Dr. Jonny Bowden

Tag: healthy eating

  • Whey Protein Stimulates Muscle Growth

    Whey Protein Stimulates Muscle Growth

    According to a new study, whey protein stimulates new muscle growth better than either of two forms of casein protein.

    Sarcopenia—the loss of muscle as we age- is a serious issue in aging. Losing muscle means losing strength and vitality. Studies suggest that our ability to synthesize (make) muscle in response to food intake is impaired in older adults. How well we create new muscle depends on the quantity—and to some extent the quality—of the protein we eat.

    The objective of the current study was to compare three types of protein and see which one had a better effect on muscle protein accretion (in plain English, the researchers wanted to see which protein was the best at helping subjects build new muscle, thus helping to ward off the effect of sarcopenia.)

    The clear winner was whey.

    Keep reading…

    3 Foods to Stop Eating Right Now…

    In this highly entertaining presentation you will discover:

    • The 3 so-called “healthy” foods that are silently making you gain more stomach fat.
    • At least 2 foods you probably thought were “unhealthy” that can actually HELP you to fight abdominal fat.
    • An unusual type of workout that is MUCH more effective (and shorter) than standard “cardio”.

    There are 2 different presentations for men & women »

    In this study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a total of 48 older men were randomly assigned to ingest a meal-like amount of whey protein, casein (milk protein) or casein hydrolysate. Though the experiment only lasted one day, the researchers were able to monitor blood levels throughout the day and performed muscle biopsies to see what was really going on.

    Sure enough, those consuming the whey protein were able to synthesize new muscle proteins at a significantly greater rate than those consuming the other two protein supplements.

    The researchers suspect two things are at play here:

    1. The greater muscle protein response to whey is probably due to its faster digestion and absorption.
    2. The amino acid profile of whey protein is more conducive to muscle building due to its higher concentration of leucine, an amino acid that has been shown in other research to make a tremendous difference in the ability to put on muscle.

    Keep reading…

    Are Your Lungs Dying?

    If you do nothing about it the cells in your lungs are dying off faster than you replace them. By the time you’re fifty, 40% of your lung capacity will be gone! This will rob you of your energy and strength and it makes you an easy target for chronic disease.

    In just minutes a day you can get back the lung power of a 20-year-old.  And that extra power means:

    • Never taking a sick day, or need an afternoon nap…
    • Bouncing up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator…
    • Adding health-packed years to your life…

    All that, and you don’t have to change your diet or spend hours at the gym. It’s backed up by science and fully guaranteed! Get the lung power of a 20-year-old »

    Leucine has been shown to burn fat and spare muscle in studies by Donald Layman, PhD. “In studying exercise and how muscle develops, we found tha leucine has a particularly unique effect in tha it spares muscle proteins during weight loss, so you only lose the fat and not the muscle”, Layman told WebMD.

  • Featured Recipe: High-Fiber Curried Spinach and Lentils

    Featured Recipe: High-Fiber Curried Spinach and Lentils

    The following recipe is from the forthcoming book, “The 150 Healthiest Slow Cooker Recipes on Earth“, by myself and Chef Jeannette Bessinger.

    Featured Recipe: High-Fiber Curried Spinach and Lentils

    Those who read my book “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth” may remember my rhapsodic waxing about a superspice called turmeric.

    In case you missed it- or need a reminder- here’s a short list of the wonderful things it does.

    One, it’s among the most anti-inflammatory foods on the planet, (which matters because inflammation is a major part of every degenerative disease we know of).

    Two, it’s extremely good for the liver, that poor overworked organ that has to rid your body of all the toxins it’s exposed to on a daily basis.

    And three, it’s got significant anti-cancer activity.

    The thing of it is, turmeric goes beautifully with all sorts of dishes (besides, of course, the Indian food it’s best known for). This dish is a perfect example. Rich in fiber from the lentils, and with a ton of nutrients like iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium from the spinach, the dish goes together beautifully. A rich, fragrant vegetarian curry with a warming bite. You’ll love it.

