This Is No Bull .....

Energy drinks from Cold Storage

When I was doing my National Service in the army, some of my platoon mates who were having issues with their fitness would frequently load up with "energy drinks" such as Red Bull. Especially in the morning before physical training and/ or Standard Obstacle Course (SOC) training sessions. They definitely did before the SOC tests too.

I'll ask them why and they'll say that it gives them a "boost" to be able to finish the training strongly or pass the test. Some of them will also mix Red Bull with alcohol when they book out on Fridays so they can party the rest of the night away.

Later while studying in university, I found out some of my classmates did the same when cramming for an exam or writing a paper. A published paper found that 51 percent of college students consumed at least a bottle of energy drink a month.

So I'm sure you would have seen, heard or perhaps even tried some of the above. Well, if energy drinks such as Red Bull is your drink then you may want to read on.

Sure, the energy drinks may give you a temporary boost, but it can also give you a whole lot of other problems. Previous studies show that they can mess with your sleep, make you gain weight and increase your blood pressure. They can also lead to substance abuse, mental health problems, higher risk of developing diabetes, dental problems and even kidney damage.

Energy drinks are advertised to boost/ improve energy, stamina, athletic performance and even your concentration. Similar to sports drinks (Gatorade, Powerade, 100 Plus etc), the target consumer market for energy drinks are adolescents and young adults.

Energy drinks typically contain lots of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, certain vitamins, minerals and non nutritive stimulants (such as guarana, ginseng, taurine, L-carnitine, inositol, yerba mate and D-glucuronolactone).

An average 500 ml can of energy drink contains about 54 grams of sugar, way above the recommended 36 grams for men. You've read here that it is through consuming excessive sugar that causes you to get diabetes.

According to the article referenced below, some energy drinks reviewed contained as much as 207 mg of caffeine (recommended daily allowance for adults is 400 mg/ day, 100 mg/day for adolescents). When you consume more, you may feel anxious, depressed or even harbor suicidal thoughts.

Excessive caffeine along with other stimulants such as taurine, guarana and ginseng can also affect your blood pressure.

The authors concluded that current evidence suggest that health risks outweigh any short term perks or benefits you may experience from energy drinks.

Now you know.

References

Al-Sharr L, Vercammen K et al (2017). Health Effects And Public Health Concerns Of Energy Drink Consumption In The United States: A Mini-Review. Frontiers in Public Health. 31 August 2017. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2017.00225.

Heckman MA, Sherry K et al (2010). Energy Drinks. An Assessment Of Their Market Size, Consumer Demographics, Ingredient Profile, Functionality, And Regulations In The United States. Comp Reviews in Food Sci Food Safety.  29 April 2010. DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00111.x

Now, that's a lot of Red Bull in there

I took the picture above and below while riding to my previous clinic a few years ago thinking I may one day use the pictures. Glad I can use the pictures now.

A closer look

How Singapore Can Solve Our Diabetes Problem

In our National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted that 1 in 9 Singaporeans has diabetes. And of these, an average of 1200 undergo amputations every year!

I was quite shocked at the sobering figures that he cited. Three in 10 Singaporeans above the age of 60 have diabetes. If you break in down by race, 2.5 in 10 Chinese over 60 have diabetes, half of Malays over 60 years old and six in 10 Indians over 60 are affected.

PM Lee then urged Singaporeans to get regular medical check ups to know if they are diabetic or are at risk and suggested solutions to counter it. He then recommended that Singaporeans exercise more, suggesting that the easiest way to do so is "just walk  a little bit more every day".

If possible, I would definitely suggest including weight training (also known as strength training or resistance training).

In case you think weight training is only for bodybuilders pumping iron for beefy biceps and bulging pecs, current evidence shows that weight training - whether with a light dumbbell or your own body weight may be the best exercise for lifelong overall function and fitness.

Here's what most important. Research has shown that weight training helps with improved insulin sensitivity among people with diabetes and pre diabetes. Twice weekly weight training sessions helped control insulin swings (and body weight) among older men with type-2 diabetes.

During weight training, our muscles are rapidly using glucose (or blood sugar). This energy consumption continues even after you finish your strength training session. This is especially beneficial for anyone at risk for metabolic conditions like Type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and unhealthy cholesterol levels making weight training the most effective remedy.

In addition, weight training can strengthen our bones and improve our posture through bone remodeling. Weight training stimulates the osteoblasts (bone building cells) to build more bone. Weight training is also superior to aerobic exercise for enhancing and maintaining total body bone strength. And that's probably another post.

That's why I bought a Olympic bar, squat rack and got some free weights earlier this year as I realize I was losing muscle mass.

