Researchers knew that in nature, phages had the power to thwart bacteria, so, they figured, maybe phages could work in people, too. But with the discovery of antibiotics, phage research in the United States was put in the drawer labeled, “Good idea, never went anywhere.”

Now, Fischetti has resurrected the idea of harnessing nature’s own ability to keep bacteria in check — but with a twist. If his strategy works, it could have implications for everything from reducing earaches in children to limiting deaths in a global flu epidemic. And it could involve something as simple as a squirt up the nose or a gargle in the throat.

Fischetti, who established a biomedical company to further his research, doesn’t use the whole phage. Instead, he makes copies of one component, an enzyme, that jabs a hole in the wall of a bacterium, whose harmless contents spew out like champagne from a bottle. It’s a lot like using a pin to pop a water balloon.

Unlike antibiotics, which often destroy a broad spectrum of bacteria — killing the good with the bad — phage enzymes are much more selective, with each targeting a specific strain of bacterium.

“And they’re completely harmless to humans,” said Ry Young , a Texas A&M University biologist who studies phages. “They only attack bacteria. You could argue that bacterial phage are our best friend: The enemy of our enemy is our friend.”

Researchers familiar with phages and with Fischetti’s work said it’s conceivable that bacteria could become resistant to the viral components, but several said it was unlikely, in part because phages and bacteria have been engaged in a microscopic tango for 4 billion years.

Still, those scientists do have concerns. For example: If nasty germs are blasted out of our noses and throats, will they be replaced by something even worse?

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” said Dr. Paul Sullam , an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California at San Francisco. “If you displace one group of organisms, another one comes along. They could be benign or they could be more virulent. You just don’t know.

“The bugs bat last.”

Even so, researchers said, the threat from antibiotic-resistant bacteria is so insidious that alternative control methods such as Fischetti’s must be explored.

“This is not a far-fetched approach,” Sullam said. “There’s something evocative about this because of the history of bacteria and phages and images of the pre- antibiotic era. This has definite promise.”

To understand the promise, it’s important to appreciate the peril.

Researchers have long recognized that all kinds of bacteria coat the inside and outside of humans, our skin, our hair, our intestines. They’re there in the millions. Scientists estimate that 40 percent to 50 percent of people, for example, harbor bacteria in their noses that can cause pneumonia and other serious infections.

But those bacteria don’t stay there.

“We sneeze, we cough, we kiss, we make love — all these things exchange saliva one person to the next, and bugs are taking advantage of that,” Fischetti said. “If we cut off all of our saliva transmission from individual to individual, these bugs would go away, they couldn’t survive.

“But that’s not going to happen.”

The potentially dangerous germs become troublemakers only when something else goes wrong.

Disease trackers know , for example, that it’s not so much the flu virus that kills people as it is complications that ensue — especially pneumonia. That was the case in 1918, when a flu epidemic swept the globe, said Keith Klugman , an infectious disease specialist at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health .

There’s something about having the flu that, in turn, makes patients susceptible to those germs in the nose. And once they get into the blood and into major organs, they can create havoc.

When antibiotics emerged more than six decades ago, doctors figured the war with bacteria had been won.

“But it turns out that we need to think beyond your routine antibiotic treatments,” said Dr. John Powers , an infectious disease specialist at George Washington University School of Medicine. “Because the bacteria have been around millions of years and they’re way smarter than us.”

Bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics faster than new antibiotics can be developed.

That’s where Fischetti’s phage enzymes come in.

In two studies published in research journals in recent months, Fischetti reported on experiments that dramatically reduced two dangerous types of bacteria from mice.

In one, a phage enzyme was used to wipe out Group B streptococcus, a bacterium common in the birth canal of mothers and responsible for meningitis and other infections in newborns. In the other, mice that got a phage enzyme that targets Streptococcus pneumoniae were much less likely to develop ear infections than mice who weren’t exposed to the phage enzyme.

