Posted by admin on December 28, 2011 at 10:26 am
Gluten free goes mainstream
By Cari Price, Corporate Development Chef, Food IQ
Recently, eating gluten-free has grown significantly in awareness and practice in the United States. Ten years ago most of us didn’t know what the diet encompassed let alone name the genetic digestive disorder behind it — celiac disease. Although awareness has grown rather quickly, the occurrence of American’s with celiac disease has only doubled every 15 years since 1974, according to a recent USA Today article.
So why have sales of gluten-free products increased 16 percent in 2010 alone, based on Nielsen Company data? And why does gluten-free rank the No. 1 nutritional claim related to specialized diets on restaurant menus tracked by Mintel Menu Insights?
Awareness of gluten-free is obvious when you consider the expansion in availability and significant sales growth of gluten-free products. And gluten-free menu claims have grown a whopping 114 percent over the last three years. This leads us to believe that consumers beyond those diagnosed with celiac disease are eating gluten-free.
When it comes to menu development around specialty diets such as gluten-free, our industry’s biggest concern is longevity. Is this diet just another fad or is it a growing consumer need? There is a lot of discovery to be done surrounding consumer expectations as well as the best replacements for gluten-containing ingredients, and these processes can be expensive. Additionally, employee education and training is key to preventing cross-contamination with gluten, which is of the utmost importance when dealing with food allergies. Is the gluten-free diet just a “flash in the pan” like the low-carb diet and countless others that have surfaced in recent years? Or does it have sustainability in America?
Medical experts estimate that only 1 percent of Americans have been diagnosed through blood testing and intestinal biopsy. However, it’s important to note that as many as 10 percent have a related and less diagnosable condition known as non-celiac gluten intolerance (NCGI), commonly referred to as gluten sensitivity, only diagnosed by default for those who don’t have celiac disease but feel better on a gluten-free diet. Researchers are currently working on the development of blood tests and definition for gluten sensitivity to diagnose these patients, but for now doctors are recommending they see a registered dietician and begin to follow a gluten-free diet to determine their tolerance for gluten.
Essentially a larger, less understood group of consumers with gluten sensitivity are now experimenting with gluten-free foods. If you want to leverage this immediate consumer demand but take a less expensive approach, begin by labeling your existing menu items, such as salads, protein entrees and soups, as gluten-free. This is an approach many chains are taking. In fact Wendy’s spokesman, Denny Lynch, made a statement recently in the Los Angeles Times about this approach, “We develop products for the mass audience. We don’t have the luxury of being able to create specific, targeted products to one group.”
Subway, the world’s largest multi-unit chain restaurant, has launched new gluten-free products specifically for this growing group of consumers. They are currently testing a new gluten-free sandwich roll and brownie, which includes specially packaged single-use knives, designated procedures, work stations, and training to address cross-contamination. Subway is one example of a large category of restaurants that rely heavily on gluten-containing products such as pizza, pasta, burgers and sandwiches. This type of restaurant will likely follow this more expensive route for menu development and create new gluten-free products and procedures.
If you are not addressing gluten cross-contamination issues back-of-house, a clearly stated disclaimer is a must. Understand that consumers with celiac disease can’t ingest even a small amount of gluten without initiating decreased absorption in the intestine, ultimately causing pain or illness. Even the failure to change ones gloves could cause a reaction when preparing food for someone with this disease.
We all have a lot to learn about the spectrum of gluten intolerance and sensitivity, but since both can be managed through diet alone, our industry as a whole has embraced the gluten-free way of eating. Our responsibility to consumers is to at least make a small investment in arming your team with knowledge about gluten-free food, what contains gluten and what doesn’t and how to prevent cross-contamination.
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 27, 2011 at 11:27 am
BEERSHEBA, Israel, Dec. 23 (UPI) — Dieters whose weight yo-yos can take heart from findings their health is improving even if they’re not always losing weight, Israeli doctors say.
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba found diets frequently produce a swift weight decline, mainly in the first four to six months, followed by weight stabilization or even regain despite continued dieting.
The partial regain should not discourage people from sticking to healthier dietary habits, they said.
“This study tells us that we may have all been too tunnel-viewed on weight when it comes to healthy dieting,” Faculty of Health Sciences Professor Assaf Rudich said.
“Although maintaining ideal body weight is linked to better health, when it comes to adopting healthier dietary habits in mild to moderately obese people, there are benefits beyond weight loss, such as decreasing inflammatory tone and elevating ‘good cholesterol’ [HDL].”
