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Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet? If not, there is still time. Among the most common resolutions are changes to improve health, including quitting smoking, losing weight, and starting an exercise program. Some people set specific goals, such as losing 20 pounds or running a marathon, while others take a more general approach, like eating healthier or getting in shape. Either way, these are excellent goals, but they should not be your only New Year’s resolutions.

Your resolutions should also include the things you need to do and change to achieve these goals. For example, losing 20 pounds is a good goal for many people. But what that really means is learning about a healthier way to eat, shopping for and preparing appropriate meals, finding time to exercise each day, and focusing on turning these behaviors into lasting habits. In this example, learning how to shop for and prepare healthy meals would make an excellent resolution that would lead toward the goal of losing 20 pounds.

With this in mind, here are a few resolutions that can help you achieve your health improvement goals:

Be realistic. Many people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions simply because they don’t set realistic goals or aren’t realistic about what it will take to meet those goals. For example, running a marathon is an ambitious goal for almost everyone, especially someone who doesn’t exercise at all. It is possible that someone could get in shape to run a marathon, but it will take a long time. A resolution to work up to jogging five days per week, with a goal of completing a 10k run is more realistic and achievable.

Focus on learning. Making most health behavior changes involve learning as much as doing. Something as simple as eating healthier meals requires learning about the nutrients that make some foods healthier than others, learning to read food labels to select healthy foods, and learning how to cook and prepare healthy meals. If your resolution is to learn about healthy eating you will be able to achieve that goal and be well on your way to eating a healthier diet.

Manage your time. Most health improvement projects require taking time to learn about, implement, and maintain those healthy behaviors. A major reason that people fail to really get started with or sustain a weight loss or exercise program is time. If you resolve to manage your time to include exercise or meal preparation in your daily schedule you will be much more likely to meet your goals. Trying to add these new activities as “extras” to your already busy day will inevitably lead to them getting squeezed out.

Plan ahead. Most people already know that changing health behaviors can be challenging, even under the best circumstances. It’s no wonder that holidays, travel, and other life events can complicate or even derail an otherwise successful diet or exercise program. Make it your resolution to think about what you can do before, during, and after these (and other) disruptions to your routine to keep yourself on track. Planning ahead and thinking “what if” can make the difference between giving up and catching up on your diet or exercise program after a vacation.

The idea of making resolutions that are steps in the process leading toward a goal instead of the goal itself may be new. But focusing on the changes you need to make rather than the outcome may well be the step that helps you keep your resolutions, achieve your goals, and make 2018 a happy, healthy year.

Eating well and being physically active are two of the most important things you can do to promote good health. But knowing you should do these things does not always mean it is easy to actually do them.

Despite the simplicity of the message “eat healthy and exercise,” many people struggle with knowing exactly what to do and how to do it. This is largely due to the complicated and ever-changing nature of nutrition and exercise information and the fact that most people receive no education in these areas.

You may even feel like the information you read and hear is designed to confuse you. That may be true, considering that much of the nutrition information we get comes from food companies that are trying to convince us to buy their products. Even scientific research can yield conflicting results, challenging even the most knowledgeable professionals, myself included, to make sense of it. And even if you do decide to make eating or activity changes, the “best” diet or exercise program claims may make you wonder if you made the right choice.

Given this, it’s not your fault if you struggle to understand basic health information and recommendations. But it is your responsibility to learn as much as you can to make the best choices for you and your family.

This is the topic of my Health & Fitness column in the Aiken Standard this week

This won’t be easy, of course. The popular media, as well as social media, promote confusion and false promises about nutrition by making claims that some foods are “toxic” while others are “superfoods.” The old good carb, bad carb or good fat, bad fat arguments have been given a new life as eat this, not that lists. The problem is that many of these claims are not supported by science. The research that is done often yields complicated or conflicting results that aren’t explained in a way that actually helps people make good decisions.

The same is true for exercise. No one doubts that exercise and physical activity are essential for good health, but there are conflicting claims about specific benefits of exercise and what the best form of exercise really is. This can lead to the idea that if you aren’t doing the right exercise, it doesn’t count. Nothing could be further from the truth! While there are reasons why some athletes might want specific types of training, the majority of people can benefit from simply spending less time sitting and going for a walk each day.

So, what can you do? Given the confusing and changing nutrition recommendations it’s best to focus on what hasn’t changed. That is, to focus on eating real food rather than processed, prepackaged foods. Planning meals and snacks to include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, lean meat, eggs, and dairy should give you plenty of healthy fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.

Instead of worrying about the “perfect” exercise, make it your goal to do something active for at least 30 minutes every day.  Beyond that, dedicating time for aerobic, strength, and flexibility exercise will bring greater benefits. Remember, the best exercise for you is the one you will do! Seek advice from people you trust and credible professionals, but remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Your responsibility isn’t to understand all of the nutrition, exercise, and health information you hear. It’s to make an effort to make a few simple, healthy choices despite that confusing information: Sit less, move more, and eat real food.

Have you ever noticed that some people struggle to lose weight while others seem to have no trouble maintaining a healthy body weight? Why is it that some people lack the motivation to exercise while others are can’t seem to stop moving? What about people who appear to have no interest in desserts while others have a “sweet tooth”? Why do overweight parents tend to have children who are also overweight?

