Healthy Body and Face

Having a clean and healthy body and face looks fresh and well maintained is the wishes of many people especially to women, health, beauty and look attractive is important to them in general, but often the desire to maintain physical fitness and exercise to stay healthy and Fresh can not be done with the aim of busy, no time, and other motives, causing the body does not seem fresh and susceptible to disease.

Actual physical care especially to keep a clean and healthy body and face, and certainly not too difficult, nor expensive, especially because there are many natural ingredients that can be utilized as a mask for the face and skin pores which will support your skin tone looks clean and healthy. You can also create their own medication at home, and below there are a few tips on using fruit as a natural face masks and have benefit for your skin and face

• Avocado fruit consists of a relatively high amino acid and various vitamins nutrients such as vitamins B and C of sophisticated making it ideal for use into a mask to prevent premature aging of facial epidermis. how to retrieve the ripe avocado flesh and shattered smeared prominent after about 30 minutes until dry and then rinse with warm water or rose water using a cotton. But if you have the face pores and unique skin type then you can add the egg whites in the batter avocado. For people who have moist skin type face and then it is better if you add together the honey and mixing it with avocado and egg-white meat.

• Bananas include vitamins and minerals like nutritional vitamins A, B complicated C, pectinase, pectin, tannins, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc. You might be able to utilize a banana fruit to be a skin moisturizer by mixing ripe banana with olive oil and use major. Usage and regularly duplicate these herbs as a powder.

• Grapes contain an assortment of nutritional vitamins and minerals just like Vitamin B complex, C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and flavonoids compounds. Almost all sorts of grape may possibly be utilized for lotion. The trick is always to crush or blender after which it strains the grape. Later on, implement on your own confront utilizing cotton. Let stand for 20 minutes then wash with water rose. Lotion grape you will be in a position to usage every single day also for nearly all epidermis kinds, ranging from dried out epidermis, moist or damaged skin.

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02.35 | 0 comments

Dairy Products are a Necessity

Dairy in your diet is necessary part of a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle. Diets rich in milk, cheese and other forms of good bacteria have been known to provide minerals and vitamins that are essential to proper growth and development. While these are standard knowledge about dairy products, there are some things that are not so well known, but still beneficial to a well-balanced lifestyle.

Nutrients

Dairy products are known to provide the highest levels of calcium, protein, vitamins A and D, as well as potassium. These vitamin and mineral-rich hosts help to keep the body in balance and reduce the risk of hypertension, retaining water, as well as help maintain a weight management program. Studies have also show that high-quality dairy products may also reduce the risk of certain types of cancers.

Osteoporosis

A few years ago, there was a big push from the science-food industry to alert consumers to the fact that having dairy in your diet will help to prevent osteoporosis. Osteoporosis occurs when the body starts to reabsorb calcium and the bones become weakened. Bones need calcium in order to stay healthy and dairy, as already mentioned, provides one of the best sources of calcium other than dark leafy greens and some legumes.

Probiotics

If you have ever been sick, chances are you have received antibiotics. These medicines attack bacteria and destroy possible infections that might occur. Our bodies need bacteria to survive and dairy products help to provide that. Acidophilus is an example of good bacteria, also called probiotics, and can be found in large quantities in all yogurts or cultured dairy products. These bacteria also attack infection, but do so by “cleaning” rather than a full frontal assault.

Daily Requirements

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, each person should have between two and three cups of dairy each day. A cup of dairy equates to one 8oz glass of milk, two slices of hard cheese, and everyone’s favorite, three full scoops of ice cream. These requirements, as set by the USDA, help to ensure that each person is getting the proper amount of calcium and other vitamins to accommodate a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle.

Good Decisions

Not all dairy is created equal. Protein found in dairy is roughly equivalent, no matter what form you choose, but in order to maintain a healthy weight, it is recommended to stay away from high fat content. That being said, choose dairy that is low in fat content to get the benefits of the vitamins and minerals while still watching your waist line. Make deserts, such as pudding and smoothies using dairy products that are low in fat, as well as casseroles and baked goods using low fat milk.

As always, consult with your physician before making any large changes to your diet and always follow their recommended guidelines. Having dairy in your life is a necessity to maintaining a healthy and well-balanced nutritional regiment, no matter how you slice it, or pour it, or scoop it for that matter.

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04.58 | 0 comments

Get Your Swimsuit Figure By Eating Healthy

Getting ready to hit the beach? You want a good swimsuit figure but you don’t get a swimsuit body overnight. It takes time. The good news is, if you start now, you will be well on your way to a great body by the time you hit the beach.

Start by keeping a picture of your dream swimsuit nearby to help keep you motivated to eat healthier. Don’t be hasty and go out and purchase your swimsuit before you get into shape. Wait until you feel good about yourself and the work you've done to tone up. Then shop to your heart’s content. The bonus is the closer you get to summer the more sales you'll find!

Eating for your summer body is not about starvation. For someone to stick to a new way of eating, it has to become a lifestyle change. This means that your diet has to provide both healthy foods and a few pleasures to keep you interested.

Increase your whole grains. Grains contain a lot of fiber. Fiber keeps the digestive system working properly. No one wants to be bloated in their new swimsuit! Fiber grabs onto fat while it gets digested. Fiber also keeps you feeling fuller longer so you don’t overeat.

Drink your water. Water is crucial in everyone's diet. It keeps the human machine in proper working order. Water cleanses the inside of toxins that can harm the body and make it harder to lose weight.

Eat more often. To get the best your body has to offer, you need to feed it the good stuff a little at a time, all day long. Consider more fruits, vegetables, lean meat, fish and dairy. Eat whole fresh foods to get the best nutritional value and fiber. Avoid highly processed foods which miss many of the nutrients your body needs. More frequent lighter meals also increases your metabolism.

Limit the sweets. Empty calories add fat and will sabotage your efforts to lose weight and look great. If you must have something sweet, try having one small piece of dark chocolate or a bowl of frozen yogurt. Even a fruit parfait or a smoothie will tame that sweet tooth without any damage to all your healthy eating.

Get sleep. Without proper rest, the body can’t repair itself and get you ready for the next day. Stress is also more of an issue and that can lead to increased levels of cortisol in your system. This hormone is your enemy if you want to lose belly fat.

Remember, there are no quick fixes to weight loss. Choose a healthy lifestyle that includes good food, exercise, and plenty of rest and your fitness will last far beyond one swimsuit season – your good health will last a lifetime.

