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Disclaimer: This website is not provided to diagnose or treat any person of any disease, but is created to share information I consider important in a condensed and easily understandable format. Any medical condition, signs or symptoms, that might occur in your body should be investigated by a properly trained medical provider in person at a medical office or equivalent. Use of information provided on this website does not create a patient-doctor relationship between the user and Dr. Jensen.
ARTICLES:
Welcome!
Some of you reading this, I know well. Some of you, I don’t know at all, which makes it a little awkward when trying to figure out when to tone things down and when to really get on your case. I cannot tell when you have had enough, and I cannot entertain questions at the end of every paragraph (although, you are welcome to email me questions at any time).
My nutrition café is not all about me, although I am quite aware that few things have more transformative power than people and stories. People are fascinated by real life and ordinary people. Why else would you be reading this right now??
So, this is why I tell you that for several years now, I have been experimenting with different nutritional plans. I have veered far away from the cultural habits that many have conformed to in the U.S., and you will see this as you progress through the pages of my website. You will come to realize that I am literally taking you on a pilgrimage, sharing my passions and revealing my hopes for changing the way the world views health, specifically, food.
My greatest sign of hope for a worldview change regarding food, is the emergence of a new generation that is eager to return to a state of health. People are actually paying attention! So, my question is no longer “what to do if nobody listens, but what happens when people actually start to take me seriously”. Now, don’t get me wrong, even though people around the country thirst for health, there is still the problem of “bigger and bigger ”. We want to supersize our fries, our sodas, and everything else that spells disaster.
Can you see the headlines? Extra, Extra, read all about it: Obesity Hits an All-time High! The proportion of U.S. adults who are obese grew by nearly 2% between 2005 and 2007, from just under 24% to 25.6%. Newspapers, journals, radio, and TV tell us we are in the midst of an obesity epidemic. But, as I mentioned above, the things that transform us are people and experiences. Scientific studies of “fat genes” and medical reports posting statistics regarding the rise of obesity are really not that compelling, even if they are true!
I realize my journey is rather difficult, but you wanted the truth from an ordinary person, right? Well, somewhere along the way, I started to wake up to the profound effect food made upon me, my body, my mind, my mood, and, ultimately, my heart. I began to notice that what I consumed had both an immediate, and long-term, effect on everything about me, my lifestyle, and my environment.
It is undeniable that we have to eat in order to stay alive. But, here’s where it gets a little tricky. I am going to ask you a simple question: When you are eating, do you ask yourself if the food items serve a purpose? Are there vitamins or minerals? Does the fat come from a healthy source or is it saturated or worse, a trans fat? Does the carbohydrate have a good amount of fiber or is it high in sugar? Is the protein lean or fatty? The bottom line is this, if the food you are about to consume doesn't serve a purpose, don't put it in your mouth. The purpose of eating is to nourish the body…provide it with the nutrients it requires for bodily functions.
A healthy eating diet takes a balanced approach. I will be teaching you which foods will make you feel and look better, while still allowing you to fit them into an enjoyable daily routine. I will remind you all the time that a healthy eating plan is based on the following major food groups: carbohydrates, fat and protein…each in a specific amount and at just the right time of day.
The time has come for a new way of viewing food. I will stir up issues that will have different schools of thought, but it is worth the risk of controversy. I will get you to think about why you eat rather than what you are eating. And, you will learn, once you know why you are eating, you will know what to eat!
Disclaimer: This website is not provided to diagnose or treat any person of any disease, but is created to share information I consider important in a condensed and easily understandable format. Any medical condition, signs or symptoms, that might occur in your body should be investigated by a properly trained medical provider in person at a medical office or equivalent. Use of information provided on this website does not create a patient-doctor relationship between the user and Dr. Jensen.
ARCHIVE: Medical Inquiries
The Growing Obesity Epidemic
Vit E & Vit C on Cardiovascular Events
Monday, February 2, 2009 -According to a study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, kids who are physically fit are smarter too. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Exercise not only gets your heart pumping and boosts blood, oxygen and nutrient circulation to the brain, it also promotes whole body awareness. Regular physical activity better equips your brain to focus on the task at hand, whether it’s memorizing your times tables or your To Do list. No matter if you were a fit kid or not, it’s never too late to start incorporating regular exercise into your daily routine and receiving the benefits of a brain boost.
MONDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Neither vitamin E nor vitamin C supplementation has any significant effect on the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke and death in men, according to a report published in the Nov. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association and released online Nov. 9 to coincide with the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions held Nov. 8 to 12 in New Orleans.
Howard D. Sesso, from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues randomly assigned 14,641 U.S. male physicians (50 years and older, of whom 5.1 percent already had prevalent cardiovascular disease) to placebo, 400 IU of vitamin E every other day, or 500 mg of vitamin C daily.
"In a large, long-term trial of male physicians, neither vitamin E nor vitamin C supplementation reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events," Sesso and colleagues conclude. "These data provide no support for the use of these supplements for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in middle-aged and older men."
Several of the study authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
The Growing Obesity Epidemic
by Dr. Malea A. Jensen, D.O.
Obesity has become a serious threat to public health, because the prevalence is rapidly increasing, it has already reached epidemic proportions, and links to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases are well established.
There is a growing awareness of how we have inadvertently created an environment that promotes obesity by discouraging physical activity and encouraging overeating. It is becoming clear, for example, that the way we build many of our communities and the way we design buildings discourages physical activity. We build communities that discourage walking, and buildings that discourage stair use, for example. We have "engineered" physical activity out of our lives. We no longer have to be physically active to get through the day. It is almost impossible to maintain a healthy weight with such a low level of physical activity. Our ancestors were not lean because they engaged in a lot of voluntary physical activity, they were lean because they had to be physically active to get food, shelter and for transportation.
Our individual choices are greatly influenced by our environment. Certainly fast food is part of the environment that influences obesity. However, automobiles, computers, cell phones, and an unlimited number of other factors influence what and how much we eat and our physical activity patterns. It is fine to tell someone to eat less and exercise more, but we have created an environment that makes it difficult to do that. We require very little physical activity to get through the day. Similarly, we have food everywhere we go, and it is good-tasting, high in calories, and inexpensive. For most of us, our biology is not sufficiently strong to allow us to make the healthy choices in such an environment.
Education is certainly a factor, but we probably have more information available than ever before about nutrition, obesity, etc. Education alone will not work. I don't think it is fair to solely blame lack of information, or poor choices alone. Our biology, which worked fine a few generations ago, is not working today. Our biology has not changed — our environment has. Our genes basically tell us to eat when food is available and to rest when we don't have to be physically active. In past environments, food was scarce and there was a high need for physical activity. Most people were lean. As the environment has changed to one where food is readily available and as technology has reduced the need for physical activity, fewer people can resist the push of the environment toward obesity.
The effort to understand how to promote more active lifestyles is of great importance to the health of this nation. Schools, workplaces, and families need to weave physical activity into the fabric of their daily lives. The key to lifetime fitness is consistency! The following are a few tips to get you started:
- Choose an activity you enjoy
- Tailor your program to your own fitness level
- Set realistic goals
- Choose an exercise that fits your lifestyle
- Do not get discouraged if you do not initially see results
- Don’t let one missed day set you back. Jump back into the next day
- Find a partner for motivation and company
Remember, fitness and exercise is a lifestyle and it takes patience, persistence, and resiliency! Exercise for a healthy life!
For more information, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Malea Jensen via email at ironladydoc@aol.com. Dr. Jensen is a family practice physician with a strong background in athletics, nutrition, and weight training, having graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Wartburg College, in Waverly, Iowa. She then attended medical school at the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences before completing a 3-year Family Practice Residency at Iowa Lutheran Hospital. As some of you may also know, Dr. Jensen also competes as a National level bodybuilder and provides guidance through diet and exercise on her Web site at www.maleajensen.com.
Disclaimer: This website is not provided to diagnose or treat any person of any disease, but is created to share information I consider important in a condensed and easily understandable format. Any medical condition, signs or symptoms, that might occur in your body should be investigated by a properly trained medical provider in person at a medical office or equivalent. Use of information provided on this website does not create a patient-doctor relationship between the user and Dr. Jensen.