Coffee Extracts for Weight Loss?

Some research studies have suggested that drinking coffee might help with weight loss, reduce weight gain, and possibly help support normal blood sugar health.  These possible benefits of coffee consumption have been reported to be due to coffee's content of caffeine, antioxidants, and other components.  However, the research to date is sparse and shows inconsistent results, alluding to the need for continued research into the possible weight loss benefits of coffee.  Two such studies were recently published.

In the first study (free to download), weight loss researchers conducted a review and analysis of previously published human clinical trials on weight loss and green coffee extracts.  Green coffee extracts are typically rich in a number of antioxidant polyphenols including chlorogenic acid.  Animal  studies with green coffee extracts have suggested that they might support normal blood sugar health and normal blood lipid health through several different mechanisms.  The study investigators examined the results of 3 randomized, human clinical research studies on the effectiveness of green coffee extracts on weight loss.  They reported that regular consumption of green coffee extracts was significantly linked to a reduced body weight (about 5 pounds versus control subjects); however, the results were highly variable.  The results of this analytical study suggest that green coffee extracts might have a place in one's weight loss program, but so far the benefits appear modest and vary widely.

In a second weight loss study, researchers asked 54 adult, overweight men and women to consume a beverage that either contained coffee mannooligosaccharides (4 grams/day) or did not contain them as part of a weight maintenance program.  The study volunteers consumed their beverage 2 times each day for 12 weeks.  For this study, the weight loss researchers measured body composition at the start and end of the study as well as body weight and measures of appetite and feelings of fullness each week during the study.  The weight loss researchers reported that men consuming coffee mannooligosaccharides daily for 12 weeks had a reduced body volume, lower body fat, and less belly fat than men consuming the placebo beverage.  These benefits were not observed in the women volunteers.

These two new weight loss papers suggest that coffee extracts might support healthy weight loss and body composition changes; however, these results varied greatly and benefits were not observed in all groups.  Further research is clearly needed to determine the effectiveness of these coffee components for healthy weight loss and body composition.

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Reduce Belly Fat By Choosing Whole Grains

Current recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 are that we should consume 3 or more 1-ounce servings of whole grains per day to help reduce the risk of several chronic health conditions and potentially support healthy weight control.  Whole grains include cereal grains that consist of the intact and unrefined, ground, cracked or flaked fruit of the grains whose principal components, the starchy endosperm, germ and bran, are present in the same relative proportions as they exist in the intact grain. While whole grains are an important part of our daily diet on their own, recent research suggests that consuming adequate amounts of whole grains each day also improves our overall diet quality.

Although previous research has suggested that whole grain consumption might help support healthy weight control, the impact of the types of grains we consume on body fat is not completely understood.  A recent nutrition study published in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the impact of dietary grain consumption on changes in abdominal visceral fat (fat found around our internal organs) and abdominal subcutaneous fat (fat found under the skin of our belly).  Dietary information was collected from over 2,800 adult men and women who took part in the Framingham Heart Study by the use of a food frequency questionnaire.  Links between grain (whole versus refined) consumption and measurements of abdominal fat volume were analyzed.  The nutrition researchers reported:

• Individuals in the group with the highest whole grain consumption had the lowest amount of visceral fat and subcutaneous belly fat.
• Eating large amounts of refined grains was linked to higher levels of both subcutaneous belly fat and visceral fat.
• Study subjects who consumed at least three servings of whole grains, but still continued to eat large amounts of refined grains did not see any reduction in abdominal visceral fat.

These are very interesting and important findings that can help guide us toward healthier eating habits.  While it is clear that consuming whole grains might have a variety of possible health and nutritional benefits, this new study points out the importance of increasing our whole grain consumption at the expense of refined grains.  The benefits of whole grain consumption on visceral belly fat reduction were only evident when whole grains replaced refined grains in the diet.  So in addition to getting adequate amounts of whole grains in our diets, make sure to substitute those whole grains for the refined grains many of us currently choose.  Instead of dinner rolls made from refined grains, choose whole grain dinner rolls or instead of consuming a sandwich on bread made for refined grains (most white breads), choose 100% whole wheat bread.

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Structured Weight Loss Programs Promote Healthy Weight Loss

If you watch any amount of television at all, you are bound to see advertisements for the many, many weight loss programs, all telling you that their program will help you lose weight.  Despite what these programs tell you in their commercials, few of them have actually conducted clinical research studies to test their effectiveness.  Two new weight loss studies, published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association and free to download, examined the effectiveness of structured weight loss programs in different groups of volunteers.