In obese people, health benefits of switching to healthier dieting extend beyond the single outcome of weight loss, the researchers said.
“In fact, important improvements that likely signify decreased risk for cardiovascular disease occur even despite weight regain, as long as dieting persists,” Rudich said.
The findings contain a strong message for the public, one researcher said.
“Switching to a healthy lifestyle is a long-term strategy that should be done moderately but persistently,” principal investigator Iris Shai said.
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 23, 2011 at 9:57 am
(WXYZ) – Every year, most of us make a New Year’s resolution or two. Many of those resolutions center around our health and changes we would like to make to feel better and live healthier lifestyles. Some things are obvious, like eating better and exercise but there are other important health changes you can make now that will get you on the right path in the New Year.
Certified personal trainer Krista Mayo of Driven Fitness Training breaks down the Top 10 most important health changes you should make in 2012.
1. Create your own personal fitness area!
It doesn’t have to cost you thousands of dollars to set up a fitness area at home. You may not necessarily need or want any fancy equipment. You just need to set up a specific place in your home where you go to exercise. Make sure it’s an open space so you’ll have room to move around. Start simple! Purchase a floor mat, get some 5-10 pound weights, resistance bands and a small medicine ball. You can keep building on your fitness area in the days ahead. If you have a TV in your bedroom or in another area of the house, move it to your new gym and break out those fitness DVDs that have been collecting dust. Don’t forget the music! Your favorite tunes will help keep you moving . See a list of exercises at the end of this article!
2. Go to bed!
It might seem obvious, but skipping out on that hour or two of sleep can really affect your productivity and take a toll on your energy levels. Getting eight hours of sleep every night is so important for your mind and your body. Do what you can to quit the daily chores at least a couple of hours before you go to sleep so you’ll be ready to “hit the hay” at a decent time each night. While exercising is important, you’ll want to avoid working out just before bedtime as well, so you don’t confuse your body into thinking it’s time to be full of energy – when really it’s time to shut down.
3. Calm Down!
Stress is unavoidable in life, but finding time to de-stress should be part of your everyday health routine. You may think “Where will I find the time?” Work, household chores, kids, all of the extras that you take care of each day can amount to a mountain of stress. Exercise will help. Even a short walk, is a good way to clear your mind. You’ll need some quiet “regrouping” time too. Meditation can be a great way to de-stress. Many people enjoy Yoga for its meditative benefits – but even finding a quiet place and just closing your eyes can be a refresher. Instead of coffee, try a cup of calming tea. Black tea, mint flavored, lavender, lemon verbena and ginseng are all soothing choices. Tea drinkers are known to have lower cortisol (stress) levels. Read a good book, take a soothing bath, or listen to music. Talk with a good friend and get a few good laughs in. When the work day is done, stop thinking about everything that you’ll need to do for the next day and simply relax.
4. Don’t be too sweet!
Watch your sugar intake. Instead of that Snickers bar or doughnut, have a small piece of dark chocolate instead, or go for the dried fruit to calm that sugar craving. Do your best to cut preservatives out of your diet as well.
5. Cheers to Red Wine!
Indulge in a glass of red wine each night. Drinking a glass of wine has proven benefits for your heart and your skin. Red wine is packed with antioxidants, can help lower cholesterol and reduces inflammation. Dr. Oz described the benefits on a past show that aired on Channel 7.
6. Stretch!
We’re not talking boot camp here! Stretching is a quick and easy way to reduce tension and build strength. Before you get moving each day, stretch out your muscles. Just below you’ll find benefits of stretching and the top five stretches.
Benefits of stretching:
• Increased movement
• Decreased risk of injury
• Increased blood supply and nutrients to joint structures
• Increased neuromuscular coordination
• Decreased risk of low back pain
• Reduced muscular tension
• Improved balance and posture
Top 5 stretches:
Hamstring Stretch – Slowly bend at the waist and lower your upper body toward the floor. Reach for the floor with your hands and slowly return back to the starting position.
Shoulder Stretch – Use your left hand to gently pull your right arm across your arm toward your opposite shoulder. Swtich arms and repeat.
Neck Rolls – Drop chin down to chest, then keeping chin close to the body, roll neck from shoulder to shoulder in a smooth controlled motion – side to side 10 times. This can be done in a sitting or standing position.
