男大肚腩 激誘黃斑點病變

男大肚腩 激誘黃斑點病變

(星島)2011年5月16日 星期一 06:30

(綜合報道)

(星島日報 報道)過胖除增患心血管毛病風險外，更有機會影響眼睛健康。最近澳洲 便有研究指，大肚腩男士患黃斑點病變的風險較高。本港眼科醫生亦證實，腹部脂肪能反映眼底血管發炎的機率，而撇除中圍肥胖，黃斑點病變還有其他致病因素，由於此症可令視力永久受損，故必須正視及防患未然。

　　文：Kaman 部分圖片：星島圖片庫

　　關鍵為可引致眼疾

　　該澳洲大學的研究，跟進了四萬多名年齡介乎四十至六十九歲的人士達數年，發現腰圍愈粗患黃斑點病變的風險則愈高。不過，該研究得出的結果，只強調大肚腩男士的病變風險較高，對女士的明顯影響則不大。當中的專家解釋，這或可能與女性身體雌激素向屬高水平有關，故不會受腹部脂肪釋放的雌激素變化而被影響，相反，男性身體對雌激素增減的影響則較敏感，亦因此而加劇了眼底血管發炎的情況。

　　對此說法，眼科醫生陳偉民（右上圖）認為，腰圍肥胖與黃斑點病變風險是否存在性別差異，尚待更多有關研究支持，反而，著眼的重點應為中圍肥胖確實不利眼部健康，而且所誘發的更屬嚴重的黃斑點病變。

　　腹脂更準確反映問題

　　陳醫生表示，醫學界早已證實肥胖可增加人體患黃斑點病變的機會，約為一至兩倍，而是次研究針對腰圍數字，更能準確反映肥胖問題與病變的關係。因以前所用的肥胖準則，大多以BMI（身體質量指數）為指標，事實則為腰圍的粗幼，更能準確釐定人體的肥胖狀況，因BMI是量度身高與體重的比例，未能反映身體的脂肪比例及分布，而腰圍愈粗亦即腹部脂肪愈多，腹部脂肪愈會釋出直接增加身體發炎因子的荷爾蒙，而黃斑點病變正屬於眼底血管發炎性疾病，故此大肚腩增患黃斑點病變的因果關係自然不言而喻，確有根據。

　　其他負面因素

　　除了肥胖問題，黃斑點病變亦會受到其他因素影響，高度風險因素包括年紀大、吸煙、家族遺傳、曾患白內障 等，「老年黃斑點病變是指因年齡增長而出現黃斑點退化，一般被視為五十歲或以上人士患上的高風險眼疾，而年紀愈大，患黃斑點病變機會將愈高。吸煙者亦較非吸煙人士的患病率高出三倍，因煙草中的有害物質會令眼睛的血管加劇硬化，令血管缺氧，從而損害黃斑區的細胞，增加病發機會。如有家族遺傳者，患病機會更較一般人高三至五倍。至於曾患白內障患者，其風險亦比常人高出二至三倍。此外，心臟病 、血壓高人士則增加約一至兩倍的患病風險，以血壓高為例，因其會增加視網膜出血的機率，故有較大機會影響到黃斑區的健康。」陳醫生解釋。

　　■高血壓人士日常可自我監察血壓，以減低眼底出血風險。

　　■吸煙有損眼血管，增患黃斑點病變機率較常人高出三倍。

　　■如黃斑點出現病變，會直接影響到視力。

　　■研究已證實腹部脂肪的增加，可致黃斑點病變風險急增。

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/110515/3/obwd.html

Factory Farmed Meat: Why It’s Not Good for Us

Factory Farmed Meat: Why It’s Not Good for Us

In the interest of being able to back up my eating choices with actual facts (I am not one of the lucky few in possession of a photographic memory, or even an I-took-good-notes memory), I decided to put together a little background on where most of our meat comes from. It’s one thing to be able to regale folks with my true stories of happy farm animals raised by loving people on local farms, but it’s another to be able to speak (or refer to my article) to the other and much larger side of meat production here in the U.S.

I firmly believe that what we eat makes a difference on all levels, from how we look and feel to how we think and reproduce. It also makes a difference on how we relate to each other as a society, when food is as relevant and important to our survival as water. When we get our food not from people, but from corporations, I believe a critical thread is cut in our societal fabric.

Every state in the U.S. save for 12 have “Extreme” density levels of factory farms. Extreme is the highest level designated by Food and Water Watch for their Factory Farm Map program. Massachusetts is the only state (with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii) with no higher level than”Moderate.” Only one single state in the contiguous U.S., West Virginia, has no factory farms. As for California, 15 of the state’s 58 counties (over 25 percent) partake in extreme density animal farms, mostly in the central valley, but surprisingly in Sonoma county as well.