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05.41 | 0 comments

Interesting Articles in the AJCN

I just received an RSS alert for the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition's latest articles. This upcoming issue is full of very interesting material:

1. Dr. Neil D. Barnard reviews food consumption patterns in the US from 1909 to 2007 (1). This is something I've written about a number of times. The most notable change is that industrial seed oil use has increased by more than 3-fold in the last 40 years, and even more in the last 100 although he doesn't provide those numbers. Butter and lard use declined sharply. Meat consumption is up, but the increase comes exclusively from poultry because we're eating the same amount of red meat we always have. Grain consumption is down, although it peaked around 1900 so it may not be a fair comparison with today:

In the late 1800s, wheat flours became more popular and available due to the introduction of new [high-gluten] wheat varieties, [low extraction] milling techniques, and transport methods, and during this time new breakfast cereals were introduced by John Harvey Kellogg, CW Post, and the Quaker Oats Company. Thereafter, however, per capita availability of flour and cereal products gradually dropped as increased prosperity, improved mechanization, and transport (eg, refrigerated railway cars) increased competition from other food groups. [Then they partially rebounded in the last 40 years]

2. Dr. S.C. Larsson published a paper showing that in Sweden, multivitamin use is associated with a slightly higher risk of breast cancer (2).

3. Soy protein and isoflavones, which have been proposed to do everything from increase bone mineral density to fight cancer, are slowly falling out of favor. Dr. Z.M. Liu and colleagues show that soy protein and/or isoflavone supplementation has no effect on insulin sensitivity or glucose tolerance in a 6 month trial (3). This follows a recent trial showing that isoflavones have no effect on bone mineral density.

4. Dr. Ines Birlouez-Aragon and colleagues showed that high-heat cooked (fried and sauteed) foods increase risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease (insulin resistance, cholesterol, triglycerides), compared to low-heat cooked foods (steamed, stewed) in a one-month trial (4). The high-heat diet also reduced serum levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins C and E.

5. Dr. Katharina Nimptsch and colleagues showed that higher menaquinone (vitamin K2) intake is associated with a lower cancer incidence and lower cancer mortality in Europeans (5). Most of their K2 came from cheese.

6. And finally, Dr. Zhaoping Li and colleagues showed that cooking meat with an herb and spice blend reduced the levels of oxidized fat during cooking, and reduced serum and urinary markers of lipid oxidation in people eating the meat (6).

The take-home message? Eat stewed beef with herbs, but don't pre-brown it in vegetable oil. Throw out the tofu and have some artisanal cheese instead.

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08.00 | 0 comments

Nutrition Label Lies & Loopholes: Serving Size Sleight of Hand

By Tom Venuto
http://burnthefat.rxsportz.com

For years, concerned consumers and watchdog organizations have been screaming that the U.S. labeling laws are full of loopholes and in need of serious revision. After years of talk, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says they’re planning to so something about it. But will it be enough?

There are many food labeling issues we could complain about, but one of the biggest problems (due to its direct relationship to the obesity crisis) is serving sizes.

I’m not just talking about supersizing. What’s worse is that the actual calories are being disguised with serving size sleight of hand.

Let me show you some examples:

Tostitos touch of lime. Calories per serving: 150. Not too bad for tortilla chips, eh? Not so fast. Check that serving size: 1 ounce. That’s a whopping 6 chips. There are 10 servings per container. That’s 1500 calories in the bag.

Most guys could knock off half that bag for a cool 750 calories. Ok, suppose you have some restraint and you only eat a third of the bag (20 chips). You still get 500 calories. But who stops at 6 chips?

Vitamin Water. While I could rant about how sugar water is being marketed as health food, I’ll stick with the serving size sleight for now.

The label says there are 50 calories per serving. Wow, only 50 calories! Plus they add all those vitamins. Must be good for you and perfect for dieters, right? Think again. Look at the serving size and servings per container: 8 oz per serving and 2.5 servings per container.

Excuse me, but is there ANY reason for making it 2.5 servings other than to disguise the actual calorie content?

When you see that the entire bottle is 20 ounces, you realize that it contains 125 calories, not 50. Although 20 ounces is a large bottle, I don’t know many guys who wouldn’t chug that whole thing.

Sobe Lifewater? Same trick in their 20 oz bottles.

Healthy Choice soup, country vegetable. They make these in convenient little microwavable containers with a plastic lid. Just heat and eat.

It says 90 calories and 480 mg of sodium per serving. Wow, less than a hundred calories. Wait a minute though. Turn the container around and you see the serving size is 1 cup and the servings per container says “about 2.”

Huh? It looks pretty obvious to me that this microwave-ready container was designed for one person to eat in one sitting, so why not just put 180 calories per container on the label (and 960 mg of sodium). I guess 90 calories and 480 mg sodium sounds… well… like a healthier choice!

Ben and Jerrys chocolate fudge brownie ice cream.

This infamously delicious ice cream with its own facebook fan page has 270 calories per serving.

We all know ice cream is loaded with calories and should only be an occasional treat, but 270 calories per serving, that’s not too terrible is it?

Look a little closer at the label. The serving size is ½ a cup. Who eats a half a cup of ice cream? In fact, who hasn’t polished off a whole pint by themselves? (the “comment confessional” is below if you’d like to answer that)

According to Ben and Jerry, there are 4 servings in that one pint container. 270 calories times 4 servings = 1080 calories! That’s about half a days worth of calories for an average female.

I could go on and on - crackers, chocolate chip cookies, muffins, pasta, boxed cereals (who eats ¾ cup of cereal), etc. But I think you get the point.

What’s the solution to this mess? News reports in the last week say that the FDA may be cracking down. Count me among those who are pleased to hear this news. One of their ideas is to post nutritional information, including the calories, on the FRONT of the food labels.

The problem is, this move by itself could actually make matters worse. Suppose Tostitos started posting “150 calories per serving” right on the front of the bag. Most people would assume the chips were low in calories. Putting calorie info on the front of the label would help only if it clearly stated the amount of calories in the entire package or in a normal human-sized serving!

Ah, but the FDA says they’re on top of that too. They also want to standardize or re-define serving sizes. Sounds great, but there are critics who say that consumers would take it as approval to eat larger servings so the strategy would backfire.

Suppose for example, the government decides that no one eats ½ a cup of Ben and Jerry’s so they make the new serving size 1 cup, or half the pint-sized container. Now by law the label says 540 calories per serving instead of 270. Is that like getting official permission to eat twice as much?

I’m not against the FDA’s latest initiative, but what we really need is some honesty in labeling.

Food manufacturers should not be allowed to manipulate serving sizes in a way that would trick you into thinking there are fewer calories than there really are in a quantity that you’re likely to eat.

It would be nice to have calories for the entire package listed on the label at a glance. A new rating scale for caloric density would be cool too, if it could be easily interpreted. It would also be nice to have serving sizes chosen for quantities that are most likely to be commonly eaten. But standardization of serving sizes for all types of foods is difficult.

My friends from Europe tell me that food labels over there are listed in 100g portions, making comparisons easy. But when you consider how much each individual’s daily calorie needs can vary (easily 3-fold or more when you run the gamut from totally sedentary to elite athlete, not to mention male and female differences), standardization that applies to everyone may not be possible.