Upward Stretch – Place your palms together above your head, and extend your arms upward keeping your palms in contact. Then, with your back kept straight, move your arms slowly backwards until you feel a mild tension in your muscles. Hold this position for 15 to 20 seconds and then slowly return to your original position and relax.
Lower back – Lie on your mat, on your back, and slowly bring your knees to your chest using the support of your arms to help you bring your knees closer to your chest.
7. Keep a Fitness Journal
Write down your fitness goals in a journal. You can keep the journal online if you’d like. Set a list of reasonable goals to start. Record the exercises you do and the food you eat. Even writing down how you feel after exercising or after eating can reveal new things that will help you tailor your individual fitness plan.
8. Lean on Me!
Support is crucial. Find a workout buddy who is supportive and may have the same types of fitness goals that you do. Work out with a friend, child or spouse. Encourage each other to stay motivated. Maybe it’s just walking around the mall or grabbing a friend for a short walk during the workday.
9. Play!
Remember how much energy you had as a kid? That’s because you were always playing. It’s time to play again! If you have gaming systems like the Wii or Xbox, don’t just watch your kids have fun, participate! Wii Fit has a number of fitness programs that you might enjoy. Crank up the music and dance, it’s a great workout. Find a sport you enjoy or a game that involves movement.
10. Diet & Exercise:
We know this one’s obvious, but in order to be fit you’re going to have to eat right and exercise! That doesn’t mean you can’t have your favorite treats in moderation. Here are some tips:
Diet – It’s obvious, but it’s important to watch what you eat. Load up on fresh veggies and fruit, try organic foods and look for grass-fed chicken or beef. Make a list before you head to the grocery store so you’re not dumping unhealthy foods in the cart.
Exercise – Don’t choose exercises that you hate. You won’t stick to the routine if you do this. There are so many fitness plans to choose from. Yoga and Pilates to high impact aerobics and kickboxing, find your happy medium and get moving!
For more information or to tailor your own personal fitness plan contact Driven Fitness Training at http://drivenft.com/
Driven Fitness also helps tailor fitness programs for people with health challenges or disabilities.
Here are some gym-free exercises that you can incorporate into your daily workout:
1. Squats
Squats are one of the best exercises you can do. Squats work your glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves all at once. Stand with feet hip-width apart, toes facing straight ahead or angled slightly outward. Slowly bend the knees and lower hips towards the floor, keeping your torso straight and abs pulled in tight. Keep your knees behind your toes; make sure everything’s pointing in the same direction. Do not go lower than 90 degrees. You can also hold a medicine ball to increase intensity.
2. Push-Ups
You’ll work your chest, shoulders, triceps, back and abs. How to Do It: Position yourself face down on the floor, balancing on your toes/knees and hands. Your hands should be wider than shoulders, body in a straight line from head to toe. Don’t sag in the middle and don’t stick your butt up in the air. Slowly bend your arms and lower your body to the floor, stopping when your elbows are at 90 degrees. Exhale and push back up. Variations include incline, decline, wall pushups or, for masochists, one-armed pushups.
3. Lunges
Lunges work most of the muscles in your legs including your quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves.
How to Do It:Stand in a split-stance (one leg forward, one leg back). Bend knees and lower body into a lunge position, keeping the front knee and back knee at 90 degree angles. Keeping the weight in your heels, push back up (slowly!) to starting position. Never lock your knees at the top and don’t let your knee bend past your toes. Variations: front lunges, back lunges and side lunges.
4. The Plank
The plank is an isolation move and works the abs, back, arms and legs. The plank also targets your internal abdominal muscles.
How to Do It: Lie face down on mat with elbows resting on floor next to chest. Push your body off the floor in a pushup position with body resting on elbows or hands. Contract the abs and keep the body in a straight line from head to toes. Hold for 30-60 seconds and repeat as many times as you can.
5. Sit Ups / Crunches– They work your abdominals.Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Cross your arms across your chest and raise your body up to try
and meet your knees. This can cause strain on the back, so if you have a weak back it may be better to do a crunch instead
Cardio:
1- Interval Walking
Start with a warm-up (1-3 minutes), from there increase the pace for 30 seconds (eventually increasing to 2 minutes), and then return to a slower pace for 60 seconds. Try to aim to do this for 25 to 30 minutes 3-4 times a week.
2- Jogging/ Running
Start with a warm up 1- 3 minutes, then begin jogging at a slow pace (take breaks if necessary, until stamina is built up.) Continue the light to moderate jog for 25 to 30 minutes 3-4 times a week.
