Put to the Test, Popular Exercise Video Game Loses Steam

 
So, your kids have been permanently parked on the couch this winter and you're considering plunking down $90 for a Wii Fit in hopes that the exercise video game will boost their activity level.

If they're like most kids, yours will love Hula Hoop and Rhythm Boxing, just two of the games featured on Wii Fit. And they're in good company. Analysts believe that the wildly popular Wii Fit, which emphasizes strength training, aerobics, yoga and balance games, will eventually become the best-selling video game of all time. 

But how much of a workout will they really get?

That's the question the American Council on Exercise (ACE) wanted to answer, so they enlisted the help of researchers at the University of Wisconsin La Cross Exercise and Health Program.The researchers recruited 16 volunteers for the study, and after establishing their fitness baseline, taught the recruits how to use the six most aerobically challenging games in the Wii Fit program: Free Run, Island Run, Free Step, Advanced Step, Super Hula Hoop and Rhythm Boxing. Recruits were then tested in six-minute cycles of each activity while their oxygen uptake, heart rate and RPE (rate of perceived exertion) was monitored.

The two Wii Fit games that required the greatest effort were Island Run and Free Run. "However, neither was sufficient enough to maintain or improve cardiorespiratory endurance as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)," ACE's November/December 2009 report said. In all cases, researchers found that an individual performing the actual activity instead of the virtual one on Wii Fit would burn significantly more calories. 

How could this be? Two examples, according to researchers, are the Free Step and Advanced Step, both aerobic step activities. But while traditional step aerobics involves stepping on a 6-inch-high platform, the Wii Fit balance pad is just 1- or 1.5 inches high, said researchers, thus reducing the number of calories burned.  Researchers also discovered that Wii Fit's Rhythm Boxing burns only a third of the calories that would be expended in traditional boxing because the Wii Fit software provides mandatory instructions before each boxing move, keeping the user standing in place for as much as 15 seconds at a time and thus lowering the total calorie burn potential.

According to researcher John Porcari, Ph.D., "I guess anything is better than nothing, but we were a little bit underwhelmed with the exercise intensity of some of the exercises. The Wii Fit is a very, very mild workout."

If the kids are clamoring for a Wii Fit, don't despair. If they become hooked on Wii Fit, it could mean they'll stick with exercise more faithfully. Just make sure they're making time for traditional workouts, too.

 

Turbo-Charge Your Diet With 36 Top Power Foods

The Cleveland Clinic has listed 36 "power foods," foods that are so rich in nutrients and health benefits that nearly everyone should include them in their diet.

The Cleveland Clinic has been consistently named one of the nation's best hospitals in U.S. News & World Report's annual "America's Best Hospitals" report.

The 36 power foods have been organized by categories that include vegetables, proteins, fruits, soy foods, grains and legumes.

Vegetables: Aim for at least 1 to 2 cups of these vegetables at 2 meals each day.

1. Asparagus
2. Bell peppers
3. Bok choy
4. Broccoli
5. Carrots
6. Garlic, onions, leeks, shallots
7. Spinach, watercress, Swiss chard, romaine, kale, beets and mustard greens
8. Potato (with skin)
9. Sweet potato
10. Tomato
11. Acorn or butternut squash

(I'll happily eat all the vegetables listed above, although I'm not sure I've ever tried bok choy in my soups and I'll usually favor baby spinach over kale or Swiss chard.)

Proteins: Eat 1 3- to 6-oz fillet or 3-oz. can of fish each week. Eat 2 to 4 tablespoons of peanut butter each week.

   12. Tuna (canned in water or fresh)
   13. Salmon (fresh or canned pink)
   14. Natural peanut butter

(I love my peanut butter but have to work on more interesting tuna recipes.)

Fruits: Eat 3 servings of fresh (best), frozen or canned fruit daily. If blood sugar is a concern, eat whole fruits, not fruit juices.

  15. Apples
  16. Apricots
  17. Bananas
  18. Berries
  19. Cantaloupe
  20. Citrus
  21. Kiwi
  22. Papaya
  23. Peaches

(If I were stuck on a desert island and had to choose one food group to live on, it would be fruit, so no problems here. I love dried California apricots, but the higher sugar content is probably not a great thing in huge quantities.)

Soy foods: Use in place of meat sources.

