Archive for Nutrition
Nutrient density & weight loss
Posted by: | CommentsWeight loss diets and macronutrient composition
Posted by: | CommentsFrom Medscape:
The quick summary: “Dieters ate different amounts of protein, fat, and carbohydrate — but, after 2 years, most were still obese.”
Here’s some more detail: “While weight-loss diets claim unique nutrient compositions that guarantee unusually rapid and effortless success, comparative studies — usually with small populations and short follow-ups — have yielded widely disparate results. Now, a large long-term multisite study suggests that all these diets result in similar outcomes.
Researchers randomized 811 overweight adults (81% white; 62% female; 69% college graduates; mean body-mass index, 33 kg/m2) to four restricted-calorie eating plans:
* High fat, high protein
* High fat, average protein
* Low fat, high protein
* Low fat, average protein
Carbohydrate intake ranged from 35% (in the first plan) to 65% (in the fourth) of total calories. All meals were prepared at home, and participants ate from a single menu with each dish’s components adjusted to reflect each diet’s emphasis; all participants were offered weight-loss counseling.
Changes in weight and waist circumference at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months were indistinguishable among groups: At 2 years, only about 15% of each group had lost at least 10% of body weight. Attendance at group counseling sessions strongly predicted successful weight loss. At 2 years, hunger and diet-satisfaction scores were all similar. Food diaries and urinary nitrogen analyses indicated that the actual nutrients consumed might have been more similar among groups than had been planned.”
I think that this situation is to be expected. Deprivation, as a general rule, is extremely hard to maintain over the long haul. It’s better to gradually change by learning how to eat plant-based, whole foods. Bottom line: its not the macro-nutrient balance that counts. It’s the micro-nutrients (and of course physical activity) that ultimately determine health and fitness.
Weight loss and raw food
Posted by: | CommentsWeight loss mindset
Posted by: | CommentsMost people will agree that 80% of the solution to being overweight is in the lifestyle/diet choice that is adopted, and 20% of the success is through exercise.
The key issue is whether a person can successfully envision his/her new “healthy self” as a creative goal (and here I’m borrowing from Robert Fritz’s The Path of Least Resistance) that then serves as the “driving force” (aka “structural tension”) to a new lifestyle. Most people simply are reacting to the physical, social, and emotional discomfort of being overweight or obese, and hence take steps to relieve this tension (i.e., by “going on a diet”). When this tension is relieved (by losing pounds) the “hunger/tension” to go back to eating the old way comes back, until such time as the “tension of obesity” surfaces again. It’s the vicious cycle instigated by a “reactive-responsive” mindset that keeps us in this loop — an approach fueled by a quick fix mentality.
I think that most successful “weight loss masters” are able to create a new vision/idea of themselves as healthy, slim, and energetic beings who do not have to constantly deprive themselves in their eating behavior. Rather than deprivation, they adopt a new path of sustainable behaviors and correct nutritional choices.
However, the latter is the key: without proper chemistry to help us (i.e., achieved by an optimal high nutritional/low caloric density) the “behavior” of eating will be compromised and will always be hard to sustain. The better the food, the easier it is to sustain eating the right foods and in the right amounts. I maintain that there is such a thing a the “right” diet — what I call the “nutritionally excellent” diet , and not all diets are created equal.
The closer to this “ideal” one eats, the easier I think it is to maintain over the long haul. A good example of a positive spiral.
Pectin’s health benefits
Posted by: | CommentsA study from the University of Georgia shows that pectin, a substance found in fruits and vegetables caused prostrate cancer cells to self destruct under laboratory conditions (”apoptosis”). Pectin even killed cells that were not sensitive to hormone therapy and therefore difficult to treat with current medications.
This study adds to the growing body of research on the health benefits of pectin, which has been shown to lower cholesterol and glucose levels.
“Even though we hear constantly that we’re supposed to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, it wasn’t until we started working on these studies that it finally hit home how really important that was,” reported Debra Mohnen, one of the scientists in the study. “By simply increasing your intake of fruits of vegetables, you’re going to get a lot of pectin and you’re going to get all of the other beneficial phytochemicals at the same time.”
