~ HealthY ~

WE hear it all the time: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

But what we don’t hear often is the call to choose the right food and right amount for breakfast.

According to a report in Daily Mail, a 300-calorie breakfast should be enough.  

Examples of breakfasts that come in under 300 calories include a bowl of porridge with honey, a bowl of Special K cereal with milk and a boiled egg with a slice of wholemeal toast.

And yet people usually partake in a hearty breakfast (a full serving of nasi lemak complete with chicken rendang, for example) in the morning, with the belief that they will be eating less for lunch.

However, a 2011 study found that people eat the same at lunch and dinner, regardless of what they have for breakfast.

Dr Susan Jebb and her team at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, UK gave 33 overweight men and women breakfast three times — one contained around 700 calories, another was 20 per cent smaller and the third was almost half the size, at 300 calories. They found that the volunteers ate the same amount post-breakfast each time.

Huffington Post reported that a 2013 study suggested that one of the most important components to a filling breakfast is protein.

In the study, people who ate high-protein breakfasts were less likely to reach for fatty, sugary foods later in the day.

EXERCISE BEFORE SLEEPING

When you expect to have a day filled with important meetings and long hours at work, you may want to consider doing some physical exercise beforehand instead of retiring to bed early the night before.

Exercising after work and then getting a good night’s rest is the best way to prepare for a stressful day, according to a new study reported in Daily Mail.

“Our study points to the possibility of positively influencing an individual’s own personal resources in their daily life. When, for instance, an employee faces a stressful or important day at work, the employee should consciously engage in beneficial activities the day before,” said lead author Dr Inga Nagel, of the University of Konstanz in Germany.

The researchers noted that exercise has benefits on mood and efficiency but consumes energy and requires recovery time. The exercise and good sleep combination therefore is able to energise a person in a better manner to that achieved by either one alone.

MAKE-A-WISH FUNDRAISING DINNER

Themed WishBall 2013, Make-A-Wish Malaysia’s annual fundraising dinner will be held on Nov 29 at the Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Guests will be treated to performances as well as exciting live and silent auctions. Wishes will also be put up for adoption on the night.

“We hope more sponsors and donors will support our cause,” said Anthony Ng, CEO of Make-A-Wish Malaysia.

The organisation has granted more than 150 wishes to date and is targeting 72 for next year.

Contributions can be made through the purchase of tables or seats, by donating auction items or providing in-kind sponsorships.

Tickets are priced at RM3,500 or RM3,000 for a table of 10. For reservations, email events@makeawish.org.my or call 03-2011 3300/ 012-6664 146.

ONLINE MEDICAL NEWS AND HEALTH EDUCATION

The Malaysian Integrated Medical Professionals Association has launched a medical news and health education website — the Malaysian Medical Gazette.

It provides scientific reports and discussions on current health issues by a group of medical professionals from multidisciplinary fields such as orthopaedic, ear, nose, and throat, neuro, emergency medicine, cardiology and physiotherapy.

The website can be accessed at www.mmgazette.com as well as on Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mmgazette) and Twitter(@mmgazette). Its free apps are also available at Apple and Android stores.

HOME BIRTHS POSE SPECIAL RISKS

Women who choose to give birth at home may be increasing the likelihood of particular health risks in their babies.

Researchers found that having a home birth almost doubled the relative risk of a five-minute Apgar score of four or lower (scores above seven are generally considered normal), and more than tripled the risk of neonatal seizure.

The absolute risk for these outcomes is very small but both are predictors of cerebral palsy, developmental impairment and infant death.

The study compared 12,039 planned home births with 2,069,714 hospital births and controlled for age, race, gestational age at birth and other factors.

“It’s not necessarily so that home births are bad but women need to think about the trade-offs,” said the lead author Dr Yvonne W. Cheng of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. “Home births have fewer interventions but the baby is at higher risk.” NYT

BUTTER IS GOOD

Most of us try to enjoy butter sparingly. And when we do eat it, it is a guilty pleasure. We believe this because we have been fed with information and warnings that butter can raise the risk of heart disease due to the elevating effect on cholesterol.

An article in the British Medical Journal, however, went against this view, reported The Times of London.

According to Dr Aseem Malhotra, the cardiology registrar at Croydon University Hospital, London, “the mantra that saturated fat must be removed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease has dominated dietary advice and guidelines for almost four decades”.

He argued that evidence shows that butter and unprocessed fats may actually be good for you, lowering your blood pressure and protecting your heart.

All most recent and major scientific reviews of the evidence fail to find any link between intakes of saturated fat and the risk of heart disease. Malhotra pointed to a recent study which indicated that 75 per cent of acute heart attack patients had normal cholesterol concentrations.

The next most plentiful fat in butter is monounsaturated in nature. This type of fat is found in foods such as olives, olive oil, nuts, seeds and avocado, and is associated with improved heart health.

A comprehensive review of the literature encompassing almost 50 such studies was published by researchers. Reducing or modifying fat in the diet did not reduce the risk of heart disease (or stroke, or any other chronic disease) at all. Life expectancy was not extended by a single day either.

The Times of London further noted that the evidence as a whole strongly suggests that our belief that saturated fat causes heart disease and has broadly harmful effects is a myth.

DIABETES AWARENESS AMONG CHILDREN

Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur recently brought local cartoon superhero BoboiBoy to celebrate World Diabetes Day with students from Sekolah Kebangsaan St John 1.

In line with this year’s theme Protect Our Future, GKL’s aim is to educate and increase awareness among schoolchildren on diabetes and how preventive measures such as a healthy diet and regular exercise can keep it at bay.

GKL chief dietician Lim Ai Leng said that an increasing number of overweight children and teenagers have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a disease usually associated with adults.

“The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2011 has shown a drastic increase in the burden of diabetes in the country for those 18 years old and above, which has risen to 20.8 per cent from the earlier 14.9 per cent recorded by the survey in 2006,” she added.

Read more: IN BRIEF: How big was your breakfast? - Health - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/life-times/health/in-brief-how-big-was-your-breakfast-1.404757?cache=03%2F7.197673%2F7.311014%2F7.321287%2F7.323459%2F7.466110%2F7.490557%2F7.490557%2F7.490557%2F7.490557%2F7.490557%2F7.556030%2F7.576528%2F7.576528#ixzz2lCzvEKOi