    Ingredients

    • 2 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds
    • 1 ½ teaspoons coriander seeds
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 2 medium onions, sweet yellow, diced
    • 5 medium carrots, thinly sliced
    • 5 medium parsnips, thinly sliced
    • 5 garlic cloves, finely diced
    • 2 tablespoons ginger, finely diced
    • 2 ½ teaspoons turmeric
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • ½ teaspoon cracked black or mixed peppercorns
    • 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
    • Sprinkles salt, to taste
    • 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
    • 1 ¼ cup brown lentils, rinsed thoroughly
    • 1 red chili, minced
    • 1 pound fresh spinach, stemmed and coarsely chopped
    • 1 cup reduced fat coconut milk
    • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, optional

    Directions

    1. In a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat, toast the cumin and coriander seeds for a couple of minutes, stirring often, until they just begin to brown.
    2. Grind toasted seeds to a powder in a spice grinder or designated coffee grinder and set aside.
    3. In the same skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions, carrots and parsnips.
    4. Cook until tender, about 6 minutes.
    5. Add garlic, ginger root, turmeric, cinnamon stick, peppercorns and ground cumin and coriander seeds.
    6. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
    7. Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
    8. Add salt to taste and transfer pan contents to slow cooker.
    9. Add sweet potatoes and lentils and stir well.
    10. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 4-5 hours.
    11. Add chili pepper and stir well to incorporate.
    12. Add fresh spinach in handfuls, stirring each handful into the curry.
    13. Add coconut milk and stir until incorporated.
    14. Cook on high for 20 more minutes.
    15. Remove cinnamon stick and discard before serving.
    16. Garnish with cilantro, if using.

    Yield: 6-8 servings

    From Chef Jeannette

    The concept for this recipe comes from my friend, Mary Weaver, owner of the gourmet cooking school Newport Cooks in Newport, Rhode Island. She is an ethical vegetarian and always on the lookout for hearty meatless meals that taste great and provide a great balance of macronutrients.

    Serving Suggestion: This curry is delicious served over brown basmati rice or Thai-style rice noodles. To cool the heat a bit and add additional protein, spoon a dollop of plain, low fat Greek yogurt into each bowl.

  • Onions: A Real Superfood

    Onions: A Real Superfood

    Onions (excerpt from the best-selling book, “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth“)

    There’s no two ways about it: onions are a cancer-fighting food.

    In a number of impressive published studies, the consumption of onions (and other members of the allium vegetable family) demonstrated protective effects against stomach cancer. And in one study published in the journal of the National Cancer Institute, eating onions (as well as other members of its family like garlic, scallions, chives and leeks) significantly lowered the risk for prostate cancer.

    Onions (and its close relatives) have also been shown to have the same effect against esophageal cancer. In Vidalia, Georgia, where the Vidalia onion comes from and where onions are consumed in large quantities, the death rate from stomach cancer is 50% lower than the national mortality rate from stomach cancer. One theory is that onions contain diallyl sulfide which has the effect of increasing the body’s production of an important cancer fighting enzyme, glutathione-S-transferase.

    At least two important studies show that onions help build strong bones. In one, published in the prestigious journal Nature, male rats fed a small amount of dried onion daily had a 17% increase in calcium; female rats that had had their ovaries removed (which would rapidly induce bone loss and osteoporosis) had stronger bones when fed onions.

    And in another study, published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, a compound in onions inhibited the activity of the cells (osteoclasts) that break down bones. The popular drug Fosamax works in a similar way, but onions have no side effects unless you count the need to chew gum before making out.

    Onions belong to the allium family, which also includes leeks, garlic and shallots. They contain a whole pharmacy of compounds with health benefits, including thiosulfinates, sulfides, sulfoxides and other smelly sulfur compounds.

    But those same smelly compounds offer a lot of nutrition bang for the relatively small price of a little eye-watering. In a study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, onions are one of a very select group of foods the combination of which was found to reduce mortality from coronary heart disease by an impressive 20% (the others included broccoli, tea and apples).

    Onions contain powerful antioxidants and are anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and antiviral. They are a great source of quercetin, one of my favorite anti-inflammatory compounds, and one which itself is associated with beneficial effects on chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease.

    The class of chemicals that quercetin belongs to- flavanoids– have anti-allergic properties as well, and quercetin in particular is frequently used by nutritionists as part of their arsenal for treating allergies with natural substances. Quercetin can help relieve asthma and hay fever by blocking some of the inflammatory responses in the airways.

    Our bodies absorb quercetin from onions very easily, though you’ll probably need quercitin supplements if your main interest is using it therapeutically as an anti-inflammatory. Onions also contain a number of sulfides very similar to those in garlic, which may lower blood lipids and blood pressure.

    The type of onion affects the content of the health promoting chemicals, and the stronger tasting ones probably have superior properties.

  • How to Get Your Kids To Eat More Veggies

    How to Get Your Kids To Eat More Veggies

  • Green Tea Helps You Lose Weight!

    Green Tea Helps You Lose Weight!

