Home | Nutrition | Programs | Testimonials | Coach Bio | Contact | Research & Links | Photos | Pay Online

Long-Term Exercise Reduced Menopausal Symptoms

Postmenopausal women improved their physical fitness and reported reductions in the severity of menopausal symptoms after 12-24 weeks of aerobic exercise in three 70-minute sessions per week.

The 65 women (mean age 50.1 years) rated the severity of menopausal symptoms on the self-administered Menopause Rating Scale questionnaire at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks in the uncontrolled study. The program of aerobic and calisthenic exercise aimed for 75%-80% of maximal heart rate according to the Karvonen method and consisted of 10 minutes of warm-up exercises; 40 minutes of aerobics; 15 minutes of exercise targeting the abdomen, hip, and leg muscles; and 5 minutes for cool-down and stretching.

Participants reported significant decreases in the severity of hot flashes, night sweats, cardiac symptoms, muscle and joint pain, sleeping disorder symptoms, depressive mood, irritability, anxiety, exhaustion, sexual problems, and urinary symptoms between the start and the end of the study, Dr. Selma Karacan of Selcuk University in Konya, Turkey reported in Science & Sports, 2009.

Significant improvements also were seen in resting heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, flexibility, aerobic power, and the ability to perform sit-ups, push-ups, and right or left hand grips. Body weight, body mass index, body fat percentage, and fat weight decreased significantly, with no change in lean body mass values.

New England Journal of Medicine, February 2010.

Diet, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation—Dairy and Whole Grains Win Out Once Again 

Background. Experts agree that, in large part, “you are what you eat.” In other words, the body’s structural integrity and strength depend on the quality and quantity of the diet. However, dietary choices can influence health and well-being in myriad other ways as well. For example, consumption of specific nutrients can influence the body’s overall oxidative and inflammatory states; this is thought to modulate the risk of many serious conditions such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. As such, scientists are trying to understand these complex relations to help prevent many common illnesses. Of considerable interest is whether it makes a difference if someone consumes soy compared with dairy milk, because although soy is thought to benefit bone health in postmenopausal women, dairy might be especially important in reducing inflammation. Additionally, whole-grain foods are thought to be antiinflammatory. In 3 independent studies reported in the January 2010 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers investigated the complex relation between these types of foods and risks of chronic disease in healthy and overweight men and women.

Study Design. In the first, Zemel and colleagues conducted a controlled, clinical, 28-d trial in 20 subjects to determine differential responses when subjects consumed “smoothies” made from dairy or soy on different occasions. Oxidative stress and inflammation were measured at the beginning and end of each test drink. In a more long-term (3-y) intervention, a research team headed by Lee Alekel at Iowa State University determined the effect of 2 doses of soy isoflavones consumed in tablet form on bone mineral density in 224 healthy postmenopausal women. Finally, scientists from the Netherlands and Scotland studied whether whole-grain barley (compared to white bread) consumed as part of an evening meal can modulate glucose metabolism and inflammation the next day.

Conclusions. Collectively, these studies support positive effects of dairy foods and whole-grain barley products on several risk factors for chronic disease; both reduced markers of inflammation, and barley also helped regulate glucose metabolism. Further studies are needed to determine whether these physiologic outcomes translate into lower risk of disease and if there are combined effects of these types of food over time.

Reference.  Zemel MB, Sun X, Sobhani T, Wilson B. Effects of dairy compared with soy on oxidative and inflammatory stress in overweight and obese subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2010;91:16–22.

Supervised Workouts Improve Results
Research supports the benefits of hiring a qualified personal coach. Study groups using a coach found higher improvements in body mass, fat mass and fat-free mass, along with strength gains.
Source: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2000;32,6,1175

Exercise is Good for Women
A large-scale, six-year study involving 39,372 American women over age 44 confirms that exercise reduces the risk of coronary heart disease in women. The study found that the more energy women spent exercising, the lower their risk of developing heart disease, including heart attacks, regardless of other factors.
Sources: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2001; 161, 825-831; The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001; 285, 11, 1447-1454.