Showing my boy how it's done

Reference

Ibanez J, Izquierdo M et al (2005). Twice-Weekly Progressive Resistance Training Decreases Abdominal Fat And Improves Insulin Sensitivity In Older Men With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 28(3): 662-667. DOI: 10.2337/diacare.28.3.662.

The Benefits Of Exercising Before Breakfast

Picture by Evan Bench from Flickr

How many of you don't eat anything before you exercise first thing in the morning? While I was still actively training I never went training first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Definitely wouldn't be able to finish the session.

I still try to ride close to three hours most Saturday mornings and still cannot imagine not eating anything before the ride too.

So I was pretty surprised when I read that the benefits of exercising in a fasted state (up to 90 mins in the study) will significantly reduce the chance of you putting on weight if you've been eating like there's no tomorrow.

A group of healthy young men were recruited by researchers for their six week study. They were fed a diet of 50 percent fat and 30 percent more calories than what they had been consuming overall. What's more, some of the men agreed not to exercise during the six weeks (this is the control group).

The rest of the subjects were assigned to two exercise groups. Both groups did the same identical, supervised exercise four times a week in the mornings.  They ran and cycled at a strenuous intensity. Two of the exercise sessions were 90 mins, two were 60 mins.

One of the exercise groups ate a hefty carbohydrate rich breakfast before exercise and continued to ingest carbohydrates (in the form of sports drinks) during the exercise.

The other exercise group fasted before exercising and drank only water during the exercise.The second group did make up by eating similar amounts to the first exercise group later in the morning.

After six weeks the group that did no exercise put on an average of six pounds. What was worse was they had developed insulin resistance - their muscles were no longer responding well to insulin and had difficulty getting glucose out of their bloodstream efficiently.

Extra fat was stored between their muscle cells too. This insulin resistance and muscles stored with fat are metabolically unhealthy conditions that can be precursors of diabetes.

The first exercise group also gained weight, half as much as the control (non exercise) group. They too had become more insulin- resistant and were storing fat in their muscles.

Only the second exercise group did not gain weight and showed no signs of insulin resistance. They burned fat that they ingested more efficiently too.

The authors suggested that exercise training is more effective if have haven't eaten before exercise compared to eating a carbohydrate rich breakfast to stimulate glucose tolerance if you are on a high fat, high calorie diet. They explained that exercising in a fasted state (usually possible before breakfast) encourages the body to burn a greater percentage of fat (instead of carbohydrates) for fuel during vigorous exercise. Since you are utilising fat, you will not store it in your muscles.

This fasting group also had increased levels of a muscle protein that helps with transporting glucose in the bloodstream thus helping to regulate insulin sensitivity.

Exercising in a fasted state helped fight the two bad effects of eating a high fat, high calorie diet. Plus it prevented them from gaining weight.

Before you proceed to embark on your training sessions on an empty stomach do take note of the following caveats. Fasting before your race definitely won't work. You run the risk of "hitting the wall" during your workout since carbohydrates are easier for muscles to utilise than fat while exercising. The benefits more not be similar if you exercise at a more leisurely pace and for less duration.

A good time to adopt such a practice to fast before exercise is probably during the upcoming festive season (yes, it's already October, the year has flown by) where you indulge in more fat and calories than anytime of the year. Bear in mind the researchers detected that only three days of a extremely high fat and high calorie diet can lead to increased blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, potentially increasing your risk for Type 2 diabetes.

Running on a treadmill or cycling on the stationary bike in the gym is definitely safer if you plan to ride more than the 90 minutes (done in the study). You definitely don't want to bonk and fall while riding outside.

Reference

Van Proeyen K, Szlufcik K et al (2010). Training In The Fasted State Improves Glucose Tolerance During Fat-rich Diet. J Physiol. 588(21): 4289-4301. DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2010.196493.

Being Lonely May Make You Drink More Sugary Drinks

The picture of the book on top (The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe)  has got nothing to do with this post. I just thought it was a good picture to post.

Back to the post.

If you're feeling lonely watch out. According to a group of Norwegian researchers, being lonely may cause you to consume more sugary beverages. And too much sugar in your diet causes diabetes.

The researchers studied more than 90,000 pregnant women on their consumption of sugary drinks (cola, other soda and juices) and their relative feelings of loneliness and relationship satisfaction.

Other factors researched is inclusive of their marital status, other social ties apart from their romantic partner and feelings of group cohesiveness at work.

Subjects who were lonely consumed more sugar in the form of cola, other soda and juices. Those who had high levels of satisfaction in their relationships did not consume as much sugar.

This increase in sugary drinks were significant even after accounting for factors such as weight related self-image, body mass index, depression, physical activity, education level, age and income.