In the first weight loss study, investigators assigned 442 overweight or obese adult women with a BMI of 25-40 to either a center-based weight loss program, a telephone-based weight loss program or usual care.  The usual care group was provided consultation and information at the start of the study and again at 6 months.  The volunteers assigned to the center-based and telephone-based weight loss programs received pre-packaged prepared foods and all necessary program materials.  Additionally, they received in-person or telephone-based diet counseling on a weekly basis as well as access to website or message board interaction.  Study volunteers were encouraged to consume about 40-70% of their food intake from the pre-packaged meals during the first six months of the study and then transition to a mainly food-based meal plan over the remaining 18 months.  Additionally, study volunteers were asked to exercise 5 days per week for 30 minutes.  The results of this study showed that:

• Individuals in the usual care group lost about 7 pounds and 2 inches over 2 years.
• Volunteers in the center-based structured weight loss program lost about 18.5 pounds and nearly 3.5 inches over 2 years.
• Subjects in the telephone-based structured weight loss program lost about 15 pounds and 3 inches over 2 years.

In the second weight loss study, investigators examined the usefulness of a structured weight loss program for severely obese individuals (average body mass index was about 43-44).  For this study, 130 severely obese volunteers were randomly assigned to a structured weight loss program that included either exercise that began at the start of the study or exercise that didn't begin until 6 months into the study period.  The structured weight loss program consisted of a combination of group, individual, and telephone contacts over a 1 year period.  Study volunteers were asked to follow a meal plan that included 2 meal replacements per day during the first 3 months and 1 meal replacement from months 4 through 6 and were asked to briskly walk for 60 minutes 5 days per week.  The investigators reported:

• On average, volunteers that started exercising at the start of the structured weight loss program lost about 27 pounds, 4 inches off their waist, and about 17 square inches of belly fat.
• Volunteers that started walking six months into the structured weight loss program lost on average 22 pounds, 3 inches off their waist, and about 14 square inches of belly fat.
• 78% of individuals in the initial-activity group lost more than 5% of their body weight after 1 year, while 65% of the delayed-activity group lost more than 5% of their body weight.

Overall, these two weight loss studies indicate that a well-structured weight loss program can be an effective weight loss tool for adults who are overweight, obese, or even severely obese.  A structured weight loss program can make it easier for individuals to follow by offering pre-packaged meals or meal replacement bars and shakes, which helps minimize food weighing and calorie counting.  This can make it easier for individuals to stick to a diet plan.  This was clear in these studies where compliance to the diet plans was 78% in one study and 92% in the other study.  Because of the effectiveness of structured weight loss programs, the investigators of each study and the author of an accompanying editorial suggest that health care systems should consider their incorporation.  While this will likely not happen on a regular basis in the immediate future, well-structured weight loss programs are available for those interested in healthy weight loss.  Make sure to look for weight loss programs that are clinically tested, easy to follow, and provide a good diet counseling support system.

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Exercise & Eat Right To Reduce Menopausal Weight Gain

While many women can probably attest to the fact that they gain weight after menopause, there has been some scientific debate about whether the weight gain and changes in body composition that take place during this time of life are related strictly to menopause or are just another unwanted part of aging in general.

A new research study in Chinese perimenopausal women attempted to clarify this debate.  For this menopausal body composition study, researchers collected data from 438 perimenopausal women between the ages of 44-55 years who took part in a large bone health study.  Body composition information was collected at the beginning of the study and after 9, 18, and 30 months.  Changes in body fat and lean muscle mass were compared between women who remained premenopausal, those who transitioned through menopause and women who were already in menopause at the start of the study.  The study investigators reported that:

• A decrease in lean muscle mass and an increase in total fat mass and trunk fat mass were observed overall during the 30-month follow-up period.
• Age was negatively linked to central obesity (belly fat), such that belly fat increased as the women got older.
• When the information was adjusted for age, menopause was specifically shown to be linked to a decrease in lean muscle and an increase in percent body fat and trunk fat mass.

Overall, this new body composition study showed that though aging in general is related to weight gain, the transition to menopause itself is linked to an increase in body fat, particularly belly fat.  Like many other aspects of the menopausal transition, these changes in body fat distribution have been reported to be due to the loss of estrogen during the menopausal transition.  While hormone therapy has been reported in some studies to decrease obesity in postmenopausal women, hormone therapy comes with its own set of risks.  Developing healthy diet and lifestyle habits remains the best approach to preventing or reducing the impact of menopause on body weight gain and body composition.  Eating healthy foods in appropriate portions and getting plenty of exercise are core to preventing menopausal weight gain.  Starting during the premenopausal years and developing life-long healthy habits is the best approach to maintaining a healthy body weight throughout life.

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Lose Belly Fat - Support Normal Blood Vessel Health

Just a few days ago, I mentioned the fact that excess belly fat is dangerous to our health.  These research studies have reported that excess belly fat (also called abdominal obesity) has been linked to poor heart health, poor blood sugar health, and overall mortality.  Previous studies have implied that belly fat gain might be linked to poor heart health by inducing changes in blood vessel health and the ability of blood vessels to stretch normally.  However, this potential link between belly fat and blood vessel health was unclear.

