Protecting Muscles By Eating Blueberries

Any good weight loss program includes an exercise component because successful weight loss still revolves around 'calories in' vs. 'calories out'.  While reducing calorie intake is important, it is just as important that we include enough physical activity to burn more calories than we consume. For many of us starting an exercise program comes with the risk of muscle soreness or other forms of muscle damage.  Damage to muscle cells can be the result of oxidative stress, so reducing this oxidative stress has the potential to protect muscle cells.

A new study examined the ability of dietary antioxidants to reduce muscle cell damage in a cell culture system.  For this study, the investigators cultured muscle cells and treated them with chemicals like hydrogen peroxide to induce oxidative stress.  The investigators then added a variety of fruit extracts into the culture system to see if any of them could block the damaging effects of the oxidative stress.  Of the fruit extracts, the blueberry extract showed a dose-dependent benefit such that higher amounts of the blueberry extract had higher protective benefits.  Analysis of the blueberry extract suggested that the active components were malvidin glycosides (malvidin galactoside and/or malvidin glucoside).

This is interesting new research on the potential health benefits of blueberries.  However, it is important to remember that this study was done in a cell culture system and a lot more research will be needed before we will know if the same benefits can be achieved in people eating blueberries, blueberry extracts, or foods containing the malvidin glycosides.  Nonetheless, the blueberry is a delicious tasting, nutrient-dense food that has been reported to have a variety of benefits due to their antioxidant properties.  In addition to their natural antioxidants, blueberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber and a good source of vitamin E.  Blueberries are a healthy snack option that don't add a lot of calories (~81 calories/cup).

My Slim and Beautiful Diet plan recommends at least 30 - 45 minutes of exercise per day for 6 days a week.  Walking is one of the easiest and safest forms of exercise and is a great place to start if just starting an exercise program.  Of course, choosing a form of physical activity that you enjoy is a priority because it will help you stick to your program more closely.

Managing Weight While Eating At Restaurants

We all enjoy dining at our favorite restaurant from time to time; however, as a population, we eat out more frequently now than in the past.  While this might not necessarily be a bad thing to do, research has shown that eating in restaurants contributes to excess calorie consumption due to eating larger portions of foods loaded with calories.

A new research study examined the habits of men and women in regards to their weight management strategies while eating out and the things that kept them from eating healthy at restaurants.  While this new paper is free to download or read online, I wanted to briefly outline some of the researchers findings.

Common Weight Management Strategies Used:

• Avoiding sugar-rich beverages
• Choosing steamed vegetables
• Stopping eating when full
• Eating foods made with whole grains

Weight Management Strategies Rarely Used:

• Asking to have the chip or bread basket removed from the table
• Eating a low-calorie snack before going out to eat
• Asking the chef to prepare the meal in a low-fat/low-calorie manner

Personal Barriers to Good Weight Management Strategies:

• Being over-hungry due to busy lifestyles
• Good tasting food available at the restaurant
• Desire to not waste food

Differences Between Men & Women:

• Compared to men, women were more apt to share appetizers, eat an appetizer as their meal, choose a salad as their main course, order salad dressing on the side, take half the meal home, and share a meal with a dining partner.
• Men found it less difficult to have the bread/chip basket removed from the table compared to women.

Dining at restaurants, no matter the type, has become much more frequent due to the busy lifestyles many of us pursue.  In fact, the researchers indicated that their study volunteers ate out an average of 3.5 times per week.  With many of the food choices at restaurants being high in calories and large in portion size, it can be difficult to manage one's body weight.  Developing appropriate strategies for dining out is important if you are looking to maintain a healthy body weight.  This new paper provides a list of 30 potential strategies including such things as avoiding high-fat appetizers, trimming fat and/or skin from meats, avoiding deep-fried foods, and eating fresh fruit for dessert.  So, if you find yourself eating out frequently, make sure to find ways to watch what you eat that works best for you.

One thing you can do if you plan on eating out, is to make sure that your other meals during the day are healthy, calorie-controlled meals.  My Slim and Beautiful milk protein bars and milk protein shakes make great meal replacement options to help you manage your caloric intake throughout the day.  Visit us at www.drtabor.com to learn more.

