The Oasis

My Bioregion: Late Summer

So...what did you do this summer? Did you get outside and actually enjoy the natural world?

In many parts of the country, the weather was just so hot that it wasn't conducive to anything but sitting in front of the air conditioner with a glass of iced tea. Today, at least in this part of the world, there are subtle signs that summer is coming to an end.

Yes, everything is still green. There is not a single leaf that has begun to turn and the goldenrod is still sending up its slender aromatic stalks, not a mass of yellow blossoms in sight. But gone is any trace of that new tender green that so captivates the senses after winter departs. At dusk, the thrumming of the cicadas is louder than ever. Perhaps they sense their time is short.

Late this afternoon, like many August days in the South, the clouds piled higher and higher. Thunder boomed in the distance and the rain shower slowly moved in, drenching the Earth and dispersing the sweet green fragrance of newly mown grass into the air. At dusk, the sky is still overcast and scatters the light evenly over the green of the backyard, obscuring any contrast. The green lawn melts into the green woods' edge. The tall pines sway in the evening breeze, cooler now, and a few straggler fireflies blink in the understory, their miniature lights conjuring up thoughts of carefree childhood summers. 

Any day now, the goldenrods will pop into bloom, the first few leaves on the sweetgums will change to red. Crows will start to gather in flocks, a "murder" of crows, it's called. Sumac leaves will fade to orange and autumn will slowly overtake us.

Wake up. Be aware of this one moment.

This one moment that bleeds into the next...and the next...and the next.

The moments of our lives.

Baby Fat

Now wait just a minute. What is going on here?

The Oasis has been following all the latest obesity epidemic news, but I just ran across a story that has my head spinning...

the obesity epidemic has spread to babies!

So called "chubby" babies used to be thought of as cute...but not anymore. In a new study, publised online in the journal Obesity, researchers found that the incidence of obesity has risen for all children, and that even includes infants. And just in case you think that fat babies are a problem for poor families who may not get the best nutritional advice, think again. The rates of overweight are increasing in children from mostly middle class families.

So what's going on here?

In another study, researchers found that obese mothers spent less time feeding and interacting with their infants than those of normal weight. These mothers also fed their babies more calorie rich food. This study however, was very small, but the results are provocative and certainly call for more thorough research.

Why should we be so alarmed about a little baby fat?

If a child is obese early in life, that obesity tends to stay with him or her later in life, putting the child at risk for all kinds of health problems. The British Medical Journal reports that there are eight factors that increase a child's chance of being obese by age 7:

1) Having obese parents
2) High birth weight
3) Spending more than eight hours watching TV when 3 years old
4) Sleeping less than 10.5 hours per night when 3 years old
5) Size in early life
6) Rapid weight gain in the first year of life
7) Rapid catch-up growth between birth and 2 years
8) Early development of body fatness during the preschool years (before age 5-6 years, when body fat should be increasing)

Tip from your Wellness Coach: Parents can modify some of these factors by watching their own body weight, making sure their children get adequate sleep, providing proper nutrition and encouraging physical activity for the entire family. Start early  by modeling healthy behavior for your children. If you are not sure if your child is at a healthy weight, consult the child's pediatrician.

Excuse me, did you say Wal-Mart?

Well, just after I posted that somewhat depressing call to action on global warming, I head about Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott's call for the discount giant to become...er...umm...well...green.

For most folks in the environmental movement, the name Wal-Mart conjures up images of suburban sprawl, piles of packaging waste, massive oil use via its supply chain, water pollution from construction site runoff and so on. Could this be Wally World's latest ploy to detract attention from what's really going on?

Last October, Mr. Scott called for no less a goal than to have his company run on 100% renewble energy and to produce zero waste! Surely this is preposterous.

But Mr. Scott put his money where his mouth had been...by outlining specific and detailed commitments to cut his company's greenhouse gas emissions by 20% over the next seven years, double the fuel efficiency of Wal-Mart's truck fleet in ten years and downsize solid waste production from Wal-Mart stores by 25% in the next three years and double the offerings of organic foods this year.

Last time I was in Wal-Mart, I was amazed at the number of new organic products that Wal-Mart is now carrying...everything from vegetables to the plant based sweetener, stevia.

Of course, Mr. Scott admits that the technology does not yet exist for any company to be 100% green but he wants U.S. consumers to know that he is serious about where Wal-Mart is heading.

So besides having a direct impact on the environment, Wal-Mart could become a global change leader. Because Wal-Mart is so large, they naturally wield great power and have much influence on other market leaders. If the Wal-Mart CEO thinks these changes are good for Wal-Mart, other companies are likely to follow.

Is it hot in here? Global warm up.

Is it just me? Or is it hot in here?

Turns out that this summer is the hottest first half of the year on record in the United States. Not to mention the headlines about melting glaciers and flooding of islands.

Our current government administration has shown little inclination to address the increasingly alarming news regarding global warming. The predictions are not pretty: more severe weather in the form of monster hurricaines, tornadoes, wildfires and floods is on the way.

