The Fitness Guru

Page One of the Wall Street Journal, Thursday, July 23rd, 2009: “For the Body Conscious, It’s Now the Cankle that Rankles”. “Cankle” is a combination of “calf” and “ankle”, suggesting a widening of the lower leg in a way that is unattractive and suggests heft. According to the Wall Street Journal, all-out war has been declared on the cankle, with gyms offering cankle-centric workouts and plastic surgeons offering cankle liposuction.

Meanwhile, (same issue of WSJ) a group in New Jersey is suing the restuarant chain, Denny’s, for having excessive amounts of sodium in many of their meals. What qualifies as excessive? Well, the Center for Disease control recommends a daily consumption of no more than 1500 mg of sodium. Fair enough. Excess sodium can lead to hypertension, heartburn, ulcers, asthma, and edema, among other problems. So Denny’s has a one meal called the Meat Lover’s Scramble– eggs, ham, bacon, meat meat meat and meat– that has……drum roll……5690 mg of sodium. Quick math: one meal, 380% of the recommended DAILY intake.

So what do the two stories have to do with each other? You’ll note that of the effects of excessive sodium consumption is edema–swelling due to excessive fluid in your body’s tissues. And edema usually occurs in lower legs, ankles and feet. Gravity just pulls the fluid down, down, down. Starting to see the connection?

Now, some people do have a predisposition to store fat in the lower legs. But the Denny’s Connection should not be ignored. Americans consume, on average, 4500 mg of sodium daily (different studies will yield different figures, none of them good). Is it possible that the Cankle Crisis might be brought on by this high sodium diet? Not every single cankle, mind you, just as you can’t blame ALL hypertension on sodium intake. But maybe a great many cankles could be avoided if, rather than seek out surgery, or a canklecentric workout , people start watching what they are eating (p.s.– you can’t spot reduce folks– you can burn body fat, but not ankle fat specifically).

It’s not easy. Sodium opens the dopamine pathways, which means that it can be as addictive as a drug. So here are some ideas on how you can reduce the amount of sodium in your diet:

• Buy fresh, plain frozen, or canned “with no salt added” vegetables
• Use fresh poultry, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned or processed types. Use herbs, spices, and salt-free seasoning blends in cooking and at the table.
• Cook rice, pasta, and hot cereals without salt. Cut back on instant or flavored rice, pasta, and cereal mixes, which usually have added salt.
• Choose “convenience” foods that are lower in sodium. Cut back on frozen dinners, pizza, packaged mixes, canned soups or broths, and salad dressings — these often have a lot of sodium.
• Rinse canned foods, such as tuna, to remove some sodium.
• When available, buy low- or reduced-sodium, or no-salt-added versions of foods.
• Choose ready-to-eat breakfast cereals that are lower in sodium.