This is a problem for several reasons:

• 

  Corporate, factory-farmed meat edges out the old-fashioned family farm by undercutting market meat prices so far the family farms cannot survive.

• Factory farms make their money by numbers, raising the number of animals crowded into one space; raising the speed at which animals grow by injecting them with growth hormones.
• Factory farms keep hogs and chickens in totally enclosed buildings with no exposure to the outdoors or sunlight ever in their lives.
• Factory farms maintain a constant use of antibiotics in their animals to keep these animals living in ridiculously unclean, crowded conditions, alive long enough to sell them to you as food.
• Factory farms advertise that they are cleaner and provide more options at lower cost to consumers, but in reality they provide less choices at a higher cost, with greater risk for E. coli and Salmonella in your food.
• The concentration of factory farms also concentrates their waste including antibiotics and hormones, that often make it into the meat you buy in the store, and always back into our environment, back into our drinking water and back into the water we use to irrigate our crops. [1]

Besides the fact that I cannot conceive of actual human beings (for they are the ones who run the corporations and the actual farms and slaughter houses) torturing an animal by forcing it to live so close to others it cannot move; forcing it to stand, lie or sit in its own waste; forcing it to grow faster or give more milk than nature intended by injecting it with hormones; forcing it injured, sick and dying to slaughter; besides all of that that I cannot bring myself to truly imagine from the perspective of the animal, I cannot conceive why we are still eating this: both the marketing and the product, as food.

- Jocelyn Broyles

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/factory-farmed-meat-why-its-not-good-for-us.html#ixzz1LRF3aPRn

肚腩肥膏會堵塞血管

肚腩肥膏會堵塞血管

2011年05月03日

【本報訊】頂着一個大肚腩小心增加心臟病發風險，美國一項研究顯示肚腩的肥膏或是堵塞心臟血管，引致冠心病復發，甚至死亡的元凶。研究顯示擁有士啤呔的病人體重未必超標，體重指標（ BMI）也不一定過高，但因冠心病死亡的風險卻較一般病人高 75％，顯示圍繞腰間及臀部的脂肪應是減磅重點。

及早控制飲食助減腩

著名醫學研究機構梅約診所（ Mayo Clinic）綜合五項 15,923名冠心病患者的健康數據，分析比較他們腰臀脂肪比率及體重指標。發現腰臀脂肪最多的病人，因冠心病死亡的風險最高，較此部份脂肪最低的病人高 75％。再分析腰臀脂肪多的病人數據發現，大部份人體重並未超標，體重指標也在 20至 25的正常範圍，只是肚腩較大。
研究人員指體重指標只是計算體重與高度的比例，未能反映腰臀脂肪危害，故建議將量度腰臀脂肪納入冠心病患者常規檢查中。就算患者體重正常，也需定期量度，一旦發現肚腩有增大迹象，應勸喻病人及早控制飲食及多做運動。醫學界建議男士的腰圍不應超出 90厘米（約 35吋），女士則不宜超過 80厘米（約 31吋）。

Protein: Almonds Have as Much as Beef?

Protein: Almonds Have as Much as Beef?

posted by Jake Richardson Apr 27, 2011 7:01 am

filed under: Conscious Consumer, Diet & Nutrition, Eating for Health, Vegetarian

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According to the nutrition website nutritiondata.com, beef sirloin (bottom, tri-tip, separable lean only, and trimmed to zero fat) has six grams of protein per ounce. Blanched almonds also have six grams of protein per ounce, according to the same site. They also contain six percent of the RDA for iron, while the beef sirloin contains just two percent. The almonds, however, contain quite a bit more unsaturated fat, because the beef sirloin has been trimmed to zero fat. They have 14 grams of unsaturated fat per ounce, with one gram of saturated fat, but it is plant-based fat and not animal fat. (Not all beef products listed on the site contain six grams of protein per ounce–some have more.) This comparison merely provides an example of how some vegetarian foods contain adequate amounts of protein, and in some cases are equal to the amount of protein in meat. People who bash vegetarian diets, often start with saying they are lacking protein, and therefore must be inferior.

So instead of having three ounces of beef sirloin tri-tip for eighteen grams of protein, one could have three ounces of almonds. Actually this type of beef is somewhat uncommon compared to ground beef. A University of Wisconsin food safety sheet on reducing fat in beef says a popular form of ground beef contains seventy percent lean meat, and thirty percent fat. The point of reducing the animal fat is to protect the heart, as animal fat can contribute to heart disease. They cite one statistic saying in just one year the per person beef consumption in the United States was nearly sixty-five pounds.