So far, Fischetti’s research has been limited to mice. Fischetti said he intends to meet with federal drug regulators this summer to discuss his phage research and predicts that human trials could start within two years.

Drugs that are used to prevent disease, as opposed to treating illnesses, are held to especially rigorous safety standards. While side effects might be tolerated if a pill is treating a severe illness, they’re much less acceptable in an agent that’s designed to prevent an ailment.

Fischetti said he envisions a time when seniors in nursing homes or children in day-care centers would routinely receive a spray of phage enzymes to wipe out bacteria in their noses.

“We have nothing at this point to control these diseases. Zero,” Fischetti said. “This could finally give us something.”

The $22 billion dietary supplement industry operates with minimal oversight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, despite a history of suspect quality and safety. About one in four dietary supplements tested don’t meet quality or safety standards, according to former FDA research scientist William Obermeyer, a co- founder of the independent testing firm, ConsumerLab.com, which tests thousands of supplement products.

Some are tainted with pesticides, salmonella, glass, bacteria or heavy metals such as lead and cadmium. Others fail for a variety of reasons, including a lack of ingredients, improper ingredients, failure to break down properly and mislabeling.

Because manufacturers seek low-cost ingredients, Obermeyer said it’s a safe bet that some of the tainted products contain ingredients from China, which typically are cheaper.

Under a 1994 federal law, most dietary supplements — vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids and other substances such as enzymes and metabolites, which are taken orally and intended to augment the diet — don’t need to be registered or approved by the FDA. FDA inspections have found supplement manufacturing plants with pest infestations, defective equipment and pipes that leak liquid onto products. But after more than 10 years of development, the FDA still hasn’t set minimum standards for the safe manufacture of dietary supplements. Instead, manufacturers set their own standards.

Because supplements are classified as food, they aren’t regulated by the same strict guidelines that govern drugs. Supplement manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe and include all the ingredients listed on the package label. And like food manufacturers, supplement makers don’t have to record, review or provide the FDA with reported injuries or illnesses that result from their products. Reporting is voluntary.

If safety, health or mislabeling problems develop, the FDA can restrict or remove a supplement from the market. Drugs, on the other hand, must be deemed safe and effective before they can be prescribed or sold.

China’s emergence as a leading ingredient supplier for the supplement industry has raised new fears since a recent pet food scare was traced to adulterated Chinese wheat flour. Earlier this year, a shipment of bacteria-contaminated vitamin A from China also was flagged before it could be added to infant formula in Europe.

And the FDA will start testing toothpaste imported from China after a poisonous ingredient used in antifreeze was found in Chinese-made toothpaste in Panama. Record requirements allow officials to track ingredients to the country and plant where they were manufactured.

Supplement companies are urged to buy quality ingredients from reputable firms, whatever country they’re in, said Judy Blatman, spokeswoman for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, which represents supplement manufacturers and suppliers.

“Quality has to be the No. 1 priority for ingredient suppliers and manufacturers,” Blatman said. “We need to have high-quality products in order to maintain consumer confidence in them.” That confidence was shaken in 2004, when the FDA banned the sale of dietary supplements containing ephedra, which caused tremors and heart palpitations and was cited as a factor in numerous deaths.

In February 1997, the FDA proposed mandatory rules outlining “good manufacturing practices” for the safe production of dietary supplements. But more than 10 years later, those rules still haven’t been finalized.

Well, you know it was bound to happen – didn’t you? We have worried our collected selves right into watching what we eat so well that it can actually be bad for us – in some cases.

Yes, you read that right. According to a piece on the john-ray.blogspot.com, there’s a new eating disorder out there called orthorexia. The term, coined by several international physicians, refers to people who become hooked on healthy and pure eating habits – habits that can be dangerous.

According to one Sydney, Australia doctor, the disorder could have short and long-term effects on bone quality, mood and immunity.

The piece is worth a read. ~~ Michael Pallerino

EXTREME healthy eating is becoming such an obsessive ritual that it is risking young women’s health and spawning a new eating disorder - orthorexia. A term coined by international doctors in the past decade, orthorexia is when sufferers - particularly adolescent girls - become hooked on healthy and “pure” eating and put serious and damaging restrictions on their diets.

