Optimal Nutrition

by Martin Collis, PhD

M.E.L.L.O.W. is my acronym for facets of high-level wellness and lifestyle artistry. In successive editions we have looked at the Magic of the Mind, Exercise, Laughter, Love and today it is the turn of Optimal Nutrition.

"Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die", goes the Biblical advice but it no longer works that way. Eat, drink and be merry and tomorrow you'll have diabetes or you'll wake up obese, are more likely results from careless consumption. "Eat, drink and be wary" might be a better maxim to live by.

Perhaps the least understood, most misunderstood, most confusing, contradictory and most profitable (to authors, publishers, and producers of infomercials and videotapes) aspect of lifestyle is nutrition. I read recently that there are more books published about food and diet than sex. This may or may not be true, but it is clearly a subject of enormous interest in our culture.

Charles Dickens opened the novel "Tale of Two Cities" with the famous lines, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness." So it is today in a world of eating, dieting and nutrition. In North America it is the age of organic fruits and vegetables, it is the age of fast food. It is the age of nouvelle cuisine and the age of whoppers and biggie fries. It is an age where we no longer deal with famine (at least in North America) and don't need to store fat on our bodies, yet is an age of obesity. It is the age of supplements and health food stores, it is the age of junk food. There are record sales of cookbooks and kitchen appliances, but a third of meals are eaten out of the home. We can eat like royalty of previous eras with access to food from around the world, but we behave like the nouveau riche stuffing our lives and ourselves with more than we need. We ignore the advice of Euripedes who told us, "Enough is abundance to the wize." and listen instead to Tom Petty who informs us that, "Too much ain't enough."

Every statistic I've seen in the past two or three years points to a frightening increase in overweight and obesity. Here are just a few of the indicators that we are turning into Generation XXL.

I could go on, but the message is clear. North Americans are fat and getting fatter. The research is unequivocal and pervasive. Children are getting fatter, men are getting fatter, and women are expanding, as are Blacks, Caucasians, Hispanics and the people of the First Nations. Obesity is an equal opportunity problem.

I don't have a fat fetish and in my presentations I always refer to the work of Dr. Stephen Blair (see Cooper Watch: Fitness vs. Fatness) who showed that in a prospective study of over 10,000 people fatness was not a risk factor in all cause mortality (death), if you also looked at fitness. In simple terms it was better to be fat and fit, than thin and unfit. However, it needs to be noted that lack of exercise and fitness are much more common among the overweight and obese than in people who are slim.

Our taste buds like food that is fatty, salty and sweet. These preferences go back tens of thousands of years when our taste buds selectively responded to the needs of the body. Salt was necessary in the polarization of the every cell membrane. Fat was essential for food storage (prior to refrigerators) and sweetness was a way of checking for ripeness and even whether something was poisonous. Today the manufacturers of fast food accommodate our taste buds by making virtually everything fatty, salty and/or sweet.

Dave Barry's view on nutrition: the digestive system

We face a triple whammy in trying to eat well and maintain our weight. We eat more, we eat worse and we eat out.

1. We eat more.

I smiled when I read a recent article from London's Daily Telegraph by James Langton. "Doctors and health experts have puzzled for some time why North Americans are so fat. Over-eating does not seem to be the single explanation. Most adults consume only around 100-calories a day more than they did 20-years ago." Only 100-calories a more a day! Do the math: 100 calories x 365 days = 36,500 calories. That's over 10 lbs or close to 5 kilograms per year. Multiply that by a few years and you need to look no further to see why people are wobbling around airports and eclipsing the sun on Floridian beaches. Couple those extra calories with a decrease in daily movement and you have a toxic environment for obesity and ill health.

2. We eat worse.

We are eating more prepared foods, packaged foods, canned foods and things that have little resemblance to their original form. These often come laden with fats, sugar, salt and a variety of chemical flavor enhancers, coloring agents and preservatives. The preservatives are great for shelf life but can have a less positive effect on self-life.

3. We eat out.

In the 1970's 18% of meals were eaten outside the home. Last year it was 36%, exactly twice as many. Typically restaurant food is (i) higher in fat than that prepared at home (38% fat as opposed to 31% at home) (ii) lower in fiber and (iii) lower in calcium.

Taste sells. Last year sales of full fat cookies increased 6.5% while sales of low-fat cookies were down 35%. There is a similar picture for ice-cream sales.

Size sells. We are dealing with a phenomenon that the Boston dietitian, Elizabeth Ward, refers to as "PORTION DISTORTION." The philosophy that "bigger is better" is great for the bottom line of fast food franchises and 'family' restaurants, but not so good for the bottom line of North American bodies. According to the Tufts 'Health and Nutrition Letter,' if you buy a slice blueberry crumb cake at the ubiquitous Starbucks it contains 800 calories and 38 grams of fat, 18 of them saturated. A single 2.5 oz milk chocolate cookie from Mrs. Fields has 280-calories and it's hard to stop at one cookie.

The following table compares serving sizes for some typical snacks in the North American diet between the years 1960 and 2000. Forty years has seen a four fold increase in some of our fast food.

It is difficult to avoid added sugar when you shop or eat out. Sugar shows up in pizza, bread, hot dogs, yogurt, soups, canned food, mayo, ketchup and hundreds of other products. In the past 50 years our sugar consumption is up 41%, approximately 1 lb (0.5 kilograms) per person per year (see 'Liquid Candy'). Stanislav Lec once said, "I give you bitter pills in sugar coating. The pills are harmless, the poison is in the sugar."

Epicurus noted that, "Nothing is enough for the person for whom enough is too little." A small burger and fries might be enough, so let's supersize it so that it would take the equivalent of running a half-marathon to burn it off (see the Calorie Calculator at HealthyIdeas.com). Too many supersized meals, biggie fries and whoppers are giving us supersized, biggie, whopping kids, many of whom will have to deal with the social, psychological and health problems that are associated with obesity.