The traditional answer is that some people lack willpower which makes it more difficult for them to make healthier eating and activity choices. While motivation and dedicated effort are essential for making healthy choices, genetic research has resulted in the identification of a host of genes that appear to affect physical activity and eating habits, food preferences, and responses to a diet or exercise program.

The link between genetics and obesity is not new. Decades ago researchers found that obesity tends to cluster in families. But is this due to shared genes or a shared environment? The answer is both, but heredity plays an important role. Studies of siblings raised apart show that their body weight and fatness more closely resembled each other than the families they lived with. Other studies show wide variation in body weight among relatives, where some are obese but others are at a healthy weight. This suggests that although genes can predispose people to being overweight, personal behavior can modify this risk.

Genetic variations also explains why people respond to exercise training differently. Much of this knowledge comes from the Heritage Family Study which examined body fatness, fitness, and other health factors in over 700 individuals from 130 families. After completing the same exercise program, some people improved their fitness significantly while others experienced only a minor improvement. The prevailing explanation was that varying degrees of compliance accounted for these differences, but the Heritage study showed that genetic factors were at responsible for 40–50% of the variation in both initial fitness and improvement in fitness.

Your genes can also influence what you eat. Eating habits, including how much you eat as well as food preferences, are at least partly under the control of certain genes. Two separate genes that regulate appetite and the type of food people eat, have been identified. This might explain why some people say they always feel hungry while others are satisfied after a small meal or why  some people crave foods that are high in sugar and fat while others do not. Of course, what you eat is a behavior that you can control—you are putting the food in your own mouth, right?—but it is interesting to know that there are genetic factors that make these decisions more challenging for some.

Does this mean that healthy behaviors including eating and exercise are out of your control? Does it give you an excuse for being unhealthy? Absolutely not! Your genes may predispose you to certain health conditions, meaning you are at higher risk, but they do not predetermine your health. The expression of these genes is modifiable by your environment and your behavior. Even though you may be at higher risk for obesity, you still need to eat too much and not be active enough to gain weight. Be aware that “too much” varies greatly among people, so there is no single eating and activity pattern that applies to everyone. But knowing that you have a family history should give you even more motivation to eat a healthy diet and get regular exercise.

Spring means blooming flowers, new leaves on trees, and green grass. But for millions of people, spring also means seasonal allergies. Also known as allergic rhinitis or hay fever, seasonal allergies are caused by pollen produced by plants. Tree pollen is the most common culprit in the spring, with grass and ragweed in the summer and fall, respectively. Allergy symptoms — watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, congestion, and cough — may start within 5–10 minutes of exposure in sensitive individuals and last for hours.

Seasonal allergies are an abnormal response of the immune system to pollen. Inhaled pollen acts as an allergen, which stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies, including IgE. Antibodies are produced whenever the immune system encounters a foreign antigen, whether it is a virus or pollen. The IgE stimulates specialized cells in the airways called mast cells to produce histamines, which cause the familiar symptoms of seasonal allergies. This is the same process that causes allergies to dust mites, animal dander, and certain foods.

Since histamines are an important step in triggering an allergic response, seasonal allergies can be treated by using antihistamine drugs such as fexofenadine (Allegra), loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and diphenhydramine (Benadryl). Some antihistamines also include a decongestant (Claritin-D, for example).

Allergy symptoms can be diminished by reducing exposure to pollen. This means keeping the windows of your home and car closed and minimizing outdoor activity when pollen levels are highest, particularly early in the morning, on windy days, and when the pollen count is high. Pollen levels are often reported with weather forecasts.

People often ask if it is safe to exercise if they have seasonal allergies. In most cases, the answer is yes. Allergy symptoms are typically similar to cold symptoms, so the usual advice about exercise with a cold also applies: If the symptoms are above your neck (runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing), it is safe to exercise. That said, allergy symptoms are based on exposure to pollen and the more you inhale, the worse your symptoms. Since your breathing increases significantly during exercise, so does your exposure to pollen.

There are some cases in which exercise with allergies could have serious effects. Exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB), also called exercise-induced asthma, is a condition that affects the majority of people with asthma, many of whom also have seasonal allergies. EIB is thought to be caused by the cooling and drying of the airways due to the high ventilation during exercise or exposure to particulate matter in the air, typically from pollutants, or pollen. EIB results in the constriction of airways, severely limiting airflow into the lungs. Asthmatics typically carry a rescue inhaler (bronchodilator) during exercise for this reason.

Interestingly, EIB also occurs in athletes, including those who compete at the Olympic level. It is more common among athletes competing in outdoor winter events (cooling and drying of airways) and indoor ice events (pollutants from ice resurfacing equipment). Through careful warm-up and use of certain approved medications, athletes with allergies and EIB can successfully compete at an elite level.

Since most of us don’t reach the exertion level of athletes, there is no reason to let seasonal allergies stop you from exercising. You may be able to exercise outdoors on days in which the pollen count is lower, especially if you do lower-intensity exercise like walking. Antihistamine medications may help ease the symptoms and shouldn’t interfere with exercise. For many people, allergy season is a good time to exercise indoors. Walking on a treadmill or an indoor track or participating in a group exercise class at a local gym are great ways to stay active on days when exercise outdoors just won’t work. By taking some precautions, you can and should exercise even if you have seasonal allergies!

Nutrition, exercise, and health information can be confusing. 
But it doesn't have to be that way.
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 drparrsays@gmail.com | @drparrsays