3- Stair Running
Start with a warm up 1-3 minutes. Beginners should start with 10- to 15-second intervals, walking up one step at a time with your arms at your sides. Walk up and down stairs for 3 to 5 minutes and then run up the stairs for 30 seconds and walk down the stairs for 30 seconds. Repeat the interval for 25- 30 minutes, take breaks as needed and be sure to cool down.
4 – Jumping Jacks– Start with a warm up (light jog in place for 1-3 minutes). Begin jumping jacks by touching hands together over your head while jumping out and then returning arms to sides when feet return to starting position. Continue jumping jacks for 1 minute and resting for 30 seconds, eventually working up to 2 minutes straight.
5. Jumping Rope -Jump Ropes can be purchased at sporting good stores and are cheap. Start with a warm up 1-3 minutes (walking / light jog in place). Begin jumping rope by swinging rope over head and when the rope reaches your feet jump over it landing with soft knees. Continue without stopping for 1-3 minutes with a 30 second break for desired time or 15-20 minutes.
“SLIM-IT-DOWN” recipe tips:
• Reduce Sugar – You can usually reduce sugar in a recipe by 1/4 to 1/3 in cookies, pies, and quick breads.
• Reduce Fat – Replace half of the fat in a recipe with unsweetened applesauce, low-fat yogurt or prune puree. Use 1% or skim milk rather than whole milk.
• Reduce Cholesterol – Use two egg whites in the place of one whole egg.
• Reduce Salt – Try using spices, herbs, vinegar, flavoring extracts, fruit peal or your own blend of seasonings in replace of salts.
• Replace Butter – Use olive oil. Unlike butter, olive oil is a monounsaturated — or “good” fat with benefits that include a reduced risk of heart disease, breast cancer and osteoporosis. Olive oil also increases the body’s good HDL cholesterol levels.
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 22, 2011 at 10:00 am
By Michelle Healy, USA TODAYUpdated 1d 3h ago Comments
Reprints & PermissionsIf you enjoy wrapping your hands around a warm cup of tea, you may want to make it a habit. And grab a second and third cup as well because the evidence continues to mount that the brew is good for you.
Heart health is the most notable benefit, says Jeffrey Blumberg, director of the Antioxidant Research Laboratory at Tufts University: “People who drink more tea do appear to have less risk of heart disease, and for those who have developed some cardiac event like a heart attack, those who are tea drinkers seem to have a lower incidence of a second event.”
Green tea vs. black tea: It’s really no contest
The protective effects of tea, the second-most-consumed beverage in the world after water, has been the focus of thousands of scientific studies, says Joseph Simrany, president of the Tea Association of the USA, a trade group.
Quick guide to top types of tea
How fresh leaves of the Camellia sinensis shrub are processed results in their distinctive color and taste. Tea blogger Katrina ?vila Munichiello lists popular varieties.
Popular varieties and their origins:
Black: Leaves are exposed to oxygen for two to four hours.
– Darjeeling and Assam from India
– Keemun and Yunnan from China
Green: Leaves are immediately steamed, rolled and dried.
– Dragonwell and Gunpowder from China
– Sencha and Genmaicha from Japan
Oolong: Falls between green and black teas in amount of oxidation.
– Tung Ting and Oriental Beauty from Taiwan (which in tea parlance is Formosa)
– Tieguanyin/Ti Kuan Yin and Wuyi Da Hong Pao/Big Red Robe from China
White: The least processed and the least studied. Green and white teas most closely resemble the look and chemical composition of the fresh tea leaf.
– Silver Needle and White Peony from China.
Much of that research has focused on green tea but “the data from green and black are really overlapping,” says Blumberg. Not too surprising, he says, since popular varieties of tea — green, black, oolong and white — are from the same evergreen shrub, the Camellia sinensis, and the difference is from levels of maturity when picked and oxidation when processing.
Tea totals: By the numbers
154 million
Number of Americans who’ll drink tea today. That’s about half of us. Southerners and Northeasterners are the most likely to drink tea.
3 billion
Number of gallons of tea consumed in the U.S. in 2010.
-About80% was black
-19.5% green tea.
-About85% was iced.
1,900%
Increase in number of tea shops in the USA in 15 years; they jumped from 200 to more than 4,000 — and that’s not counting all the coffee shops that serve tea.
Source: Tea Association of the USA
So-called herbal teas or tisanes, are not teas, but infusions of boiled water with leaves, roots, bark and/or flowers.
