Recently, I read a study that claims that fat people can be just as healthy as slim people, as long as they have no chronic health problems.

The study, which followed 6,000 obese people over a 16 year period, concluded that fat can indeed by healthy based on results that indicated that the overweight people lived just as long and had less heart problems than their slim counterparts.

Personally, I wouldn’t put much weight (no pun intended) behind this study. I think it’s sending a terrible message to the public.

Ask any doctor, and they’ll tell you: health-wise, it’s not okay to be obese. Excluding cardiovascular problems, there are still many other chronic diseases associated with being overweight.

People who are overweight are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, which can take many years to develop, or arthritis, among other problems. All of these issues can have a severely negative impact on quality of life and longevity.

The fact is, medically, it is necessary for all humans to strive to be at an ideal body weight. Sure, there are plenty of skinny, sick people out there, but their health issues would probably be compounded if they had excess body weight to deal with as well.

One good thing that the study did recommend was that obese people keep up an active lifestyle. I agree that maintaining a fitness regimen can help in many ways, including aiding with weight loss.

It’s not okay to settle for being above a healthy weight. People should all fight to reach their ideal weight. Trust me, I’m certainly familiar with that fight myself, and I hope my efforts will pay off in the end.

Arthritis sufferers appear to be at an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.

The good news, the researchers reported, is that drugs used to treat the condition are able to reduce that risk.

Researchers followed 400 rheumatoid arthritis sufferers for a period of five years, periodically measuring progression of their disease using markers of inflammation and physical appearance. They also monitored the patients’ treatment regimes.

The results indicated that heart disease and stroke risk corresponded with the intensity of a patient’s arthritis. However, disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, which are used to reduce inflammation, helped to mitigate the risk.

“Inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis increases patients risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular events,” the researchers said. “However it is possible to reduce this risk in a two-pronged attack by treating both the inflammation and traditional risk factors for heart disease.”

Other risk factors for heart disease include obesity, smoking, high blood pressure and alcoholism.

The study was published in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.

A derivative of a common spice found in Indian curries could help treat tendinitis, or inflammation of the tendons, according to a new study.

Tendinitis is a painful condition that results from injury, overuse, age or certain diseases, such as diabetes. It can occur in any tendon in the body but it is most common in the elbow, heel, shoulder and wrist.

UK researchers say that curcurim, which gives the spice turmeric its bright yellow coloring, may be effective in suppressing biological mechanisms that spark inflammation in the tendons.

“Our research is not suggesting that curry, turmeric or curcumin are cures for inflammatory conditions such as tendinitis and arthritis,” said lead researcher Dr. Ali Mobasheri. “However, we believe that it could offer scientists an important new lead in the treatment of these painful conditions through nutrition.”

Mobasheri recommended that further research focus on curcurim as a complementary therapy aimed at reducing the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which are the only drugs currently available for the treatment of tendinitis and other forms of arthritis.

The study was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Recently, I’ve received questions from readers asking me how they can treat common health ailments such as gout, cystic acne and toenail fungus. Here are the questions below:

1. I have developed gout in my big toe. Is there a remedy for the pain and a way to keep it from coming back? It is so bad that I can’t wear the boots that I need for my job. – Dewayne

3. What can I do to get rid of embarrassing toenail fungus? – Jereme

The truth is, I’ve found that natural remedies can be just as effective as prescription drugs for these problems. I interviewed Chris Kilham, the Medicine Hunter, to learn what plant-based cures are available.

In regards to the first question, gout is a form of arthritis that is caused by an imbalance of uric acid. Uric acid is a normal byproduct of the human metabolism, but when there is too much of it, it can crystallize in and around the joints and lead to acute arthritis, which can be incredibly painful.

To control uric acid levels, Chris Kilham recommends consuming black cherry juice. Supplements can work too, but the juice is more effective, he said.

In fact, a recent study conducted by the University of California Davis found that one serving of cherries daily was enough to reduce uric acid levels by as much as 15 percent, thus relieving gout symptoms.

To treat cystic acne, which is filled with bacteria, Kilham advised the use of manuka oil, which contains profound anti-bacterial properties.

Manuka oil, or Leptospermum scoparium, comes from the leaves of a bush that grows in New Zealand. It is used as a topical remedy for many skin ailments, including acne and inflammation.

“In terms of killing acne eruptions and getting to bacteria, manuka oil works very, very well,” Kilham said. “If you put it on cystic acne regularly, it’s going to take it way down or get rid of it completely.”

