Weighty Issues for Guys

A healthy lifestyle is for men, too. Or didn't they know that?

Listen up, guys. If all that hard work in the office is your excuse for slacking off exercise, get a move on making changes! The recent revision of the body mass index (BMI) points to more of us being overweight than previously thought - and men are by no means exempt. So, how in tune are you with weighty issues? Ask yourself if you knew that...

When a man puts on weight, the rolls of fat tend to centre around his abdomen
For women, it is the hips and bum.
What's the problem: Studies have shown that men with waist sizes larger than 101.6cm are at increased risk of certain health conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
What to do: Watch the calories, and exercise.

Men ought to eat lots of fruits and vegetables too
Cut the machismo! What's recommended by the Health Promtion Board for everyone else applies to you too: Two plus two servings (of fruit and vegetables) every day.
What's the problem: If you don't, you miss out on vitamins, minerals and fibre, all of which are found in abundance in fruit and veggies. When included as a diet staple, the two foods may reduce your risk of cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and diabetes.
What to do: Make a conscious effort to - yup - eat fruits and vegetables. You could:

• Include just one fruit in your breakfast as well as with your other main meals.
• Have fruit as a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Put a bowl of fruit on your desk at the beginning of the week, and make sure it's gone by Friday. Into your stomach, not the bin!
• Drink vegetable soup. Even soup with a vegetable base counts for something.
• Get whoever cooks in your family to grate a raw carrot or apple into the minced meat used for meatballs.
• Ask for chopped vegetables in the sauce when you're eating that kids' favourite, spaghetti bolognese.

Men need as much calcium as women
What's the problem: Osteoporosis. It's not just a woman problem. Without enough calcium, men can get whacked by the disease, too.

Osteoporosis weakens bones, making them more susceptible to fractures. According to the reowned Mayo Clinic in the United States, men need 1,000 mg of calcium between the ages of 19 and 50 and 1,200mg if 51 or older.

The vitamin D requirement is 200IU (international units) every day for the under-50s, and 400IU for those in the 51 to 70 age group (600IU if older).

What to do: Drink milk when your kids do, or chew on cheese and slurp up yoghurt. These days, even McDonald's has both. What else?

• Exercise. Not only do your muscles get a workout, your bones respond to the force of your muscles at work, and build calcium reserves. The overall benefit is that you become stronger and more agile, and your balance improves. Which means, your chances of falling and breaking a bone decrease.
• Cut out the cigarettes. Smoking accelerates loss of bone mass.
• Don't overdo the alcohol. Too much decreases bone formation and reduces the body's ability to absorb calcium. Says Kho Chenchill, dietician at Gleneagles Hospital: "A lot of men entertain, so they usually have liquor with very high alcohol content. "My recommendation is, keep it to just one or two small glasses a day. A standard drink is about 10g alcohol. If possible, try to have at least two alcohol-free days a week."

6 MEALS A DAY, NOT 3
Mini meals, not mountains, says a savvy GP.

While there isn't a Top 10 list of foods you should eat, "what's important is how to eat healthy if you are eating out", says Dr Chong Yeh Woei, a general practioner with the Pacific Healthcare group.

Instead, he advises his patients to:

Choose soupy options if at a hawker centre.

Order grilled food if at a restaurant, or choose tomato-based pastas.

To help people with weight problems or high cholestrol levels understand how their weights started climbing in the first place, he explains things this way.

"When you eat something, it goes into your gut. It's absorbed into the blood stream. Most of the time, if your diet is very unhealthy, a huge mountain of sugar enters your blood stream.

"The pancreas produces insulin, which is the key that opens the door to every cell in your body. The sugar flows into the cell. Your sugar mountain disappears."

However, overweight people who are not necessarily diabetic sometimes develop insulin resistance and "the keys do not work".

"The sugar can't go into the cells, and the metabolic syndrome kicks in. The cells are starving and telling the brain to eat more. You get the urge to eat more. You give in, and make things worse. It's a vicious cycle."

Dr Chong advises those who are serious about losing weight to abandon the three-meal-a-day habit and eat six small meals instead, reducing their caloric intake, and to make exercise a part of their lives.

"During exercise, the muscle cells open without insulin. All the sugar flows in, and you have overcome the need for the 'key'.




Extracted from Family:May 2005