What was that saying about Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned?

I really don't believe it matters whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, a conservative or a liberal. Red state or blue state. We cannot wait any longer. We simply must have immediate and mandatory cuts in emissions, funding of renewable energy sources, energy conservation and an end to deforestation.

Our children are depending on us to act. Call your senators and representatives and ask what they intend to do about this problem.

Interdependence Day!

July 4th is right around the corner and here in the U.S. we're gearing up to eat watermelon and barbecue, perhaps take our kids to a downtown parade and end the day with fireworks at dusk. After all, Independence Day is our greatest national holiday.

Perhaps we should be thinking about Interdependence Day as well!

In spite of all the signs to the contrary, we Americans (and I suspect a lot of people in other industrialized countries as well) act as if we as individuals aren't connected to each other or the Earth in any way. Look at our housing choices for example. Many of us choose to live in sub-divisions, suburban collections of homes that were built, at least here in Georgia, on what was once rural rolling Piedmont land...with its tall fragrant pines and stands of oak and sweetgum. Everywhere I look, more and more land is being invaded by giant earth moving machines, scraping and grading the red clay hills into a flat unimaginative tract to make room for yet another industrial park or housing development. Once beautiful, green, rural farmland now has signs designating the property as Zoned Commercial. There is no "master plan" to make sure that open spaces and rolling rural property is preserved for future generations.

Why don't I see signs that say Zoned Rural?

Because we, as postmodern individuals, have absolutely no sense of interdependence. No clue that our very lives depend not only upon one another, but also on the fragile Earth herself.

There are some bright spots here and there...take for example the sustainable community of Serenbe that's located here just south of Atlanta. Serenbe is located on almost a thousand acres of rural Piedmont land, with wooded hills, open pastures, and flowing creeks set in the Chattahoochee Hill Country. Make no mistake, there is a lot of development going on at Serenbe, but it's development of a very different kind. Housing and businesses are clustered in communities within the acreage, with plans to leave 70 to 80% of the land as greenspace, complete with interconnected walking trails, pastures and an organic farm that supplies the community through a buy in of shares. Serenbe has no "rugged living" arrangements...the houses are an eclectic mix of contemporary and traditional and the community has attracted writers, artists and business people as well.

Driving along the graveled dirt road that leads through the property, I came upon a tall, rust colored sign with a quote from Andrew Jackson Downing...the famous young horticulturist who long ago conceived the idea of New York City's Central Park. The sign, sculptural in its presence, is surrounded by oats growing in the fields, bordered on all sides by wooded land. Birds call in the trees and the blue sky arches overhead, not a single cloud disturbing its late afternoon meditation. Just down the road, I catch a glimpse of a few of Serenbe's houses, nestled among the sheltering presence of the trees. Downing's words speak to me as I breathe in the country air:

"All beauty is an outward expression of inward good, and so closely are the beautiful and the true allied, that we shall find, if we become sincere loves of the grace, the harmony and the loveliness with which rural homes and rural life are capable of being invested, that we are silently opening our hearts to an influence which is higher and deeper than the mere symbol."

Perhaps there is hope left in the world after all...hope for our children and for our own futures. So as we celebrate this Independence Day, let us not forget our Inter-dependence on all things and on each other.

   

Puppy Love Can Backfire: Pet Treats and Salmonella

Next time you, or your children, give that beloved pet a treat made with fish or meat, be sure to thoroughly wash your hands. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has been investigating a handful of cases in Canada and Washington state in which people became ill with a salmonella infection after handling pet treats made with meat or fish. The CDC believes that many more cases may have occured but were just not reported.

Salmonella infections can cause serious illness and in susceptible people, such as the very young or elderly, the effects can be deadly.

Some tips:

-- always wash your hands with soap and water after handling pet treats made with animal products

-- people with weak immune systems, children under age 5 and older adults (who are at greater risk of complications from an infection) should avoid handling these pet treats altogether.

So next time your pet begs for a treat, do yourself a favor afterward and wash your hands. Don't treat yourself to a potentially deadly illness.

Diabetes: The Perfect Storm

For decades, we have ignored the evidence. Now, in 2025, less than 20 years away, the perfect storm is poised to hit worldwide. A massive hurricaine? A monster tsunami? An off the scale earthquake?

As serious as our environmental problems are, I'm not talking about global warming.

Fast forward to 2025. The number of people suffering from diabetes has skyrocketed to a staggering 350 million worldwide. Among the huge numbers of people with the disease, death is common. Amputations are routine. Strokes, heart attacks and life-threatening infections are everyday events. Entire countries are caught off guard, having made no provisions in their health care plans for such a pandemic. There is a public outcry. How could this have happened? Why didn't you warn us...why didn't you help us to do something to prevent this castastrophe?