Finally, to treat toenail fungus, Kilham was 100 percent in favor of tamanu oil, or Calophyllum inophyllum. It is a tropical nut oil from the Pacific Islands, and its anti-fungal properties have been well-documented in previous studies.

“Toenail fungus responds rather brilliantly to tamanu oil,” Kilham said. “If you put the oil on the nail, it will get rid of the fungus.”

If you are interested in any of these items, call your local natural foods store to see if they carry them. If not, they are available online. As always, remember to consult your doctor before trying any remedies at home. E-mail me your health-related questions at askdrmanny@gmail.com.

Feeling anxious?  A new study suggests fish oil may help.

Experiments involving young adults found that consuming more fish oil showed marked reductions in both inflammation and anxiety.

The Ohio State University researchers who conducted the study hope that the results will translate to the elderly and people at high risk for certain related diseases.

Omega-3 fatty acids have long been considered an essential part of a healthy diet, and prior research has suggested that it may play a role in reducing the level of cytokines in the body, which promote inflammation, and possible even reduce depression.

Meanwhile, psychological stress has been proven to increase cytokine production, so the researchers wondered in increasing omega-3 intake may prevent that from happening.

The students in the study took either omega-3 supplements or a placebo as well as filling out a variety of surveys intended to gauge levels of stress, anxiety and depression.  They were also asked to report information about their daily diets.

Those receiving the omega-3 supplement, which contained four or five times the amount of fish oil a person would get from a daily serving of salmon, showed a 20 percent reduction in anxiety compared to the placebo group.

Blood samples also revealed that the levels of inflammatory cytokine compounds were reduced by 14 percent in the students who took the supplement.

Inflammation, the researchers said, can be helpful in some cases, but it can also play a harmful role in a number of diseases ranging from arthritis to heart disease to cancer.

The researchers said it was too early to advise broad usage of omega-3 supplements to the public, but did recommend increasing intake through fish and other foods.

The study was published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

I think Americans generally pay more attention to the gasoline they put in their cars than to the food they put in their mouths. We are a society of excess, and one of our more impressive excesses is the way in which we eat and what we choose to put in our mouths.

We are the leading country in the world in almost everything, yet our mortality rates, our cancer rates, and our neonatal death rates don’t rank among the best in the world. We lead in research, we lead in academic training, we lead in freedom of information, yet we don’t lead in taking care of our health.

We have all the knowledge in the world about everything in life, but that has made no impact on our health. Why? I think nutrition is part of the reason, and I think I know why.

No one is ever taught about nutrition. We certainly don’t teach the subject in grammar school, and it’s rarely taught in high school. Some colleges may offer it as an elective. But our parents certainly don’t talk to us about carbohydrates and proteins the way they do about the birds and the bees. If you combine this lack of knowledge with our appetite for diversity, taste, and presentation, what you have is a lot of people who know nothing about the food on their plate.

It’s never too late to learn about nutrition. The fundamental issue with nutrition is learning how to balance your caloric intake with the number of calories you burn. Everything we eat has a caloric value. If you take in more nutrients that contain a lot of calories and you don’t burn them up, the excess caloric energy is going to be stored as fat, and you’re going to gain weight. That weight and that fat will then interfere with all the normal functions of your body.

On the other hand, if you consume too few calories, say fewer than 1,200 calories a day, then your body doesn’t have sufficient energy to maintain adequate functioning. The caloric intake for a normal adult should range between 1,500 and 2,000 calories a day.

The body requires certain nutrients in order to work properly. Nutrients are the chemicals our body gets from food. These nutrients are used to build muscles, improve cell-to-cell transmission, and manufacture hormones. In describing nutrients, the word “essential” means that the body must consume them; it cannot produce them on its own. The nutrients we need include:

Essential amino acids.
The body requires amino acids to produce new body proteins and replace damaged proteins to build and maintain the body.

Vitamins and minerals.
These are recognized as essential nutrients that are specifically linked to the functionality of cells. If we’re deficient in vitamins and minerals, we develop a weak immune system, cell metabolism disorders, premature aging, scurvy, goiters, and bone loss.

Fatty acids.
Also essential, fatty acids are crucial for maintaining the body’s normal health. They are responsible for the normal formation of hormones and creation of some of the biological pathways responsible for dealing with inflammation and cell repair.

Sugars.
They are essential because they provide the fuel our cells need to function adequately, which allows the other nutrients to be utilized properly. If cells don’t have the sugar molecule necessary to generate the energy required for repairing, functioning, transmitting, and utilizing nutrients, then cellular damage and disease will result.

Each nutrient carries out one or more unique tasks your body needs to function. And because you need many nutrients to stay healthy—protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals—you have to eat a wide variety of foods to get them all.