Albert Schweitzer said, "We move from naive simplicity to profound simplicity." In the Top Ten Eating Commandments I have tried to distill some of the accumulated wisdom about optimal nutrition into a few simple truths.

Top Ten Eating Commandments

1 - Balance calories consumed with calories burned. (see 'Forget The Math, Let's Eat!')

2 - Eat food that is natural. Nature makes the locks, nature has the keys. Organic is good. If food comes in a packet and glows in the dark . . . beware.

3 - Eat plenty of complex carbohydrates and fiber (e.g. nuts, grains, vegetables and fruits). Be powered by carbohydrates not hydrocarbons. Go for a rainbow diet with 8 to 10 colors a day. Numerous health enhancing, cancer-fighting phytonutrients are found in colored fruits and veggies.

4 - Hydrate. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water (we tend to snack when what we really need to do is drink). The body is an aqueous medium so try to prehydrate and not dehydrate. By the time you're thirsty the body is already challenged.

"I still manage to find the time to drink 8 glasses of water a day."

5 - Watch the quantity of fat you consume. A high fat diet correlates with heart disease, cancer and other chronic disease states. (Adults have a fat tooth more than a sweet tooth.)

6 - Be aware of the quality of the fat you consume. Move towards unsaturated fats where possible, and avoid transfats that are found in hard margarine, for example. Transfats often show up in commercial cakes, cookies, danish and many packaged foods.

7 - Consider taking supplements.

I follow the advice of Dr. Abraham Hoffer in my supplementation. Dr. Hoffer is still a practicing physician in Victoria at age 83 and was a colleague and co-author with Dr. Linus Pauling. Dr. Pauling won two Nobel Prizes before turning his attention to vitamins, particularly the benefits of high doses of vitamin C. His work was ridiculed by the medical establishment until a couple of weeks ago when an article appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal reporting that intravenous vitamin C led to rapid tumor shrinkage in cancer patients. The editors of the journal write, "the success of intravenous vitamin C therapy is no longer implausible. As science advances so does the potential for a miracle." This seems like a reluctant way of saying the old man might have been right all along.

8 - Do not go on extreme diets. Stay away from the dueling diet doctors, with their books, tapes and special foods.

In my song 'You're The Guru' I write:

For more about diet, see my 'Diet' article in the Spring 2000 edition of WELL. If you want to guru-proof yourself beware of any author who does not provide solid data to support their claims. This does not mean case studies of Janet Conclusion from Flin-Flon who lost 150 lbs and became a super model, it means long term data, of large numbers of people who've used a diet or eating program, with a statistically significant number making desired changes. This sounds a bit academic, but it is just common sense. We have a brain and it is appropriate to use critical thinking when making lifestyle and eating style decisions. For a wonderful book on the world of diets try "Losing It" by Laura Fraser (buy it at Amazon.com or buy it at Chapters.ca).

9 - Have a good breakfast.

I like the rocket ship principle for getting through the day. This means a good take-off and a soft-landing at the end of the day. In terms of eating, this can mean having your protein earlier in the day rather than later. Protein has a high specific dynamic action, which increases the metabolic rate about 30%. The amino acids in protein seem to stimulate the metabolic rate rather like adrenaline and tend to wake you up. Carbohydrates and fats have a much lower specific dynamic action and their digestion usually only increases the metabolism 4%. Food such as pasta is great at dinner and helps prepare you for rest and sleep.

10 - Enjoy.

A significant portion of this article is focussed on the connection between our diet and obesity. This was by design, because the problems associated with obesity are becoming a major health concern in our society. There is a relationship between the quality of food and the quantity of the food we consume. If we eat a diet that has plenty of variety, and is rich in grains, fruits and vegetables we are unlikely to overeat. The calorie dense fast foods high in sugar and fat are what tend to throw us out of caloric balance. As Ghandi said in Harijan "The grosser the food, the grosser the body."

I began the article with every mother's quotation, "Eat your fruits and veggies, go out and play." The 'play' part is tremendously important as it burns calories, builds muscle and tells the body/mind that all is WELL.

Wellness Journey

by Martin Collis, PhD

I've been a moving target for the past few months and I'm beginning to know the security guards at the local airport by their first names. In many ways my most interesting stop was in Dallas, Texas at the Cooper Aerobics Center.

One of our 'regular features' in past issues of WELL has been 'Cooper Watch' in which we've reported on the cutting edge information which has emerged from the Cooper Research Institute on physical activity and other wellness related behaviors (see Summer 2000, Spring 2000 and Fall 1999).

I'm always taken by surprise when someone asks me "Who's Dr. Ken Cooper?" I assume that everyone is familiar with a man who I think ranks as one of the great Americans of the past 50 years. It was Ken Cooper, MD who took the adjective aerobic added an 's' and gave us the word 'aerobics'. Ken Cooper more than any other person made jogging acceptable to millions of North Americans and others around the world. In Brazil people talk of doing their 'Cooper' and I smiled a couple of years back when staying in a small hotel in Iguassu on the Brazil/Paraguay/Argentine border. I went out to swim and noticed a sign for 'Cooper'. Here among the tropical vegetation under the watchful eyes of multi-colored parrots the guests were doing their 'Cooper' on a little fitness trail.

Back in the 60's Dr. Kenneth Cooper was a young physician in the U.S. Air Force. He developed a concern for the lack of physical fitness among the recruits and started a program primarily of cardio-respiratory fitness that subsequently formed the basis of his 'Aerobics' points concept. Against the advice of virtually everybody Ken left the military to set up a preventative medical practice in Dallas. When someone has a new idea and tries to put it into practice they typically engender hostility, ridicule and opposition from the establishment. The Texas Medical Association was not impressed by the young man who had the temerity to have post-coronary patients on monitored exercise programs. He was warned that people would die, and that he was putting his career as a physician in jeopardy. But, Dr. Cooper is not an easy man to dissuade and he methodically went about the business of collecting the data that would ultimately reveal that it was not movement that threatened people recovering from heart attacks, but lack of movement. (In the old days you could almost say that if the heart attack didn't get you then the bed rest would.)

