Staying Healthy Archive

How to gain weight safely when you're down a few pounds.

You've spent your whole life trying to keep extra pounds off. Now your doctor says you actually need to gain a few pounds to stay healthy. But healthy weight gain isn't so simple. "Some people find it difficult to add enough calories to their usual diet. It takes a lot of effort," says registered dietitian Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Where to begin

A dietitian can help you come up with an eating plan based on your specific calorie needs. It starts with understanding how quickly you've lost weight and why (see "Why are you underweight?"). Your age, size, activity, amount of weight lost, and overall health will be key to designing a diet that's right for you.

Try simple measures first, like using a fiber supplement and treating underlying conditions.

Nobody wants to talk about or even imagine it. But loss of bowel control — known as fecal incontinence — is a problem for millions of adults in the United States, especially women.

"It becomes more common with age. It's socially isolating and takes away your dignity. You live in fear that you have stool in your pants and people can smell it. Some people won't even tell their doctors about it," says Dr. Kyle Staller, a gastroenterologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

News briefs

Ever hear the saying that drinking beer before wine can reduce hangover symptoms? It's just a myth, according to a small randomized study published Feb. 1, 2019, in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers found out by dividing 90 men and women (ages 19 to 40) into four groups. One group drank beer first, and then wine; another group drank wine first, and then beer; and the last two groups drank only beer or only wine. All of the participants drank until they were intoxicated (measured by a breath test), and then rated their hangover symptoms (like headache and nausea) on the day after drinking. The process was repeated a week later, but this time the beer-first group drank wine first; the wine-first group drank beer first; the wine-only group drank only beer; and the beer-only group drank only wine. The results: everyone experienced hangovers, no matter what they drank or the order in which they drank it. The strongest predictors for hangover intensity were perceived drunkenness and vomiting. The bottom line: Drinking too much is unhealthy for anyone. If you drink at all, drink in moderation. That means no more than one drink per day for women, no more than two drinks per day for men.

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Don't neglect healthy habits when planning your summer travels.

Before you leave for summer vacation, don't forget to pack some good health.

"While you should follow healthy habits year-round, you should give extra attention to certain areas when you travel, since you are often more active than usual," says Dr. Wynne Armand, a primary care physician at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Flexibility can decline as you age and raise your risk of injury. A daily stretching routine can help.

As you age, it's normal to become less limber. Your muscles shrink and your tendons lose their water content, which makes your body stiffer. But add in less activity from a sedentary lifestyle and your lack of flexibility can become even worse.

"When you sit too much and don't move around, the muscles in your hips, legs, and calves get tighter," says Dr. Lauren Elson of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and faculty editor for Harvard Health Publishing's special reports, Stretching and Starting to Exercise.

In the journals

How many push-ups can you do in a minute? The number may predict your risk of heart disease, suggests a study published online Feb. 15, 2019, by JAMA Network Open.

Harvard researchers analyzed data from 1,104 healthy firefighters, average age 40, who did not have cardiovascular disease. Each man performed as many push-ups as possible in one minute. The men also had treadmill tests to measure their cardiovascular health and aerobic fitness. After 10 years, the researchers found that the men who had originally performed the most push-ups were least likely to get heart disease.

In the journals

Need another reason to monitor your intake of ultra-processed foods? Cutting down on your amounts could help you live longer.

In an observational study published online Feb. 11, 2019, by JAMA Internal Medicine, almost 45,000 adults ages 45 and older completed several dietary assessments over a two-year period. On average, ultra-processed foods made up about 15% of their daily diet as measured in grams.

Ask the doctors

Q. I recently read that I don't need to exercise all at once during the day to get health benefits. Is this true?

A. It's true — at least according to the newest version of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Healthier options, such as baking, can offer similar taste without the health drawbacks.

Fried foods are crunchy, crispy, and tasty, but as tempting as they are, eating them too often might shave years off your life.

A study published online January 23 by The BMJ found that women who ate one or more servings of fried chicken daily were 13% more likely to die prematurely from any cause and 12% more likely to die from heart-related causes than women who didn't eat any fried food.

Research we're watching

Not only might chronic inflammation affect your heart health, but it could also lead to cognitive decline, according to a study published in the February issue of Neurology. Researchers measured inflammation in more than 12,000 middle-aged adults, assigning each a composite score using four inflammation-related biomarkers found in the blood. They then assessed the cognitive function of the participants in three separate visits over the next 20 years. They found that after adjusting for demographic and other variables, inflammation appeared to be associated with increased cognitive decline. People in the study who had higher inflammation scores experienced 7.8% greater cognitive decline when compared with study participants who had lower scores.

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