The author states that the human digestive system has not evolved in the last 100,000 years - since when our diet was roots and berries and? At least there was no bread, brown rice, cereals, grains, even bananas - certainly no processed foods; and that our bodies don't do well on our "new" kind of food. Also, he claims that we should eat a diet of 40% carbohydrates, 30% fat, and 30% protein. This, in preference to our currently popular high carbohydrate-low protein diet. And furthermore, that our protein-to-carbohydrate ratio should be between 0.6 and 1.0 - ideally 0.75 to be in the "Zone," where we can live a long and healthy life by virtue of creating a positive balance between "good" and "bad" eicosanoids (see Note 1). It is claimed that eicosanoids can have either good or bad effects on the body, and that the balance between the two is dependent on being in the Zone, or not. In theory, by living in the Zone, we might have a life expectancy of 115 years, much less cancer and heart disease, de creased obesity, less arthritis, and more. Sound too good to be true? Some think it is.

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Note 1 - An eicosanoid, according to Sears, is a "master" hormone (a hormone-like compound according to another source). They essentially control everything that goes on in the body - again, according to Sears.
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I have seen criticisms of The Zone in the Berkeley Wellness Letter, the Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Letter, and in a letter from a wellknown and highly respected sports nutrition expert. All gave negative reactions, for a variety of reasons. Some say the high protein level can cause problems like a high risk of heart disease, especially if the protein comes from red meat; or kidney damage, or even osteoporosis. Some of the claims for the diet, specifically about eicosanoids are unproved; little is known about eicosanoids, and even Sears' research is unpublished, so there can be no independent verification. And there is some question about whether there is even such a thing as good and bad eicosanoids.

The Zone diet shares the low-carb, high-fat/protein formula with several other diets currently in vogue. A common thread is the goal of burning fat while limiting carbohydrate intake. You do burn fat that way, but incompletely, resulting in an excess of ketones, which can cause dizziness, diarrhea, weakness, headaches, kidney stones, gout, and other unpleasantries. These diet plans are all essentially disguised low- calorie diets, so they will result in weight loss, but probably not without health risks. For now, I recommend sticking with a conventional diet; but maybe, in time, the Zone diet, or some similar eating plan will become the conventional diet.

It has recently become apparent that it is time again to talk about abdominal exercises; not specific exercises, but postural positioning/body awareness during crunches, in particular. It is true that a complete abdominal routine should include side bends for the internal and external obliques and the quadratus lumborum, and back extensions for the erector spinae muscle group; but this "discussion" applies only to crunches for the muscles of the front and sides of the abdominal cavity - the rectus abdominus, obliques, and the transverse abdominus muscles. Let's start with what happens with your head and neck. It is very common to see someone on their back, knees up -- okay so far, but then they clasp their hands behind their heads, and with their elbows pointed straight up. Now the neck abuse begins - they raise their shoulders off of the floor by pulling on the back of their head. The result is that the head is snapped forward and the chin bounces off the chest. This movement is frequently performed at warp speed, and is intended to help frequently weak abdominal muscles raise the shoulders to "crunch" the abs. But even fit individuals can often be seen using this rapid neck snapping technique. Don't do that! The vertebrae in your neck (cervical spine) may be damaged by the back-and-forth jerking action. Instead, start with your elbows pointed out to your sides, and your hands behind your head - without locked fingers; or just touch the sides of your head. The purpose of your hands during crunches is mainly to support the weight of your head, not to help pull you into a crunch. Keep your eyes looking up at about 45 degrees, and keep your chin off of your chest. Think of it like having an apple or orange under your chin, and maintain that space throughout your crunch. Your neck should be in- line with the rest of your spine.

A second part of doing a proper crunch is to think of it as moving your shoulders upward - not curling them up. Because the range of movement is relatively slight, your body will curl slightly, but just think of it as raising your shoulders straight up.

A third item is the "flat back" issue. You will most likely hear the admonition to keep your back pressed to the floor during abdominal exercises. That instruction is intended to make you avoid seriously arching your lower back. It is actually okay to maintain the normal, modest inward curve in the lower spine (slight lordosis); but severe arching increases risk of lumbar spine injury, and keeping it pressed to the floor obviates problems.