During this time Ken wrote his book 'Aerobics' and was informed by the potential publisher that no one would be interested in a book with such an obscure title. The book was published, and it was called 'Aerobics' and proceeded to sell literally millions of copies around the world. The book provided growing recognition for Dr. Cooper; and person by person, organization by organization the young man from Oklahoma began to be acknowledged as a visionary and a leader in the field we now accept as preventative medicine. (search for Dr. Cooper's books at Amazon.com or Chapters.ca)

There have been many inspirational speakers and leaders in the field of physical activity, but one major factor separates Cooper from the rest. Ken Cooper has passionately collected data that allowed him to create programs that are founded on the bedrock of facts. The Research Institute at the Aerobics Center has access to millions of hours of recorded physical activity by the patrons of the Fitness Center, which is an important part of the Aerobics Center campus.

You need a significant ego to take on the medical establishment, and put your life savings on the line to create a center that deals in wellness when all the big dollars are invested in sickness. But what impresses me about Dr. Cooper is his humility in modifying and refining his beliefs and his message as the data told a story that might vary from his own. I've always liked the Greek myth, in which Procrustes had a bed into which he'd fit each partner. If the person were too tall, the legs would be cut off; not tall enough, then a little stretching would be in order. So many of the fitness gurus use Procrustian thinking where they take selected parts of the research to fit their own theories, and are not averse to stretching a few truths of buffing away some facts-not so with Dr. Cooper.

The Cooper Research Institute at the Aerobics Center under Dr. Stephen Blair has produced information which has changed the way we council people about some aspects of exercise. For instance, Dr. Blair and his co-researchers discovered that quite modest amounts of physical activity were almost as effective as intense exercise in terms of their impact on longevity. It was also discovered that being overweight is not a significant risk factor if an individual has good cardio-respiratory fitness. (And that's a big 'if')

The reason I was at the Institute with my partner Nancy Wardle was to take part in the first major conference on Physical Activity and Cancer. We have long known that lack of activity was a significant risk factor for heart disease and diabetes, but the connection was less clear for cancer. Two of the problems in discovering whether exercise has a protective effect in preventing cancer are, the variety of different cancers and the inadequate self-reporting that has often been used to assess people's activity level. If actual objective fitness data are used, we see that exercise has a significant protective effect against colon cancer and a measurable positive protective effect on breast cancer and prostate cancer. Stephen Blair noted that the major studies in which people self report their physical activity and fitness are not very useful in clarifying the preventive impact of movement on the prevention and treatment on specific forms of cancer.

There is a growing amount of anecdotal information that physical activity is an important part of cancer treatment. Because of the devastating impact of chemotherapy and radiation treatment on the human body, doctors have been hesitant to prescribe exercise as part of the healing process. But we have a genetic imperative to move, and all musculo-skeletal and cardio-respiratory benefits of exercise can still be accessed by most people with cancer. Although it is hard to measure, movement sends a message to your mind that cancer has not taken control of your active life. An excellent example of post-cancer physical activity, are the increasing numbers of breast cancer survivors who are dragon boat paddlers (see Abreast In A Boat).

The U.S. Presidential elections took place when we were in Texas and for the duration of the conference Nancy and I occupied the Presidential Suite where the Bush family, including George W., stays when they have their annual physical. Dr. Cooper is George W.'s personal physician and one can speculate that the new President Bush might want Dr. Cooper as his Surgeon General. (I liked Don Ardell's idea of having a Wellness General, instead of, or at least to compliment the rather ominously named Surgeon General, which sounds like something from the 19^th Century.) Whatever your political affiliations, you can take some comfort knowing that President Bush is well informed on the value of lifestyle and exercise and their role in prevention.

The Cooper Clinic is a preventative medicine center with a staff of 19 physicians and numerous other health professionals. I took advantage of being at the Aerobics Center to have myself assessed.

After being treadmilled, underwater-weighed, CT scanned and checked for everything from homocysteine to various cholesterol measures, I wished this form of evaluation were available and affordable for all North Americans. (The reality is that if our health care system was wellness, rather than sickness, oriented we could save money and lives with regular health maintenance checks. But we still operate along the lines of 'Fix the sick, and to hell with the well.')

One of the positive features of my exam was that all my results were available within an hour of my testing and I was able to sit down with my physician Dr. Larry Gibbons and discuss the meaning of my results in detail. (Ross Perot claims that he can accomplish in less than a day at the Cooper Clinic what takes 3 days at the Mayo Clinic.)

There was good news and not-so good news. The good news was an 'excellent' score on the treadmill test and no significant risk factors for cancer. However, I need to address my cholesterol, with my LDL cholesterol above the acceptable range. My weight at 186lbs (85kilos), and body fat at 22.6% are higher than they need to be and the CT scan picked up a significant amount of plaque around my coronary arteries. I was reminded of my school report cards which said, "Could do better", and I can.

Over lunch, I told Dallas Maverick's basketball player Steve Nash about the testing program and he immediately signed up both his parents as a Christmas gift. What better gift than wellness?

The Cooper Center now offers residential Cooper Wellness Programs for individuals and professional groups. My good friend Charles Sterling arranged for me to address a group with employees from Harley Davidson and Texas Instruments. There is no question that companies see the Cooper experience as a cost-effective investment in looking after key employees. (For information call 1-800-444-5192.) In the words of Red McCombs owner of McCombs Enterprises of San Antonio:

As a study in contrasts, I went from the urban sophistication of Dallas, to Poundmaker's Lodge north of Edmonton, where I worked for a day with the Cree addictions councilors. I checked out the sweat lodge and traded songs and quotes with some very wise and insightful people, one of who gave me my quote of the year:

So now it's back to my personal and geographical journey, which, as you can see from my itinerary, is extensive. Be WELL.

