Obesity Driving America's Healthcare to a Tipping Point

The Obesity Society, a leading scientific organization dedicated to the study of obesity, and other steering committee members of the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, and two former US Surgeons General, join together today to develop effective recommendations to urge policymakers to act on the inclusion of obesity as the largest and most urgent driving factor in healthcare reform.

The two most recent Surgeons General of the United States, David Satcher MD, PhD and Richard H. Carmona, MD, MPH, respectively 16th and 17th US Surgeons General, jointly urged policymakers to take direct action on obesity and its associated chronic diseases by including obesity as a key element in healthcare reform.

"Health reform will succeed only if we address obesity and the chronic diseases it causes," said Robert Kushner, MD, President of The Obesity Society. "Obesity is the number 1, most serious health issue facing the country. It is also the largest single driver of our increasing healthcare costs and we need to address it now."

More than one third of US adults -- more than 72 million people -- and 16 percent of US children are now estimated to be overweight or obese. Obesity and overweight are associated with several chronic health risks and conditions, including: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, some types of cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and gallbladder disease. Furthermore, the medical costs of obesity are now estimated at more than $147 billion per year.

The Obesity Society supports the four targeted recommendations for effective healthcare reform issued by the STOP Obesity Alliance at the meeting held today at the Newseum in Washington, DC:

• Standardized and effective clinical interventions, flowing from evidence-based guidelines, such as those approved by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), that include acknowledging the health benefits of five to ten percent sustained weight loss to
  aid and support those individuals who are currently overweight or obese achieve improved health.
• Enhanced use of clinical preventive services to monitor health status and help prevent weight gain, especially for individuals who are already overweight and are at risk of becoming obese.
• Effective, evidence-based community programs and policies that encourage and support healthy lifestyles, focus on health literacy, address health disparities, and represent a significant investment in population-based prevention of obesity.
• Coordinated research efforts to build the evidence for all three of the above elements, continuously improving quality of care, bolstering our understanding of what does and does not work in various settings, and helping to translate the scientific research into practice
  recommendations for real-world clinical settings and communities.

"These recommendations are designed to improve the dialogue and interventions around obesity. Successful reform will address clinical treatment, prevention, community programs and research to reverse the medical burden of obesity," said Dr. Kushner. "Lending our support to the STOP Obesity Alliance recommendations will also bring us one more step closer to providing a health system that can effectively lessen the grip of obesity on our society."

For more information:

• OBESITY, Halting the Epidemic by Making Health Easier (Centers for Disease Control)
• Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, NHLBI.
• Eric A. Finkelstein, Justin G. Trogdon, Joel W. Cohen, William Dietz, [Health Affairs 28, no. 5 (2009): w822-w831 (published online 27 July 2009; 10.1377/hlthaff.28.5.w822)]

Simple ABCs of Weight Loss and Fitness: Advice From Someone who Knows

Modern American society is filled with easily accessible fatty foods, a growing obesity epidemic and a general lack of healthy living. In his new book,Lose Weight, Feel Great: How I Lost Over 60lbs. with the Help of a Personal Trainer,author Kevin Given tells of his personal struggles with obesity, how he lost over 60 pounds with the help of a personal trainer, and how others can change their lifestyles and bodies as well.

Says Given 'This book is different from other weight loss books because it is my personal story of how I overcame the obstacle of obesity. I also avoid going into unnecessary detail. I find that most problems with weight loss books are that they get bogged down with details on how certain things work. My book cuts to the chase and makes it simple. "If you do this, then this is what will happen."

Given Continues: "If you eat certain foods, this is how they will affect your system. If you do a certain exercise; for example dumb-bell curls, then this is what will happen; your biceps will develop. There are no unnecessary details here that will only slow you down. In my book you will find the simple ABCs of weight loss and fitness."

Given had ongoing issues with his weight for over 20 years with many failed attempts at change. He tried numerous fad diets that never worked, so he then decided to hire a personal trainer to aid him in losing weight and keeping it off for good. Now a certified personal trainer himself, Given hopes to help others through a combination of historical knowledge of human health, personal testimony, exercises and fitness techniques, nutrition, and other information vital to weight loss and good health.

While the use of this book and practicing a healthy lifestyle are certainly reliable ways to lose weight and get in shape, Given also believes the aid of a personal trainer helps immensely in this journey toward the ideal you.

"If the military sent a soldier to basic training with only an army manual and no guidance, that soldier wouldn't learn much! How many soldiers would get up at four or five AM without the drill sergeants going through the hall with a stick and a garbage can banging as loudly as he or she can? Who would be motivated to do pushups if the drill sergeant didn't yell, "Drop and give me twenty"? Just as the soldier is guided to his peak performance during army basic training, so an individual seeking to get into better shape will be guided by the personal trainer into reaching his/her goal", Given explains.

Increased Dietary Choline May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Finally some positive news about possible breast cancer reduction and the use of vitamins. A study conducted by a team of doctors including Dr Xinran Xu and Dr Marilie Gammon of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York, confirmed that greater intake of the B vitamin choline is associated with a reduction in the risk of breast cancer.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the June 2008 edition of The FASEB Journal, the offical publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (Xu X, Gammon MD, Zeisel SH, Lee YL, et al , Choline metabolism and risk of breast cancer in a population-based study. FASEB J 2008 Jun;22(6):2045-52. Epub 2008 Jan 29).

