The gift of health

It is difficult to imagine a more worthwhile gift this Christmas than the gift of health.

Sure, I know, most people would rather have a big win on the lottery, but if given the option, I'd choose improved quality of life instead of simply being able to buy more things.

No matter how much they wish to, no death-bed millionaire ever bought another 10 years of active life. Real quality of life, the ability to savour the rich goodness possible in every moment requires that you be healthy and active enough to enjoy it.

Don't even try to argue that a couch potato might possess a rich quality of life.

Now that the half marathon and walkathon are getting closer, your individual fitness level must be improving compared to some months back when you had just begun. Along the way you may also have shed some excess kilos from your waist-line and feel much more slim and trim.

You've learned that health doesn't come without work.

So, having put in the hard miles to get to this point, and feeling pretty satisfied with your achievement, would you like to know how many cheeseburgers you'd have to eat before you start doing damage to your newly-healthy body?

The answer, according to a review of new dietary research, is one. Just one cheeseburger meal.

Shocking, right? Just one high-fat, high-sugar meal can trigger a biochemical cascade, causing inflammation of blood vessels and immediate, detrimental changes to your nervous system, according to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Here's how it works. When you eat a meal, your body breaks down the food into a stream of nutrients, including glucose (sugar), lipids (fats) and amino acids (the building blocks of protein). If your meal was basically junk food - for example, a white panina with a cheap beef hamburger and a slice of cheese, some chips and a soft drink - the rush of sugar causes hyperglycemia: a big spike in blood-sugar levels.

By now, most of us have got the message that poor diet in the long-term can lead to high blood pressure and a build-up of gunk in blood vessels that increases heart-attack risk. But few people realise that there are negative effects in the very short-term. Before hitting the party circuit over the festive season, few ever stop to consider just how bad one unhealthy meal might be.

In truth, it's a nutritional train-wreck.

After one single junk food meal, tissue becomes inflamed, just as it does when infected. Blood vessels constrict. Free radicals, unstable molecules that cause cell damage and are thought to contribute to chronic disease and aging, are generated.

The body's stress response has a bigger effect on blood pressure, raising it higher than normal. Most people tend to feel lethargic a few hours after eating junk food.

The sudden surge and drop in insulin - the hormone that instructs your body to store energy - also leaves you feeling hungry again soon after eating, despite the fact you just consumed half-a-day's worth of calories. So what do you do? Of course you eat again. And pretty soon you are once more on the slippery slope to ill-health.

The good news is that these blood-sugar spikes and crashes can be controlled.

Blood sugar will rise and fall quickly if, for example, you eat an easily digested meal of mainly junk food.

However, do what your mum always told you and eat healthy foods and you can avoid this post-meal spike and crash. The healthy foods are exactly the ones you would expect: lots of fresh vegetables and fruits along with lean proteins like fish, chicken and legumes.

If you eat grains, make them high-fibre whole grains. Whatever you do, avoid eating what I call, "white food" (white bread, white rice and other refined carbohydrates).

Let me sum it all up and generate a healthy dose of guilt to help guard you over the Christmas period. Live by this motto; "No (food) ever tastes as good as healthy feels!"

You can replace the word in brackets by your personal siren snack; the one that sings to you from the refrigerator. Could be chocolate cake, ice-cream or even the cheeseburger example above.

So, who are you going to give the gift of health to this Christmas?

For now, give it to yourself. It's the gift that goes on giving. Once you're sure you own it, pass it along to those you care most about.

UJ M2S

Tomorrow... Mdina Gate. Don't be late. Registration: from 7:00-7:30. Bring the exact €7 entry fee. Gun goes at 8 a.m.

johnwalsh42195@yahoo.it