Wellness Works

by Caroline Dolan

A number of Canadian companies have made significant strides in employee health and wellness. The challenge now is to convince the critics that wellness is more than just a nice thing to do, it's a business imperative.

Dogs are supposed to be our best friends, but in the case of a small group of employees working at Clearnet Communication's corporate head office in Toronto, it appears to be the other way around. Each month, about 50 employees take a brisk 10-minute walk down the street to a nearby Scarborough Animal Shelter to stroke a stray cat or walk an abandoned dog.

"The animals love the human interaction and the team is given a leash and a scoopy bag," jokes Linda Lewis, Clearnet's manager of corporate wellness, about the company's program. "As they return to the office, they benefit from another 10-minute walk for exercise."

The program, conceived and administered by a volunteer Clearnet employee, promotes physical and social well-being in the workplace. And while it may seem (literally) fluffy on the surface, scratch deeper and you'll discover it has roots in a deeper corporate philosophy.

"At Clearnet, we take a holistic approach to personal and organizational wellness," says Lewis, echoing the company's wellness mission statement. "We encourage positive movement toward optimal wellbeing through opportunities for, education and growth."

Many of Clearnet's 2,700 employees also have access to one of the company's two onsite wellness clinics (located in Scarborough, Ont., and Burnaby, B.C.) to have a massage, speak with a naturopath or, at cost, an aromatherapist. The dedicated wellness clinic—an old meeting room now painted in a soft yellow—is also available to employees' family members.

The company supports several other more traditional two-footed wellness initiatives including a monthly wellness newsletter, a page devoted to wellness on the company's intranet, quarterly healthy eating workshops, fitness classes including tai-chi, yoga and self-defence courses.

To date, Lewis says she hasn't been required to do a cost-benefit analysis showing how sick days declined in response to a rising number of wellness initiatives. In fact, she says, there's been an internal debate within the corporation whether or not it's even necessary.

Measuring the indirect and direct cost savings of wellness plans is a challenge. The issue gets to the heart of the challenge for employers when it comes to investing in corporate wellness programs. After all, it makes intuitive sense that employees who are fit and healthy are happier and more productive-and that's got to be good for the corporation's bottom line. Still, critics say that operations and organizations aren't doing enough and with the global marketplace at their doorstep, Canadian companies without effective, comprehensive worksite wellness and health promotion strategies could find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

"My sense is that we're only nibbling around the edges," says Ed Buffet, president and chief executive officer of Buffet Taylor, a Whitby, Ont.-based benefits consultant, of the state of employee wellness programs in Canada. Canadian companies, like Clearnet, have made significant strides in the implementation of comprehensive wellness programs, but by and large, he says, they're not doing enough. "With a few exceptions, Canadian organizations are being dragged kicking and screaming into wellness programs," says Buffet. "They have a great degree of difficulty in seeing something that is warm and fuzzy as a business imperative."

Buffet says Canadian employers need to look further than a ground-breaking 20-year wellness study conducted by the University of Michigan of more than two million employees working at more than 1,000 worksites across the United States. The resulting report, entitled "The Ultimate 20th Century Cost Benefit Analysis and Report 1979 to 200," provides much-needed evidence to prove that high-risk employees (those that are overweight or don't follow healthy lifestyle practices) have greater healthcare costs, are absent more often than low-risk employees and are less productive than low or medium-risk employees.

Here in Canada, Buffet has further evidence that while Canadian employers are moving the area of wellness and health promotion forward, they haven't reached their full potential. In 1996, his company undertook one of the first comprehensive wellness surveys in Canada, and has just published another, the Buffet Taylor National Wellness Survey Report 2000, showing that just 17% of 414 employers are providing comprehensive wellness programs.

Too often, says Buffet, an employer will implement a single wellness initiative and expect it to produce an immediate reduction in group healthcare costs. "If you are going to have a program that's cost viable and creates opportunities for significant behavioral change, you need a comprehensive wellness strategy," explains Buffett.

Ross Flood, wellness employee assistance program co-ordinator for Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) in St. John's, Nfld., has already converted to the notion that employee wellness programs are essential in today's fast-paced world.

In addition to counseling individual employees, Flood oversees the wellness programs for the 900 or so employees who administer the HRDC programs and services such as Employment Insurance and federal income security programs at 20 service points in 15 cities across Newfoundland and Labrador.

This is the second time Flood has been in this position (he left in the late 1980's to pursue a master's degree) and says he's seen a marked difference in the types of that employees are bringing forward in counseling sessions. There are more issued surrounding failed or flailing relationships, family and balancing of home and work, and addictions, in particular gambling. Flood says e also hears more about issues surrounding low morale and conflict, especially in the workplace, "People don't have enough time for themselves," he says, "Workplace wellness programs are a good reminder to individuals to take care of themselves."

But not all organizations are able to afford the cost of a full-blown wellness program. Linda Kezima, director of human resources for the Assiniboine Valley Health District in Kamsack, Sask., attended the Health, Work and Wellness Conference 2000 in Toronto this past October, and while she was inspired by what she learned about what other companies are doing, she said it would be difficult to implement many of the initiatives in her district, which employs nearly 700 people working in various hospitals and long-term care facilities in her rural district.

"We know that money isn't the ultimate driver in having a healthy and satisfied workforce," says Kezima, adding that the cash strapped health district is focusing on creative initiatives such as flextime, preferential shifting when necessary (When an employee becomes pregnant, for instance) and graduated return-to-work programs. "We can do a lot with a little," she says.

Another area where wellness is making inroads is within organized labour. The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union has put wellness programs on the bargaining table for it's 260,000 members working coast-to-coast in the country's airlines, railroads, boat building, fisheries and auto manufacturing plants.