Reduce Obesity Risk by Finding a Balance

With two-thirds or more of the U.S. population already overweight or obese, it is important to find ways to not only reduce that number but prevent it from increasing.  Finding a balance between healthy eating habits, good exercise habits, and an overall healthy lifestyle are important factors in managing one's body weight.  The video below from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discusses ways to find this balance and the benefits of achieving this balance.



You can find more videos from the CDC at CDC-TV.

My Slim and Beautiful diet is an easy plan to follow and can be a good first step towards developing a healthy lifestyle.

Effect of Soluble Fiber on Gut Peptides

Dietary fiber has been reported to provide a number of benefits, including benefits for heart health, blood sugar health, and weight loss.  The benefits of dietary fiber for weight loss are due to its ability to reduce appetite.  This ability is partly related to the viscous nature of fiber and its ability to add bulk to the diet.  However, recent research has indicated that dietary fiber might also effect hormones produced by our digestive tracts.

A new research study explored the effect of soluble dietary fiber (psyllium) on hormones produced in the digestive tract.  For this study investigators assigned 16 healthy volunteers to one of five test meals: [1] Low Protein & Low Fiber (6-7 grams), [2] Low Protein & High Fiber (23 grams), [3] High Protein & Low Fiber, [4] High Protein & High Fiber, or  [5] white wheat bread.  The researchers measured multiple hormones and asked the volunteers to rate their hunger and fullness.  The results of this study showed that:

• High fiber meals decreased ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger, and Peptide YY, a hormone that reduces appetite, responses.
• Despite the decrease in Peptide YY response, the production of this appetite suppressing hormone was prolonged by high fiber meals.
• Glucagon-like Peptide 1, a hormone that effects insulin and suppresses hunger, was reduced by the High Protein & High Fiber meal.

This new study suggests that dietary fiber might have more effects on appetite than by just adding bulk to the diet.  The results of this study and some previous studies show that soluble dietary fiber can alter hormones produced in the digestive tract that are involved with feelings of hunger.  The decrease in ghrelin secretion and the prolonged production of Peptide YY, suggest that dietary fiber might reduce appetite through effects on these hormones.  These effects further support the role of dietary fiber consumption as part of a healthy weight management program.  A free paper on dietary fiber and energy regulation is available if you want to read more.

Managing your weight with my easy plan can be a great way to include fiber as part of your diet.  My Slim and Beautiful milk protein shakes contain 3 grams (12% of the recommended daily value), while my Slim and Beautiful soy protein bars contain 5 grams of healthy fiber (20% of the daily value!). 

Green Tea for Weight Loss

Green tea is becoming more popular due to the variety of potential health benefits attributed to its consumption.  These health benefits are frequently linked to the major phytochemical found in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which makes up about 65% of the green tea catechin content.  Previous research in animals and people suggest that green tea might aid with weight loss efforts by suppressing appetite, increasing body metabolism, and decreasing fat absorption.  A new study examined the impact of green tea on fat oxidation.

In this new study, weight loss researchers studied 10 overweight or obese men in a randomized, controlled trial.  The men in the study had an average BMI = 31 and were assigned to take either (1) 300 mg EGCG, (2) 600 mg EGCG, (3) 200 mg caffeine, (4) 300 mg EGCG + 200 mg caffeine, or (5) a placebo for 3 days.  After 3 days, energy expenditure and fat oxidation were measured after an overnight fast and after consumption of a standardized meal.  The study results showed that during the first 2 hours after consuming the meal:

• Taking 300 mg of EGCG increased fat oxidation by 33%
• The higher dose of EGCG (600 mg) only increased fat oxidation by 20%, which was not different than the control placebo.
• Caffeine increased fat oxidation by about 34%, similar to the low dose of EGCG.
• Combining 300 mg EGCG with 200 mg Caffeine increased fat oxidation by about 50%, though this was not statistically different than EGCG or caffeine alone.

This new weight loss study suggests that increasing fat oxidation after a meal might be another way in which green tea might help with weight loss.  A typical cup of regular, brewed green tea can contain about 100 - 200 mg of EGCG, so based on the results of this new study one would have to consume at least 3 cups of green tea per day to see fat oxidation benefits.  With the current popularity of green tea, one can find all sorts of drinks that contain the green tea EGCG.  However, it has been reported that many of these drinks contain pretty low levels of EGCG, so aim for products that provide adequate EGCG levels.