A website for the U.S Dept of Agriculture says about 3.5 ounces of ground beef that is thirty percent fat, also contains 11 grams of saturated fat. Everyone needs protein, but we also need to limit the amount of saturated fat. For example, the American Heart Association says a female aged 31-50 who is sedentary, should get less than 16 grams of saturated fat per day, so just 3.5 ounces of ground beef (that is thirty percent fat) would be well more than half of the daily saturated fat allowance. Three ounces of almonds though, would be only three grams of saturated fat, and nearly equal in protein as ground beef might have seven grams per ounce, rather than the six per ounce from almonds.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/protein-almonds-have-as-much-as-beef.html#ixzz1L5UwLetq

肥人易腎結石較難治

(星島)2011年4月15日 星期五 06:30

(綜合報道)

(星島日報 報道)腎結石在本港並不罕見，不過，醫生特別強調，肥胖者較普通人更易有腎石，且治療難度亦相對較高。此外，中年男性更為患腎石的高危族，建議有關人士及早定期驗身，防患未然。

　　文：Kaman

　　部分圖片：星島圖片庫

　　成因與尿酸有關

　　尿液本身除了水分以外，還有其他成分，例如鈣質、草酸和尿酸，而這些成分正是腎結石的主要元素。據泌尿科醫生郭天福（上圖）表示，肥胖人士較易有腎結石問題，原因多與其身體狀況有關，肥人普遍尿液中所含的尿酸成分較重，故易出現尿酸結石，而身軀體積大，再加上體溫一般較高，故更易出汗及汗量較多，間接令尿液中的水分不足，當尿液濃度過高時，便很容易會有腎結石。此外，已有確實研究發現，當BMI（身體質量指數）提高時，有腎結石的機會亦較大。

　　除此，肥胖人士的日常飲食習慣亦有機會令其患有腎結石，他們進食量大，其中又傾向多以蛋白質 、肉類等食物為主，而常吃這些食品會較易生腎石。

　　治療難度較高

　　如果腎石體積較細小，一般多喝水已可將其自然排出體外，若以其他方式治療，較常採用為體外沖擊波碎石（ESWL），或微創腎臟內窺鏡手術。體外沖擊波碎石的基本原理，是將沖擊波通過機器聚焦在患者體內的結石位置上，產生震盪將結石震碎成碎片，使其易於經由尿液排出。不過，由於聚焦鏡有焦距限制，只能聚焦在不太深的位置，如果腎石藏於儀器難以聚焦的遠距離深處，沖擊波的震盪力便不能完全傳送至結石上，因此肥人的治療難度會增加，很明顯的原因為他們的身體多脂肪，令沖擊波所經過的組織亦較多，直令震盪力減弱，使治療效果大減。

　　另外，肥胖者如使用微創腎臟內窺鏡手術，亦會增加手術風險和難度，尤其採用全身麻醉，對身體健康較差的肥人會構成更大風險，因可能會對其心臟、肺部有較大影響。以上的治療技術，基本上仍可治療到並非太肥的人士，但體重逾二百磅的結石患者，難度則相應提高。至於選擇哪種方式，則視乎腎石的體積和位置而定。

　　男性乃高危一族

　　除了肥胖人士，男性亦為患腎結石的高危族，根據數據顯示，男性腎結石個案較女性多，但成因暫時未明。至於某類辦公室工作人員和貨櫃車司機亦為高危一族，成因或與他們的工作性質，傾向少喝水有關，使其有更大機會形成結石，以及難以把結石的成分隨尿液排走。經常攝取大量鹽分的人亦會影響尿液中的鈣排量，增患結石風險。由於腎結石初期症狀不明顯，郭醫生建議踏入三十歲的男性，以及有關高危族，應定期檢查腎臟。

　　■定期檢查腎臟，確保腎功能正常，有助防患未然。

　　■貨櫃車司機常因工作關係較少機會如廁，增患腎結石風險。

　　■肥人通常較大汗，容易令尿液濃度偏高。

英女性想瘦 願折壽十年換苗條

(法新社)2011年4月5日 星期二 13:50

（法新社巴黎 4日電） 1項調查今天指出，30%的英國 女性為了擁有理想體重，願意折壽1年、甚至更多年作為交換條件。調查對象是英國20所大學女性。

調查發現，有10%的女性表示，願意用2-5年的壽命交換1副纖細有曲線美的身材，代價並不算太高；甚至還有3%的女性願意用10年或更久的壽命作為代償。

西英格蘭 大學（University of the West ofEngland）教授迪德瑞克（Philippa Diedrichs）表示：「調查結果所突顯的是，對所有年齡層的女性來說，身材好壞都是重要議題，並非僅有青少女。」