    A recent study shows that green tea or green tea supplements (EGCG) can help people lose weight.

    Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center took 35 subjects with obesity and metabolic syndrome and randomly assigned them to one of three groups.

    Group one drank four cups of green tea a day for eight weeks. Group two took green tea extract capsules plus four glasses of water on a daily basis for the same eight weeks, and group three- the control group- drank four glasses of water daily with no green tea or green tea supplements.

    Both groups one (tea drinkers) and two (supplement takers) received an equal amount of the active ingredient in green tea- epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG.

    The results were impressive. Compared to the control group, both the green tea supplement group and the green tea drinking group had a significant decrease in body weight and BMI.

    This is hardly the first time green tea and its active ingredient, EGCG, have been shown to improve body composition. A 2009 study on rats showed that both green tea and black tea reduced body fat, but green tea and EGCG supplements both increased lean body mass. All three also improved glucose tolerance. And a 2006 review article, “Anti-obesity effects of green tea” stated that “Studies conducted with human subjects report reduced body weight and boy fat…. and thereby confirm findings in cell culture systems and animal models of obesity”.

    Want more? A 2005 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that subjects ingesting one bottle of tea per day containing 690 mg of catechins had significantly lower body weight, BMI, body fat mass and subcutaneous fat area than a control group consuming only 22 mg of catechins a day.

    Plant chemicals in tea known as catechins have long been found to have anti-cancer effects. And a 2004 article in the medical journal Circulation concluded that “the more green tea patients consume, the less likely they are to have coronary artery disease”.

    Tea- all kinds, actually—offers powerful antioxidant protection, reduces blood sugar, is anti-inflammatory, lowers cholesterol, protects against heart disease and caner, and has the ability to stimulate the metabolism.

    For an innocuous and common little beverage that costs next to nothing, that’s a pretty powerful resume.

  • The Best Diet for Maintaining Weight Loss

    The Best Diet for Maintaining Weight Loss

    Researchers in Denmark have found that a high-protein low-GI diet was significantly better than other diets tested at maintaining weight loss in subjects who had already successfully shed pounds.

    My father used to have a favorite saying: “It’s easy to stop smoking. I myself have done it lots of times!” The same could be said about weight loss. Losing weight isn’t all that hard.. keeping it off is where the action is.

    In the current study, researchers enrolled 773 subjects who had lost an average of 24 pounds using a low-calorie diet. They then assigned the subjects to one of four groups for the “weight-maintenance” phase of the study.

    Group one ate a low-protein/ high-GI diet. (Readers of this newsletter will recall that GI stands for Glycemic Index, a way of measuring how quickly food raises blood sugar. High glycemic foods are always carbohydrates, usually processed ones; they’re either high in sugar to begin with (cereals), or they turn into sugar pretty quickly once they hit the stomach, i.e. bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.).

    Typical “low-protein/ high-GI” meals: a little bit of chicken with a big plate of pasta, or a breakfast of cereal, bananas, toast and one egg.

    Group two ate a low-protein/ low-GI diet.

    Group three ate a high-protein/ low-GI diet (typical meal: protein and vegetables), and group four ate a high-protein/ high-GI diet.

    Over the 26 weeks that followed, the subjects eating the low-protein/ high-GI diet actually regained significant weight (even though this was the “weight-maintenance” phase). They were the only group to do so.

    Meanwhile, those eating the high-protein/ low-GI diet (protein and vegetables) actually continued to lose a small amount of weight over the next 26 weeks! Interestingly, these folks were also the least likely to drop out of the study. (Conversely, the folks in the low-protein/ high-GI diet were the most likely to drop out!)

    Families got involved

    What’s really interesting about this study is that the researchers got the whole family involved, not just the overweight adult study participants. The participant’s whole family ate the same diet with no restrictions on the amount of food.

    And get this: In the families who were in the high-protein/ low-GI condition (protein and vegetables), the percentage of overweight/obese kids in those families actually fell over the course of the study!

    Though it’s not crystal clear why this type of eating plan works so well, there are two very likely hypotheses (which are not mutually exclusive).

    One, a high-protein low-GI diet doesn’t knock your blood sugar into the stratosphere, which in turn has a very positive effect on the levels of your fat storing hormone, insulin. (When blood sugar goes up high, insulin goes up with it, and when insulin is high, fat burning is pretty much turned off.) (This is the reason we use a high-protein low-GI diet in both our programs, Diet Boot Camp and the brand new Unleash Your Thin.)

