McGill student wins prize for initiative to fight obesity

We are extremely proud to announce that a talented McGill undergrad has won a young entrepreneur's prize for her unique business premise.

Alyssa Fontaine Reid's idea would be impressive if it were simply aimed at fighting the worrying obesity trend, but this ambitious McGill Nutrition student has gone one step further, and hopes to address the planet's "weight problem"; namely, that a portion of the world's population is experiencing epidemic obesity, while in other parts of the globe, people are experiencing starvation and malnutrition.

Her unique goal is to help defeat both extremes of malnutrition (the overfed & the underfed) with a new concept in weight loss: those interested in losing pounds raise funds through sponsorship, and pledge those funds to a charity aimed at eliminating world hunger.
 

Alyssa believes that with positive peer pressure, people are more motivated to lose weight, and that the added element of fundraising provides another positive incentive to achieve the goal.

 In a recent interview, she said, "In my McGill University nutrition classes the teachers always talked about two extremes of nutrition: overfed and underfed. The healthy population of our world seems to be a minority. I decided to take both extreme malnutrition and create a win-win visionary solution to reduce the global epidemic of malnutrition."

 The contest, 'Start Something with Alesse' has awarded Alyssa $5,000, and will pair the young entrepreneur with a mentor who has experience in her field to provide guidance as her worthy project gets off the ground.
 

The prize money will allow her to launch her website, with an online sponsorship system that will empower those ready to push off the pounds to get started. She hopes that the online community will provide motivation and a support mechanism to those participating.

 Alyssa graduates next year as a dietician, and plans to pursue a masters degree in business.


 

Research backs link between exercise and mental health

The physical benefits of regular exercise are often the most publicised, but while taking inches off your waistline, an active lifestyle has also been proven to do wonders for your emotional well-being.

According to Boston University psychology professor Michael W. Otto and Jasper A. J. Smits, associate professor of psychology at Dallas’s Southern Methodist University, one reason exercise positively affects mental wellness is that it increases the production of serotonin. Low levels of this neurotransmitter have been linked to depression, they write in their recent book Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being.

Then there is the theory that exercise “whips your body into better shape” to handle stressors, they contend.
Exercise in itself is a stressor, forcing the body to adapt to the demands placed on it, and this kind of regular stress may help you be physiologically better at handling stress in general.

In their book, the two refer to several long-term, large-scale studies supporting the positive effects of exercise on mood.

A 2010 meta-analysis of 70 studies on the subject published in Annals of Behavioral Medicine, for instance, found that adults who reported sad or depressed moods—but not at levels that were considered psychiatric disorders—reported meaningful improvements in their mood as they started doing regular exercise.
A 2007 Psychological Medicine study of adolescents found that 16 percent of those who weren’t physically active developed an anxiety disorder over a four-year period compared to half that rate among those who exercised regularly.

Another study, from 2000 and published in Preventive Medicine, found that exercise is linked to less anger and “cynical distrust” as well as stronger feelings of social integration.

Perhaps the most convincing argument in favour of regular exercise for mood is also the simplest: unlike the goal of losing weight, the benefits of physical activity on a person’s mental state are almost immediate, Otto and Smits say. About 20 minutes into a workout, you start feeling better; that effect can last hours or even into the next day.

The authors don’t discount the role that medication and talk therapy can play in the treatment of conditions like depression and anxiety, and they emphasize that suicidal thoughts need immediate treatment. However, they argue that in many cases, exercise can function as the body’s own natural antidepressant.

Exercise is one component of the Canadian Mental Health Association B.C. branch’s Bounce Back: Reclaim Your Health program. Funded by the provincial Ministry of Health, the free program is geared to people with milder mental-health problems and helps them recognize and deal with signs of stress, low mood, and worry.

Some of the coping strategies are delivered through workbook materials and telephone coaching, with one being centred on using exercise to improve how you feel.

Planned exercise has been shown to boost mood, reduce tension and anxiety, and improve self esteem. Additional benefits include fun, social contact, structure provided in the day, plus wider long-term physical health benefits.

Psychologists Otto and Smits admit that sometimes even they find it tough to get off the couch and exercise. In their clinical practice, they’ve heard every excuse when it comes to avoiding physical activity: feeling too busy, tired, depressed, or unmotivated. They offer dozens of practical strategies to put intentions into action, such as bringing an audio book to reward yourself after the fact.

Exercise, they maintain, is your chance to approach the world with “appropriate selfishness—doing what you need to do to feel better today”.

“Keep this in mind as you think about your next workout,” they write. “You are doing it to feel less stressed, less down, and more relaxed. You are doing it for the sense of energy it provides and for the sense of being in tune with your body.…The key is getting out there and making your exercise a regular part of your life.”

Another reminder of why you need to get moving!

We know you know, but here it is again: exercise is the most natural and easy way you can stay healthy and live longer. The first scientific study to show this was published in London, England, back in 1843. At that time, research had already revealed that the mortality rate of sedentary people was higher than that of those who were physically active. Now, outside of other factors like smoking, age and diet, we know that exercise considerably reduces the risks of today’s most common diseases, namely heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer... Not to mention the benefits on the most common psychological state in our times: depression. Here's a short reminder of some of the ways an active lifestyle benefits you:

Heart Disease
Overall, exercise reduces the risk of heart disease by more than 40% in terms of all major risk factors. People who are very active physically, such as marathon runners and triathletes, rarely suffer from heart disease. Exercise protects you in many ways: increased good cholesterol (HDL) and, with a lot of exercise, a drop in bad cholesterol (LDL); reduced blood pressure between 8 mm and 12 mm (sometimes enough to avoid medication) and reduced abdominal fat (the most dangerous fat for the heart). As well, exercise is a key part of post-heart attack treatment.

Cancer
Physically active people are less likely to end up with cancer than those of us who are sedentary. Should they have the misfortune of being hit with this disease, they have a greater chance of surviving, since their physical condition enables them to handle more the powerful and thus more effective treatments. The most common cancers whose risk is reduced by exercise: breast cancer (namely from the anti-estrogen effect of exercise) and colon cancer. The risk can drop by 30% to over 50%. No other prevention factor is as powerful! In the fight against obesity, exercise could also reduce the risk of developing cancers of the pancreas and oesophagus.

Type 2 Diabetes
This is the most common form of diabetes in the world. Exercise is effective prevention of diabetes, since it acts like a shot of insulin. It reduces blood sugar levels and improves the effectiveness of the available insulin. This results in the body being able to control its own blood sugar with less insulin. This hypoglycaemic effect is all the more apparent in endurance athletes. They produce up to two times more insulin than the average adult but maintain normal blood sugar levels. Moreover, when an overweight person loses weight, exercise attacks head-on one of the major risk factors of Type 2 diabetes: obesity.

Depression
Moderate aerobic exercise fights depression by letting people play an active role in improving their situation. Exercise helps make them feel more in control of their life. It is also believed that exercise affects us biochemically by freeing certain euphoric substances in the brain like endorphins and serotonin (anti-depressive effect). All in all, exercise practised regularly acts as a statin (a medication that lowers cholesterol levels), an antihypertensive, an anti-estrogen medication, a hypoglycaemic and an antidepressant. If you could put exercise into a pill, it would definitely be the most sold drug in the world, and the only one without side effects except for the odd ache or pain!