Health

Fill Up, Not Out

Sitting down to a healthy, high-fibre breakfast may be one key to a healthy body weight. A recent study asked volunteers to eat either cornflakes (which are relatively low in fibre) or oatmeal (loaded with fibre) for breakfast. Those who ate oatmeal consumed 40 per cent less food three hours later. Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (October 1999) found that people who ate a high-fibre diet were less likely to gain weight than those eating low amounts of fibre. High-fibre foods fill you up on fewer calories and slow the digestive process, which wards off hunger.
--WebMD

Still Smoking?

What better New Year's resolution than to give up puffing? If you need motivation, check your cigarette package for one of several graphic health warnings--a disgusting set of teeth (gum disease), a frustrated couple on opposite sides of the bed (impotency), and other images that definitely de-glamorize smoking. And they're working! According to a survey published last year by the Canadian Medical Association, 43 per cent of respondents said the warnings raised concerns about the health effects of smoking, and 44 per cent indicated they are now more motivated to quit.
If you live in the Toronto area, check out the eight-week smoking cessation program offered by the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine's Robert Schad clinic. Web site: ccnm.edu/smoke_cess.html. Phone: 416-498-9763.
--Michelle Hancock

Break the Habit

• Your smoking behaviour is deeply rooted in your daily activities. Identify the triggers that cause you to reach for a cigarette, then deal with them in a healthier way.
  
  Do you like to smoke after a meal? Try going for a walk instead.


• When picking a quit date, pick a low-stress time away from deadlines or exams, then circle it on your calendar to make it official.


• Make an appointment to have your teeth cleaned on your quitting day.


• Get as much support as possible from family and friends. If they also smoke, try quitting together.


• Make your house a no-smoking zone. (Remember, you want to avoid triggers.)


• Make smoking difficult. Start by inhaling less of each cigarette and butt out before you reach the tip of the filter. Delay as long as you can between cigarettes. Smoke with your opposite hand.

For more ideas and support for quitting, visit the Lung Association of Saskatchewan, sk.lung.ca.
--Lung Association of Saskatchewan

Canadians Need More Vitamin D

While vitamin D is especially important for preventing osteoporosis and bone fractures, researchers say Canadians aren't getting enough. Vitamin D can be obtained from the diet but is mainly generated through skin exposure to sunlight. Several studies have shown that people living at northern latitudes (at or above 42° N) tend to be vitamin D deficient in fall and winter months. A study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (December 2001) found that vitamin D deficiency can occur when Canada's long, dark winters deplete the body's stores of the vitamin. Another study at the University of Calgary backs this up, finding that 97 per cent of Calgarians studied were vitamin D deficient in the fall and winter.

Dr. Reinhold Vieth, a world-renowned vitamin D researcher, believes most Canadians are vitamin D deficient and recommends 1,000 IU daily of D3 (colicacepherol) during fall and winter. D3 is naturally sourced from eggs, salmon, sardines, herring and fish oils such as salmon or cod liver oil--and, when possible, 15 minutes of sunshine directly on the skin daily.
--Hans Larsen, MSc, Canadian Medical Association Journal, June 11, 2002