    Two, a high-protein low-GI diet seems to be easier to stay on. Because it doesn’t send blood sugar skyrocketing, you are less likely to experience the crashes and cravings that come with “blood sugar hell”. In an editorial accompanying the current study, Drs. David Ludwig and Cara Ebbeling of Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School commented: “A person’s ability to maintain adherence over time may be influenced by the way in which a diet affects hunger and metabolism”.

    In other words, it’s easier to stick with an eating program if you’re not hungry all the time.

    And it’s easier still when you see yourself losing weight, which is much more likely to happen if you can control the levels of your fat-storing hormone, insulin.

    And that, in turn, is easy to do: Just cut back on sugar and carbs, and fill your plate with protein, fat, fiber, vegetables, nuts, berries and other low-glycemic fruit!

  • Whey (Not Soy) Protein Shakes Help You Stay Thin

    Whey (Not Soy) Protein Shakes Help You Stay Thin

    According to a new study from the US Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center, whey protein powder offers an advantage over soy protein powder if you’re trying to drop a few pounds.

    Researchers randomly assigned 90 adults- all overweight or obese- to one of three groups. All three groups consumed their normal diet of approximately 2200 calories, but the first group added a protein drink made with whey, the second group added a protein drink made with soy, and the third group added a drink made with carbohydrates.

    All three drinks had the same number of calories (200) and all had the same number of grams (52 grams of protein for the first two groups, 52 grams of carbs for the third group.)

    At the start of the study, no significant differences existed among the three groups. The average weight of the men was 218 pounds, while the average weight of the women was 190.

    At the end of the 23 week study, those drinking the carbohydrate shake had actually gained about 2 pounds, most of it fat. Those drinking the soy protein shake stayed the same.

    But those drinking the whey protein drink actually lost a little bit of weight and body fat (about 2 pounds worth!) And while both other groups saw essentially no change in their waist size, the whey protein group actually lost about an inch around their middles!

    Interesting, those in the whey protein group actually had significantly lower blood levels of an appetite-stimulating hormone called ghrelin than those in the carb group or the soy group. “(Grehlin) is a hormone that helps regulate food intake”, said David J. Baer, PhD, research physiologist and lead author on the study. “So the higher concentration (of grehlin), the more hungry someone feels. The lower the concentration, the fuller someone feels.”

    Interestingly, though no subjects knew which drink they had been assigned, and were not told to change their basic 2200 calorie diet in any specific way, those drinking the whey protein shake on a daily basis wound up gradually consuming less carbohydrates during the course of the study, even though they were eating the same number of total calories per day.

    This reduction in carbohydrate intake may have been a contributing factor in their weight loss.

    Apparently something about the whey protein powder seemed to make them crave less carbohydrates (a very nice “side” effect!)

  • Can Coconut Oil Help You Lose Inches?

    Can Coconut Oil Help You Lose Inches?

    A study from Brazil suggests that two tablespoons a day of coconut oil can not only help you drop inches, it can also raise protective, HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

    I’ve sung the praises of coconut oil for a long time. The fat in coconut oil- a form of saturated fat known as MCT (medium chain triglycerides)– is among the healthiest fat in the world. It contains fatty acids such as lauric acid and caprylic acid known to be anti-viral and anti-microbal. And medium-chain-triglycerides are more likely to be burned for energy than stored as fat, leading to their popularity in the bodybuilding community.

    But the actual ability of coconut oil to help with weight loss has not been thoroughly investigated.

    In the present study, 40 women aged 20-40 years old with abdominal obesity were given daily dietary supplements of either soybean oil or coconut oil over the course of 12 weeks. All subjects followed a “balanced” diet with the same number of calories and were told to walk for 50 minutes a day.

    By the end of the study, the coconut oil group had significantly higher HDL (“good”) cholesterol and an improved LDL: HDL ratio. While both the soybean oil group and the coconut oil group had similar reductions in BMI, only the coconut oil group saw a reduction in the circumference of their waists. (Meanwhile, for the record, the soybean oil group saw their HDL go down and their cholesterol ratio go up!)

    A very interesting- and unexpected- finding, was that those consuming the coconut oil spontaneously reduced their consumption of carbohydrates and increased their consumption of protein and fiber over the course of the study.

    “Supplementation with coconut oil does not cause dyslipidemia and seems to promote a reduction in abdominal obesity”, write the researchers.

    For my money, the best coconut oil on the market is Barlean’s extra-virgin organic coconut oil. It’s inexpensive, organic, and comes from hand-selected coconuts. I use it for everything, including sautéing vegetables and making eggs.

