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Energy For Women

FYI News Column

By Kathy Summers 

Liquid News: What's up in your cup?

A familiar caffeine buzz can fuel alertness and speed reaction time, and also raise blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety. Still, if you’re like most people, you probably drink coffee – lots of it.
    
Sure, green tea has grabbed its share of attention lately, but it was a coffee study that recently gave University of Florida researchers a jolt. Their scientific analysis of specialty coffees, reported in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology (October 2003), found almost twice as much caffeine in a 16 ounce Starbucks regular (259 mg) as in a Dunkin’ Donuts regular (143 mg). Then, over six consecutive days, caffeine concentrations varied wildly (259–564 mg/dose) for the same brands from the same outlets. And the decaf had (gasp) caffeine, although less than 17.7 mg. Researchers say the choice of bean and how it’s ground, roasted and brewed probably accounts for the difference.
    
Of course, if you prefer your morning kick carbonated, the new research linking regular cola drinking to lower bone density in women could make you sit up. But don’t blame the caffeine (45 mg per 12 ounce serving). The phosphoric acid may be the culprit, interfering with mineral absorption, according to recent findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (September 21, 2003). The women in the study who downed daily cola drinks (not clear sodas) had decreased bone mineral density compared to occasional cola drinkers. While phosphoric acid comes naturally in other foods and beverages, researchers say the same problem doesn’t seem to occur, probably because it’s packaged with other nutrients such as calcium for balance.
    
Which brings us back to green tea. Acquiring a green tea habit could have its compensations – lower cholesterol, fewer head colds, sweeter breath, a healthier heart – and scientists now suspect green tea may help prevent several types of cancer, according to findings presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Second Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research (October 28, 2003). Apparently, green tea is loaded with naturally occurring phytochemicals that act like antioxidants. And an eight-ounce cup of green tea has less caffeine (14-37 mg) than black tea (50 mg), and much less than cola and coffee.
    
Green tea may or may not live up to its promise, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try a cup just in case. Here’s to your health!

Female athletes use their leg muscles differently than male athletes, which may be why active women are more likely to injure their knees, says a study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine (June 2003). 
    
This small study suggests female athletes have less control of their hip muscles, which can stress their knees. With less stability, women risk tearing their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), one of four primary ligaments around the knee joint. 
    
To see if you’re at risk, do a single leg squat standing on one leg without support, lowering yourself as far as possible. You may be at risk for a knee injury if you:

• Had trouble keeping your balance.

• Had trouble reaching a 90-degree angle.

• Let your knee drift way in front of your toes.

• Turned your knee inward.

• Felt knee pain.

To prevent ACL injuries, the experts advise training the hip muscles. A qualified trainer can suggest exercises to correct these patterns.

For many Americans, any weekend can turn into a Fat Weekend, leading to several pounds gained yearly. 
    
To find out why, researchers tracked data on the eating and drinking habits of 14,000 volunteers, for a study reported in the journal Obesity Research (August 2003), mathematically filtering out other influences. The difference in what people consumed during the week and on weekends was significant, particularly for 19 to 50 year-olds, who scarfed up 115 more calories per day on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
    
Now for the perfect excuse: we’re simply satisfying a craving for comfort foods induced by the stress of a difficult week, says a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (September 2003). The researchers at the University of California, San Francisco say only 24 hours after activating a chronic stress, chemicals called glucocorticoids kick in, encouraging pleasure-seeking behaviors -- like devouring junk foods.
    
And if that’s not good enough, we have all those studies touting wine and beer benefits for longevity and heart health. And now, studies show beer may help protect against gall and kidney stones.
    
But you know the real antidote to fat weekends: energy in equals energy out. Sorry to say it -- moderation.  

Parents often suspect artificial colorings and preservatives in the diet when their kids start bouncing off the walls. But, no large studies offered proof until Dr. John O. Warner from Southampton General Hospital, UK, and colleagues studied the impact of these additives on 277 preschool children. 
    
The results, explained in the Archives of Disease in Childhood (June 2004) show artificial food colorings and benzoate preservatives have a significant effect on hyperactive behavior. The researchers don’t yet know which particular additives are the bad guys, though. Further research is needed before they can make any sweeping recommendations.

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Body Obsession

Doctors have long considered body dissatisfaction the strongest predictor of an eating disorder. But while only 3-8% of women have eating disorders, most women don’t, although most women say they’re not happy with their bodies.    
    
Researchers at Ohio State University finally came up with an answer: body surveillance determines which women with body dissatisfaction were most likely to suffer from eating disorders. 
   
Women who think of their bodies as objects and constantly check the mirror to see how they look tend to ignore normal feelings of hunger, say researchers of the two studies reported in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (April 2004). One study involved 304 college women and the other 373 women aged 17 to 58. 
   
The women with eating disorders said they ignore hunger because they’re worried about how they appear to others. Having an anxious, nervous, or insecure personality was also a factor, and so was having a family member or friend with an eating disorder.