I think the recent laws such as requiring calories on restaurant menus are a positive move that will influence some people’s behavior. But no label changes by themselves will solve the obesity crisis. A real solution is going to have to include personal responsibility, nutrition education, self-discipline, hard work and lifestyle change.

Changes in the labeling laws won’t influence everybody because the people most likely to care about what labels say are those who have already made a commitment to change their lifestyles (and they’re least likely to eat processed and packaged foods - that have labels - in the first place). Actually, for those who care, all the info you need is already on the labels, you just have to do a little math and watch out for sneaky label tricks.

There’s one true solution to this portion distortion and label lies problem: Become CALORIE AWARE. Of course that includes educated label reading, but it goes much further. In my Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle system, here is how I define "calorie counting:"

1. Get a good calorie counter book, chart or electronic device/software and get to know the calorie counts of all the staple foods you eat on a daily basis. Look up the calorie values for foods you eat occasionally.

2. Always have a daily meal plan – on paper – with calories printed for each food, each meal and the day. Use that menu as a daily goal and target.

3. Educate yourself about average caloric needs for men and women and learn how to estimate your own calorie needs as closely as you can based on your activity, weight, body composition, height, gender and age.

4. Get a good kitchen food scale and use it.

Keep counting calories and doing nutrition by the numbers until you are unconsciously competent and eating the right quantities to easily maintain your ideal weight becomes second nature.

Obviously, saying that calories are all there is to nutrition is like saying that putting is all there is to golf. Calorie quality and quantity are both important. However, it’s a mistake to ignore the calorie quantity side of the game. Serving sizes matter and even healthy foods get stored as fat if you eat too much..

You can play “blindfolded archery” by guessing your calories and food portions if you want to. Hey, you might get lucky and guess right. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend depending on luck - or the government - for something as important as your body and your health. I would recommend the personal responsibility, nutrition education, self-discipline, hard work and lifestyle change…

Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle
http://burnthefat.rxsportz.com

Founder & CEO of
Burn The Fat Inner Circle
http://bit.ly/bHKSN3

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: http://burnthefat.rxsportz.com or http://bit.ly/bHKSN3

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05.16 | 0 comments

New Review of Controlled Trials Replacing Saturated fat with Industrial Seed Oils

Readers Stanley and JBG just informed me of a new review paper by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian and colleagues. Dr. Mozaffarian is one of the Harvard epidemiologists responsible for the Nurse's Health study. The authors claim that overall, the controlled trials show that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat from industrial seed oils, but not carbohydrate or monounsaturated fat (as in olive oil), slightly reduces the risk of having a heart attack:

These findings provide evidence that consuming PUFA in place of SFA reduces CHD events in RCTs [how do you like the acronyms?]. This suggests that rather than trying to lower PUFA consumption, a shift toward greater population PUFA consumption in place of SFA would significantly reduce rates of CHD.

Looking at the studies they included in their analysis (and at those they excluded), it looks like they did a very nice job cherry picking. For example:

• They included the Finnish Mental Hospital trial, which is a terrible trial for a number of reasons. It wasn't randomized, appropriately controlled or even semi-blinded*. Thus, it doesn't fit the authors' stated inclusion criteria, but they included it in their analysis anyway**. Besides, the magnitude of the result has never been replicated by better trials, not even close.
  
• They included two trials that changed more than just the proportion of SFA to PUFA. For example, the Oslo Diet-heart trial replaced animal fat with seed oils, but also increased fruit, nut, vegetable and fish intake, while reducing trans fat margarine intake! The STARS trial increased both omega-6 and omega-3, reduced processed food intake, and increased fruit and vegetable intake! These obviously aren't controlled trials isolating the issue of dietary fat substitution. If you subtract the four inappropriate trials from their analysis, which is half the studies they analyzed, the result disappears. Those four just happened to show the largest reduction in heart attack mortality...
  
• They excluded the Rose et al. corn oil trial and the Sydney Diet-heart trial. Both found a large increase in total mortality from replacing animal fat with seed oils, and the Rose trial found a large increase in heart attack deaths (the Sydney trial didn't report CHD deaths, but Dr. Mozaffarian et al. stated in their paper that they contacted authors to obtain unpublished results. Why didn't they contact the authors of this study?).

The authors claim, based on their analysis, that replacing 5% of calories as saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat would reduce the risk of having a heart attack by 10%. Take a minute to think about the implications of that statement. For the average American, that means cutting saturated fat nearly in half to 6% of energy, which is a real challenge if you want to have a semblance of a normal diet. It also means nearly doubling PUFA intake, which will come mostly from seed oils if you follow the authors' advice.

So basically, even if the authors' conclusion were correct, you overhaul your whole diet and replace natural foods with bland unnatural foods, and...? You reduce your 10-year risk of having a heart attack from 10 percent to 9 percent. Without affecting your overall risk of dying! The paper states that the interventions didn't affect overall mortality at all. That's what they're talking about here. Sign me up!


* Autopsies were not conducted in a blinded manner. Physicians knew which hospital the cadavers came from, because autopsies were done on-site. There is some confusion about this point because the second paper states that physicians interpreted the autopsy reports in a blinded manner. But that doesn't make it blinded, since the autopsies weren't blinded. The patients were also not blinded, so the study overall was highly susceptible to bias.

** They refer to it as "cluster randomized". I don't know if that term accurately applies to the Finnish trial or not. The investigators definitely didn't randomize the individual patients: whichever hospital a person was being treated in, that's the food he/she ate. There were only two hospitals, so "cluster randomization" in this case would just refer to deciding which hospital got the intervention first. Can this accurately be called randomized?

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10.53 | 0 comments

Fatty Liver: It's not Just for Grown-ups Anymore

The epidemic of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of my favorite topics on this blog, due to the liver's role as the body's metabolic "grand central station", as Dr. Philip Wood puts it. The liver plays a critical part in the regulation of sugar, insulin, and lipid levels in the blood. Many of the routine blood tests administered in the doctor's office (blood glucose, cholesterol, etc.) partially reflect liver function.

NAFLD is an excessive accumulation of fat in the liver that impairs its function and can lead to severe liver inflammation (NASH), and in a small percentage of people, liver cancer. An estimated 20-30% of people in industrial nations suffer from NAFLD, a shockingly high prevalence (1).

I previously posted on dietary factors I believe are involved in NAFLD. In rodents, feeding a large amount of sugar or industrial seed oils (corn oil, etc.) promotes NAFLD, whereas fats such as butter and coconut oil do not (2). In human infants, enteric feeding with industrial seed oils causes severe liver damage, whereas the same amount of fat from fish oil doesn't, and can even reverse the damage done by seed oils (3).

