BMI measurement-Is it a true universal indication of "healthiness" for all?

Body Mass Index, popularly known as BMI, has been widely used since 1972, after it was coined by the renowned scientist Ancel Keys to assess the health status of human beings using the height and weight parameters. Credit must go to Adolphe Quetelet for inventing the existence of a relationship between body weight, height and health status in 1830 though it was not accepted universally. To day BMI is the golden standard to condemn any person as over weight or obese who are supposed to be more vulnerable to life style diseases like diabetes, CVD, blood pressure etc compared to those with "normal" BMI. This myth is sought to be busted by a recent study by a group of scientists in the US who found out that BMI cannot be relied upon when it comes to assessing the healthiness of an individual and whether the world will accept such a revcolutionary finding remains to be seen. Here is a take on this path breaking development.

"Over the past few years, body mass index (BMI), a ratio of a person's height and weight, has effectively become a proxy for whether a person is considered healthy. However, scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), found that using BMI to gauge health incorrectly labels more than 54 million Americans as 'unhealthy', even though they are not. "Many people see obesity as a death sentence. But the data show there are tens of millions of people who are overweight and obese and are perfectly healthy," said lead author A Janet Tomiyama, an assistant professor at UCLA. The scientists analysed the link between BMI — which is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilogrammes by the square of the person's height in metres — and several health markers, including blood pressure and glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, using data from the most recent US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The study found that close to half of Americans who are considered 'overweight' by virtue of their BMIs (47.4 per cent, or 34.4 million people) are healthy, as are 19.8 million who are considered 'obese'. Given their health readings other than BMI, the people in both of those groups would be unlikely to incur higher medical expenses, and it would be unfair to charge them more for health care premiums, Tomiyama said. The researchers also found that more than 30 per cent of those with BMIs in the 'normal' range — about 20.7 million people — are actually unhealthy based on their other health data. About 15 per cent of Americans who are considered "very obese" by virtue of having a BMI of 35 or higher are actually healthy, researchers said."

What is shocking in these findings is that a significant segment of the population who had high BMI beyond the magical figure of 25 were perfectly healthy with no evident disease symptoms while many others with BMI less than 25 were unhealthy as measured by other health parameters. How can the world get reconciled to this contradictory situation when physicians are put into a dilemma to decide millions of cases requiring medical advice on their health status.? Should there be a reconsideration about BMI and its relation to health and is there not a need to evolve a more accurate paradigm in place of BMI? Now that questions have been raised about the reliability of BMI it is time the health and medical community take note of this crucial development and come out soon with their consensus on the issue.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Is milk unhealthy? Americans seem to think so!

Is it not a blasphemy to say that milk is unhealthy? That seems to be the views of millions of American citizens who are shunning milk as reflected by the declining consumption of this precious life saver. Why this distorted thinking? Who is responsible for developing such a thinking among American people? Why is that Americans with such high computer literacy and Internet access are not able to discern the truth that milk whether from mother or cow or any edible source is the most nutritious balanced food man has come across in his long history? Well the blame lies squarely with the health authorities in the US who have been continuously dinning into their ears of people that fat present in milk is dangerous causing a host of diseases including CVD, blood pressure, diabetes and others and how can one expect a child born 40 years ago under such an environment to shake off such a belief to day so easily! The diary industry is terribly worried that declining milk consumption is going to ruin the industry unless the milk is restored to its pedestal which it richly deserves. This is not to hold a brief for the industry which always set its sight on more and more profits, often ignoring the well being of its consumers,But truth still remains that milk's place in healthy life cannot be underestimated or belittled. Here is a take on this situation in the North America..

