That's Fit

Did you ever see the movie Lorenzo's Oil? If you haven't, I highly recommend it. In short, it's about a young boy diagnosed with a rare disease. Ultimately, it's found that a special diet with certain fats helped him. I just stumbled across a news story that reminds me so much of that movie.

Ella, a six-year-old girl from the UK, was recently part of a clinical trial to test the effects of a ketogenic diet on epilepsy. Ella was healthy until her first birthday when she contracted pneumococcal meningitis. The severe infection left her with both hearing and learning difficulties. Later, after experiencing seizures, she was also diagnosed with epilepsy.

There was a brief, few months after her fourth birthday when Ella was free of seizures. The reprieve didn't last long, but it gave Ella's parents a chance to glimpse their daughter free of the debilitating seizures. That was the impetus for signing her up for the clinical trial.

Most of us go to the gym to work up a sweat, but when ironically named Andy Heatman visited his regular UK gym, he got banned for sweating too much.

Chesire Lines Health Club staff claim that 15 people complained about Heatman's personal hygiene, leading them to ban Heatman from the gym on his next visit. So he took his business down the street to Total Fitness, where he was assured sweating was encouraged.

Heatman works out for two hours at a time, four days a week, so of course he's going to sweat (he also claims he showers regularly, uses deodorant, etc.). I understand it's not always pleasant to see someone sweating profusely, but come on ... isn't that what gyms are for?

What do you think -- was Heatman treated fairly or should he have been left alone to work out in peace?

A British friend of mine is always quick to point at America as being the nation spearheading the recent obesity crisis -- to him, most Americans live on little more than junk food. But if he wants to see an example of a gluttonous, junk-food-obsessed country, he needn't look further than his own home, according to this article from The Daily Mail.

According to research, 45% of Britons are addicted to junk food, compared with 44% of Americans and 35% of those from the United Arab Emirates (Emiritians?) The healthiest eaters? The French, not surprisingly.

Perhaps it's time we all picked up a copy of Why French Women Don't Get Fat?

Heather Mills is known for many things--and few of them are positive. From her bitter divorce from Paul McCartney to her ranting and ravings on nation television, her image could use a bit of a boost. Will founding a chain of vegan restaurants help? Perhaps, if she can get the idea off the ground first.

Mills, an outspoken vegan who has lectured countless times on the subject, wants to found a chain of Vegan restaurants in the UK. But with most of her funds tied up in her divorce, Mills needs some financial support to make her restaurant dreams a reality.

Personally, I think a vegan restaurant chain is a great idea. Many people are hesitant to go meatless, and who knows? Perhaps having a big name behind vegan eateries will help encourage them.

What do you think?

Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

This week I'm featuring one of the coolest guys in the world. A real life action hero who actually couldn't answer some of my questions, because he's been sworn to military secrecy. I love it! Bear Grylls is the star of Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel.

Bear was a survival expert in the British Special Air Services (21 SAS). He's obsessed with adventure as well as breaking rules and records. Bear is a brilliant outdoors man, built like a guy movie producers choose for their action flicks, and handsome enough to make girls want to watch him eat zebra guts. A fantastic combination for television.

To shoot each episode of Man vs. Wild, 33 year old, Bear gets dumped out of a helicopter in to the wildest most extreme regions in the world where tourists are likely to become stranded. He then gets to work trying to teach our sorry butts how to escape eminent doom. On Man vs. Wild, Bear has: thrown himself into both quicksand and an ice lake to demonstrate exit strategies, hidden from a sandstorm inside of a camel he'd previously gutted, and chowed down on everything from elephant dung to goat testicles. All for our benefit.

While interviewing Bear, I started the conversation off by telling him that I love the show, but spend half of the run time covering my eyes and ears. He didn't seem surprised. I often inquired about why he is willing to go to such extremes. He also didn't seem phased; unlike you and I....hiding inside of a camel doesn't seem appalling to him. The man is the real deal. He takes his job seriously and is literally willing to do anything to survive. I think I'm inviting Bear to vacation with me from now on.

Fitz: How did you get into this whole survival thing?

Bear: I was a survival expert in the Royal Marines. We had a tight unit and I loved it. I served twice.

