Rx For Readers: Slimmer isn’t always healthier

Experts concur that there’s more to health than looking good and feeling good.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Overweight man [Illustrative] (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Overweight man [Illustrative]
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
I am a 30-year-old woman who used to be 20 kilos overweight and go on yo-yo diets. I lost the extra kilos (and look great!) by eating only one meal a day of anything I want. I eat pasta and cheese or pasta and cream and sometimes drink a glass of wine. I don’t eat breakfast, but I usually eat around lunchtime. The rest of the day, I don’t feel very hungry. Sometimes I eat something small in the evening. I feel fine. I have followed this diet for over a year. I haven’t gone to the doctor or done blood tests. If I feel well and not tired, does it mean I am fine medically, or could it be that I suffer from a shortage of something of which I am not aware? At my age, do I need to undergo blood/urine tests?
—A.M., Tel Aviv
Veteran clinical dietitian Dr. Olga Raz replies: The way you lost weight is very drastic. To eat mostly once a day means that you’re leaving your body without an energy supply more hours of the day. That means that you are breaking down not only fat but also muscle. Besides that, the amount and variety of food are not enough to supply you with the vitamins and minerals for proper functioning You should go to your doctor for blood/ urine tests to determine your health and nutrition status. I wouldn’t recommend continuing such a diet over time. Consult with a clinical dietitian to recommend how to eat properly. You can remain at a proper weight while eating properly.
Nutrition expert Prof. Elliot Berry adds: It’s good that you lost weight, but you should have a more varied diet, such as vegetables and fruits with five different colors daily, so that you have the nutrients you need. You don’t speak about exercise, but walking and otherwise moving your body are very important. Go for a medical checkup from your personal physician once a year as recommended.
Prof. Naama Constantini, head of sports medicine at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, concludes: What you have done is not wise. It sounds like you’re missing vital vitamins and minerals even if you feel well.
You should undergo lab tests after consulting your general practitioner and consult with a nutrition specialist to design for you a customized diet to meet your bodily needs without regaining the excess weight. I also recommend that you exercise regularly.
We have a baby boy, born four months ago. He doesn’t like to sleep a lot. So when we saw an advertisement from the Johnson’s company that makes baby lotion and other products for “Bedtime Baby Lotion” and “Bedtime Soapless Soap,” we were intrigued. It claims that it has a “three-stage technique for causing a baby to fall asleep “faster, wake up less and sleep up to an hour longer at night.” It includes a bath using the soapless soap and giving the baby a massage. It is possible for this to make a baby sleep longer or is it nonsense? Would any massage make a baby sleepy?
—A.V., Jerusalem
Dr. Joel Reiter, director of the pediatric sleep disorders clinic at the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem, answers: There have been a few studies looking at infant massage, primarily in preterm infants, that show some benefit.
However, I have to admit I remain doubtful that any kind of baby lotion can make a difference. The study you mention was, not surprisingly, funded by a commercial baby product company.
We sleep-medicine specialists recommend a calm, short, bedtime routine before putting babies to bed, and a massage can count as such a routine.
But we emphasize the importance of putting the baby to bed while he/she is still awake. A major cause of insomnia in childhood is what we call sleep associations. One of the developmental milestones of babies aged three to six months is sleep regulation – the infant's ability to self soothe and fall asleep without parental intervention.
Infants who fall asleep during specific activities such as a massage, the parents’ presence or feeding are likely to expect the same condition when their sleep becomes light between the different sleep stages, resulting in waking.
The bottom line is that the massage may be good for parent-infant bonding and it may be a good bedtime routine, but the specific lotion probably has no effect, just like a specific children's book would not be expected to have a special effect.
Israel Childbirth Education Center founder Wendy Blumfield says: Four months is a wonderful age for an infant, who does something new every day. But for the parent, it is nevertheless exhausting when the baby is lively and active and doesn’t want to miss anything by sleeping. In general, babies of that age need wakeful periods; playing with them or taking them out for walks may help them to sleep better at other times.
Babies usually sleep well when they are fed and warm and sleep within easy proximity to the parents (but not in the same bed.) I am always suspicious about miracle products that claim to make babies “sleep better.” I can’t imagine that any such product would make a baby sleep longer at night. At four months it is rare for a baby to sleep right through the night. Their stomachs will only hold enough milk for a maximum of four hours.
Babies give very clear signals when they are hungry, but sometimes they can wake because of a dirty nappy or gas pains. You do not say whether you are breastfeeding; if that is the case, the baby is at least less likely to suffer from stomach discomfort that may wake him or her up.
It is true that a nice warm bath and soothing massage with oil followed by a good feed in a relaxed quiet environment will help a baby settle – but no special soap or lotion is needed for that.
Young babies can’t always distinguish between night and day, but one can start early with a bedtime routine.
The bath, massage, food, comfortable nightclothes, singing and cradling and putting the baby into his or her crib in a darkened room far away from the TV or other household noise will likely send the baby into a sleep that is deeper and longer than the daytime naps. Of course there are always parents who say their babies slept through the night from birth, but with four children and 11 grandchildren of my own, I have never had that experience! Rx for Readers welcomes queries from readers about medical problems. Experts will answer those we find most interesting.
Write Rx for Readers, The Jerusalem Post, POB 81, Jerusalem 9100002, fax your question to Judy Siegel-Itzkovich at (02) 538-9527, or email it to jsiegel@jpost.com, giving your initials, age and place of residence.


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