So basically, I think sugar and industrial oils are major contributors to NAFLD, and if you look at diet trends in the US over the last 40 years, they're consistent with the idea. Industrial oils are harmful due (at least in part) to their high omega-6 content, which is problematic partially because it disturbs normal omega-3 metabolism. A potential solution to fatty liver is to reduce sugar, replace industrial oils with natural fats, and ensure a regular source of omega-3. I've posted two anecdotes of people rapidly healing their fatty livers using diet changes* (4, 5).

I recently came across a study that examined the diet of Canadian children with NAFLD (6). The children had a high sugar intake, a typical (i.e., high) omega-6 intake, and a low omega-3 intake. The authors claimed that the children also had a high saturated fat intake, but at 10.5% of calories, they were almost eating to the American Heart Association's "Step I" diet recommendations**. Busted! Total fat intake was also low.

High sugar consumption was associated with a larger waist circumference, insulin resistance, lower adiponectin and elevated markers of inflammation. High omega-6 intake was associated with markers of inflammation. Low omega-3 intake was associated with insulin resistance and elevated liver enzymes. Saturated fat intake presumably had no relation to any of these markers, since they didn't mention it in the text.

These children with NAFLD, who were all insulin resistant and mostly obese, had diets high in omega-6, high in sugar, and low in omega-3. This is consistent with the idea that these three factors, which have all been moving in the wrong direction in the last 40 years, contribute to NAFLD.


* Fatty liver was assessed by liver enzymes, admittedly not a perfect test. However, elevated liver enzymes do correlate fairly well with NAFLD.

** Steps I and II were replaced by new diet advice in 2000. The AHA now recommends keeping saturated fat below 7% of calories. Stock up on those skinless chicken breasts! Make sure there isn't any residual fat sticking to the meat, it might kill you. I do have to give the AHA credit however, because their new recommendations focus mostly on eating real food rather than avoiding saturated fat and cholesterol.

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09.00 | 0 comments

Healthy Easter Treats

One of the most common things associated with Easter treats is chocolate. Every year, children receive baskets full of chocolate treats that are hard on their teeth and bad for their health. This Easter, consider taking a healthier approach with this healthy but fun selection of Easter treats.

Healthy Edibles

You can create an Easter basket that includes some yummy edibles without going overboard with sugar filled processed chocolates. Instead, look for healthy snack foods that have less sugar and more nutrients but are still fun for your child.

Some popular choices may include chocolate covered raisins or peanuts, small boxes of raisins, dried fruit, Trail Mix, granola bars, juice boxes, fresh fruit, string cheese, homemade cookies, or sugar-free gum. You may also want to check out your local health food store where you will find tasty, healthy candies and bars your kids will love!

Active Treats – Small toys and items that promote activity are a great addition to any Easter basket. These treats help encourage children to get out and have fun while getting exercise at the same time. Here are a few active treat ideas may include ring toss games, skipping ropes, basketballs, soccer balls, or hula hoops.

Educational Treats – Toys that are both educational and fun are another wonderful option for a healthier Easter basket. Make sure you choose items appropriate for the age and ability of your child. Some ideas include hand held games (choose thinking games like Sudoku!), activity books, story books or novels, alphabet & number magnets, flashcards, or children’s card games (go fish, match, etc).

Creative Treats – If you have a creative or crafty child, items that can use to express their creativity will be a welcome addition to their baskets. Choose items that fit best with your child’s current age and interests. Some items to consider include scrapbooking supplies, beading kits, crayons or markers, coloring books, water paints, stickers & sticker books, play dough or modeling clay or gel pens.

Seasonal Treats – Easter falls right at the beginning of spring and there are many wonderful items you can included in your Easter baskets that also celebrate spring. This will encourage your child to get out and enjoy the season. Spring treats might include sidewalk chalk, bubbles, children’s gardening kits or kites.

Toiletries & Accessories – Toiletries and accessories make great Easter basket fillers especially for young girls. Depending on the age of your child, they may enjoy bubble bath, lip gloss, bath crayons, or novelty tooth brushes. Older girls will enjoy earrings, necklaces, watches, fancy shoelaces, tattoos and other accessories.

Treats for Babies – Babies are at such a wonderful age and including them in your family traditions is so precious, but of course a healthy basket is even more important then ever with a baby. A healthy alternative for a baby’s Easter basket may include stuffed animals, a rattle, baby cookies, a special bib or a teething ring.

A Healthy Approach to Chocolate – Of course, Easter is a celebration so you may not want to cut out chocolate all together. Instead of one large chocolate Easter bunny, choose mini chocolate eggs and hide them around the house or yard. Children will get exercise while searching for the eggs without realizing it, and they won’t realize that they end up with less chocolate then they would have with a whole bunny.

Don’t forgo chocolate and candy altogether – add them in moderation to your baskets - but do make an effort to include healthy Easter treats for your loved ones this season as well.

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05.35 | 0 comments

Book Review: The Primal Blueprint

Mark Sisson has been a central figure in the evolutionary health community since he began his weblog Mark's Daily Apple in 2006. He and his staff have been posting daily on his blog ever since. He has also written several other books, edited the Optimum Health newsletter, competed as a high-level endurance athlete, and served on the International Triathlon Union as the anti-doping chairman, all of which you can read about on his biography page. Mark is a practice-what-you-preach kind of guy, and if physical appearance means anything, he's on to something.

In 2009, Mark published his long-awaited book The Primal Blueprint. He self-published the book, which has advantages and disadvantages. The big advantage is that you aren't subject to the sometimes onerous demands of publishers, who attempt to maximize sales at Barnes and Noble. The front cover sports a simple picture of Mark, rather than a sunbaked swimsuit model, and the back cover offers no ridiculous claims of instant beauty and fat loss.

The drawback of self-publishing is it's more difficult to break into a wider market. That's why Mark has asked me to publish my review of his book today. He's trying to push it up in the Amazon.com rankings so that it gets a broader exposure. If you've been thinking about buying Mark's book, now is a good time to do it. If you order it from Amazon.com on March 17th, Mark is offering to sweeten the deal with some freebies on his site Mark's Daily Apple. Full disclosure: I'm not getting anything out of this, I'm simply mentioning it because I was reviewing Mark's book anyway and I thought some readers might enjoy it.

The Primal Blueprint is not a weight loss or diet book, it's a lifestyle program with an evolutionary slant. Mark uses the example of historical and contemporary hunter-gatherers as a model, and attempts to apply those lessons to life in the 21st century. He does it in a way that's empowering accessible to nearly everyone. To illustrate his points, he uses the example of an archetypal hunter-gatherer called Grok, and his 21st century mirror image, the Korg family.

The diet section will be familiar to anyone who has read about "paleolithic"-type diets. He advocates eating meats including organs, seafood, eggs, nuts, abundant vegetables, and fruit. He also suggests avoiding grains, legumes, dairy (although he's not very militant about this one), processed food in general, and reducing carbohydrate to less than 150 grams per day. I like his diet suggestions because they focus on real food. Mark is not a drill sergeant. He tries to create a plan that will be sustainable in the long run, by staying positive and allowing for cheats.