It’s when we don’t recognize the necessity of all those elements that we begin getting into trouble. It’s like filling your gas tank with gasoline and forgetting to change the oil every 3,500 miles, or forgetting to put water in the radiator. The car needs the gasoline, the oil and the water, all in the proper proportions, in order to function properly. The same is true of the human body.

The problem, as I’ve mentioned before, is that about one-third of all American meals are prepared foods. And the problem with prepared foods is that their contents are not nutritionally balanced.

Our lack of knowledge of nutrition, combined with our obsession with processed foods, is really damaging our health. So we have to get back to fundamentals, a good example of which is the diet of people who live in the Mediterranean. Their diet is well balanced with vegetables and fruit, fish and lean meat, and the good unsaturated fats like olive oil.

Today, many people think that if they stick to low-fat or nonfat foods, they won’t gain weight. That’s a myth, because gaining weight has to do with calorie intake. If you take a salad and you add cheese and eggs and everything else in the book, even if you select low-fat ingredients, you’re still consuming a tremendous load of calories. And size matters, too; the size of your portions does make a difference in terms of the total amount of calories consumed. It’s just a plain mathematical calculation.

There are no magical foods that are going to help you burn calories or increase your cell metabolism either. There is no such a thing as a food that is more active in the body than others. People think that eating a grapefruit each day or having cabbage soup for lunch is going to burn off their fat. But that’s a myth. There is only one way to burn off those extra calories: exercise, any exercise at all.

How to Eat
It’s not just what or how much we are eating that’s the problem these days, it’s the way most of us eat. Many people skip breakfast, gulp down a quick lunch at noon, and then consume a large meal at seven o’clock at night.

Trouble is, they don’t need all that fuel at night. They need a little bit throughout the day when they are active—either moving, thinking, or both.

So what happens in the middle of the day if this is the way we eat? Without a supply of energy, our metabolism gets altered. Our blood sugar level is erratic. Our hormones go haywire trying to figure out where to obtain the fuel we need. People are always telling me, “I don’t eat, so how come I’m not losing weight?”

That’s the answer. Their metabolism is out of whack, and they need to get it back in order.

Supplements
If you eat a balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, grains, fish, and all the rest, you don’t need to take supplements. But how many of us really eat such a balanced diet?

And even if we do, because we are all predisposed for certain diseases and the aging processes, being proactive and adding certain supplements to our diet may be a good idea. But before popping supplements like candies from a bag of M&M’s, check with your doctor about what’s best for you. Some supplements can be toxic. Others may cause allergies or cross reactions with medications you may be taking. But there is no doubt that certain supplements can have specific health benefits and can lower the cost of health care at the same time.

An Important Word About Supplements
Many supplements contain active ingredients that can have strong effects on your body, and some supplements can interfere with prescription medicines. Always consult with your doctor or pharmacist before taking supplements.

I am particularly bullish on five supplements that have been well studied and are proven to support optimal health.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
I love the omega-3 fatty acids. They are an important contributor to the improvement of human health. Some studies have shown that omega 3s are good for the prevention of heart disease, as well as for depression, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma. You can get omega 3s by eating leafy greens and fish or by taking a fish oil tablet. Omega 3s assist with fat metabolism and help maintain a balance of good and bad cholesterol.

Calcium
Calcium is another very good supplement, specifically calcium with vitamin D. Calcium intake is an important factor in bone health and may play a role in the prevention of colon cancer, though it doesn’t appear to be the silver bullet that everyone hoped it would be. Research has shown that calcium supplements can significantly lower the occurrence of hip fractures among those aged 65 and older.

Folic Acid
Folic acid and folate are forms of a water-soluble vitamin B that occur naturally in leafy vegetables such as spinach and turnip greens, dry beans and peas, fortified cereal products, and some other fruits and vegetables. Folic acid supplements have been a lifesaver in the prevention of neural tube defects in children. They are also very beneficial for cell function and the prevention of heart disease.

Glucosamine
I also like glucosamine. It has good anti-inflammatory effects, especially for individuals with arthritis. It doesn’t prevent arthritis, and it doesn’t repair or rejuvenate cartilage, but I think it’s a very good supplement because it helps promote joint function and relieves the symptoms of inflammation and pain.

Other supplements that are thought to make a positive contribution to health include saw palmetto, the fruit of the fan palm, for men. Native Americans consumed it as food and used it to treat urinary and genital problems. Some research has shown that it could be effective for the treatment of an enlarged prostate in men. It increases urinary flow and has no known safety hazards.