You Docs: Exercise advice for those who can't walk and why six meals a day can work for you

Syndicated columns By Syndicated columns The Oregonian
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on August 08, 2010 at 4:29 AM

Q. Virtually all exercise advice ignores the fact that some of us are handicapped and can't walk. Please give us some help so we can be and feel as well as possible.

A: You're right. We tend to plug walking every chance we get because it doesn't require a significant cash outlay. But those super-fit wheelchair athletes you see playing basketball on YouTube prove that it's possible for anyone to be fit. Just head over to the least-used piece of equipment in any gym: the upper-body ergometer. That's techy talk for a stationary bike you pedal with your arms, and it's one heart-pumping, torso-strengthening workout. Other options? If you're up for some high-energy fun, play Wii boxing with the kids. Need variety? Get down with videos of aerobic and strength-training chair workouts.

If you have some use of your legs, swim or take water workout classes (aerobics, strength training, yoga). Water's buoyancy reduces the pressure of your weight on tender joints or weak legs by up to 90 percent, yet it provides enough resistance to make you stronger because water is 800 times more dense than air. A moderate-intensity water workout easily pushes your heart rate high enough to produce cardio benefits -- without that pesky sweat. Add water weights, and you'll up your muscle-strengthening, too.

Q. I recently heard a speaker say that eating five or so small meals a day isn't ideal because it keeps blood sugar consistently high. What do you think?

A. Just five? We'd say six, as long as none of them is a giant Snickers bar. And your speaker got it dead wrong: Frequent small meals don't keep your blood sugar consistently high. They keep it consistently even, so you avoid dangerous highs and lows. When your blood sugar nosedives because you haven't eaten for many hours, you get hungry and tend to munch on whatever isn't moving. Having frequent mini-meals that include a fiber-rich complex carb and/or a lean protein, plus a little healthy (meaning unsaturated) fat stabilizes your blood sugar and energy, which keeps you off that tissue-damaging rollercoaster. Try this menu for a day and see what we mean:

Breakfast: Half a 100 percent whole-grain bagel with peanut butter made from just peanuts (no added sugar, fat or salt)

Mid-morning: Bite-size veggies with hummus dip

Lunch: Veggie salad with canned light tuna, a drizzle of olive oil (the fat helps you absorb the salad's nutrients) and a few 100 percent whole-grain crackers

Mid-afternoon: Low-fat, no-sugar-added yogurt with a handful of berries and walnuts

Dinner: Skinless chicken breast with a side of asparagus and cherry tomatoes

Before bed: Fruit salad with slivered almonds.

Many mini-meals equals "bon appetit" times six.

Q. I've heard prunes slow cell aging by fighting free radicals. Is this true?

A: Prunes -- or, as their PR agency desperately wants you to call them, dried plums -- are nature's little fountain of youth when it comes to your cells. That's because these crinkly sweet dried fruits are loaded with minerals and vitamins that rev up your body's own antioxidant production. The antioxidants your cells make (not the ones you consume) handcuff free radicals, escorting them out of your body and preventing the kinds of damage that invite everything from heart disease to cancer.

Prunes, once only known for their laxative power, also are high in phenolic compounds (so is oatmeal). What the heck are those? Vital compounds that research suggests are behind the heart-healthy effects of the Mediterranean diet. This makes prunes not only anti-aging but anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting as well. Talk about super-foods.

But there's more: If you're watching your waist, try prunes as an appetizer. We agree, it's not caviar or even a shrimp cocktail. But people in a recent study who snacked on prunes before meals were more likely to feel full, eat less and even turn down dessert than people who noshed on bread were. For that, we'll call them dried plums.