Researchers suspect that natural components in tea, particularly a class of polyphenol antioxidants known as flavonoids, are responsible for tea’s health benefits. Blumberg says the nutrients are “very similar to those that you find in fruits and vegetables, in tree nuts, in soy.” By drinking tea “you’re adding more plant food to your diet,” he says.
Tea’s increasingly high health profile has propelled its popularity. Retail supermarket sales passed $2.15 billion in 2010; for the first time ever, more tea was imported into the USA than the United Kingdom.
Tips for maximum health benefits
Ready-to-drink tea (canned/bottled and refrigerated) is nearly half of the $7.8 billion U.S. tea market. Ready-to-drink and instant teas, like most home-made iced tea, are diluted, so you’re not getting as strong a dose of flavonoids as you would from a cup of freshly brewed hot tea, says Blumberg. For optimum flavonoids, he says, drink tea soon after it’s brewed.
When you add sugar or buy it sweetened, you turn a zero-calorie beverage that’s great for hydrating the body and has half the caffeine of coffee into a drink “loaded with sugar and calories, sometimes as much as soda,” says registered dietitian Andrea Giancoli, an American Dietetic Association spokesperson. The effect of adding milk to tea is unclear, Blumberg says
How much should you drink? “Three cups throughout the day is prudent from a physiological point of view,” says Lenore Arab, a nutritional epidemiologist and tea researcher at the University of California-Los Angeles. “Many healthy populations drink as many as six cups per day.”
Tea is for two (or even more):
Not everyone who sips tea is focused on potential health benefits. Tea enthusiasts like Katrina Ávila Munichiello enjoy a cuppa primarily for its many other fine qualities.
Not only is there a world of tastes and flavors to explore, but preparing and drinking tea provides “a quiet time to think and contemplate,” says Munichiello, author of A Tea Reader: Living Life One Cup at a Time. In it, she shows the impact of tea on the lives of a cross section of tea lovers.
Tea is a wonderful catalyst for conversation, says Munichiello, who writes the Tea Pages blog at teapages.blogspot.com.
“It has such a communal property to it. When I brew it, I want to share it with others.”
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 20, 2011 at 9:28 am
By Joanna Cosgrove, Online Editor
Published December 19, 2011
Extra pounds are certainly much easier to put on than take off, especially around the holidays. But for those who struggle year-round with being overweight, staying the slimming and trimming course can be thwarted for a variety of reasons. To that end, St. Petersburg, FL-based HealthFocus International has announced the kick off of a new study geared to approach the concepts surrounding weight loss in a new and novel way.
Dubbed “Actionable Solutions for Different Overweight Segments of the Population,” the study will have two objectives. The first will be to understand the different facets of overweight and obesity that combine to make up different attitudinal segments of overweight and obese consumers. The second will be to understand which tools are the most effective for each segment to make and to maintain changes to weight status.
Rather than simply collecting information about consumers, the study will cluster 100-1200 consumers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds into segments based on their different views and understanding of weight as an issue. The study respondents will be people who simply feel they need to lose weight. They may be of normal weight, overweight or obese.
According to Barbara Katz, president, HealthFocus, there are likely four facets that will define the consumer segments: motivation, emotional versus practical about weight loss, willingness to act, and ability and control.
Among the variables that will help define the consumer segments will be body mass index (BMI), motivation and weight loss goals, methods consumers are currently using and have used in the past to lose weight, activity levels, how educated they are on the role of nutrition in weight loss, and the level of their financial means. Other relevant information to be captured will focus on life stage and environmental factors such as age, whether or not they have children, type of job they have, stress levels, and health issues/risk factors.
Researchers will also tackle the emotional side of eating—why people eat for reasons other than being hungry, when this kind of eating most often occurs, how is that urge handled (including the foods most often consumed to satisfy the urge), and how engaged people are with food and food preparation.
In addition, the study will explore supplement usage, different exercise plans, the use of personal trainers and dietitians, support groups, group exercise, calorie tracking, online web support and other weight loss tools. It will take into account the varied and unique attributes among those who are overweight and determine which of these tools are best in helping each unique group.
Because each consumer segment’s concept of losing weight will vary, so too will their respective diet solutions. Ms. Katz said the actionable tools that will provide support, information, nutrition and exercise options for overweight consumers will be tailored to consider the ability of the consumer to afford the program, their willingness to exercise and their level of motivation (whether it’s support-based or independent in origin) as needed by the plan to succeed. Once the tools have been accessed, the researchers will apply the best-fitting weight loss tool to the appropriate consumer segment.