"As Americans continue turning away from milk, an industry group is pushing back at its critics with a social media campaign trumpeting the benefits of milk. The association says it needs to act because attitudes about milk are deteriorating more rapidly, with vegan groups, non-dairy competitors and other perceived enemies getting louder online. Julia Kadison, CEO of Milk Processor Education Program, which represents milk companies, says the breaking point came last year when the British Medical Journal published a study suggesting drinking lots of milk could lead to earlier deaths and higher incidents of fractures. Even though the study urged a cautious interpretation of its findings, it prompted posts online about the dangers of drinking milk. "I said, 'That's enough.' We can't have these headlines that 'Milk Can Kill You' and not stand up for the truth," Kadison said in a phone interview. She said MilkPEP's consumer surveys have indicated a noticeable deterioration in attitudes about milk over the past year or so, although they declined to give specific survey results. On Tuesday, the "Get Real" social media campaign will be announced at a dairy industry gathering in Boca Raton, Florida in conjunction with the National Dairy Council and Dairy Management Inc., which represent dairy farmers. The campaign is intended to drown out milk's detractors with positive posts about milk on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere. Milk brands, their employees and others in the industry will post the messages and direct people to a website where they can get more information. Online ads will also tout the superiority of dairy milk over almond milk, which is surging in popularity. The campaign comes as milk's dominance in American homes continues to wane as beverage options proliferate. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, people drank an average of 14.5 gallons of milk a year in 2012. That's down 33 percent from the 21.8 gallons a year in 1970. Total milk sales volume has declined 12 percent since 2009, according to market researcher Euromonitor International. One factor chipping away at milk's dominance is the growth of non-dairy alternatives. While soy milk's popularity has faded, retail sales for almond milk are estimated to be up 39 percent last year, according to Virginia Lee, a packaged food analyst with Euromonitor. Meanwhile, the USDA recommends adults get three cups of dairy a day, including options like fat-free, low-fat milk or calcium-fortified soy milk. And the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which represents nutrition professionals, is supporting the Get Real campaign and its push to underscore "the decades of research reinforcing low-fat milk as one of the most nutrient-rich beverages available." But milk's wholesome image is nevertheless being muddied by diet trends and divergent attitudes about nutrition. Many who follow the popular Paleo diet, for instance, shun dairy because people didn't drink it during the Stone Age. Animal welfare groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are also a thorn in the milk industry's side. On its website, PETA notes that "no species drinks milk beyond infancy or drinks the milk of another species" and details the cruel conditions dairy cows are often subject to."

Probably over fed Americans do not need milk because of their easy access to cheap protein foods from animals and therefore the argument that "no species on earth drinks milk from another species" may be true in theory. Similarly east Asians do not have the habit of drinking milk. But for hundreds of years in countries like India where vegetarian population is very significant, milk is the only source of proteins with high PER values, responsible for the robust health of its population since time immemorial. One big difference between India and America is that the pattern of milk consumption is totally opposite. While Indians drink fluid milk in abundance, Americans consume milk based products like cheese and frozen desserts. All said and done, milk was, is and will be world's most versatile food from a food scientist's whether Americans like it or not!

  

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com

http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE LATEST SUPER FOOD-AN OBSCURE GREEN LEAF!

Man's saga in search of right foods that gives him immortality never ends but with each passing day this passion is kept going by reports here and there about new as well as not so new miracle foods that will ensure healthy life. Whether it is the antioxidant rich natural plant products or grains like Quinoa, Chea etc health food industry is always willing to oblige the consumer with products that meet with their aspirations. No wonder health food stores have become a common feature of the retail market stream in many wealthy countries where diseases like diabetes, blood pressure, kidney disorders, obesity etc are rampant. It is an irony that wealthier a society becomes, more frequent is the incidence of diseases associated with wrong foods and wrong eating! Those who are hungry cannot access good foods but those who are wealthy ignore healthy foods going for palate tingling rich but nutritionally unbalanced processed foods ending with poor quality of life eventually. Latest to emerge (or reemerge?) in the health food landscape is an obscure leaf called Moringa about which the whole world seems to be getting excited! Here is a take on this development.

"The leaves of the moringa trees may be the world's most nutritious green—and they're coming to a health-food store near you. Remember the moment when every runway regular suddenly became a supermodel? Now every healthy edible wants to be called a super food. Which is why even that term likely doesn't do justice to moringa, a tree leaf that contains more nutrients and natural remedies than your body knows what to do with. Ancient warriors fueled for battle with the leaf extract, hot for the stamina and strength it gave them; and legend has it that Egyptian Pharaohs were buried with it to sustain them in the afterlife. Health-savvy Americans are the latest followers, thanks to the energy, immunity, and metabolism boosts moringa delivers. "Moringa has incredibly nutritious qualities—it has 3.5 times the calcium of milk and 4 times the vitamin C of oranges," says David Wolfe, author of Super foods. All you have to do is open the bag and let the good nutrients roll".