"Were negotiating some [wellness] initiatives now," says Lyle Hargrove, director of Health, Training and Safety Fund, in Toronto. "We have an obligation to look after our members at work, as well as at home."

Speaking of walking the talk, Hargrove says they're convinced that wellness programs are beneficial, especially after having tried a few in a recent pilot initiative with union management and support staff.

Getting the buy-in of the union is critical to the success of the wellness programs in the workplace, says Hargrove. Workers are suspect of new programs introduced by the companies they work for, fearful that they may have a hidden agenda to erode or even eliminate workers' rights. The unions can help "sell" beneficial wellness programs and services to their members: if they save the company money in healthcare costs down the road, then everyone wins.

Canadian companies can't afford not to make workplace wellness and health promotion a business priority. "We have a lot of work to do," says Hargrove, adding that stress in the workplace is the No. 1 issue and the speed of change is only going to accelerate.

"I think we have a lot of disillusioned people out there who have achieved success but have found that it wasn't the panacea they thought it was-tough days are ahead and Canadian companies have to decide if they are going to be among the winners," says Buffett.

Robert Timberg couldn't agree more. "I personally think wellness programs are particularly valuable in attracting and retaining talent," says Timberg, who sets policies, strategy and programs for Nortel Networks' Global Environmental Safety and wok Life division from his office in Brampton, Ont.

Timberg stresses the need for employers to be smart consumers of wellness initiatives. "They can't be mere fluff and frills," he says, "You always have to be able to tie them into business."

Nortel's 23,000 Canadian employees enjoy access to on-site health and fitness centers in Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa and Montreal. The company will facilitate other programs, at cost, is enough employees want them. In Brampton, for example, employees have had access to lessons in judo, karate, ballroom dancing, even the guitar.

Is there a return on investment (ROI) for Nortel? "I'm positive we're getting an ROI," says Timberg, "but I can't prove it scientifically."

Nortels' philosophy is simple: give employees what they want because if you don't, some other company will and increasingly, that company is likely to be foreign.

The bottom line, says Buffet, is that Canadian corporations cannot afford to ignore this issue any longer. All the evidence points to the fact that healthy employees are more productive and cost less in the long term. It's simply smart business.

"We're now competing in a global marketplace-we can't just be the best nationally, we have to be the best globally," says Buffet. "My sense is that we still have some waking up to do."

Caroline Nolan is a Toronto-based writer and editor.

Size Matters!

by Guy LeMasurier, MSc

The Swiss Ball has emerged as the latest celebrity in magazines, newspapers and Internet fitness sites. Pumping up the Swiss Ball is a great idea, especially to improve posture, which has become a huge issue in the desk and computer-based workforce. Whether it's slouching at our workstation or sprawling at home on the Lazyboy, our posture could use some work. (See Ball Chair at BodyTrends.com for a useful article on posture at work and the use of the Swiss Ball.) Activity is being engineered out of the work place and that's where today's population spends most of its time. As a result, it is estimated that 90% of people experience some form of low-back pain in their lifetime, some chronic, some acute.

So, the Swiss Ball - sometimes called Therapeutic Ball, Stabilizing Ball or Big Round Thing - can provide some relief when it's used correctly.

What I have not yet encountered is an article that explains the physiological principle behind using 'Heir Roundness.' I'm sure you've heard how it targets stabilizing abdominal muscles, strengthens the core, or how it's better than sit-ups and great for treating your lower back. But how, and why?

It has everything to do with the size principle. Often referred to as Henneman's size principle because of the early work in the area of neuromuscular physiology by Dr. E Henneman, a well-known physiologist. Before I explain how Henneman's size principle relates to the Swiss ball and its effectiveness we need first to have a simple lesson in how muscular activity is coordinated.

A muscle (e.g. the biceps muscle) is made up of several groups of muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are connected to the central nervous system by nerves. A motor unit consists of a nerve and the muscle fibers innervated by that nerve. When we perform voluntary movement, higher centers in our brain engage these motor units to perform work. Motor units have two classifications, slow-twitch and fast-twitch (sometimes referred to as type 1 and type 2, respectively). This classification describes the characteristics about the nerve and the muscle fibers it controls.

Slow-twitch motor units have very excitable nerves and few numbers of muscle fibers. Slow-twitch muscle fibers are small in diameter and are not used to generate large forces. In addition, the conduction of the nerve impulse to the muscle fiber is relatively slow in slow-twitch motor units compared to fast-twitch motor units.

Fast-twitch motor units have nerves with low excitability and large numbers of muscle fibers. The fast-twitch muscle fibers have a large diameter and are used to develop large forces. In fast-twitch motor units nerve impulses are conducted rapidly and are consistent with quicker, more forceful muscle contractions where speed and power are critical to performance.

Henneman's Size principle speaks to the functional importance of how motor units are recruited (engaged to act) during exercise. The small excitable slow-twitch motor units are recruited when low levels of force are required, but as the force requirements increase the larger fast-twitch motor units are recruited. Therefore, as the force requirements increase the size of the motor unit recruited increases. Hence, the size principle.

As an example, if you were to lift a glass of water to your mouth it would mainly require the slow-twitch motor units in your biceps muscle to perform the task. However, if you curled a 20 lb dumbbell predominantly fast-twitch motor units would be recruited.

Finally, we must understand that all muscles are made up of a mixture of both slow and fast-twitch muscle fibers. The distribution and relative amounts of each fiber type in a muscle is a result of many factors including genetics, the structure and function of the muscle and the stresses the muscle is subjected to over time.

Muscles of the abdomen and the lower back are primarily postural muscles and are generally made up of a greater number of slow-twitch motor units. These postural muscles are predominantly used for maintaining posture and are required for slower less intense movements where speed is not critical. This is where the traditional sit-up gets a bad rap.