We part ways on the issue of carbohydrate. He suggests that eating more than 150 grams of carbohydrate per day leads to fat gain and disease, whereas I feel that position is untenable in light of what we know of non-industrial cultures (including some relatively high-carbohydrate hunter-gatherers). Although carbohydrate restriction (or at least wheat and sugar restriction) does have its place in treating obesity and metabolic dysfunction in modern populations, ultimately I don't think it's necessary for the prevention of those same problems, and it can even be counterproductive in some cases. Mark does acknowledge that refined carbohydrates are the main culprits.

The book's diet section also recommends nutritional supplements, including a multivitamin/mineral, antioxidant supplement, probiotics, protein powder and fish oil. I'm not a big proponent of supplementation. I'm also a bit of a hypocrite because I do take small doses of fish oil (when I haven't had seafood recently), and vitamin D in wintertime. But I can't get behind protein powders and antioxidant supplements.

Mark's suggestions for exercise, sun exposure, sleep and stress management make good sense to me. In a nutshell: do all three, but keep the exercise varied and don't overdo it. As a former high-level endurance athlete, he has a lot of credibility here. He puts everything in a format that's practical, accessible and empowering.

I think The Primal Blueprint is a useful book for a person who wants to maintain or improve her health. Although we disagree on the issue of carbohydrate, the diet and lifestyle advice is solid and will definitely be a vast improvement over what the average person is doing. The Primal Blueprint is not an academic book, nor does it attempt to be. It doesn't contain many references (although it does contain some), and it won't satisfy someone looking for an in-depth discussion of the scientific literature. However, it's perfect for someone who's getting started and needs guidance, or who simply wants a more comprehensive source than reading blog snippets. It would make a great gift for that family member or friend who's been asking how you stay in such good shape.

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05.00 | 0 comments

Keeping Meats Safe During Storing and Thawing

Did you know that thawing meat the wrong way could cause harmful bacterial growth? We all know the rules about cooking meat to the correct temperature, but few understand the importance of thawing. Storing meat is another area of concern and the way meat is stored, can actually aid in the thawing process. Following some simple storing and thawing rules will make your meat last longer and taste better when it is time to cook.

Meat

Meat has different rules than poultry and fish, but the basic principles are the same. Depending on when you plan to use the meat, your storage techniques should vary and the storage time makes a difference in the best ways to thaw. Here are some storage and thawing rules to follow for safe meat handling.

1. Storage – It is important to keep meat chilled to at least 40 degrees. This will help maintain the safe temperature of the meat so no bacteria can grow. Once you get home from the store, immediately put the meat away. Double check the temperature in your refrigerator to ensure it is between 35 and 40 degrees and that your freezer is at zero degrees or a little below.

If you plan on storing large amounts of meat, break them down into smaller portion sizes before freezing because this will make thawing easier for individual servings. Keep the meat in the original packaging, if possible, and make sure there are no holes or perforations in the packaging.

Most typical meats can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days at the proper temperature. If you are not planning to use the meat before this time, consider freezing and then thawing. If you do not plan on using the meat within two months, over-wrap the meat with a heavy-duty plastic wrap or put it into an acceptable freezer bag.

1. Thawing – The best way for meat to thaw is in the refrigerator. This does mean there is some prior planning on your part before cooking, but meat defrosted in the refrigerator can be refrozen before cooking; thawing any other way, make sure you cook the meat before freezing.

Meat can also be defrosted faster by putting it in a leak-proof plastic bag and submerging it in cold tap water. Do not use warm or hot water because this will cause the meat to start the bacterial growth before the cooking process begins. Thawing in the microwave is another acceptable way because, unlike soaking in warm water, the microwave thawing process happens quickly enough that no bacterial growth will occur.

Poultry

Poultry follows the same basic guidelines as meat, except for the maximum storage time. Uncooked chicken, turkey or fowl can be stored in the freezer for up to nine months if broken down, and to a year if intact. For thawing, the best way to thaw is in the refrigerator or under cold tap water. It is not recommended to thaw poultry in the microwave due to salmonella growth.

Fish

Fish is a difficult item to store and still retain the freshness. If not stored properly, fish will develop that “fishy” smell which will overpower the other foods and seasonings when cooking. To properly store fish, keep it in the original wrapper and give it plenty of room in the refrigerator to allow the air to circulate freely around it. This will allow the fish to age properly without getting smelly. If you are not planning on cooking the fish within two days, wrap it tightly in moisture-proof freezer paper before storing in the freezer.

Live shellfish should be refrigerated in lightly covered containers – not airtight. Inspect all live shellfish before cooking to make sure they are not damaged or dead. Here is a little hint, if the shell is tapped with your finger, a live shellfish should close up. Discard any shellfish if they die during the storage process or if their shells crack or break.

Meat stored and thawed properly will ultimately yield the best tasting results and you will avoid the dreaded food poisoning. If you have any questions about the safety of meat after storage, discard the meat and get something fresh. Be sure to check the guidelines for other storage and thawing techniques listed on the USDA website and enjoy the best meat you have ever tasted.

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06.49 | 0 comments

Interview on Bizymoms

I recently did a written interview for the website Bizymoms.com. It was the first time I had been invited to do an interview, so I figured what the heck. They bravely posted the interview, despite the fact that my responses could be seen as controversial. You can find it here.

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19.31 | 0 comments

Vitamin D May Prevent Flu and Asthma

The AJCN just published a new controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of vitamin D supplements on flu and asthma (1). Dr. Hiroyuki Ida's group gave Japanese schoolchildren (10 years average age) 1,200 IU of vitamin D3 or placebo per day from December through March. They found that children taking vitamin D had a significantly lower incidence of influenza A but not influenza B. These are two strains of flu that each accounted for roughly half the flu incidence in this population. Sadly, if you add the total flu incidence for A and B together (which the authors don't do in their tables), vitamin D supplementation didn't reduce total flu incidence significantly.

They also found that in the subset of children not already taking vitamin D supplements, the effect was greater, with unsupplemented children contracting nearly three times as many influenza A infections as children receiving vitamin D. They didn't analyze the influenza B or total influenza incidence in that way, so we don't know if prior supplementation makes a difference there.

The most striking finding of the paper is that the vitamin D group suffered from 6 times fewer asthma attacks than the placebo group. This needs to be repeated but it's consistent with other data and I find it very encouraging.

The paper did have some limitations. They didn't measure vitamin D status so they have no way to know exactly how effective their pill-based supplements were.

Another problem is that they began collecting data immediately after beginning supplementation. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that can take 3 months to reach maximum concentration in the body following supplementation. By the time the children were reaching their maximum serum concentration of vitamin D, the trial was over. It would be nice to see the next trial begin supplementation in the fall and look at flu incidence in the winter.