Of course the scientific data available do confirm that Moringa is a nutritionally excellent food source and it is also a fact that it is being consumed in some parts of the world since long. In fact a substantial population in countries like India who are economically depressed, living in rural areas depend on a variety of leaves as sources of nutrients like vitamins and minerals besides good quality proteins as these leaves cost a fraction of traditional vegetables consumed by well to do population. Besides these leafy plants grow wildly all around and village folks have a fairly good knowledge about the type of leaves which are edible for picking up the right ones. Interestingly Morimga tree yields lush green leaves in abundant quantities and grow in the wilderness with no organized farming reported any where. As a part of the nutritional strategy countries like India must encourage planting of Moringa on waste and unused lands belonging to the government allowing people to harvest the leaves for their daily food use.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"CAFFEINOMANIA"! A NEW AMERICAN AFFLICTION OR ADDICTION?

Coffee, Tea and Cocoa have been the villains during early days of development of food industry as these beverage crops contain the unique ingredient Caffeine, considered a stimulant and addictive. Though these were being consumed for decades, no harmful effect was reported till recently. However during the last few years Caffeine has found its way into many other beverages and foods which trend seems to be growing day by day. Safety of chemically pure Caffeine is mired in controversy and no one is absolutely certain regarding the upper limit of Caffeine that can be tolerated by humans. That it is not a harmless chemical is reflected by the world wide consensus that Caffeine is not advisable for consumption by Pregnant women and children. If recent reports are to be believed Americans are seized with an obsession to consume more and caffeine in any form or through any medium and this trend is being exploited by even big industry giants by launching different types of products containing more and more Caffeine! Here is a critique on this latest development.    

"The Wall Street Journal reports companies are taking the obsession with caffeine to a new, more chewable form. From jerky to candy and even condiments, companies are cashing in on a caffeine-crazed nation. Frito-Lay, for example, now offers Cracked Jack'D Power Bites in Cocoa Java and Vanilla Mocha flavors. In 2007, Jelly Belly came out with caffeinated Extreme Sport Beans. There's even Perky Jerky, Wired caffeinated waffles and DoubleKick brand hot sauce. While the industry of caffeinated food products is still small compared with energy drinks, The Wall Street Journal reports sales in the U.S. have increased nearly 50 percent to $1.6 billion since 2008. Amped-up food is a unique challenge because of caffeine's bitter taste, but the real challenge for companies' may be bigger in that health regulators will look at the industry in a new way, according to The Wall Street Journal. There's also concern caffeinated snacks will be more desirable to children".

What is surprising is the utter insensitivity on the part of the health authorities in that country who is doing precious little to arrest this disturbing trend. The industry is not being asked to prove the safety of such high Caffeine containing products and in the absence of evidence to the contrary these products are "making merry while he sun shines"! what is forgotten in this charade is that Caffeine in natural products may act in a different way compared to that of pure isolated Caffeine and unless conclusively proved through clinical trials regarding the safety of the existing products containing chemically pure Caffeine their manufacture and marketing must be stopped forthwith.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

COFFEE VS SODA-THE EMERGING TREND

Modern America is considered the consumption capital of soda (say cola drink), the much hated sugary drink with caffeine, phosphoric acid and caramel color. Compared to any other nation in this planet Americans can boast that their per capita consumption of soda is the highest in the world and some time one wonders whether soda consumption and power go hand in hand! It took quiet some time for these super rich nation to realize that soda consumption can be dangerous to the health of their citizens and what New York did recently to ban large sized soft drinks through retailers is a right step in the right direction to curb consumption of sugary drinks. Now comes the news that there is a distinct trend emerging where brewed coffee is being increasingly being favored in preference to soft drinks. Here is a commentary on this new development that may have some implications on the health of the population in that country.

"And that makes sense. New survey data from the NPD group, which tracks trends in what Americans eat and drink, finds that 18- to 24-year-olds are turning to coffee, rather than caffeinated sodas, as their pick-me-up of choice. In 2002, about 25 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds reported drinking coffee sometime within a two-week period. But by 2012, the percentage of young adults drinking coffee in that same time frame hit 39 percent. For evidence of this trend, I hit a coffee shop near the campus of George Washington University, which is just a Metro-ride away from NPR headquarters here in D.C. In mid afternoon, I found a packed house. "This is nothing for two o'clock in the afternoon," senior Arturo Lichaucho tells me. Often times, the line is out the door and around the block, he explained, and lots of students hit the coffee shop before hitting the books in the late afternoon. The students I chatted with gave lots of reasons for a steady coffee habit, including increasing demands on their time that lead to less sleep, and the 24/7 culture of overstimulation. And why not drink more coffee? Recent studies link coffee consumption to a range of good health effects, including decreased risk of dementia and decreased risk of depression among women.
But experts say there is one downside that's often overlooked: Coffee consumption can get in the way of a good night's sleep. "Our data has shown that a brewed coffee contains much more caffeine than a cold cola beverage" says Bruce Goldberger, a toxicologist at the University of Florida. The Center for Science in the Public Interest took a look at several popular items and analyzed their caffeine content. It found that a 12-ounce cup of coffee from Starbucks contains about 260 milligrams of caffeine, which is about five times more than a 12-ounce can of Diet Coke".

