Archive for April 2013

Morbid obese women on the rise

A Deakin University learn about has found that the speed of morbid weight problems in girls increased through almost 70 per cent over a 10 year period.

Protein Activates Wakefulness and Calorie Burning

Scientists have discovered that protein turns on specialized brain cells that keep you awake, keep your metabolism humming along, and keep you motivated to accomplish goals. In contrast, carbohydrates, without enough protein, do not activate these brain cells, which may result in a tired head and body, and potential weight gain due to sluggish metabolism.

This research involves specialized cells in the command and control center of your subconscious brain (hypothalamus gland). These cells are called orexins and they feed a specific nerve network referred to as hypocretins. Protein turns them on and carbohydrates turn them off.

I explain this subject in my article, Teen Sleep Problems Lead to Depression & Drug Abuse. This article focuses on how this nerve network gets overheated, resulting in anxiety and nervousness during the day and trouble sleeping at night. It explains how pleasure/reward turns off the excess stimulation, and results in potential for addiction to anything, including drugs.

This new research focuses on the other side of the coin – what if this system is turned too low resulting in sleepiness during the day, sluggish metabolism, and a lack of motivation?

Clearly, we all want to be in the middle, where we feel properly energized and awake during the day, have normal drive to accomplish goals, attain rewards that have nothing to do with addictive tendencies, and sleep properly at night.

This is another angle on why protein at breakfast is extremely important. It not only gets your liver into metabolic gear, but we can now say it also gets your brain turned on. It also helps explain why high sugar snacks or high carbohydrate/low protein meals can make a person tired.  Too much sugar landing on these cells turns your head off. The researchers also found that when protein and carbohydrates were contained in the same meal, protein prevented the carbohydrates from binding to these cells.

There are many practical applications for this information. People who tend to be anxious and not sleep well will want to have low protein at dinner and higher carbohydrates, assisting the ability to go to sleep properly. Lunch can be a mix of protein and carbohydrates; the right mix for you means your head stays awake during the afternoon and you have some drive to get things done. If you don’t feel that way, you are probably eating too many carbohydrates. If you feel wired and anxious in the afternoon you may have had too much protein. In general, people who need to lose weight need more protein, especially at breakfast and lunch, and possibly at dinner, to keep their metabolism activated. If you get too much protein you might have trouble sleeping. One size does not fit all – so pay attention to what you are eating and how your energy level and motivational drive respond to different types of meals.

Happy marriage adds pounds

Findings problem the perception that quality relationships at all times benefit health, indicating that satisfied spouses acquire weight over time as a result of they is also much less stimulated to attract an alternative mate.

Black women may gain more weight with contraceptives

Black women were the perhaps to achieve weight while using a long-appearing type of contraception, equivalent to a hormone implant or intrauterine tool (IUD), in a small new study. Researchers found that all through a yr of using progestin-primarily based long-time period contraceptives, black girls placed on an average of four to six kilos, in [...]

Ban trans fats!

Banning the use of trans fat in the practise of foodstuffs is one of the most effective tips on how to prevent one of the vital worlds largest killer ailments, however many governments will not be taking such action because they don’t think these bans work, in keeping with a College of Sydney learn about [...]

Green Tea Turns on Fat Burning Gene

The gene signal AMPK (5’ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase) is an important energy sensor at the cell level. When it activates, fats are burned for fuel. A study shows that one of the numerous metabolic benefits of green tea is that it turns on AMPK.

Researchers were trying to figure out why green tea lowers cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and leptin. Their gene study showed that green tea turns off the enzyme that assembles fat (fatty acid synthase) and turned on the gene that helps cells burn fat (AMPK).  When this mechanism is turned on, at least for part of the day, it will certainly help weight loss.

AMPK is turned off every time you eat, on purpose. This is because your body needs to store the calories you consume. Between meals, about three to four hours after your meal—especially if you are following the Five Rules of the Leptin Diet, AMPK will turn back on and start helping you burn fat. 

AMPK can also be turned on by two minutes of vigorous exercise. Try this in the middle of the afternoon if you tend to suffer from an afternoon power outage or snack compulsion. Taking green tea mid-morning and mid-afternoon would be ideal times to help you enhance this natural fat burning process.

Snacking and Skipping Breakfast Linked to Type 2 Diabetes

The phrase “death by snacking” is not too far from the truth, especially if you are overweight and struggle to lose weight. Two studies confirm the dangers of snacking, something I have been adamant about since I wrote Mastering Leptin in 2002. 

Both studies appeared recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The first followed 29,206 U.S. men who were free of metabolic disease for 16 years. The study found that skipping breakfast was associated with a 21 percent increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, which is why The Leptin Diet tells you to start your metabolic engines with a high protein breakfast. This study also confirmed the relationship between a high BMI, snacking, and the risk for type 2 diabetes.

Another controlled human study found that snacking caused a loss of the ability to sense fullness, resulting in consumption of larger and larger snacks. Snacking appears to induce a repetitive strain injury to your taste and pleasure system, making them numb to normal intake. 

The more food you eat, the fatter you are likely to become, which is news to nobody. Figuring out how to feel satisfied on less food is the trick. This is why following the Five Rules of the Leptin Diet are so important.

When you do not have leptin working to your advantage, leptin entry into your brain is decreased, while leptin levels in your blood elevate; this problem is known as leptin resistance.  In addition to leptin, the other important hormone made by your fat is adiponectin. Both of these hormones are made in tandem when you are metabolically healthy. Once you develop leptin resistance, your adiponectin levels decline. This causes insulin resistance and increased risk for type 2 diabetes.

When you eat is just as important as what you eat. It isn’t just an issue of how many calories you consume; it is also an issue of how efficiently you can metabolize the calories you do consume. Eating in harmony with leptin is by far the best way to improve metabolic efficiency.

Cinnamon Extract Improves Antioxidant Function & Blood Sugar

Cinnulin PF1, a water-soluble extract of cinnamon, has been shown to improve the antioxidant status and lower the fasting glucose levels of obese pre-diabetic individuals.  Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture continue to document the power of nutrition to help improve health problems faced by millions.

Study participants took 250 mg of Cinnulin PF twice a day for 12 weeks.  These individuals started the study with elevated fasting glucose levels but were not yet diabetic.  The researchers measured various parameters of antioxidant function, which demonstrates free radical distress – a factor known to interfere with healthy blood sugar metabolism.  The study showed that as Cinnulin PF improved the antioxidant status of the participants then their fasting blood sugar improved.

This human study builds on earlier research showing that water-soluble cinnamon is both a potent antioxidant as well as an excellent natural way to improve blood sugar metabolism.