  • Featured Summer Recipe: Watermelon Salad with Mint Leaves

    Featured Summer Recipe: Watermelon Salad with Mint Leaves

    This fabulous summer recipe comes to us courtesy of my good friends at the National Association of Nutrition Professionals. It’s just too good not to pass on!

    INGREDIENTS:

    • 1 (5-pound) watermelon
    • 1 Vidalia or other sweet onion
    • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
    • Salt and pepper
    • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
    • 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
    • 6 whole mint sprigs

    DIRECTIONS:

    1. Cut the flesh from the melon and cut into bite size pieces, removing and discarding the seeds, and set aside. Peel and slice the onion into rings.
    2. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, salt, pepper, and whisk until salt is dissolved. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, a few drops at a time. Add in the chopped mint, taste, and adjust seasonings.
    3. In a large bowl, combine the melon, onion, and feta. Pour the dressing over the melon mixture and toss gently until everything is coated and evenly mixed. Garnish with mint sprigs.
    4. To serve, divide salad among individual plates and garnish with mint leaves.
  • Whey Protein May Reduce Symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

    Whey Protein May Reduce Symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

    New research published in the Journal of Dairy Science suggests that compounds in whey protein may reduce some of the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease.

    Inflammatory bowel disease is the collective name for two diseases in which the intestines become deeply inflamed: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Unlike irritable bowel syndrome, in both forms of inflammatory bowel disease there is active pathology in the tissues. A biopsy of the tissue of someone with IBD would come back with visible, active inflammation (which would not be the case in irritable bowel syndrome). It’s estimated that as many as 1.4 million people in the US alone suffer from either Crohn’s or colitis.

    The exact cause of IBD is not known, but like most multifaceted, highly complex disorders, it probably has a genetic component and is certainly made worse by trigger foods, bad nutrition in general, and stress. It’s more common among whites, and it’s higher in Ashkenazi Jews than in other groups, and slightly higher rates are seen in females.

    One feature shared by both diseases is an abnormal immune system response. In people with IBD, the immune system mistakenly identifies harmless materials in the gut- such as food and bacteria- for foreign substances, and it mounts an attack on the intestinal cells. This attack involves dispatching white blood cells to the intestines which in turn produces chronic inflammation.

    The present study investigated the effects of whey protein on various markers of inflammation associated with IBD.

    Whey is one of the two proteins found in milk and is a product of the cheese making process. The other protein found in milk- casein- is separated out to make cheese and the remaining liquid whey goes is filtered, dried and processed into whey protein powder, a very digestible protein that provides all the essential amino acids. “Whey protein contains bioactive proteins and peptides such as lactoferrin and, in the case of whey protein obtained from the cheese-making process, glycomacropeptide that can be beneficial in preventing colitis”, the researchers said.

    The researchers reasoned that whey protein might be beneficial for IBD because of its high concentration of two amino acids– threonine and cysteine—which have been found to be necessary for the production of mucin. “Mucin is the mucous like substance that allows the gut to better protect itself“, explained Joseph Brasco, MD, a gastroenterologist and nutrition expert from the Center for Colon and Digestive Disorders in Huntsville, Alabama, and my go-to source for all things having to do with digestive health.

    The researchers induced colitis in rats (using a chemical called DSS- dextran sulfate sodium) and then fed them one of three diets. In one diet the main source of protein was casein, in the second it was also casein but supplemented with the two amino acids threonine and cysteine, while the third was whey protein.

    The whey protein diet increased mucin secretion and protected against gut inflammation in general. In addition, the whey protein increased the production of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, two important strains of bacteria known as “probiotics”. Probiotics are the beneficial bacteria that live in the gut and help support immune function.

    “The standard treatment for these diseases has been drug therapy”, Dr. Brasco told me, “with the intent of modifying the immune response in order to slow down the progression of the disease. What’s so interesting about this study is that they are trying to alter and improve the gut itself through nutrition. I’m encouraged by the fact that researchers are beginning to think that the immune system itself might be responding to abnormalities in the gut and that correcting those abnormalities might be a first order of business, one in which nutrition plays a huge part”.

    But while encouraged by the decidedly nutritional approach of the researchers, Dr. Brasco stated that it was far too early to recommend that all patients with IBD start scarfing down whey protein drinks by the gallon. “This is a mouse study”, he cautioned, “and we really don’t know about dosing. Nor do we know if the amounts given to the animals in this study is in any way comparable to the amount of whey protein a human might reasonably consume.”