Nutrition News by Charlyn Fargo

Should you take a longer, slower walk or a faster, brisker walk to get the best results? Any exercise is beneficial, but new research finds that for people in cardiac rehabilitation who are overweight, longer but slower walks are better for losing weight and improving heart health than shorter, brisker walks. Frequent long, slow walks — 45 minutes to 60 minutes a day at a moderate pace, five to six days a week — were found to burn more calories, improve cardiac function, reduce weight and body fat. The standard regimen for cardiac rehabilitation involves walking, biking or rowing for 25 minutes to 40 minutes at brisk pace three times a week. The study was reported in the May 11 online edition of Circulation and by HealthDay.

Researchers found that walking can burn more calories than biking or swimming, because walkers support their total body weight by themselves, rather than having a bike or water support their weight. People have to bike or swim a lot more, he said, to gain the same calorie-burning effect as walking, said Dr. Philip Ades, a professor of medicine and director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the study's lead researcher.

The study involved 74 overweight people with coronary heart disease, who were enrolled in a cardiac rehabilitation program. They were randomly assigned to an exercise regimen designed to burn 3,000 to 3,500 calories a week or to a standard rehab exercise program designed to burn 700 to 800 calories a week. The high-calorie expenditure program was based on exercise that was not more intensive than standard rehabilitation but was done more often (five to seven times a week, rather than three) and longer (45 minutes to 60 minutes a session, rather than 25 to 40), according to the study. Exercise for the standard rehabilitation group included a combination of walking and biking or rowing. After five months, people in the high-calorie-burning group — those taking the longer, slower, more frequent walks — had greater improvement in insulin sensitivity, cholesterol, blood pressure and cardio and respiratory fitness than did people in the standard exercise group, the researchers found. In addition, the long, slow walkers lost an average of 18 pounds, compared with 8 pounds among those in the standard rehabilitation group, and they lost more body fat (13 pounds versus 6) and inches from their waistlines (2.7 versus 2 inches) than the others. A year after the study ended, people in the high-calorie-burning group had regained an average of 2.9 pounds and those in the standard treatment group had regained about two pounds. Weight and body fat remained lower in both groups than it had been when they started.

The bottom line is however heart patients lose weight is good and will help reduce their risk, This study underscores the importance of exercise in losing weight.

Walking daily, walking far, really made a big difference in reducing cardiac risk. — HealthDay.

 

Q: I'm concerned about your advice to eat more dried beans — aren't they high in calories?

A: Legumes (dry beans and peas) are higher in calories than an equal portion of vegetables like broccoli and peppers, but they may end up actually helping weight control.

Here's the key: Instead of simply adding dried beans to your diet, let them replace something else you're currently eating. Identify foods you typically eat that supply calories without adding the nutrients you need. Or perhaps there are healthy foods that you eat in amounts beyond what you need. One half cup of legumes contains about 110 to 150 calories. If you use beans to replace some of the meat in a casserole or part of a portion of white rice, you will not add extra calories to your meal. If including a hearty portion of dried beans in your soup or salad means that your meal now satisfies your hunger longer and you snack less afterward, your overall calorie consumption again stays even.

You raise an important point: Just because a food is "healthy," if it ends up causing undesirable weight gain, it's not protecting your health. But in the case of dried beans, the nutrients, fiber and compounds they provide are so valuable it's worth looking for other foods they can replace. — American Institute for Cancer Research.

 

RECIPE

Here is a low-fat alternative to everyone's favorite summer dessert — Strawberry Shortcake — from Prevention Magazine. The traditional whipped cream is replaced with yogurt.

 

Strawberry Shortcake

1 pound fresh strawberries, sliced

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided

2 containers (6 ounces each) fat-free Greek style yogurt, divided

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut in 1/4-inch pieces

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 425. Toss strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes. Whisk 1 container of yogurt and 1 tablespoon sugar in small bowl. Cover and chill. Whisk flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in large bowl while berries stand. Cut butter into flour with pastry cutter to form coarse meal. Add vanilla extract and remaining container of yogurt and mix well. Press dough together with fingers until well combined. Pat out to 1/2 inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut out 6 biscuits with biscuit cutter. Put rounds on baking sheet and bake until brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly. Split warm biscuits in half. For each serving place bottom half on plate, add about 1/2 cup berries, top with other biscuit half and put a generous 2 tablespoons yogurt on top. Makes 6 servings.

Per serving: 273 calories, 9 g protein, 46 g carbohydrate, 6.5 g fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 323 mg sodium.

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian in Springfield, Ill. For comments or questions, contact her at charfarg@aol.com. To find out more about Charlyn Fargo and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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