Another issue is the speed of the exercise. It should be done slowly under control (both upward and downward movements). There are no prizes for speed, and the faster you go, the more you introduce momentum into exercise, and thereby reduce the amount of work done by the target muscle.

One last item. Breathe! Don't hold your breath excessively. As you crunch, there is a tendency to hold your breath, and that's okay; but forcefully expel air at the top of the crunch, and then inhale as you return toward the floor.

Okay, now you are ready to crunch away. Go to it!

There have been some incorrect statements made on several television exercise programs, which should be corrected. Perhaps they were only communications misunderstandings, but let's clarify them.

• Body Shaping, a program largely about weight training, has frequent appearances by an aerobics instructor, who frequently, during squatting or lunging exercises, has followed the accurate statement about not projecting your knees beyond your toes, with a comment about avoiding knee hyperextension. That is a proper statement. Unfortunately, projecting one's knees beyond their toes is not hyperextension. Hyper-extension of the knee is an unnatural movement characterized by the knee bending backward, as from an impact like a football tackle. A knee that is normally bent is flexed, not extended.

• Fitness Beach is a largely aerobic exercise program, which occasionally dabbles in weight training. The cast member who most often leads the weight training sessions, sometimes talks about the rear (posterior) deltoid. She helpfully points to its location, at the back of the shoulder, on one of the other cast members, and describes it as "a little muscle right here." Again, unfortunately, the rear deltoid is not a separate muscle; but, rather, the rear portion of a single muscle - the deltoid - a triangular shaped muscle which caps the shoulder. There are specific exercises to isolate training to the front, middle, or rear deltoid, but all are just different parts of one muscle.

• Gotta Sweat, another mainly weight training program, Is lead by a lady who repeatedly talks about deltoid "heads." The deltoid muscles have no heads. Muscles like the triceps or biceps have heads; that is, they have a common attachment at one end, and then divide into separate parts, called "heads," with separate attachments. The deltoids are single muscles, without heads.

Here are a couple of interesting items from the June 1996, Berkeley Wellness Letter: 1) several health benefits have recently been attributed to garlic, and 2) about protein intake.

Garlic has been said to lower blood cholesterol, but a review of the relevant studies has shown those studies to be flawed and inconsistent. Other studies have linked garlic to lowered blood pressure, but with the same problems: inconsistency and flawed methods. Other studies have shown lowered risk of cancer, but further studies must be made; as things now stand, some types seem to be helped, while others are unaffected. And, finally, some studies have indicated possible strengthening of the immune system, but there is insufficient evidence to fully support that allegation. But there are two absolutely incontrovertible findings: garlic gives you bad breath, and it keeps vampires away.

Protein intake (high levels) is often linked to increased risk of heart disease, cancers, osteoporosis, and kidney damage; but since we don't eat pure protein, it is difficult to validate these connections.

Apparently, people who get their protein from plant sources are healthier than those who consume animal protein. They also have lower heart disease risk because plant protein has less fat, more fiber, and more other [unspecified] potentially beneficial "stuff."

There is an apparent osteoporosis link between protein intake and calcium loss. The higher your protein intake, the more calcium is excreted in your urine. This issue remains controversial.

Do exercisers need more protein? Among endurance athletes or serious weight lifters, the answer appears to be "yes," but they tend to eat more food, so more protein is not a problem. Supplements are not necessary - extra protein is just broken down and used for fuel or is converted to fat, or is simply excreted as waste.

However, children (under 18) and pregnant women need a little more than the average person.

In the Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Letter, June 1996, it has been reported that researchers are finding that sodium (salt - NaCl) is no longer a suspect in high blood pressure [really?], but now it appears that the more sodium you eat, the more calcium you lose from your body - can osteoporosis be far behind? According to a study done in Australia, the long-known fact that sodium causes excessive amounts of calcium in your urine, has finally confirmed that loss of bone density is the source of that calcium. So, ladies, CUT THE SODIUM - it may lead to high blood pressure, and it does seem to rob the bones of calcium.