調查對象包含320位年齡層18到65歲的女性，平均值低於25歲。

迪德瑞克表示，另一方面調查結果指出，女性的自我評估在現實與形象間，有令人感到挫折的鴻溝。

調查中有4/5女性表示有意減重，但其實這些人當中有78%的體重正常、甚至低於正常健康體重值。

另外，10位女性中，超過9位在過去1週對自己外表有「負面想法」；其中有1/3表示，這類負面想法1天會出現好幾次。（譯者：中央社陳怡君）1

Scientists Warn: Food Colors Damage Kids

Scientists Warn: Food Colors Damage Kids

posted by Michelle Schoffro Cook Mar 31, 2011 4:11 pm

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A recent study reported in the journal Prescrire International found that artificial food dyes are linked to an increased incidence of hyperactivity in children. Scientists studied 297 children who were representative of the general population to conclude that food colors increase hyperactivity in children, not just children who are sensitive to them.

The scientists also found that children who suffered from hyperactivity saw a worsening of their hyperactivity symptoms when they ingested food colors. In addition to their placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study, they also conducted an analysis of other existing research prior to concluding “it is best to avoid exposing children to artificial food coloring.”

In another study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, the dye tartrazine was linked to behavioural disturbances in normal children. Still more research from doctors at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom found that food dyes have a significant impact on the behaviour of normal children and boost the levels of hyperactivity. These doctors also recommended that these additives be removed from children’s diets.

FDA Stalling Tactics
While numerous independent studies link artificial food colors to hyperactivity in normal, non-sensitive, children, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to claim that there is no proven relationship between food dyes and hyperactivity in children. Beginning yesterday (Wednesday), an FDA advisory committee will attempt to determine whether available research links the dyes and the disorder. Somehow the experts have known this information for years yet the FDA doesn’t have a clue.

Read on to learn how dyes cross the blood-brain barrier…

The FDA meeting is in response to a 2008 petition from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, requesting that yellow 5, red 40, and six other dyes be banned. It is bad enough that the FDA took three years just to initiate a response, but no one knows what the response will be. It is likely that the FDA will continue to allow these harmful substances to be used in food. After all, they’ve allowed them for three decades. Don’t our children deserve better than this?

More Harmful Health Effects Linked to Food Colors
And, what about the many other symptoms linked to food colors? Doesn’t the FDA think they warrant consideration? In numerous studies, one particular dye–the yellow color, annatto, has been linked to skin rashes, huge blood-sugar rises and damage to the energy-production sites in the liver and pancreas. In a case study in the journal Annals of Allergy, severe low blood pressure was linked to a cereal containing this ingredient.

Food Dyes Cross the Blood-Brain Barrier
Further research cited by Jacqueline Krohn, MD, in her book Natural Detoxification, showed that artificial food colors cross the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is a bit of a misnomer because it works more on a lock-and-key-type of mechanism, allowing some substances access to the brain while preventing others access. However, many harmful chemicals, food colors included, cross this delicate mechanism, where they can cause damage to the brain. This is of particular concern for children whose brains are in the developmental stage and at a higher risk of damage from toxic substances.

Keep reading to discover how many pounds of food additives the average person eats…You’ll be shocked!

The Food Additives Pile Up
Currently, the average person eats over 124 pounds of food additives, including artificial colors, EVERY YEAR! There is no testing on the cumulative effects of combining food colors with all these chemicals, not to mention the myriad other chemicals to which we are exposed in our air and water, like pesticides, for example.

Additionally, many toxic substances in our food supply show delayed responses. In other words, you might eat food additives in your diet today but you may experience the effects years from now. So, these responses are also possible from food dyes.

There is substantial evidence to ban food colors, particularly from the diets of children. It’s time the FDA stepped up its efforts to ensure that we, and our children, are not unknowingly harmed by toxic ingredients that should never have been added to food in the first place.

Adapted from Total Body Detox: The Safe, Easy, and Natural Way to Detoxify Your Body, Balance Your Weight, and Feel Great by Michelle Schoffro Cook, MSc, PhD, RNCP, ROHP.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/scientists-warn-food-colors-damage-kids.html#ixzz1ISWU6SP7