When you see people performing traditional sit-ups the first 10, or even 20, may be quite controlled and smooth, however the movement often ends up looking erratic and painful with the exerciser using his or her arms to bend the head toward that almighty target, the knees. The problems with this movement relate to muscle recruitment, the loads imposed on our lumbar spine and the lack of involvement of stabilizing abdominal muscles.

First, because sit-ups require the movement of a large mass (most of the upper torso), predominantly fast-twitch motor units of the rectus abdominus muscles are used. (The rectus abdominus muscle is often called the 'six-pack' however it is really an eight pack as there are a pair below the belt line). Secondly, as you curl up towards the knees you increase the load penalty (spinal compression) on the lumbar spine (McGill & Axler, 1997). McGill and Axler (1997) also concluded that a variety of selected abdominal exercises are required to sufficiently challenge all of the abdominal muscles. Which brings us to the third point, that traditional curl up and sit-up exercises operate in a single (frontal) plane of movement and do not engage the other abdominal muscles to a large degree.

In a recent study by Vera-Gracia, Grenier and McGill (2000) they concluded that by performing curl-ups on a labile (moveable) surface it changed the level of muscular activity and the way the muscles co-activate to stabilize the spine and the whole body. Specifically, they found that the muscle activity was larger in the external oblique muscles compared with the other abdominal muscles. The findings suggest that much higher-demands are placed on the motor control system by performing exercise on a labile surface.

Here's where the Swiss ball bounces to the forefront. Many of the beginner positions/movements on the Swiss ball such as the 'table top', seated ball balance and leg bridge require little movement in any one plane but require a tremendous amount of stabilizing.

Table Top		Leg Bridge

The Swiss ball provides a labile surface which requires you to make constant corrections to maintain the position by activating stabilizing (core) muscles namely the external and internal oblique muscles, quadratus lumborum, transversus abdominis muscle and erector spinae muscles. The slow twitch fibers of the rectus abdominis muscles are still engaged, however the fast-twitch fibers are not engaged to the same extent as when a sit-up is performed and the rectus abdominis muscles are the prime movers.

If you are still with me at this point you have made it through the tough stuff and you can tell your friends that you understand neuromuscular physiology as it relates to isometric and concentric contractions on labile surfaces.

In my fitness seminar 'Belly, Balls, Bands and Back' I demonstrate how the Swiss ball can be used to improve stability in the lower back through some very simple exercises.

The Executive Committee has a ball at
Waterton lakes Lodge National Park

For example, by just sitting on the ball with feet flat on the floor you will engage abdominal and lower back muscles to maintain position. I know people who use a Swiss ball in place of a chair at work. However, for beginners I suggest you keep you chair around until you have gradually increased your time on the ball. A simple progression from just sitting is to extend one leg until it is parallel to the floor, as shown below.

This will wake up and engage those stabilizing abdominal muscles. (Rather like the differences between lifting free weights, which use considerable stabilizing musculature and lifting on a machine that only involves very specific prime mover muscles.)

Since these positions require stabilizing and little movement of large masses, it offers the advantage of engaging the smaller slow-twitch motor units that are often neglected in the traditional sit-up or curl up movements. In addition it engages a larger number of muscle groups when you have to stabilize your hips and lower back in all planes of movement.

You can still address those large fast-twitch motor units by working with a partner who can add resistance with a thera-band or some rubber tubing while you perform a curl-up on the ball. It is not uncommon for athletes to perform weightlifting exercise on the ball, placing their shoulders on the ball and forming a bridge while performing dumbbell flys.

Try doing a shoulder press while sitting on the ball. The progression to a weightlifting exercise atop the ball can help develop strength and stability in the core as additional weight and the complexity of the movement will challenge a variety of lower back and abdominal muscles and the different motor units.

The wonderful thing about the ball is that it is lightweight, portable, inexpensive and offers a whole new dimension to workouts. It can be used in the home by a beginner (sit on it while you watch 'Survivor' or the 'West Wing') or the elite athlete. It is a soft, comfortable surface to perform exercises on and it's fun! Your imagination is your limitation to working with a ball. However, I do suggest you head to a gym or talk to a personal trainer preferably certified as a Professional Fitness and Lifestyle Consultant or by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

So get on the ball, literally, and put yourself in a position that will benefit posture, strengthen your core muscles and help prevent lower back problems.

If you are looking to purchase a ball, head to the BodyTrends.com health and fitness site. Here you will find a comparison of the different Swiss Balls on a number of categories.

A great book to get you started on the ball and many more exercises to keep you going is 'Ball Bearings' by Jeff Compton and Stefan Scott of Edge Fitness. (You can purchse a copy for $15 + $3 shipping and handling, by sending a message to guy@speakwell.com.)

I do suggest you head to a gym and . . . not or . . . talk to a personal trainer.

Here are some popular links where you can find tips for using the ball and some photos of exercises.

C.H.E.K. Institute
Paul Chek is the swiss ball guru. Working with professional sports teams, universities, the armed forces and surgeons around the world, Paul Chek has brought the use of the Swiss Ball to popular culture. His site offers an exercise of the month for the ball. Check out his articles on the stability ball for in-depth instruction and education.

PT Strategies
This site has a few beginner positions and a text description. Balls and other rehabilitation equipment can be ordered.

Fitball USA
This site has products, exercise tips and information that is quite easy to navigate.

References

McGill, S.M. and Axler, C.T., 1997. Low back loads over a variety of abdominal exercises: searching for the safest abdominal challenge. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 26(6), 804-11.

Vera-Gracia, F.J., Grenier, S.G., and McGill, S.M., 2000. Abdominal muscle response during curl-ups on both stable and labile surfaces. Physical Therapy, 80(6), 564-9.