In an attempt to start better understanding the potential interaction between belly fat and normal blood vessel health, heart health researchers examined changes in blood vessel health during a short-term belly fat study (free to download).  For this study, the investigators recruited 43 healthy volunteers with a normal body weight and assigned them to either (1) maintain their weight for 16 weeks or to (2) gain weight for 8 weeks and then lose weight during a second 8-week period.  Changes in the ability of arm blood vessels to stretch and relax were measured at the beginning of the study, after weight gain and at the end of the study.  The heart health researchers reported that:

• Volunteers assigned to gain weight gained about 9 lbs on average over 8 weeks with over 80% of the weight gained as fat.
• In study volunteers that were asked to maintain their body weight, blood vessel health remained normal and unchanged.
• Volunteers who gained weight and belly fat developed poorer blood vessel health with substantial loss of blood vessel stretchability.
• Weight loss after the short-term weight gain resulted in a return to normal blood vessel health.

This is a fascinating study indicating the importance of maintaining a normal body weight or losing excess belly fat  for the support of normal blood vessel health.  According to these current study results, even a modest belly fat gain like seen during vacations or around the holidays can negatively impact blood vessel health.  Fortunately, losing this excess belly fat helped support normal blood vessel health.  While this study shows the possible impact of belly fat on normal blood vessel health, it also raises some interesting questions that will likely be the focus of future research studies.  For example, what happens to normal blood vessel health during long-term (over several years) weight gain, which is typical in many of us?  Also, can losing weight after years of carrying around excess belly fat still help with the support of normal blood vessel health and if so, to what extent?  And, how does weight cycling effect normal blood vessel health.  I look forward to seeing the answers to these types of questions in the future.

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Reducing Belly Fat Might Reduce Risk of Dying!

There are lots of names for it (pot belly, belly fat, etc.), but no matter what we call it abdominal obesity is dangerous to our health.  Numerous research studies have reported that abdominal obesity, or excess belly fat, has been linked to poor heart health, poor blood sugar health, and chronic inflammation.  It has also been shown that a large waist size is linked to an increased risk of death regardless of one's body mass index (BMI).  However, the effect of a large waist size within different BMI categories remained less clear until a new obesity study published in the recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

For their study, obesity researchers analyzed data from over 48,000 men and over 56,000 women who took part in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort.  Associations between deaths from 1997 - 2006 and waist size were examined after adjusting for BMI and various other risk factors.  The obesity investigators reported that:

• Very large waist sizes (> 47 inches in men and > 43 inches in women) increased the risk of death by more than 2 times.
• In men, an increase of about 4 inches in waist size was linked to an increased risk of death for those with a normal BMI (16%), overweight BMI (18%), and an obese BMI (21%).
• In women, a similar increase in waist size was also linked to an increased risk of death in all three BMI categories; 25% increased risk in normal BMI, 15% in overweight BMI, and 13% in obese BMI.

This new obesity study emphasizes the importance of getting rid of belly fat and maintaining a healthy waist size, regardless of one's body mass index!  Research suggests that abdominal obesity is particularly dangerous because it is linked with the development of fat tissue around internal organs.  According to the National Institutes of Health, a waist size over 35 inches in women and over 40 inches in men are linked to poorer health.  This new study expands upon that information indicating that very large waist sizes are linked to an increased risk of death.

Of course, the most interesting part of this study is the fact that this increased risk of death with increased waist size was even seen in men and women with a normal body mass index.  Therefore, even if one has a healthy body weight for their height, an overly large waist can still negatively impact their health.  The exact reasons for this are currently unclear and will require further research.  This finding may also add fuel to the debate on whether body mass index or waist:hip ratio are better measures of overall health.  In either case, be sure to make waist size an important part of your weight loss or weight control strategies.

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Snacking Linked to Reduced Obesity Risk In Children?

A new obesity study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that snacking is linked to a decreased risk of being overweight and a decreased risk of abdominal obesity.

Upon reading that, many of us are probably thinking that these results make no sense.  After all, wouldn't it make more sense that snacking would increase one's risk for obesity if for no other reason than snacking would increase the amount of calories consumed?  Apparently, the impact of snacking on obesity risk in children is understudied and the results have been inconsistent to date.  Some studies have reported that frequent snacking between meals increases obesity risk, while other studies suggest that consuming several small meals throughout the day instead of relying on 1-3 main meals per day helps with weight control.