HealthFocus said it plans to kick off this study in the first quarter of 2012 and is currently accepting sponsorship from companies hoping to have their weight loss products and ingredients included as part of the evaluation.
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 19, 2011 at 9:47 am
Weight Regained in Later Years Has More Fat
By Rita Rubin
WebMD Health News
Dec. 16, 2011 — As you draw up your New Year’s resolutions, new research may provide added incentive for some older women to not only lose weight, but to keep it off.
The study of postmenopausal women suggests that when they regain weight — and previous research suggests about 80% of dieters eventually do — they don’t recover as much lean mass as they lost. As a result, they end up with more fat, even if they’re about the same weight as they were before the diet.
People lose lean tissue as well as fat when they shed pounds, the authors of the new study write. In fact, they write, studies have found that lean tissue represents roughly a quarter of total weight loss. Because the loss of muscle and bone can be especially detrimental to older people, “it is important to examine whether the benefits of weight loss outweigh the risks in this population.”
The scientists analyzed the body composition of 78 non-active postmenopausal women, ages 50-70, before and immediately after they’d completed a five-month-long diet. The researchers then weighed the women six and 12 months after the weight loss trial ended and analyzed the body composition of those who regained at least 4.4 pounds.
Want to Lose Weight? Get the 9 Best Diet Tips Ever
Most Regained Some Weight
On average, the women had lost about 12% of their body weight. By the six-month follow-up, about two-thirds of the women had regained some weight; by the 12-month follow-up, about three-quarters had, including 11 women who had gained more than they had lost.
After one year, 84% of the regainers had put on more than the benchmark of 4.4 pounds. Those were the women whose body composition was analyzed.
The women had lost twice as much fat as muscle when they were on a low-calorie diet. But afterward, they regained more than four times as much fat as muscle.
Previous studies of weight cycling were done in younger people, who tended to regain fat and lean tissue in the same proportion as they’d lost it, says researcher Barbara Nicklas, PhD, professor of geriatrics and gerontology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
Was It Aging or Weight Gain?
Because her study did not have a comparison group of postmenopausal women who had not lost and regained weight, Nicklas says, she and her co-authors can’t be certain that the shift in the women’s lean-tissue-to-fat composition wasn’t simply due to age. She says she’s seeking funding to study that question.
A 2009 paper on body composition changes in men and women 70-79 compared people who had lost at least 3% of their weight and then regained it with those whose weight remained stable. This weight cycling “may contribute to a net loss of lean mass in older men,” the authors concluded, calling for more research.
Was It Aging or Weight Gain? continued…
“We are still trying to figure out what are the natural changes over time of body composition,” Jung Sun Lee, PhD, author of the 2009 report and an assistant professor of gerontology at the University of Georgia, tells WebMD.
The information is especially important because heavy people are living longer than ever before, Lee says, and there are no clear guidelines for treating their obesity.
Some people say it’s best to leave it alone. “There are a few very vocal geriatricians who are totally against an older person losing weight,” Nicklas notes.
But despite the great likelihood that people will gain it back and the suggestion that it will have an unfavorable impact on their lean-tissue-to-fat composition, “I think there are huge benefits to losing weight,” she says. When older obese people deliberately slim down, their osteoarthritis improves, Nicklas says. They can get up out of chairs and climb stairs more easily. Even if they eventually regain all of the weight, she says, it usually takes a few years to do it.
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 16, 2011 at 10:25 am
May help type 2 diabetics use glucose more efficiently many hours after activity, researchers say
By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) — Lack of time is a common reason cited for not exercising, but new research suggests that several short intensive workouts a week may help lower blood sugar levels similarly to longer, more regular exercise regimens.
The small, new study found that 30 minutes of high-intensity exercise a week — a total exercise time of 75 minutes a week with warm-up and cool-down included — could lower blood sugar levels for 24 hours after exercise, and help prevent post-meal blood sugar spikes in people with type 2 diabetes.
“If people are pressed for time — and a lot of people say they don’t have enough time to exercise — our study shows that they can get away with a lower volume of exercise that includes short, intense bursts of activity,” said the study’s senior author, Martin Gibala, professor and chair of the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in Canada.
Results of the study are published in the December issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Experts already know that exercise can lower blood sugar levels, according to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Muscles use glucose as fuel, so any type of activity can bring blood sugar levels down. Exercise also helps the body use insulin more efficiently, which in turn, helps the body use more glucose.