Fitz: What kind of exciting missions did you go on in the military?

Bear: I can't tell you much, it's all kind of hush-hush! But in one of my unfortunate incidents, I broke my back in three places during a free-falling parachute accident in Africa.

Fitz: Ouch! I'm impressed that you recovered and came back for more. What kind of kid were you?

Bear: Oh God! I was always dirty and causing lots of trouble. Kind of like I am now.

Fitz: How did you end up with your own show on Discovery Channel?

Bear: I had done a television series about the French Foreign Legion in the UK. The people from Discovery Channel invited me to do Man vs Wild. They had to ask three times, because the first two times I told them no. I felt like they wanted some 'smart guy' and I was not what they were looking for.

You'd think gyms and fitness centers would help minimize the growing problem of obesity. But they don't.

A new UK study shows that if current obesity levels continue, about a quarter of all children in the UK will be obese by the year 2050. Sixty percent of men and 40 percent of women will fall prey to the same problem by this target date. These statistics hold true in spite of the whole fitness industry. Why? There are three reasons, says Dr. Jennifer Smith Maguire, author of the report Fit for Consumption: Sociology and the Business of Fitness.

Gyms are geared toward people with spare cash, people who can afford the monthly payments but are the most likely to be inactive and obese, Maguire says. Another problem is that gyms and fitness centers are generally presented as locations of leisure.

London Fashion Week may prove quite a disaster this year unless event planners comply with new regulations requiring models to produce health certificates proving they don't have eating disorders and ensuring girls aged 16 to 18 are chaperoned. If these provisions are not made, financial backers may pull their funding.

London's fashion industry was put under fire recently by Beat, the UK's leading eating disorders association. Many say it's important to keep the pressure on the industry -- for the models whose health depends on it and for consumers who need to know the fashion industry is not exploiting anyone as they market products.

What do you say? A step in the right direction? Or a catwalk catastrophe in the making?

In the Midwestern U.S. right now, allergies are a-plenty. Not a day goes by that the pollen, mold and ragweed counts are off the charts. It's being called one of the worst late-summer allergy seasons in a decade where I live.

Across the pond, health officials in the UK are calling the allergy outbreak in Britain an "epidemic." That sort of language is used when it comes to diseases, but allergies?

Allergy sufferers have apparently grown up large numbers in England, and it's not just to the air outside. Food allergies are escalating, and food labels are being scrutinized as well. Soon, the words "may contain nuts" just won't be enough. Allergy sufferers need to know exactly what is in the foods they eat beyond vague descriptions.

Scotland's Sunday Herald has printed a fairly scathing article on our attitudes to obesity, claiming that we are far to tolerant to fatness in North America and the UK. In other parts of Europe, the writer argues, fatness would be not be as acceptable -- hence less people are obese in such countries. But in the US and UK, being unhealthily obese is perfectly ok. In her words, it is a 'comfortable' experience to be obese.

What do you think about this? On one hand, I think the writer has a point -- obesity is not as socially acceptable in Europe. In France for instance, normal-weight people like myself even feel uncomfortably large compared to the svelte Parisians. But I don't think ridiculing obese people and making them feel out of place is the answer. Still, what is?

(Via Diet Blog)

While I've never been a smoker, I do enjoy drinking wine and I love spending time outdoors in the sunshine. I admit that I worry sometimes about the negative effects these habits may have on my health, but I guess I don't worry enough to stop doing either.

I find it pretty scary though to read that cancer charities in the UK are warning smokers, drinkers, sun-worshipers and those who are obese that incidents of deadly lifestyle-related cancers are on the rise. I realize that this news is coming out of a different country, but I also know that alcohol, cigarettes, over-eating and suntanning will have the save effects on me as on anyone in Britain.

The usual suspects like lung cancer and melanoma are named in the piece, but so are womb and mouth cancer, among others. They sound pretty terrifying and agonizing to me. I still stand by the notion that things are alright in moderation but this information makes me think that I may have to change my idea of what moderation is.

Are you concerned about lifestyle cancers?

