Ask the Nutritionist: Calcium Supplements, Yes, No, WTF?

Got questions about healthy eating and nutrition?

Well, today starts a new feature at Cranky Fitness: Ask the Nutritionist!

It could also rightfully be called "Ask the Dietitian," since both the contributors are RD's. I almost did call it that, but then decided to play it safe in case either of these two knowledgeable and articulate experts figures out what a silly blog this is and decides to bail.  What if I need to find someone new and have to cast a wider net?

 No certification, but pretty darn sensible!

Plus, half the time I spell it "Dietitian" and the other half "Dietician" and that was driving me kinda crazy.

Anyway, so today's topic is calcium supplements.  Used to be simple, right? If you weren't getting tons o' dairy, and especially if you were female, you were supposed to take 'em.

And my doctor still says I should, and studies are confusing. But even Jane Brody of the New York Times, not exactly known for going out on a limb with controversial advice, points out the risks of calcium supplementation, which include a higher likelihood of heart attacks and strokes.

So what's the deal?

Maxing Out: Too Much Running, Vitamin D, and Calcium?

Is it possible to get too much Vitamin D? Will you live longer if you don't run too fast or too far? And should you stop taking those calcium supplements your doctor has been hounding you about for decades?

Yep, as is often the case, new studies are coming out just to f--ck with your head suggesting that conventional wisdom about exercise and nutrition may be more complicated than previously thought.

Evil Non-Dairy People

Okay, so I might sound a bit cranky today, but only because it's over 100 degrees out today and I had to work on the third floor of a stuffy office because the air conditioning broke down and the windows don't open and nobody loves me and everybody hates me and ... well, look, I'm just cranky.

It is completely unreasonable to expect a hot, cranky female to write a cheerful post. Forget Merry Sunshine, this is her evil twin cousin Merry Fix-the-friggin'-air-conditioning-NOW-psycho-beotch.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, People Who Don't Do Dairy (PWDDD).

You can't spot a non-dairy person on the street. Oddly enough, they look like everyone else, only more so.

And no, I don't care what your mother told you, you cannot catch non-dairy-itis by swimming in a community pool.

And yes, trust me, PWDDD have heard all the arguments about how dairy will take care of all your calcium needs as well as prove you're a red-blooded American/Canadian/Mesopotamian.

Some facts about PWDDD that you might not know:

- they do not have horns, a forked tail, and scales underneath their clothing
- they very rarely sacrifice live babies in arcane and mystic rituals
- they can and frequently do get adequate calcium from other sources

Honestly, you'd think it was an actual crime punishable by scorn, the way some people react. PWDDD are treated as if they were putting on airs or something.

Yes, I'll say it: dairy-airs.
(No, I have no shame. Too cranky.)

When confronted with a non-dairy person, some people get annoyed on a fundamental level. Especially if you're not eating cheese every 34.5 seconds. You'd think I'd smeared brie across the American flag and threatened to stomp on it. It's a fermented milk product, people! Not an icon! The Dairy marketing people have brain washed y'all. Sheesh.


Oh come on now. Be honest. You going to look me in the monitor and say, with a straight face and a clear conscience, that you've never looked askance at someone who embraces an alternative cow lifestyle?



Photo Credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66164549@N00/2419063192/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sailorganymede/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

Random Friday

[Posted by Crabby]

Image courtesy of nataliedee.com

So remember we were recently complaining about how conflicting health research was messing with our heads and making us confused about what the heck we were supposed to do? Well, here are some more studies to make you nuts.

Calcium and Older Women:
So yep, you guessed it, after years of research urging women, including older women, to take calcium supplements, guess what they're now discovering? That calcium supplements might increase heart attack and stroke risk in postmenopausal women. The researchers warned that the findings weren't conclusive and needed to be confirmed by other studies. But if true, they wrote, "this effect could outweigh any beneficial effects of calcium on bone."

Revenge of the Acrylamides:
It's as though the scientists have a dark sense of humor, because I had barely finished posting "whatever happened to acrylamide?" when I saw this news: "Acrylamide in Food May Increase Breast Cancer Risk."

(However, true to form, right next to that study was one from a few months ago saying "Acrylamide Not Linked to Breast Cancer." I like that one better.)

So what is acrylamide and how do you avoid it, if we're supposed to be avoiding it again? It sounds nasty, doesn't it, with that icky synthetic "acrylic" prefix?

Well, it's a carcinogenic chemical formed when carb-heavy food is cooked at high temperatures, and you find acrylamides in a lot of processed foods you should be going easy on anyway. French fries and potato chips are the usual example. However, they can also be found in innocent foods too, like toast (even healthy whole wheat toast), and (gulp)in coffee. (Here's a Big List of acrylamide-containing foods if you want to get really depressed.) Smoking will increase your levels a lot too.