Well Into the 21st Century

by Guy LeMasurier, MSc

Every conference organizer and meeting planner at some time has had the thought, "What if hardly anybody registers? What if we threw a party and no-one came?" These thoughts crossed my mind when Speakwell rented the 1000+ capacity, University of Victoria Auditorium for our evening of high level wellness titled "Well Into the 21st Century."

Typically, Martin addresses employee groups, organizations and major conferences and was aware that many people in his hometown had not heard him present. We followed the Nike philosophy and just did it! Once we were committed to a date and a program, things began to happen very quickly and in the words of W.H. Murray came to life:

The top companies and organizations in town came on board by purchasing blocks of seats for their employees. No surprise to Victorians that the list included Pacific Coast Savings, Thrifty Foods, The University of Victoria and Pacific Sport National Training Center of Greater Victoria. All told, these companies picked up over 400 tickets.

Our media sponsors were very supportive and timely with their coverage of the event. The Times-Colonist provided 1/4 page advertisements 2-3 times per week for the month leading up to the event and blanketed their calendars and upcoming event sections with our information. CFAX 1070 Radio ran interviews with Martin and promoted the event with free ticket giveaways on the air. The community newspapers ran articles and the local cable channel did a very professional 3 minute segment on Martin to promote the event. (They even included a clip of Martin and I playing Ping-Pong, a regular part of our day at Speakwell. Part wellness, all grudge match.)

The event was a sell-out, and a success for many more reasons than the attendance. We featured three outstanding women as part of the program Lara Lauzon, Dr. Nancy Wardle and Carolyn Neapole. Lara Lauzon had 1000 people stretching and moving out of their seats! Soon to be Dr. Lara Lauzon when she completes her Ph.D., she has had experience with large crowds. Her Internationally syndicated TV fitness program, 'Body Moves', has touched millions of lives throughout North America. Lara has been a student of Martin's from undergraduate through to the Ph.D. level.

Dr. Wardle is Western Canada's leading mind/body physician, and a great presenter. She captured the audience immediately and took them up with the 'Breath of Life' (a collective "YES!" from the audience that resonated outside of the complex) and brought them back down with some guided meditation which was so effective it sent Pacific Sport CEO Roger Skillings to sleep.

Carolyn Neapole, a brilliant singer and local recording artist, performed one of Martin's songs 'Never Too Late' and one of her best songs (in my opinion) 'Piece of You'. She was exceptional and the acoustically designed venue enhanced the impact of her delivery. Carolyn and her band got a large audience response.

We provided a 32-page booklet for every attendee called the "Little Book of Lifestyle Artistry". The booklet summarizes Martin's M.E.L.L.O.W. approach to wellness, includes some breathing techniques from Dr. Wardle, a synopsis of Martin's 'Phacts of Life', the PAR-Q (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) which Martin co-developed back in the 1970's and some readings and resources for each of the elements in M.E.L.L.O.W. The booklet has been a big hit. Our first run of 2000 has sold out and we have gone to a second printing of 5000. (You can purchase a copy at Well-Mart.)

As the director of this production I couldn't have hoped for a better result considering we had no formal rehearsal and hadn't had all the principles together for a full run through. It was a one-off, and we put on a great event. If that were all there was to say I would have been happy with the outcome, but I would be forgetting a major objective of the evening.

We supported 3 local charities with which we had close association. The newly formed Kidsport Greater Victoria provides funds for registration and equipment for kids who might be prevented from participation in sport for fiscal reasons. Martin was on the board of Sport B.C. when the Provincial Kidsport was established, and now has helped raise money for the launch of the Greater Victoria branch. On April 30th, Speakwell will donate $2001 to Kidsport Greater Victoria at their official launch at the Cedar Hill Recreation Center.

The Neil Squire Foundation was established after the former UVic basketball player was badly injured in a car accident. The foundation develops instructional programs, produces research and helps people with physical disabilities develop the skills to pursue their desired careers. Our close association with UVic and Martin's memory of the late Neil Squire made this a Foundation a natural to support.

Martin donates $1000 to Leslie Warnock-Rogers for the
Neil Squire Foundation at the Resource Disability
Network Conference in Vancouver, February 23, 2001.

We also supported CFAX 1070 Radio president Mel Cooper's Foundation for Youth Leadership. Mel has always lent his support to local events and charities and we felt it would be great to give back to the hand that lent us so much support in the promotion of our event. Our interdependence worked out for both Speakwell and CFAX 1070 radio. Shortly after the event, Martin spoke to the CFAX 1070 and Extreme 107.3 marketing staff at a retreat in beautiful Cordova Bay. A fitting $1070 was donated to Mel Cooper's Foundation for Youth Leadership.

So we gave a party and we provided over $4000 of financial support to some worthy charities. We sold out the auditorium, the presenters got a standing ovation and we provided financial support to some worthy charities and had a lot of fun. Now the pressure is on to do it again to accommodate all the people who couldn't get tickets. Fortunately, we videotaped the evening and are looking for ways to make it available to everyone.

Nutrition Links for Healthy Eating

Tufts University Nutrition Navigator
Everything you need to know about nutrition websites starts here! Click on 'general nutrition' and get a brief, but comprehensive overview of 120+ nutrition sites on the Internet. Below we've provided a couple of our favorite links that were rated among the best on the plaNET.

Cyberdiet
Recommended by Guy LeMasurier in his Spring 2000 article "Forget the Math, Let's Eat," this site is comprehensive, colorful, fun and will generate a customized nutrition profile.

Center for Science in the Public Interest
If you want to know about past, current and cutting edge issues in nutrition and health look no further. This site is comprehensive and very interesting, set some time aside to have a good look. It also has a Canadian version. CSPI publishes the great newsletter "Nutrition Action". We subscribe to "Nutrition Action" at Speakwell and recommend it highly.