The evidence for such a scenario is overwhelming. Let's look at what has happened to the number of cases of diabetes over the last two decades. In just 20 years, the number of people with adult onset diabetes has risen from 30 million to 230 million. And there is no reason, unless we wake up, to expect a decrease in this exponential growth pattern. And when I say "we" I mean we the peoples of planet Earth. China and India now have the most diabetics in the world. Globally, there are 6 million new diabetes sufferers each year. Someone dies every 10 seconds from the effects of this disease...3 million deaths a year. The International Diabetes Foundation is seeking a U.N. resolution to bring recognition to the seriousness of the problem...the first resolution of its kind for a non-communicable disease. Half of the world's diabetics don't even know they have the disease...causing a potentially lethal lag in treatment.

What is causing this diabetes explosion?

Genetics plays a part, but the biggest culprits are lifestyle and diet. Globally, people have better access to cheap food and consume all the wrong nutrients. The hectic pace of our everyday lives has most of us living on adrenalin and getting less than adequate sleep, both known risk factors for putting on pounds and wreaking havoc with our blood sugars. Plus, in our lives today, daily physical activity has become something that has to be consciously incorporated into one's routine, rather than as a normal consequence of daily living. The bottom line...

Bad diet + too little exercise + high stress levels = weight gain, which leads to a greatly increased risk of developing diabetes.

Keeping one's body weight in a healthy range greatly decreases a person's risk of developing the disease, even when genetic factors are present. Good control of blood sugar significantly decreases a person's risk of developing serious complications. It's no great stretch to figure out that prevention and early detection of diabetes could save massive amounts of money, not to mention the savings in human suffering.

What can you, a single individual, do in the face of this storm? Plenty!

Look first to your own health. A healthy body weight, sound diet and plenty of exercise is great, not only for you, but as an example for your children, your friends and community. Here in the U.S., get involved with your local school system as they begin to implement mandated wellness policies. Ask your local restuarants to carry healthier choices on their menus and then follow through by actually purchasing them. If you have a family history of the disease, ask your health care provider about getting tested.

I would love to see your ideas about what else can be done to stem this deadly tide. Feel free to post your thoughts here as comments to this post.

Yoga and Breast Cancer Treatment: Good Companions!

Researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reported some encouraging results on the effects of yoga on women who are undergoing radiation treatments for breast cancer. This preliminary study looked at just 61 patients who particpated in a specially designed yoga program around the same time as they were going for radiation treatments.

The women reported a significant increase in physical function, as well as improved general health, after only one week!

A larger follow-up study is now being done, funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Mmmmmm mmmm good!"

The Campbell's Soup Company, that icon of childhood comfort food, has posted a six percent increase in its third quarter sales.

The main reason behind this profit explosion?

Wellness.

Now you may ask, just what does wellness have to do with people buying more soup?

The folks at Campbells are jumping on the wellness train. They have successfully reformulated many of their soups, transforming them from high sodium foods into lower sodium offerings. In many cases, they are also offering lower fat versions of many of their classics. That, along with rearranging the soup aisle to make their soups easier to locate, is what's behind the increase in sales.

Now I just happen to have a can of Campbell's Tomato in my pantry. There is a label on the back that states the soup has two times more lycopene than a fresh tomato. Ok, that sounds like a good thing. Let's see what else is in this can.

Ingredients: tomato puree, high fructose corn syrup, wheat flour, salt and spice extract.

There go the alarm bells...the second ingredient is highly glycemic high fructose corn syrup. So even though Campbell's Tomato gets high marks for no fat, high in lycopene and no artificial flavors or colors, the high fructose corn syrup (which gives the soup its sweetness and adds to the total carbohydrate content) makes me question the company's true comittment to wellness.

Maybe I'll experiment with an alternative recipe, one that's still just as convenient (or almost) and report on my results in a later post.

Botox for the Blues?

You have probably heard an expression like "Put on a happy face!" or other sayings to that effect. The theory is this: when you smile, you activate the brain areas that are associated with good feelings. So, even when you are feeling blue, simply smiling is supposed to make you feel better.

Now there is evidence, even though it's preliminary, that backs up that notion.

Eric Finzi, M.D., Ph.D., conducted a small pilot study in which he injected Botox into the faces of 10 women who had been suffering from long-standing depression...depression which had not responded to convential treatment. Botox, which is used by facial plastic surgeons to erase frown lines, prevented the study subjects from frowning.

9 out of the 10 study participants no longer met the clinical standards for depression after only two months.

Dr. Finzi's study results have been roundly criticized by many of his professional colleagues, both in medicine and psychiatry. They contend that, among other reasons, (1) the number of subjects was much too small to make generalizations about the effect of Botox on all patients with depression, (2) the results could have been due, not to the Botox, but to the placebo effect and (3) the improvement in the study participants was entirely based on self-report.

As flawed as the initial study may have been, I think a larger study is warranted. The idea that the facial frown muscles are feeding back into the depression centers of the brain is quite intriguing. The treatment of resistant depression with Botox injections, if it is indeed proven to work, would certainly be a lot safer that risking the side effects of medication or other more noxious treatments.

Meanwhile, Dr. Finzi has applied for a patent for this treatment for depression.

Keep on smiling!

(Dr. Finzi's study was published in the May issue of Dermatologic Surgery.)