  24. Soy milk and cheese
  25. Soy nuts
  26. Tofu and tempeh

(This is the only category I don't enjoy, perhaps because I don't have the right recipes.)

Grains: Eat 2 to 4 cups of cooked oatmeal (not instant) each week. Eat 2 tablespoons of wheat germ daily and 2 tablespoons to one-quarter cup of ground flaxseed each day.

  27. Barley
  28. Brown rice
  29. Bulgur
  30. Flaxseed
  31. Oatmeal
  32. Wheat germ

(I supplement my cats' diet with ground flaxseed and make my own granola with old-fashioned oatmeal, wheat germ and dried fruits. I also enjoy whole wheat berries, which didn't make this list.)

Legumes: Include 1 cup of legumes in your daily diet and include an extra cup on 2 days of the week. Use legumes as a protein source for lunch and two dinner meals.

  33. Black beans
  34. Black-eyed peas
  35. Kidney beans
  36. Lentils

(I love beans, but am turning away from the convenience of canned beans back to dried, due to the widespread use of bisphenol-A in the lining of many canned products.)

How many of the top 36 find their way into your diet?

Could Curry and Turmeric Become Your New Weight Loss Allies?

What do eggplant squash marsala, Mexican lentil stew and traditional mutton curry have in common? These recipes all contain the spice known as turmeric, or curcumin.

Early results from a new animal model study by the Agricultural Research Service suggests that curcumin, a polyphenol found in curry and turmeric, can halt the spread of fat tissue by slowing new blood vessel growth (a process known as angiogenesis), which is needed to build fat tissue. Asians have traditionally used both spices as a key ingredient in their cuisine for thousands of years.

The parameters of the study and its results were described in the May 2009 issue of The Journal of Nutrition.  Scientists divided mice into different groups for a 12-week study during which time two groups of mice were fed a high-fat diet containing 22% fat. In one group, the high-fat diet was supplemented with 500 milligrams of curcumin daily.

Researchers tracked the body weight and food consumption of the mice at regular intervals and found that at the end of the three-month period, those mice consuming the curcumin-laced diet not only gained less weight but had less total body fat, even though they consumed the same amount of food as the non-curcumin-consuming mice. Blood glucose, triglyceride, fatty acid, cholesterol and liver fat levels were lower as well.

Researchers say their findings suggest that dietary curcumin may play a role in preventing obesity but that further research is needed.

Would definitive research demonstrating the fat-fighting properties of these two spices cause you to incorporate more Asian-style dishes in your diet?

Mediterranean Diet Could Delay or Avoid Need for Diabetes Drugs

A low-carb, Mediterranean diet has trumped a low-fat, American Heart Association-style diet in helping newly diagnosed diabetes patients avoid drug therapy, according to the results of a study published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

A long-running study in Naples, Italy, compared the effect of diet on 215 overweight adults who were newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that the Mediterranean diet played a significant role in helping study participants avoid antihypergycemic drug therapy.

At the conclusion of the four-year study, 70% of those on the low-fat diet required treatment, while only 44% of those on the Mediterranean diet did. Researchers found that those on the Mediterranean diet also lost more weight and saw greater improvements in some glycemic control and coronary risk measures than did those on the low-fat diet.

The Mediterranean diet includes abundant quantities of fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains and healthy fats, like olive oil, plus lean protein from fish or nuts. The low-fat diet followed by some study participants included whole grains, fruits and vegetables but a limited amount of additional fats and sweets.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet are the first order of the day for diabetes patients, but many doctors will also recommend their patients immediately begin drug therapy upon diagnosis. If diabetes is a concern for you or someone you know, make a serious commitment to improve your lifestyle habits without delay. This study demonstrates that by doing so, you could avoid having to begin a daily drug regimen.

No Extra Points (or Calories) for a Cold Weather Workout

If, as I did, you thought that exercising in cold temperatures burned more fat and provided a more vigorous workout, prepare to be disappointed.

In fact, research at the Naval Medical Research Institute showed that metabolic processes actually slowed down in cold temperatures, perhaps because blood vessels in fatty tissues were constricted.

"Contrary to conventional wisdom, the combination of exercise and cold exposure does not act synergistically to enhance metabolism of fats," researchers said.

Better step up your game to compensate for those holiday over-indulgences.