Health Canada Nutrition
Consumers can check out Canada's food guide to healthy eating. Teachers can click on "Vitality Leader's Kit" (found among the "New Publications") to gain access to a resource packet for teaching the principles of healthy eating, healthy activity, and healthy self-image. Assess your Body Mass Index (BMI) and see what that means for your health and risk factors. The clean design and accuracy of the information make this site among the best around, eh!

Mayo Health Oasis
Much more than just nutrition the Mayo Health Oasis is more of an encyclopedia of health and disease information. It has a webzine layout and provides articles on many subjects as well as an archive for past articles. Try the "Virtual Cookbook" for lower fat recipes or "ask the Mayo Dietitian" a specific question. Personalize this site for yourself in "My Mayo" by becoming a registered user and the site tailors information to your clicks and queries . . . eerie?

Consumer Lab
Want to see if your supplement makes the grade? Because dietary supplements aren't required to undergo rigorous testing, like pharmaceuticals, there is no way of knowing whether a particular brand is good quality, or even honest in it's label claims. ConsumerLab.com puts different brands to the test, check out the results.

Useful Advice About Colds and Exercise

How do colds affect your activity level? According to the American College of Sports Medicine, researchers at Ball State University, writing in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, expressed these guidelines for exercising if you have a cold.

With above-the-neck symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing or scratchy throat, exercise is fine, but at a lower intensity. If your symptoms go away after a few minutes of exercise, you may increase your intensity.

With below-the-neck symptoms such as fever, sore muscles or joints, vomiting or diarrhea, or a miserable cough, stay at home. Let the illness run its course while you don't run, walk or exercise.

Acronyms

Do you have a favourite acronym that you would like to share in the next issue of WELL? If so, fill out the following form and press send. Be sure to include your name and email address so that we can give you credit.

Acronym:		Name:
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Poetry

Do I Love You?
by Keith Wilkinson

Do I love you? Listen-
I can turn a soup label into a poem,
Teach any two words how to kiss-
How could our knowing each other
be less than this?

-Hyphen-
by Martin Collis

I read of a man who was asked to speak at the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on the tombstone, the beginning and the end

The first and the last days are markers in time.
But what do those days really mean

What matters is not the birth or the death
But the hyphen which lies between

For the hyphen is the time you spend on this earth
Just a hyphen to show what a life's really worth

And it isn't a house, it isn't a car, and it isn't a 53 Gibson guitar
It's not a position, it's not a possession or membership in a prestigious profession

It's not in the labels on your clothes or your shoes
Or the places you've been or seen on a cruise

We're human beings not human doings
Who pursue money and fame and keep on pursuing

The words on the tombstone are "kindness, and love, family, friendship and laughter"
These are things that continue to ring when your body has reached the hereafter

Choose wisely and well when selecting the goals that you choose to base your life on
To miss the joy is to miss it all and a terrible waste of a hyphen-

Midnight Swimmer
by Mary Mulvihill

She comes out
at the same indecent hour
every evening, leaving
no wet footprints,
she salutes
the night security guard,
then pauses to disrobe
under the lapis sky of August,
lazuli blue
above the vapors rising
from the unnatural color
of the pool.
The steadfast moon
endures the same loneliness
and blesses her attempts
to ransom herself.

First, a simple exercise
against cowering:
She dives
into the chilly water,
then stunned
by the momentary thrill
of entry, she lets go
of her ambitions,
and settles in
to speak
the silent language
of the body.
Her strokes begin,
daringly slow,
to spell out
how her day has been.
Her hands, seek, seek
to clarify
the precise kind of trouble
she is in.

The water needs no interpreter,
For sorrow also knows how to swim.

Side to side
she quietly glides
beneath the turquoise surface sheen.
Her skin comes alive
all over with the cold.
Consoled by motion,
side to side,
she glides and glides,
slippery with delight,
until her stony heart gleams
again, faceted between the moonlight
and the underwater beams.
She would be laughing
if it didn't break the rhythm
of her breathing. At last,
she has become a true fish:
She is not afraid to die.

She marvels that
it took so long
to recognize
what lies before her very eyes:
One day she will fly
beyond the soothing canopy of night,
soar on past Icarus, far
from this floating world
and dive
deep into the dark pool
of another life,
its divine bottom,
pebbled with stars.

Speaking Engagements

Martin at the Greater Edmonton
Teacher's Convention

March 1 — Greater Edmonton Teachers Convention Association — Edmonton, Alberta

March 6 — International Parks and Recreation Administrator's "Gateway by the Sea" Retreat — Gabriola Island, BC

March 8 — Mary Pack Arthritis Center — Vancouver, BC

March 14 — North Peace Health Council — Fort St. John, BC

March 27 and 28 — Ministry for Children and Family Services — Parksville, BC

March 29 — BC Call Centre — Vancouver, BC

April 1 — Ontario Association of Non-profit Housing and Services for Seniors — Toronto, ON

April 2 — International Accident Prevention Association — Toronto, ON

April 3 — St. Michaels University School All-Staff Day — Victoria, BC

April 17 — American College of Sports Medicine Health and Fitness Summit — Las Vegas

April 18 — University of Calgary Kinesiology Department Staff Retreat — Calgary, Alberta

April 28 — Employee Assistance Society of North America — Chicago

May 5 — U.S. National Association for Health and Fitness — Phoenix

May 7 — Justice Institute — New Westminster, BC

May 15 to 17 — Ministry of Children and Family Services — Victoria, BC

May 19 — Wisconsin Lions State Convention — Appleton, Wisconsin

May 25 — International Year of the Volunteer — Kenora, Ontario

May 27 and 28 — Ontario Association of College and University Housing Services

June 7 — Credit Union Marketing Managers Meeting — Vancouver, BC

June 12 — Ontario Municipal Social Services Association — Toronto, ON

June 14 — Regis University Staff and Faculty Presentation — Denver, Colorado

June 24 — Canadian Public Relations Society — Whistler, BC