"Choline metabolism may play an important role in breast cancer etiology..."

Choline is an essential nutrient required for methyl group metabolism, but its role in carcinogenesis and tumor progression is not well understood. The Scientists compared dietary intake data from 1,508 women with breast cancer with 1,556 women whoid not have the disease. They focused on choline and two other, related, nutrients, methionine and betaine, involved in methylation, which plays a role in cancer development [odds ratio (OR): 0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.58-1.00].

Women whose intake of choline was in the highest one-fifth of participants (>455mg/day) had a 24% lower risk of breast cancer than women whose intake was in the lowest fifth (<196mg/day). Despite choline’s importance for maintaining normal cellular function, only 10% of Americans are estimated to meet the Institute of Medicine’s adequate choline intake level of 425mg/day for women and 550 mg/day for men and breastfeeding women. This concerns the team as they believe that their 'findings suggest that choline metabolism may play an important role in breast cancer etiology'.

Food-, dietary supplements and vitamins: Know what you take!

It’s a question that needs to be asked. If you are serious about your health and are taking food supplements, vitamins weight loss products and nutraceuticals do you know what you take? Do you know how these product impact your health? Are all these products good for your health? These seems simple, and easy questions, but the answer is very important. In this blog I'll try to explain.

Knowing what you take to improve your health requires having access to trustworthy information. As distributors of food- and dietary supplements we tell our customers that they can trust the products we sell. We feel very comfortable in educating our clients about our products. We feel that it’s our responsibility to give them access to information so that they can research and indeed feel confident that what we tell them is in fact true.

"It's our responsibility to give ...information... and feel confident that what we tell them is in fact true!"

Unfortunately, not every vitamin and dietary supplements is good for your health. But how do you know? There are various resources available. Some of these resources are available online, for other resources and information a trip to your local library may be required. But whatever the case, we feel that every consumer needs to make sure that he/she knows about the product they are taking.

One resource I really like is from The International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements. This information is generated by various agencies from the US government. But there are also many European and national resources worth reading.

Naturally, as a senior consultant of the European division of Vitaelin Nutraceuticals, I'll make sure that information that impacts any of the products we distribute is immediately released to the public. That's, what I feel, is my duty: be honest and fair in health education and information. But, at the same time we encourage our clients to continue researching all the products they take.

A great Database
As mentioned, we like the resources from The International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS). The database prepared by this organization is very complete. It provides access to bibliographic citations and abstracts from published, international, and scientific literature on dietary supplements. IBIDS is collaboration between two US government agencies: the Office of Dietary Supplements of the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC) of the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Library (NAL).

What is the IBIDS Database?
The International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements database is an easy to search free of charge internet resource. It is a collaboration between two government agencies: the Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The Food and Nutrition Information Center (FNIC), The National Agricultural Library (NAL), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

The database is a "work in progress" with new search terms, abstracts and citations added quarterly and modifications made to the search approach to respond to suggestions from users

Content
As of September 2007 there are over 760,000 citations on the topic of dietary supplements from four major database sources: biomedical-related articles from MEDLINE, botanical and agricultural science from AGRICOLA, worldwide agricultural literature through AGRIS, and coverage of international applied life sciences literature from CAB Abstracts and CAB Global Health.

Scope
The database generally lists the use and function of vitamin, mineral, phytochemical, botanical, and herbal supplements in human nutrition.It also lists the role of nutrient supplementation in metabolism in normal nutrition and disease states. Furthermore, animal studies that relate to the function of dietary supplements in human nutrition, chemical composition, biochemical roles, and antioxidant activity of botanical and nutrient supplements and fortification of foods with supplemental nutrients and health-related effects are reported.

The database also lists:

• Nutrient composition of herbal and botanical products;
• Surveys on dietary supplement use by various populations;
• The growth and production of herbal and botanical products used as dietary supplements;
• Abstracts where permission has been granted from the publisher;
• Citations from 1986 to the present
• Citations in foreign languages, if the abstract is in English;
• Citations have been selected from multiple databases to ensure that the database is comprehensive and internationally representative;
• Full, peer-reviewed and consumer journal databases;
• Keywords to help you find your topic of interest
• In the future -- citations from additional database sources.

In addition to having records on substances used as dietary supplements, IBIDS also includes records on substances such as niacin and glucosamine used in situations where they may be considered drugs. Such records are included in order to provide information on mechanism of action, possible adverse effects, and other information of potential interest to IBIDS users.

What does the IBIDS database not contain?

• Full journal articles - these may be obtained through your local public or university library or online through journal websites or document delivery services
• All herbal and botanical supplement ingredients - the American Herbal Products Association estimates that there are over 2000 herbal ingredients available in supplement products in the United States. The IBIDS database began with literature on the top 50 botanicals identified by the European Union and now contains literature on over 250 botanicals. These include the best sellers in the U.S. market.
• Complementary and alternative medicine approaches such as homeopathy, chiropractic, massage, and acupuncture. For more information on these topics, contact the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
  

Conclusion
The IBIDS database is just one of the resources we like. There are more resources dealing with information about supplements related to health and healthcare. In the weeks ahead I’ll discuss other resources as well.

If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me directly by sending us an email. For more information visit our website at Vitaelin Nutraceuticals.