Key pectin sources are apples, plums, oranges, gooseberries, apricots and carrots.
Low carb diet can compromise the gut
Posted by: | CommentsA study at Aberdeen’s Rowett Research Institute (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 73:1073-8) has shown that a very low carbohydrate weight-loss diet results in a four-fold reduction of certain types of bacteria in the gut of obese men.
Gut bacteria produce a substance called butyrate, which has been shown to be important for keeping the gut healthy including helping to prevent colorectal cancer. The study challenges the prolonged use of very low-carbohydrate weight-loss diets on intestinal health.
Very low-carbohydrate weight-loss diets are popular with people struggling to lose weight and are used in some weight-loss clinics. Nutritionists have raised concerns about the low fruit and vegetable content of such diets as these contain nutrients that help protect against a number of diseases and cancers within the body. Less attention has been paid to the consequences of the low carbohydrate intake on the bacteria within the gut and how this might alter the release of either beneficial or harmful compounds from the food. Butyrate is known as a short chain fatty acid, and is produced in the gut when the bacteria ferments carbohydrates. Studies have shown that it can prevent cancer cells from multiplying.
“If low carbohydrate diets are to be consumed for long periods of time, it may be important to ensure that there is enough of the right sort of carbohydrate in the diet which can be used by the bacteria to produce compounds such as butyrate, which are beneficial for human health. This means making sure you continue to eat plenty of sources of fibre – such as fruit and vegetables,” said Professor Harry Flint, one of the study’s authors.
One more reason to avoid extreme animal-based diets. Low-carb quick fixes (though potentially effective from a weight loss perspective) can be dangerous in the long term. We still don’t know how this will affect overall health when maintained for prolonged periods.
Interview of Dr. Kessler, author of The End of Overeating
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More super foods
Posted by: | Comments…from Dr. Steven Pratt’s book, SuperFoods RX, Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life:
beans
blueberries
broccoli
oats
oranges
pumpkin
salmon
soy
spinach
Tea (green or black)
tomatoes
turkey
walnuts
yogurt
I personally would take out turkey and salmon (specifically, the farmed varieties) from the list, and replace them with kale, flax, sunflower seeds. Instead of yogurt, I’d put kefir in.
Plant-based omega-3
Posted by: | CommentsA study from from King’s College London has found that relatively small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from algae (even as little as 0.7 grams of DHA) can lower pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Unlike fish oil, has the advantage of being both sustainable and acceptable to vegetarians.
The omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was extracted from the marine algae crypthecodinium cohnii. Results showed that the daily intake of 0.7g DHA lowered diastolic pressure by 3mm of Hg. This reduction can prevent thousands of heart attacks and strokes.
Previous studies using fish oil required more than 2-3g of omega-3 fatty acids to lower pressure. Fish oil generally contains more eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) than DHA. This study shows that even relatively small amounts of DHA can effectively improve cell membrane function and lower pressure. Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids. They are manufactured by the body and must be obtained from fish and certain plant sources. Many studies show that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation, help prevent certain chronic diseases (e.g., heart disease, arthritis) and play a critical role in brain function.
‘Our findings provide further evidence that relatively small amounts of this form of omega-3 helps promote a healthy heart,’ said T. Sanders, Head of King’s College London’s Nutritional Sciences Research Division. ‘There are long-term worries about the sustainability of fish stocks and our results suggest that a sustainable vegetable source synthesised by algae may be useful for preventing cardiovascular disease. Importantly, this form of DHA is acceptable to people who do not eat fish, for example vegetarians.’
Going nuts
Posted by: | Comments“Many people have avoided nuts because of their high fat content, but the fat in nuts, including peanuts, is mainly unsaturated, and walnuts in particular are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Controlled feeding studies show that nuts improve blood cholesterol ratios, and epidemiological studies indicate that they lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Also, people who eat nuts are actually less likely to be obese; perhaps because nuts are more satisfying to the appetite, eating them seems to have the effect of significantly reducing the intake of other foods.”
- Walter C. Willett and Meir J. Stampfer, professors of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.
