Before I go any further, let me just define terms here. Resistant starch is starch that your body cannot absorb. It therefore passes through the digestive tract and out into fecal waste without significant entry into the body, but in so doing it provides food for intestinal microbes, and therefore has been demonstrated to support a healthier and more diverse microbiome. Some natural sources of resistant starch include whole grains, potatoes, beans, and unripened fruit. By contrast, non-resistant starch is starch that your body absorbs and quickly converts into sugar for energy. Common sources of non-resistant starch include breads and pasta.
My kids have school break this week, so the office will be running on a very light schedule while we take a “staycation”. I’m around and available for urgent needs, including popping in to see patients as needed, but I will not be booking any routine follow ups and will not be posting to the blog this week.
As regular readers know, I’m a big advocate of exercise. I’m also non-dogmatic about the topic. Since people are much more likely to do well with – and stick to – a program they enjoy, I think it’s more important to regularly move your body in some way than to rigidly advocate for a specific program. If you love running, you should run. If you go to a yoga class that you really enjoy, you should do yoga. If you like lifting heavy things, you should strength train.
That doesn’t mean however that there aren’t specific benefits to different types of exercise, nor that you aren’t better off with a well structured approach to fitness. The “best” fitness program includes components of strength work, of mobility work, and of various types of cardiovascular fitness. If you enjoy all types of exercise and/or will stick to whatever plan is “the best” without regard for your personal preference, then a mix of something like yoga, weight lifting, and running is probably better than doing only one of those activities. But if the only exercise you will consistently do is to take long bike rides, I’d much rather you ride your bike regularly than do nothing at all because you are bored or overwhelmed by the other options.
On the topic of “the best” exercise program, I’d like to get a bit more granular today and review one question regarding exercise in particular: what is the “best” workout program to lower blood pressure.
The showing of “The Cholesterol Code” film has been rescheduled due to logistical reasons. It is now slated to be shown on Monday, May 18th, at the AMC 11 in Dartmouth, MA.
I’m on the record as stating that cholesterol is not even close to the most important risk factor for cardiac disease, that the benefits of statins are small for most people, and that there are much more important things than cholesterol to focus on for overall health. This puts me a bit at odds with the “mainstream medical establishment,” and somewhat in league with the contrarians and “cholesterol sceptics.” On the flip side, I’m also on record as stating that this doesn’t mean cholesterol doesn’t matter at all, and that I believe statins do in fact have a role to play for select patients. Which puts me in conflict a bit with the above mentioned cholesterol sceptics. To quote the late, great Gerry Rafferty: “Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”