Most soon-to-be mothers are great about adhering to the many rules and regulations that are necessary to ensure as healthy a pregnancy and baby as possible. No smoking, fish only once a week and definitely cut down on any pre-pregnancy drinking.

I was actually under the impression that a drink or two a week wasn't actually harmful (I've even heard that the occasional pint of iron-rich Guinness is good for pregnant moms) but then I came across this article from the UK that states some British doctors are recommending that women adhere to a no alcohol policy when pregnant or trying to conceive. The article states that while the Royal College of Obstetricians still asserts that a unit or two of alcohol once or twice a week is safe, many women don't know exactly how much that is and end up exceeding the limit. As a result, Government doctors are urging pregnant women not to drink at all.

I'm a 70s baby , as are the majority of my friends, and while I know that my mother was a teetotaler, I'm sure I've got a friend or relative whose mom smoke or drank a little during pregnancy and they all turned out fine. But I suppose that where the health of a new baby is concerned, it's better to be safe than sorry.

What do you think about the occasional drink during pregnancy?

Some people in the UK are really bent out of the shape about the national smoking ban that goes into effect next month. The move that's had overwhelmingly positive effects on the health of citizens in American cities like New York, Los Angeles, Austin and more, was so offensive to one pub, that they've gone to incredibly lengths to avoid it.

And it appears they just might be successful.

By declaring themselves an official embassy for the Caribbean island of Redonda, the pub will be considered "foreign soil," and no longer under British jurisdiction -- subsequently, they won't be affected by the ban.

But what happens when Redonda comes calling? Will the pub's die-hard smokers be lighting up with Redondan diplomats? Probably not. According to Wikipedia, Redonda is a "one mile square remnant of the cone of an extinct volcano," and "The current title of 'king' of Redonda is disputed by at least nine people." So I have the feeling that the pub won't be serving any dignitaries in the near future.

The lengths people will go to just to keep smoking are sometimes amazing.

[via Boing Boing]

When a couple finds out they're pregnant, one of the first questions after "When are you due?" is "Are you going to find out whether it's a boy or a girl?" Typically, the sex of the baby can be determined during an routine ultrasound done around 20 weeks gestation, but a new test available in the UK says it can tell you whether to decorate in pink or blue as early as 6 weeks. For about $380 U.S., pregnant mothers can send a pinprick of blood into a lab, where technicians test for the tell-tale Y chromosome. Results -- which are 98% accurate -- are available in under a week's time, and can be accessed by mail or online.

The test is causing controversy in Britain, which has the highest abortion rate in Europe. Pro-life groups worry that the test will cause abortion rates to rise, especially in cultures that value one sex over the other. Is this a case of too much information too soon for parents-to-be, or do you think this test is a valuable tool for excited and expectant parents?

Though this survey was small and unscientific, I think it still revealed some interesting information. When 8,000 members of a UK fitness chain were surveyed about their health, lifestyle, and quality of life, baby boomer's came out on top. According to responses from those over 50, they're exercising more than their younger peers, paying more attention to their diet, avoiding alcohol and additives in foods, and creating a solid work/home balance in their lives.

In general, baby boomers live longer than their parents or grandparents did, but experts are now warning that the newest generation may be the first to actually have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, due to poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle. This survey seems to acknowledge that trend, and the youngest age group (age 18-29) reported a lower commitment to health.

So then, are baby boomers really healthier than the rest of us? Not according to statistics on obesity. By the looks of those numbers, a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle are something that every generation is dealing with on some level. So whether your young or simply young at heart, it's never too late to tweak that healthy lifestyle for the better!

Recent research suggests that men and women in Scotland are twice as likely to suffer an alcohol-related death than their UK counterparts. Between 2002 and 2004, nearly 4 out of every 10,000 Scots died of alcohol-related causes, compared with only 1.7 Brits.

But that's not to say the UK is a pillar of moderate consumption. In 2004, the country saw 8,221 alcohol-related deaths, which is nearly double the 1991 figure.

In response, Scotland is implementing a new action plan to tackle the problem of alcohol abuse, which includes substance-abuse programming in schools, and an extension of a pilot initiative in which teenagers try and purchase alcohol to "string" shopkeepers that sell to minors.