This paper comes on the heels of another showing that vitamin D is necessary for the activation of an immune cell called the killer T cell (2). These are important for resistance to infections and cancer. Overall, these papers add to the accumulating evidence that vitamin D is important for the proper functioning of the human immune system. However, mice may not be the best model for use in studying vitamin D biology. From the first paper:

The evolution of different mechanisms for the regulation of PLC-γ1 activity in human and mouse T cells parallels the development of divergent VDR-dependent and VDR-independent antimicrobial pathways in human and mouse macrophages31, respectively, and may reflect the fact that mice are nocturnal animals with fur and humans are daytime creatures that synthesize vitamin D in the skin after exposure to ultraviolet light.

In other words, mice don't use vitamin D in the same way as humans because they have a different evolutionary relationship to it.

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09.47 | 0 comments

Healthful Cooking Tips for Busy Moms

Quite often, women feel they must be superwoman or supermom, regardless how difficult that may be to pull off.  One area where women struggle trying to do everything is cooking healthy meals.  Try these cooking tips for busy moms and give yourself a break!

Truth be told, everyone prefers to eat a good, home cooked meal.  But you may not have the energy to cook from scratch.  You can create great meals that don’t take a long time; here’s how:

  • Make a plan before going grocery shopping.  Creating a meal plan for at least a week at a time will solve two problems. Firstly, you’ll know what you’re going to eat for dinner all week so you won’t be racking your brain at 5 p.m. trying to figure out what to cook.  Secondly, you’ll be able to better control how much you spend because you’ll only buy ingredients you need.

  • After you’ve done your shopping, wash all the vegetables and cut them up into the sizes you’ll need for each meal.  This may take a bit of time on the front end, but will save you a lot of time when you’re preparing each meal later.  Plus you'll be more likely to reach for a healthy snack of fresh fruit or veggies instead of the cookie jar. Don’t forget to ask for help from your kids that are old enough to use a sharp knife. 

  • Make your crock pot your best friend.  This one cooking tool can make your life so much easier, and your family much more satisfied with the meal.  Put your ingredients into the crock pot, turn it on, and leave it alone.  By the time you return home, you’ll have the makings for a great home-cooked meal!

  • When you plan a family favorite, prepare more than one meal’s worth.  You can double, triple, or quadruple the amount that you make.  Freeze the separate meals for later use.  Then all you have to do is add a fresh salad to complete the meal.

  • If you don’t want to spend an entire day cooking extra meals, plan on cooking enough for one extra meal that you can use as a planned leftover one night.  If you’re using making chili one night, make a little extra that you can add to baked potatoes on another night.

  • Stretch your home-made meal with a tossed or pasta salad.  Salads are quick, easy, and nutritious.  They’re also good to add when you’re having leftovers.  They’ll stretch the meal quite nicely.

Speaking of salad, this cool cookbook has only salad recipes. Make healthy eating a little easier with 365 salad recipes  - one for each day of the year!

 

[Note: I’m an affiliate for the provider of goods and services mentioned in this post and as such may be compensated if you make a purchase. As always please note the Compensated Affiliate Disclosure at the sidebar!]

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07.12 | 0 comments

A False Dichotomy

In the discussion section of the last post, the eternal argument about non-industrial people arose: were their lives (a) "nasty, brutish and short" (Hobbes), or were they (b) "noble savages" (Shaftesbury) living in Eden? The former argument states that they had awful lives, and we should be glad we're living int he 21st century. The latter argument implies that we should emulate them as much as possible. Each side is bursting with anecdotes to support their position.

Any time the discussion reaches this point, it stops providing us anything useful. The argument is a false dichotomy, one in which neither answer is correct. The correct answer is (c): none of the above. Some aspects of hunter-gatherer life are preferable to ours, and some aspects of our lives are preferable to theirs. Understanding that we spent a lot of evolutionary time as hunter-gatherers, as well as a few thousand years in small, tightly knit agricultural communities, may be useful in understanding how to work constructively with our own bodies and minds in the modern world.

So please, let's leave behind the false dichotomy and foster a more nuanced understanding of hunter-gatherer life.

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08.43 | 0 comments

FOOD KILLER

The purpose of this title is not on the food eaten by the killer, but the food that can kill humans who eat them. We are not talking about the poison, but the foods you eat everyday. Food you can be a killer for your own albeit slowly. With the advancement and improvement of a country's economy, increased diseases also cause of death caused by diet and unhealthy living. In developing countries and developed, diseases such as heart disease, cancer, hypertension is a major killer disease.

CORONARY THROMBOSIS

Well-known heart disease is coronary thrombosis. How is it possible? It turned out that besides the heart pumps blood around the muscles in the body, heart was send blood to the heart muscle wall through a network of arteries are formed by the two main coronary artery-right coronary artery and left coronary arteries. Innermost layer of an artery called the "intima" can be thickened by reason of age, just like the rust that can occur in old iron pipes. Thickening and hardening of the arteries is known in medical terms as Atherosclerosis.

In fact, atherosclerosis can be caused by many things and some not at all inevitable humans, such as heredity, age, hormones, blood vessel injury (trauma), liver function and infection. But there are several other causes of atherosclerosis that could be avoided, for example, food, serum lipids, high blood pressure, tension, the body is too fat (obesity), tobacco and the lack of activity of the body. Generally, scientists have seen how the formation of the thickening of blood vessels (atherosclerosis) has been influenced by a substance called cholesterol.

If there is narrowing of blood vessels (atherosclerosis) due to accumulation of cholesterol, then this means a reduction of blood supply through the blood vessels. This can cause irritation to the intima resulting scarlike spot, called athermata. Athermata is likely to form blood clots, called thrombus, which can clog the heart's blood vessels narrow. If this happens, the heart will become weak or blood may suddenly stop working. Then arises heart attack (coronary thrombosis) as a result of the closure of one of the coronary blood vessels, so blood clot.

CHOLESTEROL LEVELS

The number of normal plasma cholesterol (cholesterol-free and cholesterol estirified) is the range 150 to 190 milligrams in 100 cc of blood. In a research made by the researchers during the 8 years of a group of middle-aged men, showed that their cholesterol levels around 260 mg per 100 cc of blood is the possibility that more than doubled to die because of coronary heart disease, compared with those who has a cholesterol level below 220 mg per 100 cc of blood.

VARIOUS RESEARCH

Various studies have been made to see the relationship with the cholesterol diet, and it obtained a very close relationship at all. One study has been made for 6 years in a mental hospital two different, where in a psychiatric hospital supply of cow's milk was replaced with soybean milk, and butter supply was replaced with margarine butter low levels, thereby saturated fat content in foods patients can be reduced. At the mental hospital the second, used as a control cholesterol, there is no any change in the content of the patient's food supply. The results for the last 6 years the serum cholesterol content in a mental hospital who first declined sharply, which is down from an average of 266 mg per 100 cc to 217 mg per cc, and mortality by cause of coronary heart disease fell from 13 per 1000 patients, become 5.7 per 1000 patients.