Current recommendations from the American Diabetes Association suggest that people with diabetes should try to get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week. That’s about 30 minutes a day, most days of the week.
But, not everyone has time to do that much exercise, Gibala noted. So he and his colleagues wanted to see if high-intensity exercise, done for a shorter time, could also have an impact on blood sugar levels.
The study included eight people with type 2 diabetes. Their average age was 63, and their body mass index (BMI) was 32, a level considered obese. BMI is a measurement of body fat that takes into account height and weight.
Over two weeks, the study participants completed six sessions of high-intensity training. For one minute, the study participants would exercise intensely, followed by a minute of rest. This was then repeated until they’d completed 10 minutes of intense exercise. The exercise sessions also included a warm-up and cool-down period for a total of 25 minutes of exercise.
The intense exercise was done at a level to get the heart rate to about 90 percent of their maximal heart rate. Gibala said this means you’re exercising really hard for that minute. “You’re not at an all-out pace, like you’re trying to save your child, but you’ll definitely be out of breath and have trouble talking after a minute,” he said.
The best thing about this type of exercise is that “these intervals can be scaled to your level of fitness so that it’s safe and effective for you,” he noted.
In addition to testing blood sugar levels throughout the study, the researchers also biopsied thigh muscles from each participant at the start of the study, and after the last bout of exercise.
The investigators found that blood sugar levels dropped from 137 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) to 119 mg/dL. In addition, blood sugar levels after meals were also reduced long after training sessions were complete.
The biopsies from the thigh muscles showed increased skeletal mitochondrial capacity, an indicator of improved metabolic health.
Gibala said there are more glucose-transport proteins in the blood after exercise, and these transporters move glucose into the muscles. That’s why there’s less glucose in the blood.
Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, agreed that short bouts of exercise can help the body better use glucose, but that more exercise is better.
“If you can only do five to 10 minutes of exercise, that’s better than nothing, but you really start to see the effects of exercise if you can regularly exercise 20 to 30 minutes at least a few times a week,” he said. “Constant training leads to a steady demand for glucose.”
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 14, 2011 at 9:41 am
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Can a cup of coffee motivate you to relish your trips to the gym this winter? That question is at the heart of a notable study of caffeine and exercise, one of several new experiments suggesting that, whatever your sport, caffeine may allow you to perform better and enjoy yourself more.
Scientists and many athletes have known for years, of course, that a cup of coffee before a workout jolts athletic performance, especially in endurance sports like distance running and cycling. Caffeine has been proven to increase the number of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstream, which enables people to run or pedal longer (since their muscles can absorb and burn that fat for fuel and save the body’s limited stores of carbohydrates until later in the workout). As a result, caffeine, which is legal under International Olympic Committee rules, is the most popular drug in sports. More than two-thirds of about 20,680 Olympic athletes studied for a recent report had caffeine in their urine, with use highest among triathletes, cyclists and rowers.
But whether and how caffeine affects other, less-aerobic activities, like weight training or playing a stop-and-go team sport like soccer or basketball, has been less clear.
So researchers at Coventry University in England recently recruited 13 fit young men and asked them to repeat a standard weight-training gym regimen on several occasions. An hour before one workout, the men consumed a sugar-free energy drink containing caffeine. An hour before another, they drank the same beverage, minus the caffeine. Then the men lifted, pressed and squatted, performing each exercise until they were exhausted.
Exhaustion arrived much later for those who’d had caffeine first. After swallowing the caffeinated beverage, the men completed significantly more repetitions of the exercises than after the placebo. They also reported feeling subjectively less tired during the entire bout and, in perhaps the most interesting finding, said that they were eager to repeat the whole workout again soon.
“Essentially, we found that with the caffeinated drink, the person felt more able to invest effort,” says Michael Duncan, a senior lecturer in sports science at the University of Exeter in England and lead author of the study. “They would put more work into the training session, and when the session was finished, in the presence of the caffeinated drink, they were more psychologically ready to go again.”
How caffeine influences the physiology and psychology of weight trainers isn’t fully understood, Dr. Duncan says. In contrast to endurance sports, an increase in fats in the blood wouldn’t provide much benefit in this kind of exercise.
