Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: Why is Exercise Good For Me?"; August 22, 2010

The topic for this week was “Why is Exercise Good For Me?”, a rather straightforward question that apparently eludes 67% of adult Americans whose weight is problematic. Exercise provides a “sink”, namely a place for calories to be burned off just as a sink provides a conduit for emptying refuse.

Exercise can be either anabolic (weight lifting for example) or catabolic (jogging). Jeff Halevy was the guest for this show and an articulate spokesperson and example of the multiple benefits of regular exercise. Most people think of exercise as a chore, but he repeatedly reminds his clients to think of exercise as fun. From a strictly nutritional point of view, exercise seems like the ideal way to treat the various components of the metabolic syndrome. Elevated triglycerides, cholesterol, sugar, and blood pressure are almost immediately approved by regular exercise.

As people age the need for regular exercise becomes especially crucial. The goals here are increased flexibility and balance, so that an individual will sustain less serious injuries due to an accidental fall. Even short walks have been found to be beneficial in the elderly population. Activity promotes increased circulation and avoids venous stasis, particularly in the lower legs where phlebitis can evolve into a major medical emergency.

Your physique is an important component of your image. There’s no getting around the fact that how you look is extraordinarily important in diverse situations ranging from job interviews to dating. If you are foolish enough to neglect your own body, how would a prospective boss want to hire you to help improve his or her own business? If you do not care how you look, how could a prospective mate imagine that you would care about their wellbeing?

The quiz question was: Which “organ” in overweight or obese people is most helped by exercise? None of the callers got the right answer, which is visceral fat. As you remember from our discussion of this topic, visceral fat releases extremely dangerous hormones and chemicals into the circulation. These are directly responsible for additional risk to overweight or obese people for dozens of illnesses and cancers. Aerobic exercise seems to be fueled initially by visceral fat and therefore it is the perfect way both to lose weight and improve risk factors.

A recent article in the August 2010 issue of Harvard Woman’s Health Watch confirmed these exact points:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch.htm

Another interesting article discussed contraction-induced signaling. This is a process by which exercise stimulates glucose transport into the muscles of the body. What is most interesting is that it does not depend on insulin, and therefore exercise is especially helpful for people with insulin resistance. Somehow exercise helps the intracellular pathways leading to glucose transport:

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100821/Study-supports-role-for-SNARK-protein-in-regulating-glucose-transport-during-muscle-contraction-and-exercise.aspx

These are new and rather complex biochemical findings but the message is the same. No matter what your weight is, exercise is extremely important for you.
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Here is Jeff Halevy's contact information. He is a superlative personal trainer and fitness expert whom I unhesitatingly recommend to everyone.

Halevy Life(212) 233-0633 www.HalevyLife.com