RELATIONSHIP FOOD AND CHOLESTEROL

Research has shown that there is a close relationship between diet and cholesterol. Does that mean cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a chemical belonging to the group of organic compound known as lipids. Lipids include fats, waxes, phospholipids, cerebosides, cholesterol, and other plant sterols. Everything is a fat-like substance (fatlike) which is not soluble in water, but much less soluble in ether and other organic solvents. Cholesterol is found in all animal cells, thus there are in all foods of animal origin including meat chicken., Fish, cream, butter and eggs. List of cholesterol in these foods can be seen in the list.

ESTIMATE OF CHOLESTEROL CONTENT IN FOOD

On the other hand, foods derived from plants like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds contain no cholesterol. Vegetarian food could avoid 90% diseases thrombo embolik (frozen blood in the arteries and veins), and 97% of coronary blockage. Vegetarians have a 12% chance to die with just cause of coronary heart disease than non-vegetarians. In a study showed that corn oil can reduce blood cholesterol levels, while animal fats such as butter, lard (oil pork), chicken fat, beef, can raise cholesterol. Similarly, a saturated vegetable fat, which freezes at room temperature, has the same effect as in animal fats raise blood cholesterol levels.

HEART FOUNDATION INDONESIA

Recommendations from the heart foundation emphasized that Indonesia used to constriction of blood vessels can be caused by, cholesterol or blood fat levels in the high, excessive weight, less moving, high blood pressure, heavy smoking, stress and diabetes. Therefore, foods containing trans fats should be avoided in order to stay healthy heart. Thus the suggestion that we keep the heart healthy and well maintained degan is; many moves, sports, physical work, jogging, fresh air, drink clean water, a balanced diet, reduce fat, getting enough sleep, not smoking, not drink alcohol, take a bath with fresh water and always devoted to Allah Subhannahu wata'ala.

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02.51 | 0 comments

The Paleolithic Mind

I went to a meditation retreat this week with the Red Cedar Zen community in Bellingham. It was a good experience. Staring at a wall from 6 am to 9 pm for a few days gives you the opportunity to learn a few things about your mind. Some of these are things you already know on some level, but you just need to have them reinforced. For example, the weight of psychological stress that we carry in modern societies like the US. It's only when it goes away for a while that you can see how heavy it was.

I'm totally ignorant of the scientific literature on this, but the way I see it, there are at least two main sources of psychological stress in the modern world for which we aren't well equipped as human beings:

• Being eternally and inescapably subordinate in a large social structure
  
• Having too many responsibilities such as possessions and obligations
  

I recently read an excellent article by Michael Finkel in National Geographic magazine on the Hadza of Tanzania. The Hadza are a hunter-gatherer group living in a way that may resemble how our ancestors lived for most of the last million years. Here are a few characteristics of the Hadza lifestyle as described by the author:

The Hadza do not engage in warfare [although they do have homicide]. They've never lived densely enough to be seriously threatened by an infectious outbreak. They have no known history of famine; rather, there is evidence of people from a farming group coming to live with them during a time of crop failure. The Hadza diet remains even today more stable and varied than that of most of the world's citizens. They enjoy an extraordinary amount of leisure time. Anthropologists have estimated that they "work"—actively pursue food—four to six hours a day. And over all these thousands of years, they've left hardly more than a footprint on the land.

This isn't intended to idealize their lifestyle, but to point out that being a hunter-gatherer has its advantages. One of these is a minimal social structure in which each person is has full authority over himself:

The Hadza recognize no official leaders. Camps are tra­ditionally named after a senior male (hence, Onwas's camp), but this honor does not confer any particular power. Individual autonomy is the hallmark of the Hadza. No Hadza adult has authority over any other. None has more wealth; or, rather, they all have no wealth. There are few social obligations—no birthdays, no religious holidays, no anniversaries.

Even "marriage" doesn't carry much obligation. The author describes the Hadza as "serial monogamists". The idea of an eternal bond between two individuals doesn't exist. Women are not subordinate to men:

Gender roles are distinct, but for women there is none of the forced subservience knit into many other cultures. A significant number of Hadza women who marry out of the group soon return, unwilling to accept bullying treatment. Among the Hadza, women are frequently the ones who initiate a breakup—woe to the man who proves himself an incompetent hunter or treats his wife poorly. In Onwas's camp, some of the loudest, brashest members were women.

Contrast this with modern civilizations in which everyone has a boss-- whether it's at a job, in a marriage or under your country's legal system. I think this feeling of perpetual subordination is destructive to an animal such as ourselves, that has spent so much of its existence mostly free of these pressures.

The author says this about their possessions:

Traditional Hadza, like Onwas and his camp mates, live almost entirely free of possessions. The things they own—a cooking pot, a water container, an ax—can be wrapped in a blanket and carried over a shoulder.

This resembles other African hunter-gatherer groups that have few and simple tools. From the book The !Kung San: Men, Women and Work in a Foraging Society:

!Kung tools are few in number, lightweight, made from locally available materials, and multipurpose.

Again, this is in sharp contrast to the modern world, where we have so many belongings it's impossible to keep track of them all. We have giant houses that we "need" to store all these things, and still it doesn't seem like enough. Many of our possessions are indispensable if we want to fit in to society. We need (or feel we need) clothes, cookware, identification, money, transportation, furniture, tools, sports gear, et cetera. Having to be responsible for this extraordinary quantity of possessions (by evolutionary standards) is a heavy weight on our minds.

Unfortunately, we have more than just possessions on our minds. To live in the modern world is to be pricked to death by a thousand small responsibilities. Remember to make your lunch. Remember to make a doctor's appointment, shop for groceries, tie your shoes, get your oil changed, send that e-mail, make dinner, go for a jog, vacuum the floor, take a shower, pick up the kids-- the list is endless. Are our memories as defective as we think they are, or are we simply not designed to keep track of so many details?

In hunter-gatherer times, we had stress. Homicide, accidents, infectious disease and predation were always stalking us. But it was a totally different kind of stress-- it was occasional, powerful and brief rather than a constant flow of obligations clogging the paths of our minds. Most days were leisurely, with plenty of time for gossiping, staring at the clouds and dozing off.

Those times are gone for us, but perhaps keeping them in mind can help us live more constructively in the modern world. I find that meditation helps keep the thousand pricks of modern life in perspective, perhaps bringing my mind closer to the paleolithic state.

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20.00 | 0 comments

Sage Plant

Sage plant is ornamental and medicinal plants inside mint family. Sage plants are incredibly well-liked in the USA and are often applied for several types of food including sausages, lamb, pork, cheese, pickles, and other foods. Sage is grown during the United States as well as to grow in Dalmatia and Albania.

