Posts Tagged ‘weight loss’
As we have previously written, weight loss is a function of altering the energy balance – the reduction of consumed calories, ideally coupled with an increase of expended energy through exercise. However, many hope for easier ways to lose weight and shed pounds. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could simply pop a fat pill that would simultaneously help you eat less and burn more fat? Well… you will have to wait a little longer for such a wonder drug. However, recently published research from Merck Research Laboratories seems to point to a promising pharmacological treatment of obesity. By suppressing the action of key metabolic hormones, it is theoretically possible to reprogram our biological computer called the brain. This article highlights the appetite control research done on the Bombesin Receptor Subtype – 3 (BSR-3). It appears that enhancing the action of Bombesin may yield promising results. It appears to help in both the suppression of appetite, and an increase in metabolism.
Weight loss, exercise, and diet are all interrelated in a very fundamental way. There as many diets out there as there are calories in an avocado, and every one of them is based on the same basic premise: energy balance.
The fundamental ethos of the energy balance view is that if your energy intake exceeds your energy use, then you will gain weight, and conversely, if your energy use exceeds your energy intake, then you will lose weight. Simple, isn’t it? Perhaps not as simple as it seems, however, since there is a body that disputes this theory of weight loss to some extent, and you can read about that later. However, there is an overwhelming body of evidence to support this equation for the vast majority of people.
We are often asked how effective is walking as an exercise. 
Walking is an effective form of exercise, and it has certain advantages over other exercises in that it is easy to do – it is low-impact, and does not require a significant amount of investment. It is possible to start today, and even such small changes in activity level add up over a period of time. In addition, it is extremely easy to vary the exercise routine to avoid getting bored – simple changes such as location, pace, walking style, or by going for a hike. There is also some scientific evidence that suggests that by incorporating some additional tools, effectiveness of walking as an exercise could be increased by as much as 20%, without becoming more tiring. Because most people live a sedentary life style, simply adding an hour to walk around the block in the evening adds a significant amount of needed physical activity. Talk to your doctor, do some planning, start easy, gauge yourself, and get going!
The August 2009 Issue of Circulation (the Journal of the American Heart Association) contains the AHA’s Scientific Statement on Sugars Intake. It finds that Americans consume an average of 22 teaspoons of added sugar, over 350 additional calories, every day. This is almost 3 times the recommended amount of calories from sugar (as advised by the 2005 US Dietary Guidelines), and provides no nutritional benefit. In the past 25 years, the intake of sugar increased by more than 70 extra calories every day. If these extra calories are not offset (and there is a substantial amount of evidence that they are not), the extra calories could cause a gain of approximately 7 pounds per year. The AHA’s position (echoing many underlying research authors) is that the increasing trend in consumption of added sugars, particularly colas/ sodas, correlates to the increasing trend of cardio-vascular health risks and obesity. It is possible to improve this condition by being more mindful of what is eaten.
During our reading of the South Beach Diet for our review, we came across a statement by Dr. Agatson that “the major problem that I have with the Atkins diet is the liberal intake of saturated fats.” (p. 23). In Fact, the South Beach Diet goes out of its way to stress that it recommends the use of the right fats in its plan. The common perception of fat is frequently that of something to avoid, and that perception spawned many diets that were based upon the idea of limiting consumed fat. But, like most ideas to lose weight that concentrate on just one aspect of the problem, classifying all fats to be universally bad is just too simple of a solution. In fact, recent research tends to suggest that all fat is not the same, and that some kinds of fat may, in fact, be very beneficial to overall health. In this article, we explore some of the science of saturated and unsaturated fats in diets, how consumed fat may affect losing weight. In this first part, we offer a background of how the brain controls appetite based on information from hormones and fatty acids in the bloodstream.
This is the continuation of our exploration of how the fats that we eat affect our brain’s ability to control our appetite, which is particularly important when a person is trying to lose weight fast. Have you missed the first part of this article? In this second part, we explore some recent research that suggests that saturated fat (as opposed to unsaturated fat) interferes with the signals that allow the brain to control appetite. This potentially impacts how people following a low-carb diet like the South Beach Diet plan their meals.
Cardiologist Dr. Agatson’s South Beach Diet book is a New York Times Best Seller, both because of its nutritional advice and the popularity of the low carb diets which were made popular by earlier work by another cardiologist, Dr. Atkins. Dr. Agatson’s advice is similar to that of the “traditional low carb” diet but at the same time, it is a little different. At the outset, the book distinctly states that “South Beach Diet is not low carb, nor is it low fat.” The difference is that SBD spends a lot of time discussing about the right kinds of carbs – and the right kinds of fats. In this article, we review the book itself, as well as refer you to some additional background research for consideration of the South Beach Diet.
It is widely accepted that weight loss and appetite control are related. Generally, a person will lose weight if they burn more calories than they eat. However, restricting calories (the typical method of dieting,) isn’t an easy method to lose weight for most people because it results in feeling hungry – and being hungry makes it easy to stray from the diet by responding to your body’s needs. A recent study concluded that eating a cup of raisins, ideally coupled with an increase in physical activity, resulted in several important health benefits, among them helping to control appetite by altering hormones that are responsible for feelings of hunger. As a result of this physiological change, the results suggest that eating raisins may be an “effective intervention to promote weight control.”
Research seems to highlight the potential of this little-known tissue in the human body as a weight loss dynamo. Brown Adipose Tissue (or Brown Fat) plays a key role in metabolism. A typical person has about ½ oz of it (about 13g), while almost 2 oz (50g) of this tissue could use up to 20% of your calories for the day! Cooler temperatures activate its weight-shedding by causing it to generate body heat, which increases metabolism. But, there is still a lot to learn about Brown Fat and its role of increasing your metabolism and controlling your weight.
The common thought is that relatively vigorous exercise is necessary most days per week in order to lose weight. However, some new research suggests that even mild exercise is beneficial because it might prevent development of fat cells, even if it does not help you loose a lot of weight. In fact, even though dramatic weight loss is not seen, research suggests that even relatively little exercise reduces the amount of intra-abdominal (stomach) fat.