Just what we need. According to that same Tufts publication McDonald's has recently come up with a new fatburger - the Arch Deluxe burger. It contains 570 calories, of which, more than 31 grams are fat - that is nearly 50% of the total calories - that is disgusting.

A gem, reputedly from the pen of a science student: the body consists of three parts - the brainium, the borax, and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain. The borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowels, of which there are five - A, E, I, O, and U.

In the May 1996, issue of the Nutrition Action Health Letter, is a discussion on chromium. Chromium helps move glucose (bloodsugar) from the blood-stream into body cells. If glucose transfer, after a meal, is impeded; the bloodsugar level remains higher than normal for a longer than normal time - a condition called glucose intolerance. If this happens long enough, it becomes diabetes. Diabetics respond to chromium by more effectively transferring glucose into cells. But, it may be that this is only true for those who are deficient in chromium. Unfortunately, what the requirement for chromium is, is very difficult to determine; and chromium is everywhere - even in the air, and it seems that some is stored in the body, but in some as yet unknown place. Chromium in the body is under investigation, including the fact that diabetics may need a much larger amount than "normal" people.

On Chromium Picolinate, there is no evidence that it is any better than any other chromium source - but it is certainly more expensive. The main reason for any of us for having heard of chromium in our diets, is because of the claims by commercial interests that it lowers body fat and increases muscle. This unconfirmed claim is based on three small and flawed studies done by the manufacturer of Chromium Picolinate. These "studies" have not been duplicated by more reliable studies.

In the June 1996, issue of the Nutrition Action Health Letter, a helpful list of nutrition "DOs and DON'Ts" was presented, and is summarized below.

• Don't eat ground beef, or other fatty meats. We all know that red meat, in general, is not good for our health; but ground beef is the worst, if only because we eat more of it.
• Don't eat even lean red meat more than three times a week, even then, only eat the leanest options available.
• Do eat plants-only dinners at least three times a week - things like spaghetti or pasta with tomato sauce or other veggie stuff, bean dishes, veggie burgers, etc.
• Do make your snacks fruits and vegetables.
• Do switch to low-fat or non-fat dairy products.
• Don't eat pizza or other cheese-intensive food more than twice a month.
• Do use whole grain products, especially breads and cereals.
• Do eliminate butter/margarine, but if you can't, choose light tubs or sprays.
• Do cut down on sodium (salt) - that normally means cutting down on processed foods.
• Do minimize "sweets." Soft drinks are a huge sugar source.
• Drink alcohol only in moderation, if at all.
• Do take a multi-vitamin, multi-mineral supplement. It is not unusual to read that these are unnecessary, but take one anyway.

Here are a couple of exercise updates:

• Barbell Kickback

  This triceps exercise is a variation on the standard dumbbell kickback. Hold a barbell behind your back, with your upper arms held parallel to the floor, and with your elbows flexed so that your forearms are vertical to the floor. Now move the barbell back until your elbows are fully extended (your arms are straight). Pause briefly, then slowly return the bar to the initial position. Be sure that your upper arms remain parallel to the floor throughout this movement. Repeat until you have completed 8-12 reps.

• Leg-up Crunch With a Twist

  Lying on your back with your legs up in the air (they may be supported on a bench), crunch up, twist to one side, unwind and return to the initial position, crunch up, then twist to the opposite side, and return. That's one.

I recently came across some information on potential arthritis relief. This came off the Internet, and has no medical research behind it, only anecdotal evidence from people who have tried this stuff: but there are some people who swear by these potential remedies.

One is shark or chicken cartilage I think shark cartilage can be gotten from a health food store, For chicken cartilage, eat chicken pieces down to the bare bones.

Another favorite is something called glucosamine sulfate - probably also from a health food store.

And finally, omega-3 fats from cold water fish (don't just take fish oil, eat the fish - sardines, mackerel, salmon, among others).

Next month we will resume with the body organs/systems series with the digestive system.

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