Too Depressing to Publish?
Turns out there may be some selective publication of drug studies going on: according to the article, "nearly a third of antidepressant drug studies are never published in the medical literature, and nearly all happen to show that the drug being tested did not work." The result: the drugs look more effective than they actually are.

Now, On the Brighter Side...
If you're female and over 40, a recent Swedish study seemed to suggest that, oddly enough, daily consumption of high-fat dairy products might help with weight control. But don't break out the Ben & Jerry's just yet. Despite a more optimistic report about this in Health, looking at the actual study made the conclusion seem a bit tentative. This study also contradicts another recent study that looked at high fat diary consumption in American men. (And researchers noted that the effect observed in these women differed according to the type of dairy product and the subject's body weight--cheese was good. Ben & Jerry's, alas, was not specifically mentioned).

Confused About All This?
Here's one theory that may explain the conflicting data.

Can you tell we're getting to the silly stuff now?

The Perfect Social Networking Site for a Crab:
Cheerful folks, however, may not appreciate bugroff. (And I believe "bugroff" is properly pronounced with three syllables, not two.)

Advances in Feminine Protection!
Okay, so it may not be an actual product you can buy at Walgreens, but check out the tampon stun gun. I love the concept. Wielding the tampon alone will mostly likely scare off the attacker, and if not: ZZZZZap!

When You Can't Understand The Lyrics:
So do you ever download songs in a foreign language for your workouts, then find yourself hearing English lyrics in them that aren't really there? A mostly hilarious example of this phenomenon can be found here. (Sometimes they stretch a bit too hard looking for dirty interpretations, but often they're spot on. Made me giggle most of the way through).

Health and fitness? Oh well, um... there's dancing in the video too!

Have a great Friday everyone.

Calcium and other Fascinating Dairy-Related Items

"Fascinating?"

Really?

Of course not. It's just a post about milk.

But it seemed about time to say something about Milk and Calcium and Dairy, because it's one of those subjects that tends to be in the health news quite a bit. Studies fly around saying contradictory things. One day milk is a Miracle Beverage that builds strong bones and cures diseases and makes you skinny, and the next day it's like, "meh, maybe not so much, never mind." Then a few weeks later it's back to "well hooray, maybe it's pretty damn good for you after all," then someone else says "no it's not, that's a lie!" You get the idea.

Cranky Fitness does not intend to resolve the debate over milk. To the extent that a blog can drink a beverage, Cranky Fitness drinks milk and likes it.

So instead, let's throw a couple recent studies out there, and we can all continue to believe what we already did, and continue to do what we were already doing. Because that's pretty much how it works with health reporting, isn't it?

But who knows, perhaps the odd reader or two may see a study here and have a change of heart about milk. (And by odd, Crabby means random, not strange--oh well, never mind. If you find yourself here at Cranky fitness with Crabby, "odd" may indeed be the right word).

And yes, Crabby knows a lot of you may be vegans or can't do dairy for health reasons. She hopes that those of you who know better than Crabby about non-dairy alternatives can pipe up in the comments and offer advice. Crabby is more lactose-enthusiastic than lactose-intolerant, so she's never had to familiarize herself with what-all is out there.

So, to review: there was earlier research that seemed to suggest that eating and drinking lots of dairy products helped you lose weight. But more recently, thinking on this seems to have changed. The FTC and even made the Milk People stop using this claim in their ads. For more on this aspect, Diet Blog has a summary.

But what about calcium? Don't you need it for bone health? And isn't it better to get it from food than from supplements?

Well, yes, apparently. A recent study of calcium intake and bone health compared 3 groups of women:

Women who got 70% or more of their daily calcium from supplements;

Women who got 70% or more of their calcium from dairy products and other foods; and

Women who got their calcium more equally from both sources.

The researchers (from Washington University School of Medicine) found that women who got most of their calcium from food had healthier bones than women who got it mostly from supplements. And this was true even though the supplement takers had a higher average calcium intake.

But before you toss those supplements--the group that got their calcium from both sources had the highest intake and the healthiest bones.

And another recent study, of dairy consumption and health (this time looking at men, 2400 of the British variety) found that those who regularly consumed milk, cheese and yogurt were less likely to develop risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.

There is probably a lot more research about milk out there, but it's already getting pretty tedious and that feels like enough for today. Crabby promises she won't be this boring very often, but every now and then she reminds herself she has a Health blog and might want to do some occasional actual Health News reporting. Don't worry, it won't last long!

For much more entertaining health and fitness news, you're much better off visiting Sister Skinny or Fitness Fixation. Crabby knows she's mentioned both these blogs before, but hell, they're really great. And today is a Special Day over at Fitness Fixation, because fierce but adorable Kelly has been reduced to parading around in a leotard. She'll tell you why, in her usual demure and polite way.

And those of you who often comment? Do not feel like you have to say anything about the freakin' milk. Crabby's feelings will not be hurt if you find yourselves on other subjects, or without much to Moo about at all.