Sage plant likes hanging around the kitchen with thyme, basil, and rosemary. Sage plant is commonly one of the principal elements in the stuffing for poultry but is regularly additional to lamb meat and pork too. Sage plant is really powerful and effective ought to be utilized as a brief walk away. Sage plants, like numerous other spices to create a complete sense of the longer cooking time and cooking time may possibly be lengthy withstands why it is so excellent when applied during the area for a Thanksgiving turkey to cook for about 5 hours.

Sage plant is generally utilized because it has several benefits by way of example for normal therapy in curing snake bites and also utilised to refresh the physique and clear the thoughts. In medieval times it was quite unusual for people to create and Sage tea for diseases just like flu, fever, liver difficulties, and epileptic.

Sage tea may be stated to comfort a raw throat as well as allows drain the mother's milk as well as lowers blood clots. Today, particularly the original Indians, they nevertheless depend within the power of herbal Sage.

Sage dry properly may be the greatest to use, but if you choose to just enter fresh Sage leaf in the bag within the freezer and take out when needed. Sage plant includes a musky smoky flavour and functions very properly for cutting down several of wealth in many meals. Sage plant is really a herb that most individuals would nearly constantly there in their kitchen if they do cook at all.

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23.24 | 0 comments

Book Review: S.P.E.E.D.

This book was sent to me by Matt Schoeneberger, who co-authored it with Jeff Thiboutot. Both have master's degrees in exercise science and health promotion. S.P.E.E.D. stands for Sleep, Psychology, Exercise, Environment and Diet. The authors have attempted to create a concise, comprehensive weight loss strategy based on what they feel is the most compelling scientific evidence available. It's subtitled "The Only Weight Loss Book Worth Reading". Despite the subtitle that's impossible to live up to, it was an interesting and well-researched book. It was a very fast read at 205 large-print pages including 32 pages of appendices and index.

I really appreciate the abundant in-text references the authors provided. I have a hard time taking a health and nutrition book seriously that doesn't provide any basis to evaluate its statements. There are already way too many people flapping their lips out there, without providing any outside support for their statements, for me to tolerate that sort of thing. Even well-referenced books can be a pain if the references aren't in the text itself. Schoeneberger and Thiboutot provided appropriate, accessible references for nearly every major statement in the book.

Chapter one, "What is a Healthy Weight", discusses the evidence for an association between body weight and health. They note that both underweight and obesity are associated with poor health outcomes, whereas moderate overweight isn't. While I agree, I continue to maintain that being fairly lean and appropriately muscled (which doesn't necessarily mean muscular) is probably optimal. The reason that people with a body mass index (BMI) considered to be "ideal" aren't healthier on average than people who are moderately overweight may have to do with the fact that many people with an "ideal" BMI are skinny-fat, i.e. have low muscle mass and too much abdominal fat.

Chapter 2, "Sleep", discusses the importance of sleep in weight regulation and overall health. They reference some good studies and I think they make a compelling case that it's important. Chapter 3, "Psychology", details psychological strategies to motivate and plan for effective weight loss.

Chapter 4, "Exercise", provides an exercise plan for weight loss. The main message: do it! I think they give a fair overview of the different categories of exercise and their relative merits, including high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT). However, the exercise regimen they suggest is intense and will probably lead to overtraining in many people. They recommend resistance training major, multi-joint exercises, 1-3 sets to muscular failure 2-4 days a week. I've been at the higher end of that recommendation and it made my joints hurt, plus I was weaker than when I strength trained less frequently. I think the lower end of their recommendation, 1 set of each exercise to failure twice a week, is more than sufficient to meet the goal of maximizing improvements in body composition in most people. My current routine is one brief strength training session and one sprint session per week (in addition to my leisurely cycle commute), which works well for me on a cost-benefit level. However, I was stronger when I was strength training twice a week and never going to muscular failure (a la Pavel Tsatsouline).

Chapter 5, "Environment", is an interesting discussion of different factors that promote excessive calorie intake, such as the setting of the meal, the company or lack thereof, and food presentation. While they support their statements very well with evidence from scientific studies, I do have a lingering doubt about these types of studies: as far as I know, they're all based on short-term interventions. Science would be a lot easier if short-term always translated to long term, but unfortunately that's not the case. For example, studies lasting one or two weeks show that low glycemic index foods cause a reduction in calorie intake and greater feelings of fullness. However, this effect disappears in the long term, and numerous controlled trials show that low glycemic index diets have no effect on food intake, body weight or insulin sensitivity in the long term. I reviewed those studies here.

The body has homeostatic mechanisms (homeostatic = maintains the status quo) that regulate long-term energy balance. Whether short-term changes in calorie intake based on environmental cues would translate into sustained changes that would have a significant impact on body fat, I don't know. For example, if you eat a meal with your extended family at a restaurant that serves massive portions, you might eat twice as much as you would by yourself in your own home. But the question is, will your body factor that huge meal into your subsequent calorie intake and energy expenditure over the following days? The answer is clearly yes, but the degree of compensation is unclear. Since I'm not aware of any trials indicating that changing meal context can actually lead to long-term weight loss, I can't put much faith in this strategy (if you know otherwise, please link to the study in the comments).

Chapter 6, "Diet", is a very brief discussion of what to eat for weight loss. They basically recommend a low-calorie, low-carb diet focused on whole, natural foods. I think low-carbohydrate diets can be useful for some overweight people trying to lose weight, if for no other reason than the fact that they make it easier to control appetite. In addition, a subset of people respond very well to carbohydrate restriction in terms of body composition, health and well-being. The authors emphasize nutrient density, but don't really explain how to achieve it. It would have been nice to see a discussion of a few topics such as organ meats, leafy greens, dairy quality (pastured vs. conventional) and vitamin D. These may not help you lose weight, but they will help keep you healthy, particularly on a calorie-restricted diet. The authors also recommend a few energy bars, powders and supplements that I don't support. They state that they have no financial connection to the manufacturers of the products they recommend.

I'm wary of their recommendation to deliberately restrict calorie intake. Although it will clearly cause fat loss if you restrict calories enough, it's been shown to be ineffective for sustainable, long-term fat loss over and over again. The only exception is the rare person with an iron will who is able to withstand misery indefinitely. I'm going to keep an open mind on this question though. There may be a place for deliberate calorie restriction in the right context. But at this point I'm going to require some pretty solid evidence that it's effective, sustainable, and doesn't have unacceptable side effects.

The book contains a nice bonus, an appendix titled "What is Quality Evidence"? It's a brief discussion of common logical pitfalls when evaluating evidence, and I think many people could benefit from reading it.

Overall, S.P.E.E.D. was a worthwhile read, definitely superior to 95% of fat loss books. With some caveats mentioned above, I think it could be a useful resource for someone interested in fat loss.

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21.45 | 0 comments