One leading Sydney expert, who said she was seeing an increasing number of teenage girls with the condition, said orthorexia could have short and long-term effects on bone quality, mood and immunity. The Children’s Hospital at Westmead dietician Susie Burrell told The Saturday Daily Telegraph the signs of orthorexia were hallmarks of a serious eating disorder to come.

“These are usually girls who only want things very healthy, they are very fat-phobic, they cook the meals themselves, they are very fussy about what they will and won’t eat,” she said. “There is a focus on keeping lean and thin and looking good and it’s often smart girls who are doing well; they get very good grades, they’re a good daughter and it goes to the next extreme.”

Sufferers of the modern food affliction tend to control their meal portions to the extent where they avoid processed foods entirely and eat very small amounts and sometimes exercise obsessively. Unlike clinically diagnosed eating disorders such as anorexia, orthorexia is characterized by sufferers who have a fixation with food, rather than with weight loss.

Anthea Durrell, 14, said she saw schoolgirls in her year who became
fanatical about what they ate and said messages about obesity could be misconstrued. “Lots of celebrities these days are really skinny, like Nicole Richie, and they have such a bad impact on what girls see as beautiful,” she said. “It gives them messages that it is really bad to be even on the edge of being chubby.

Eating Disorders Foundation chief executive Amanda Jordan said current messages in regard to childhood obesity and increased weight gain could be wrongly interpreted in young, image-obsessed women. “You get really valuable messages that are getting interpreted in a way that actually works against a person’s health,” she said. Ms Jordan said orthorexia could become an obsession cycle of self-starvation which then escalated into life-threatening eating disorders.

“There is a clear trend in people thinking there is a right way to eat and people going too far in following those guidelines,” Ms Jordan said. “It’s good to be working against having an obese population, particularly in children but the message over time is getting confused with the message that all fat is bad. “The tendency is sometimes to go overboard and I am really worried it will lead to an increase in eating disorders.”

On your mark, get set, go. On Sept. 21, 2007, the Road Runners Club of America, the largest grassroots running organization in the country, will promote the 2nd Annual RRCA National Run@Work Day. The purpose of National Run@Work Day is to promote physical activity and healthy living through running or walking.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) estimates that 64% of U.S. adults are either overweight (33%) or obese (31%), meaning they have an excess weight of 30 lbs or more. For over 20 years, the CDC has been tracking obesity trends, and they have reported that the rate of overweight adults in the U.S. has increase by 18% in those 20 years.

The rise of overweight and obesity and the resulting health conditions has a dramatic effect on health insurance costs around the U.S. It is estimated that overweight and obesity health related medical costs have reached an all time high of $75.8 billion per year (www.CDC.gov), a cost which is being passed onto employers and healthy employees.

The goal of the RRCA National Run @ Work Day is to raise awareness about the importance of daily physical activity for adults. Running clubs, company-based wellness programs, human resources departments, and individuals nationwide are encouraged to plan fun runs and walks with their employers.

The Run @ Work day events will be community-based events that promote and provide the opportunity for individuals to incorporate at least thirty-five minutes of exercise into their daily routine either before work, during lunch or immediately following work. Incorporating exercise into one’s daily routine can markedly improve one’s overall physical health and can help alleviate health related medical costs associated with overweight and obesity.

To help employers, running clubs, or individuals plan and promote their local Run @ Work Day event, the RRCA has developed a “Planning Kit” which can be found at www.RRCA.org/programs/runatwork. The “Kit” contains a sample press release for announcing local events, ideas for planning and promoting the event and information on nutrition and running that can be shared with event participants.

In addition, Run @ Work Day events can be posted on the RRCA Calendar for FREE at www.RRCA.org/Calendars. Event organizers can use the special event code, Run @ Work Event, when posting their event and be sure to encourage your participants to sign the pledge of participation.