This new study examined nutrition and body weight data from the National Health and Nutrition Examinaton Survey (NHANES) between 1999-2004.  For this study, teens were categorized based on the number of snacks they ate per day and their percent of total energy intake from snacks.  Differences in various weight measures between these groups were analyzed.  The study investigators reported:

• Increasing levels of snacking by teens was linked to lower body weights, reduced percentage of overweight or obesity, and smaller waist size in addition to reductions in other weight measures.
• The risk for overweight or obesity was reduced by about 60% in teens eating more than 4 snacks per day.
• Eating more than 4 snacks per day was also linked to about a 60% decreased risk for abdominal obesity.
• Similar results were observed when snacking was examined as a percentage of total dietary intake.  Consumption of snacks at a level greater than 20% of total energy was linked to reduced risk for overweight and abdominal obesity.  

These are both interesting and somewhat puzzling results that will probably continue to fuel the debate regarding snacking frequency in teens and weight control.  These inconsistencies are liable to be due to such things as the types of snacks consumed and whether beverages are included in a study's definition of snacking.  If the snacks being eaten are of poor nutritional quality (high in energy, low in nutrients), then snacking might have the potential to increase obesity risk.  In contrast, if the snacks are healthier and nutrient rich, then snacking might have weight management benefits.  This new study does not appear to mention if the types of snacks were determined.  Instead, this new study appears to be looking at snacking as a general eating pattern regardless of the types of snacks consumed. While nutritionists and other food researchers continue to explore the impact of snacking on weight management and obesity, it is best if we all choose healthy snack options.  This could be as simple as choosing fruits and vegetables for snacking or taking the time to look for snacks that have more protein and carbohydrates than fat content.

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Beneficial Bacteria Might Support Healthy Weight Loss

Probiotics, or healthy bacteria, have been reported to have a number of health benefits including supporting normal immune health and normal digestive health.  While the potential weight management benefits of incorporating probiotics into one's regular diet are not well studied, previous research has shown that gut bacteria differ between healthy weight individuals and overweight individuals. 

A new randomized, double-blind, clinical weight loss study examined the impact of a probiotic bacteria on weight loss and body fat in 87 adults with a body mass index (BMI) between 24-31.  For this study, volunteers were given either fermented milk containing the probiotic LG2055 or fermented milk without the probiotic bacteria for 12 weeks.  Changes in body size and body fat measurements were analyzed.  The results of this study showed that no changes were observed in the control group, those receiving just the fermented group.  In contrast, study volunteers receiving the fermented milk with the beneficial bacteria experienced (on average) a:

• 4.6% reduction in visceral abdominal fat
• 3.3% reduction in subcutaneous abdominal fat
• 1.4% decrease in body weight
• 1.5% decrease in BMI
• 1.8% decrease in waist size and 
• 1.5% decrease in hip size

While the study summary does not indicate whether the study volunteers were on any kind of diet plan in addition to their consumption of the probiotics, the reductions in body size and body fat levels, especially belly fat, in the group receiving the probiotics suggest that this particular strain of beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055) might help support healthy weight loss.   Probiotics are probably best known for supporting normal digestive health; however, emerging research like this current study is starting to highlight the potential weight loss benefits of some probiotic strains.  Making products that contain probiotics part of your overall healthy diet might make a good weight management strategy that can provide additional health benefits beyond weight loss.  However, it will be important to choose probiotics that have been shown to be effective.  There are many strains of probiotic bacteria and more research will be needed to determine which ones offer the best overall health and weight loss benefits. 

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Pepper Compounds Might Aid Weight Loss

When we think about pepper compounds that might support healthy weight loss, we typically think about capsaicin, the compound responsible for the heat in hot peppers.  However, recent research studies have shown that compounds in sweet peppers might also support healthy weight loss.

In a new study presented at the 2010 Experimental Biology meetings, researchers examined the impact of dihydrocapsiate, a non-hot pepper compound, on body metabolism endpoints.  For the study, 33 volunteers followed a very-low calorie diet using high protein liquid meal replacements for 4 weeks.  The volunteers were assigned to take either (1) no dihydrocapsiate, (2) 3 mg dihydrocapsiate per day, or (3) 9 mg dihydrocapsiate per day.  Changes in after-meal energy expenditure and fat oxidation were measured at the beginning and end of the study.  The results of this study showed that taking 9 mg dihydrocapsiate per day for 4 weeks increased both after-meal energy expenditure and fat oxidation, suggesting that this pepper compound might help support healthy weight loss.

This is not the first study to examine the potential weight loss benefits of these compounds (capsinoids) from sweet peppers.  A study (free to read online or download) last year examined the potential benefits of a capsinoid extract (containing three different capsinoids) on weight loss in overweight/obese individuals following a modest diet plan.  The results of this study showed that supplementing the diet plan with 6 mg capsinoids per day decreased belly fat and increased fat oxidation after 12 weeks compared to individuals not taking any capsinoids.

Overall, these two studies suggest that naturally occurring compounds found in certain sweet peppers (bell peppers and chili peppers) might support healthy weight management strategies.  Bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, making them an good vegetable choice to include in any good diet plan, such as Dr. Tabor's easy diet plan.