It is not only how much you weigh, but where you carry your weight that is important.

The latest research on the association of body fat and the risk of death was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a very prestigious publication (Pischon T, et al, 2008). Most of the studies in the past have relied on the body mass index (BMI) and only few have examined if it is important where the fat is distributed.

This study however, which was really large, it included 359,387 participants from nine countries in Europe, looked at both BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio as it relates to the risk of death. The follow-up was 9.7 years.

The lowest risks of death were observed at a BMI of 25.3 for men and 24.3 for women. The researchers also found that waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio were strongly associated with the risk of death, the bigger waist circumference and the bigger waist-to-hip ratio, the higher was the risk of death.

The investigations concluded that both general adiposity and abdominal adiposity are associated with the risk of death.

References:

Pischon T, et al. General and abdominal adiposity and risk of death in Europe. N Engl J Med. 2008 Nov 13;359(20):2105-20.

Sleep, an easy way to improve your health

Getting enough sleep on a regular basis seems to be one of many steps you can take to help stay healthy.

In a recent study the researchers checked the blood of the participants for an important inflammatory factor called NF-kappaB which has shown to be linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer (Irwin M, et al, 2008).

After a night of normal sleep the measurements of NF-kappaB in the participants was compared to samples taken after a night where they had stayed up very late.

After the late night the inflammatory factor in the women, but not in men, had increased significantly. A night of normal sleep restored the levels to normal again.

Most of us realize that too little sleep on a regular basis is not healthy, but that it is as harmful as this research documented is probably surprising.

References:

Irwin MR, et al. Sleep loss activates cellular inflammatory signaling. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Sep 15;64(6):538-40.

The food that will keep you lean and reduce cardiovascular risk

It does not matter how much you eat of it, you will not gain weight from it. The more you eat of it, the more your cardiovascular disease risk will go down.

What kind of super food could that be? You might have guessed it, it is vegetables.

We all have heard that vegetables are good for us. This is exactly what a large recent study involving 13,355 men and 15,724 women living in Japan documented (Nakamura K, et al, 2008). It showed that the highest quartile of vegetables intake for women was associated with a 38% reduced risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease compared with the lowest quartile intake.

Eat at least one salad a day and of course you could even have two. When you eat something hot include some steamed or stir-fried vegetables.

If you add beans or lentils to a salad it will be a really low glycemic index meal that will give you prolonged energy.

References:

Nakamura K, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and mortality from cardiovascular disease are inversely associated in Japanese women but not in men. J Nutr. 2008 Jun;138(6):1129-34.

Vigorous physical activity linked to breast cancer prevention

We all know that physical activity provides numerous health benefits. A recent study which included 32,269 women examined the relationship between both vigorous and non-vigorous physical activity and its effects on postmenopausal breast cancer risk (Leitzmann MF, et al, 2008).

It was interesting that it was only vigorous activity in lean women that was found to be associated with reduced risk for postmenopausal breast cancer. The same relationship was not found for women with a body mass index of greater than or equal to 25.

Vigorous activity can be a variety of things. Some of the things that researchers mentioned were running, biking uphill and competitive tennis, but there are of course other things you can do as well. You want to keep in mind when you exercise to do it hard enough so that you get your heart rate elevated and you start to breathe heavier.

If you exercise harder, you also need to spend less time exercising to get in shape. That is why top athletes usually incorporate interval training in their routine which means short bursts of high intensity exercise alternating with low intensity or rest.

References:

Leitzmann MF, et al. Prospective study of physical activity and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2008 Oct 31;10(5):R92.