Instead, Dr. Duncan says, he believes that caffeine “antagonizes adenosine,” a substance in muscles that builds up during exercise and blunts the force of contractions. The more adenosine in a muscle, the less force it generates. Caffeine reduces adenosine levels, “which then enables more forceful muscular contractions and delays fatigue,” Dr. Duncan says. “That’s the theory, anyway,” he adds.
Additional mechanisms may also be at work, other research suggests. For an experiment published last month in The Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers asked a group of volunteers who regularly play team sports to complete a grueling workout designed to simulate the physical exertion of a soccer or basketball game. Such sports commonly involve repeated bouts of intense sprinting, but little prolonged slower running. Most of the effort is anaerobic.
In the test, the volunteers performed about 16 percent better if they had ingested a caffeine capsule 70 minutes beforehand. They also, as it turned out, had far less potassium in the fluid between their muscles afterward. “We believe that potassium buildup is involved” in the kind of fatigue that occurs during anaerobic activities, like team sports and weight training, says one of the study’s authors, Magni Mohr, an exercise physiologist affiliated with both the University of Exeter and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
At the same time, caffeine, while affecting muscles, seems also to have a striking effect on the central nervous system and on those parts of the brain involved in mood, alertness and fine motor coordination during exercise. In a study published last month in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, soccer players dribbled, headed and kicked the ball more accurately if they’d had caffeine than if they hadn’t.
All of which would seem to indicate that a grande Americano is the ideal sports beverage. But, Dr. Mohr cautions, many questions remain. “We don’t know the best dose” of caffeine to provide performance benefits without undesirable side effects, he says, like heightened blood pressure or the jitters. In his study, volunteers consumed the equivalent of more than five large cups of brewed coffee before their workout.
Similarly, it’s not known whether people who swill cappuccinos and green tea all day get the same benefits from dosing themselves just before a workout as people who only occasionally drink caffeine, or whether the hour before a workout is the ideal moment to imbibe. Dr. Mohr suspects “it’s likely that you get more effect” if you’re not habituated to the drug, but he and others are currently studying those and similar issues and expect results soon.
In the meantime, “probably everyone can get some” fatigue-delaying and mood-enhancing benefits from caffeine, Dr. Mohr says — meaning that your gym gear should probably include a travel mug.
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 13, 2011 at 9:07 am
December 05, 2011
December 5/London/Daily Record — Scientists say low-calorie fat substitutes, used in snacks for dieters, may actually make them pile on the pounds. They discovered that when someone tastes the diet versions of foods, the body gears up to expect lots of calories so, when it only gets a low calorie hit, it confuses the body and makes one eat more.
Researchers from Purdue University in Indiana performed experiments on lab rats. Researcher Susan Swithers said, “Substituting a part of the diet with a similar tasting item that has fewer calories sounds like a commonsense approach to lose weight, but there are other psychological functions at work.
“Tastes normally alert the body to expect calories.When those calories aren’t present, we believe the systems become confused and one of the body’s mechanisms to control food intake can become ineffective.”
So when eating diet foods, the chances are the body will tell you you are still hungry and you will consume more calories and so gain weight.
From the December 5, 2011, Prepared Foods’ Daily News.
Continue Reading
Posted by admin on December 12, 2011 at 9:26 am
December 12, 2011, 11:17 am
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Christoph Niemann
THE FACTS
Every winter, as blizzards bury towns across the nation, reports inevitably surface of middle-aged snow-shovelers suffering heart attacks. Many health officials routinely warn that shoveling snow can raise the risk of heart attacks. But the warnings have largely been based on anecdotal reports.
In a recent study published in the journal Clinical Research in Cardiology, scientists tried to ascertain whether the link was real or exaggerated. So they reviewed patient records from two winter seasons at Kingston General Hospital in Ontario. The scientists pinpointed 500 patients who arrived at the hospital with heart problems during the two winters.
Over all, roughly 7 percent of the patients were shoveling snow when symptoms began. About two-thirds of them were men — average age 63 — and they were highly likely to have had a family history of premature cardiovascular disease.
The authors called the 7 percent significant and said the number may be much higher, since many patients may not have mentioned that they were shoveling snow at the time their symptoms began.
In a smaller study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that most heart attacks from shoveling snow result from heavy physical exertion causing trauma to coronary arteries, which ruptures plaques that cut off blood flow. One way to lower the risk, particularly in people who smoke or rarely exercise, is to reduce sudden exertion. Experts recommend shoveling early, when snow is lighter, and taking breaks.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The exertion involved in shoveling can rupture plaque and cause heart attacks, particularly in those with a family history.
Continue Reading
