Last night I had the fortune to speak to Dr. Tamir B. Katz, a practicing doctor in Spring Valley, New York, and a graduate of SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine. He also runs his own fitness site, TBK Fitness, his recipe for preventing disease, losing weight, and achieving ideal fitness. In addition to his medical expertise, my desire to speak to Dr. Katz stemmed from his diet and exercise studies. He had many valuable points to make about the obesity epidemic and why you should consult your physician before starting a workout program.

I’d like to share our interview with you now.

Monday, October 23, 2006 10:53 PM

Anna: As a doctor, can you tell us why it’s important to consult with your physician before starting an exercise program?

Dr. Tamir Katz: The idea behind consulting with your physician before starting an exercise program is to minimize potential harm that may occur from exercise in certain individuals. For example, people with heart disease (or at high risk for heart disease) who initiate a strenuous program without ever having exercised before are at increased risk for a heart attack. They need to undergo additional testing (ex: stress test) and to start slowly under guidance of their doctor or heart specialist. People with uncontrolled high blood pressure should never lift heavy weights (which increases blood pressure even more, especially lifts such as heavy bench presses and squats). People with asthma should make sure they have an inhaler with them at all times. Insulin dependent diabetics are at risk for low sugar episodes during intense or prolonged exercise.

Anna: How should a person who’s new to exercise approach their first exercise program – especially if they are overweight?

Dr. Tamir Katz: Someone who is new to exercise should go to their physician for a check up before starting. In the meantime, walking is acceptable. Overweight people should avoid repetitive type exercises (ex: jogging), especially on hard surfaces such as pavement. Swimming, calisthenics (I have a sample program on my web site), and rapid walking on softer surfaces, such as grass or sand, would be a good starting point.

Anna: Can you comment on what seems like a global obesity epidemic?

Dr. Tamir Katz: As we have more access to cheap, processed, calorically dense food and beverages, and less need for physical labor, our waistlines expand. I think I saw a statistic just the other day that stated about 1 billion people worldwide are overweight. The rest of the world is starting to catch up with the USA. With the obesity epidemic comes the diabetes epidemic, the heart disease epidemic, as well as more - cancer, hip and knee replacements - and a host of other problems. It’s interesting that smoking used to be the big global pandemic, and of course it is still a major health burden. However, whereas we have made some successful strides on that front, we have largely failed to make a dent in the rates of obesity, which continue to increase year after year, and which are going to become a bigger problem than smoking in the near future.

Anna: What do you predict the medical implications will be on the medical field?

Dr. Tamir Katz: It will put a severe strain on the medical field. The complications from obesity are very expensive, and as the population ages, treating all of the extra cases of diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, cancer, and arthritis will cost a heck of a lot. It is much better to try to prevent chronic disease.

Anna: And on society as a whole?

Dr. Tamir Katz: When medical costs skyrocket, taxes will increase and Medicare and Medicaid will suffer dire financial consequences. In summary, we will all suffer – from a reduced quality of life, a reduced life expectancy, by becoming a strain on loved ones and caregivers, and by having higher bills and taxes.

Anna: Can you comment on how important exercise and nutrition are in combination with each other?

Dr. Tamir Katz: Extremely important! Each complements the other. A proper diet without exercise will not prevent your muscles from atrophying and becoming stiffer, your bones from thinning, and your quality of life going down hill as you age. And exercise with a poor diet will not prevent chronic diseases as well as if you watch what you eat.

Anna: Can you explain, from a medical perspective, how important Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are in a person’s diet?

Dr. Tamir Katz: It’s the ratio that’s important. The ideal ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 to prevent inflammation and disease is 1:2-4. The average American diet is >1:10-20 or more. All the cheap processed vegetable oils we consume are harming our health. No one in this country is lacking Omega 6 – it is ubiquitous. It is Omega 3 that is lacking in our diet. This type of fatty acid is the truly heart healthy one.

Anna: What professionals do you recommend consulting for those who are new to exercise?

Dr. Tamir Katz: This is a tough one. There is A LOT of misinformation out there, and unfortunately many people are swindled out of their hard earned money with an expensive program that either doesn’t work, is not realistic, or worse, is harmful. Often times, it takes trial and error. I would recommend to read as much as possible, and to question everything. Just because someone is a “guru” or has some fancy title behind his or her name, or is a celebrity, don’t believe everything that comes out of that person’s mouth.

Anna: Can you explain the reasoning behind what you call the Hunter Gatherer Exercise Routine?

Dr. Tamir Katz: A lot of exercise today is much too narrow in scope, and the development is often unbalanced. People who only jog for exercise basically improve their aerobic function and built up their calf muscles a bit, but they tend to have poor strength/muscular development elsewhere, and they tend to suffer a high rate of overuse injuries. And people who run ultra long distances are probably harming their bodies in the long run through oxidative damage and stress hormone release.

Exercise should have variety in movement, as well as in intensity. Wind sprints are a great example. Let’s compare wind sprints on the beach or grass to a typical jogging program. The average jogger will run a few miles each day on pavement, usually warming up for a bit, then maintaining the same intensity for most of the rest of the jog. He sets himself up for knee and foot repetitive strain injuries, and overall does not lose much weight or build much muscle. The sprinter on the other hand, might perform 10-20 wind sprints interspersed with rapid walking. The high intensity wind sprints cause the release of growth hormone, build muscle in several areas of the body, and by varying intensity result in more benefit to the heart and better conditioning. Also, by virtue of the fact that high intensity workouts don’t last as long as lower intensity ones, less overuse injuries typically occur.

Anna: Do you believe we are still programmed as hunter-gatherers? How does this conflict with society today?

Dr. Tamir Katz: I don’t base the rationale behind the hunter-gatherer to some evolutionary “what did our ancestors eat?” type logic. To me, it’s more of a common sense argument. No animals in the wild eat unnatural or processed food, and although they may die of infections or injuries, they don’t suffer from heart disease, stroke, or cancer (except those caused by viruses or pollution). Humans are the same. In societies where humans subsist on vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, and berries, “Western” diseases simply do not exist. Such populations are dwindling today, but they have been studied in the past 100+ years, and indeed, our biggest killers are absent amongst them.

Thank you for taking the time to share your professional insight with us Dr. Katz. I think your message is very important -  “Educate yourselves…Do your own research. Always question the rationale and the evidence behind any diet or exercise program you follow.”

Hopefully people will begin to realize that there is no such thing as a “quick fix” weight loss pills or gadget. Look to my Truth About Dieting and Stupid Fitness Idea of the Week blog for more fad exposures!

For more information about Dr. Tamir Katz, please visit TBK Fitness.