This week's Workout Wednesday offered a change of pace. Instead of in a gym exercising, I was in our studio at 41 Action News talking with Saint Luke's cardiologist Dr. James O'Keefe.
The esteemed physician and researcher at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City has also published hundreds of medical papers and is co-author of the book, Forever Young Diet and Lifestyle. He called sugar "addictive" and said over-consumption of sugar is a danger to long-term heart health.
I became interested in the sugar subject after reading an article in the Washington Post called "How to get your kids to kick their sugar habit." This year our special focus is on reducing the epidemic of childhood obesity. In the past 30 years, the number of children and teens deemed overweight and obese has more than doubled.
O'Keefe explained that sugar can lead to a number of health problems like diabetes, heart disease and even Alzheimer's. He said sugar has an addictive component that similar to an addiction to cocaine. He wrote an article in Shape magazine called "Get Off the Sugar Crash Roller Coaster."
To reduce your sugar intake O'Keefe recommends a gradual reduction with the following steps:
- Drinking at least 4 1/2 cups of water a day.
- Eat more whole foods such as produce and lean meats.
- No snacks before workouts.
- Skip artificial sweeteners.
- Eat fermented foods like Greek yogurt, Kimchi, sauerkraut and dill pickles daily.
Those are his recommendations, so let's begin with item one. For the next six weeks, let's drink at least 4 1/2 cups of water a day. I'm asking adults and children to join me, especially kids who want to get healthy.
If you're in, then email me and let me know. Let's keep a journal of our eating and drinking habits daily. We can swap helpful ideas and recipes and encourage one another to be strong. We can do this! O'Keefe said our bodies learned to crave sugar and we can train our body to crave healthy, whole foods and proteins.
Let's call ourselves The Sugar Shockers! People are going to be shocked that we're cutting our sugar intake and smiling about it.
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Cynthia Newsome can be reached at cynthia.newsome@kshb.com.