 This same link did not exist between loneliness and drinking artificially sweetened beverages, suggesting that it's the sugar not the sweet taste that people with relatively poorer social connections seek.

The researchers suggested improving the quality of your relationships if you find yourself drinking more sugary drinks than you like.

I'll go running if I'm lonely, hence the picture on top.

Reference

Henriksen RE et al (2014). Loneliness, Social Integration And Consumption Of Sugar-containing Beverages: Testing The Social Baseline Theory. PLoS One 9(8): e104421. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104421.

This should be the picture on top.

Exercise Helps Short Term Overeating

Now who's been eating too much?

If you've been eating more than normal (like me) this Christmas and are have been piling on the pounds, here's motivation to keep your exercise going.

An recently published article in the Journal of Physiology found that regular exercise helps keep your blood sugar and fat cells in the healthy range even when you consume significantly more calories over several days.

The study looked at twenty-six men who over ate for a week. Some increased their calorie intake by 50% and did not exercise at all that week. The others in the study took in 75% more calories than usual but ran 45 minutes a day.

Both groups accumulated a large energy surplus during that week (from eating way too much). Even though both groups were considered to be "unhealthy" in their weight control in the short term, the runners handled the overeating much better than those who did not run (or exercise).

The runners had stable blood sugar levels and their fat cells showed less "undesirable" genetic changes. The inactive group had much worse blood sugar control and had alterations in several genes associated with nutritional balance, metabolism and insulin action.

The authors concluded that a daily bout of exercise during a period of overeating (very common during Christmas and the New Year) will prevent many of the negative changes from happening even though you are gaining weight. Well, if you have eaten too much and haven't exercised this past Christmas and have piled on the pounds, you can still remedy it by kick starting your exercise regime before the New Year holiday period.

Reference

Walhin JP, Richardson JD, Betts JA and Thompson D. (2013). Exercise Counteracts The Effects Of Short-term Overfeeding And Reduced Physical Activity Independent Of Energy Imbalance In Healthy Young Men. J of Physiology. 591: 6231-6243.

Who is not eating?

*Pictures by Aminah with her Canon Powershot

Sugar (And Not Fat) Causes Diabetes

Check out the amount of sugar 

For years, the prevailing medical opinion is that eating more sugar means having more calories and it is the resulting weight gain that leads to diabetes. Me too, I have always thought that if you were fat you were more likely to get diabetes.

After I had my bike accident  I was afraid of putting on weight. I have always eaten what I wanted (all the junk food of course), I drank lots of Coke and other sodas, but the saving grace is that I have always been fairly active, even after I stopped racing competitively. However, with my head and back broken, I was definitely not going to be able to exercise for a while.

Something miraculous happened, I stopped drinking Coke in the first few weeks after my accident. My wife (God bless her) who has always been an advocate of eating healthily bought a juicer and made my son and I drink more vegetable and fruit juices and also bought and cooked more organic food (thanks, dear).

And you know what, my friends and colleagues who saw me a few weeks after the accident actually said I lost weight. Well of course some of that is from muscle wasting due to my inactivity. But definitely the healthy eating (and not drinking soda) helped.

Now coming back to the post I was going to write about sugar and diabetes. Like I wrote earlier, I always thought that if you were overweight you were more likely to get diabetes. I guess I may be wrong. A recent published study shows there may be more than meets the eye.

The authors of a recently published study shows that it is sugar and not obesity that causes diabetes. Their study controlled for poverty, urbanization, ageing, obesity and physical activity. In short, it controlled everything that can be controlled. The authors looked at sugar consumption in 175 countries over 10 years.

Sugar was 11 times stronger than total calories in explaining rates of diabetes around the world. They found that the more sugar found in the food supply, the higher the rates of diabetes in that country, no matter what the obesity rates were.

In fact, they found that for every 12 ounces of sugar-sweetened drink introduced per person per day into a country's food system, the rate of diabetes went up by 1 percent.

The authors found that 20 percent of obese people have completely normal metabolic signatures while up to 40 percent of people with normal weight have the exact same metabolic problems that the obese do (just that they are not fat). The warning here is that you can be of normal weight, but if you eat a lot of sugar you can be "sick" and not know it unless you get examined.

Scary for me especially because I tend to consume lots of sugar before. Now that I am definitely healing, I have gone back to some (but not all) of my bad sugar habits. I definitely need to make sure I do not go back to my previous levels of consumption.

And so do you, if you have a bad sugar habit now that you know.

Reference

Basu S, Yoffe P, Hills N and Lustig, RH (2013). The Relationship of Sugar to Population-Level Diabetes Prevalence : An Econometric Analysis of Repeated Cross-Sectional Data. PLoS ONE 8(2): e57873. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057873.

*Picture from Sugarstacks.com