How much more motivation does one need to maintain a healthy body weight? If you’re looking for another reason to lose those last 5 pounds, then Ohio State University may have a study performed just for you.

Get Rich (and Skinny) Quick.

According to the 15 year study, which measured net worth vs. BMI (body mass index), for every one point increase in BMI, a person could expect a $1300 decrease in net worth. The effect was greatest for Caucasian women, but a statistical difference was still observed for Caucasian men and African-American women (no differences were found for African-American males).

Interestingly, net worth for African-American males peaked at the high point of BMI (32, obese range).

What the study posits is that workforce discrimation occurs against obese women, especially if they are Caucasian. However, the effect could also be observed due to higher healthcare expenses, since obese individuals are at greater risk for a myriad of health problems.

The study is fraught with the usual faults of longitudinal studies of this kind - based on surveys, there is no way to know if the responders answered truthfully or accurately regarding assets, expenses, weight, etc. Using BMI compounds the issue, as BMI does not distinguish between fat and lean weight (which may account for African-American males being unaffected by high BMI - they typically score much higher on BMI scales due to denser bone structure and high lean tissue weight, not because of higher body fat). But it does present an interesting picture of how body weight may relate to net worth.

According to the study, benefits are greatest when one goes from one category to another, i.e., obese to overweight. The cost of the new wardrobe alone would probably offset much of the benefits posited by the study.

Just kidding about that last part.

First things first - Happy Thanksgiving.

Second things second - one of my favorite nutrition myths seems to rear its head about this time every year:

“Everyone’s going to eat too much turkey at dinner tonight and get sleepy.”

The tryptophan in the turkey meat is usually blamed for the bout of sleepyness, as it causes a release of serotonin (a neurotransmitter that calms the body and regulates sleep). However, many different foods contain the same or higher amounts of tryptophan - per a 200 calorie serving, spinach contains more than twice the amount of tryptophan (1052 mg vs 509.4 mg)! Seafood, duck, eggs, even sesame seeds contain a higher concentration of tryptophan than an equivalent 200 calorie serving of turkey.

What if you go by food weight as opposed to calories? Well, swiss cheese and pork loin both top turkey. Comparing a 100 gram serving of each, the cheese and the pork contain 401 mg and 341 mg of tryptophan, respectively, where turkey only contains 333 mg.

What truly causes the post-Thanksgiving dinner induced delirium is three-fold:

1) An overconsumption of alcohol:

Can’t forget that most people drink beer or wine (or both) in generous quantities during holiday dinners.

2) An overconsumption of food:

Perhaps the biggest factor, overeating causes a tremendous shift in blood distribution in the body, shunting blood away from the periphery and concentrating it around the gastrointestinal organs, where it is requred to provide energy for the digestion of the food. The fact that most people tend to consume an excess of carbohydrates may also contribute to sleepyness as these foods cause an increase in insulin secretion. The insulin spike causes amino acids other than tryptophan to be ferried into muscle cells for cellular repair, leaving a higher concentration of tryptophan in the blood stream. This causes a greater serotonin release, resulting in a sleepier you.

3) The high caloric concentration of the foods consumed:

The higher calorie, fattier foods slow down digestion, requiring more energy to process. This, in turn, reduces how energetic you may feel.

In closing, turkey does not make you sleepy - by itself. Which bodes well for me, since I’ll be munching on a turkey sandwich on my way back from Thanksgiving Dinner.

I’ve been doing a lot of media trolling lately to find interesting, unique, and sometimes absurd articles on health and wellness lately. Of all the articles I’ve ever come across, this absolutely tops the cake, with regards to sheer absurdity.

Vibrating Machines Make a Comeback.

It’s alright, you’re allowed to do a double-take.

Yes, those are those silly vibrating machines that feature prominently in turn-of-the-century movie reels and clips. If there was one thing that I could single out as heralding the brainlessness of the fitness industry, it would be the resurgence of whole-body vibration. It was foreshadowed several years ago by the invent of the Body Blade(tm), a piece of flexible plastic that offered one a bit of resistance as you wiggled it back and forth. It was purported to effectively work your core musculature by forcing your ab muscles to contract to stabilize your torso against the resistance of the furiously wiggling “blade”. Incredibly, it continues to be a modality that is accepted and used by the physical therapy community.

Anyway, that the health and fitness community has taken this idea of body stabilization to its unfortunate logical completion should be of little surprise, since anything that one can make a buck off of is heralded as “the next big thing” (remember the Ab Roller, Thighmaster, etc.?). But the funniest part is the article reporting William Kraemer doing studies on the efficacy of whole-body vibration.

In the past, I’d criticized Kraemer and the NSCA as being completely stupid, irrational, dogmatic, and a host of other things, without considering the few viewpoints they held that I did agree with. Ultimately, as a consequence of considering those points (and some subtle intellectual prodding by Dr. Warden), my opinion of the NSCA changed enough that I decided to get their CSCS certification.

I believe that Kraemer’s actions have once again caused my opinion to swing in the opposite direction. Kraemer is a moron; end of story (Ok Fred, you win).

At any rate, check out the article, have a few laughs, and don’t take it as seriously as I do. It’s not good for your health, you know.

Some of my clients have requested a shot of me in my costume from the Halloween party Sairalyn and I threw at our place.

I will now begrudgingly oblige them. Consider yourselves vindicated.

Above: Yes, that is our dog, Snowy, dressed up as a cow. And yes, I am supposed to be a bull.

Just a bit more random reporting:

Hunger Control Hormone Discovered.

Joining the dubious ranks of genes that maintain researchers’ fancies, obestatin seems to be the gene responsible for supression of appetite. Seems that there’s a gene for just about everything, isn’t there (I’m particularly upset over own my overactive myostatin genes)?

So I’m waiting for the inevitable rash of obestatin-control pills and supplements to hit the market…