What worries some health pundits is the possibility of increased levels of caffeine consumption as coffee contains significantly higher levels of this intoxicant. Caffeine is a natural component of beverage crops like coffee, tea and cocoa and beverages based on these crops have been consumed for ages without any adverse consequences. However an issue that needs consideration is whether at the moderate levels of coffee consumed during yesteryear it has any ill effects at all whereas to day there is a tendency to over consume that can result in undesirable impact on health. Advent of decaffeinated coffee was thought to lessen the impact of caffeine on human health through high consumption of this stimulant beverage but it appears there are not many takers for this version except for medically impaired conditions. Is it not time ripe for the WHO to come up with a universal safe upper limit for caffeine for the sake of millions of people who are addicted to coffee? If appropriate guidelines are forthcoming from competent sources, coffee consumers may yet moderate their coffee drinking habit to stay below the danger mark vis-a-vis caffeine.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"BENDING BACKWARDS"-THE US "RESPONSE" TO CHINESE VIOLATIONS

America is a country with practicing dichotomy in every field of economic and political activity. While professing democracy, it invariably promotes dictatorship amongst its vassal states across the world. Terrorism has different meanings for this country as terror against the US is abominable but if the victim is India it is condonable! India and China get differential treatment at the hands of this country with the latter invariably being treated with "kid gloves". Any violation of food safety by Indian exporters gets harsh treatment where as repeated violations by Chinese are glossed over. Though violations are routinely reported there is no mutually agreed protocols for food trade between these two countries, in spite of high volume of bilateral food trade.

"China, which exports about two billion dollars each year in food products to the United States, is a top violator of American food safety standards, according to US authorities. In April, for example, the authorities rejected 257 Chinese food shipments, far more than from any other country. Regulators, in calling for more stringent import and food safety laws, now have an agreement between the Chinese government and the FDA, who have comitted to work towards a mutual agreement to improve inspections and overall safety of food products and drugs. Up to now, China and the FDA did not have a binding agreement on food and drugs; there were no standard safety regulations between the two systems, and no mechanisms in place to inspect food production facilities and secure travel visas for investigations. China is the second largest source of imports for the United States while the United States is China's largest overseas market and second largest source of foreign direct investment".

Whether it is the economic muscle power of China or their strong foreign policy orchestration that is responsible for this "respect" from the most "powerful" country in the world, one cannot be sure. The fact that China can cripple the economy of the US if it so desires, may be a factor weighing with successive governments in that country. In contrast India practices a "benign" foreign policy typical of a country with a soft "under belly" and it may be too much to expect that other countries would pay any genuine respect in the international arena.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

AMERICANS-THE BIGGEST "GUINEA PIGS" FOR GM FOODS

The GM food controversy seems to be getting more and more muddier day by day with antagonists and protagonists ranged against each other, sparing no efforts to push their stand. The statement that giant multinational monopolistic seed companies, after investing heavily in developing special GM seed materials for a number of agricultural and horticultural crops, want to "reap" the harvest for their toil may sound reasonable as long as they use scientific and logical arguments to win over their critics. But using American model to justify use of GM seeds may not carry much weight as Americans them selves are realizing the imponderable effect of wide spread consumption of GM foods which have permeated the whole food market during the last one decade.

"Only now are millions of Americans waking up to the fact that an estimated seventy-five percent of our processed foods contain some form of genetically modified (GM) ingredients according to the Center for Food Safety. Many consumers don't understand the process used to develop these GM foods that have been deemed "substantially equivalent" to other foods by executive order, and therefore bypassed with little regulation to the public without their knowledge or consent".

Critics of GM foods argue, with some substance that the severe health crisis in the US due to consumption of unbalanced foods, putting in danger lives of millions of people in jeopardy, started after wide spread introduction of GM foods in that country. Further it is claimed that such brazen adventure was possible only because of the nexus between the industry and the multi billion dollar lobbying industry, with no worth while scientific and long term safety studies undertaken. We can only feel sorry for our brethren in the American continent for their helplessness to control what they eat, in spite of being a democratic country!

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com