Based on this and previous research, green tea might make a good weight loss choice in combination with regular physical activity and a healthy diet program.  My Slim and Beautiful diet plan is an easy way to lose get rid of those unwanted pounds.

Impact of Glycemic Index & Load on Heart Health

The glycemic index is a ranking system that ranks the quality of carbohydrates based on how quickly or slowly they impact blood sugar.  Many studies have reported that a low glycemic index diet might have a variety of health benefits.  However, different foods have different amounts of carbohydrates.  To take these differing amounts of carbohydrates into account, the glycemic load can be calculated in order to determine the impact of different foods on blood sugar.

A new study examined the impact of the glycemic index and glycemic load on heart health in a population of nearly 50,000 men and women.  To determine this impact, dietary intake was assessed with a dietary questionnaire and the risk for poor heart health was determined over about an 8-year follow-up.  The results of this study showed:

• Women in the group with the highest quarter of carbohydrate consumption were twice as likely to have poor heart health compared to women in the group eating the lowest levels of carbohydrates.
• The increased risk for poor heart health was associated with high glycemic index carbohydrates... eating high levels of high glycemic index carbohydrates was associated with about a 68% increased risk for poor heart health, while eating high levels of low glycemic index foods was not associated with poor heart health.
• Women consuming the highest level of high glycemic load foods were at a more than 2-fold increased risk for poor heart health compared to women with the lowest level of high glycemic load foods.
• No associations between heart health and glycemic index or glycemic load were seen for men in this study.

This new study confirms previous studies on the potential health benefits of a low glycemic index diet.  Low glycemic foods (those that rank below 55) have minimal impact on blood sugar, while high glycemic foods (those that rank above 70) have a large impact on blood sugar.  To learn more about the glycemic index, visit The Glycemic Index.  Their website does a great job of describing the glycemic index, provides a list of foods and their glycemic index and publishes a frequent newsletter.

Following a low glycemic index diet is easy with my Slim and Beautiful diet plan.  Two recent studies documented that my milk protein bars, milk protein shakes, soy protein bars, soy protein shakes, and pasta have a low glycemic index.

Alcohol Consumption and Obesity Risk

Numerous research studies have reported that over-consumption of alcohol is associated with many adverse health effects, while moderate consumption of alcohol might actually offer some potential health benefits.   One of the adverse health effects reported to be associated with over-consumption of alcohol is an increased risk for becoming obese.  However, the reasons for this increased risk for becoming obese are not completely clear.  Two new research papers have explored this relationship and outlined some of the reasons that over-consumption of alcohol might lead to obesity.

In a recent review paper, the author examines previous laboratory research and human population studies and reports that:

• Calories provided by alcohol are additive to the rest of one's dietary intake, leading to excess caloric intake
• Drinking alcohol before or with a meal leads to increased food consumption at the meal, also leading to excess caloric intake.
• High intake of alcohol might increase obesity risk.

In a second paper published this month, nutrition researchers examined the relationships between alcohol consumption and diet quality.  To do this, they used nutrition information provided by over 15,000 men and women as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.   According to the study summary and the press release from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:

• Former and current female alcohol consumers had substantially higher levels of energy intakes.
• Women who currently consume alcohol had significantly poorer eating habits.
• As the amount of alcohol consumed increased among current drinkers of both sexes, calorie intake increased and diet quality decreased.
• Increased alcohol consumption was related to a decreased intake of fruit in men and women and a decrease in whole grains and milk consumption among men.
• Individuals who drank more were also shown to consume more calories from foods high in unhealthy fats and added sugars.

These two studies do an excellent job of outlining some of the changes in our eating habits that occur with over-consumption of alcohol.  Not only does calorie intake increase in general, but it increases from less than healthy food choices at the expense of healthier options.  While moderate alcohol consumption (1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men according to the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines) might have some potential health benefits, it is clear that over-consumption of alcohol puts us at a variety of health risks, including the risk for becoming obese.

Following a healthy eating plan is an important part of good weight management.  My Slim and Beautiful diet plan is an easy way to start eating healthier and managing your weight.