Dr. Jonny Bowden

Tag: research

  • Junk Food and IQ

    Junk Food and IQ

    Think you’re born with a certain IQ and there’s nothing you can do about it?

    Think again. A long-term health research project tracking the dietary intake of  around 14,000 children born in the early 90’s identified three dietary patterns:

    1. processed (high in sugar and fat)
    2. traditional (high in meat and vegetables)
    3. health conscious (lots of salad, rice, pasta, fruit and vegetables).

    Never mind that many experts– such as myself– would strongly argue against labeling a diet high in rice and pasta and low in protein as “health conscious”, but that’s a subject for another day.

    At the age of 8.5 years, the researchers then measured the childrens IQ. After accounting for just about every factor that could possibly make a difference, the researchers were left with a stunning finding: those eating the “processed” food diet from the beginning of the study to the time of the IQ measurement had significantly lower IQs than those eating the other two diets.

    Worse, it didn’t seem to matter if their diet improved after that. The authors of the study—known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children—had this to say to Science Daily: “This suggests that any cognitive/behavioural effects relating to eating habits in early childhood may well persist into later childhood, despite any subsequent changes (including improvements) to dietary intake,” adding that “It is possible that good nutrition during this period may encourage optimal brain growth”.

    Bottom line: It’s never too early to start training your kids to eat a whole foods diet. They’ll probably thank you for the rest of their lives.

     

  • 10 Superfoods for Weight Loss (Part Two)

    Last week I told you about superfoods that can help you lose weight quickly, foods like grapefruit, pumpkin, berries, sardines, and grass-fed beef. Here are five more superfoods that pack a ton of nutrition into a relatively small number of calories, filling you up, stabilizing your blood sugar, and making it far less likely that you’ll go on a waist-busting binge.

    Nuts About Nuts…

    Nuts should be a staple of your weight-control diet. I realize this piece of advice may be contrary to much of what you’ve heard about nuts being “fattening,” but nonetheless it’s absolutely true.

    While nuts are high in calories and probably shouldn’t be eaten by the fistful, a very substantial number of important studies have demonstrated that regular inclusion of nuts in the diet lowers the risk for coronary heart disease by double digits4. Other research shows positive effects on the risk of dementia, stroke, and diabetes.

    And the current evidence is clear that a moderate intake of nuts doesn’t cause weight gain5. In the Nurses’ Health Study, one of the largest epidemiological studies, frequent nut consumers were actually a bit thinner than those who didn’t indulge. The “magic” amount seems to be about five ounces a week, or 1 to 1.5 ounces about five times a week.

    Great Guava…

    Among the superfoods of the world, guava is a sleeper. With a taste that’s been described as “part strawberry part pear,” one cup of this vitamin-rich, low-calorie fruit contains a whopping 8 grams of fiber, a well-known aid to weight control (not to mention digestive health).

    And in one widely used test of antioxidant power, guava scored second only to blueberries. Plus, guava contains lycopene, a cancer-fighting antioxidant also found in tomatoes.

    Kickin’ Kale…

    Kale is a member of the Brassica family, vegetable royalty that boasts cabbage and broccoli among its relatives. It’s rich in potent cancer fighting substances called indoles, and loaded with bone-building vitamin K.

    Kale also contains sulforaphane, a powerful nutrient that helps the liver detoxify carcinogens and other toxins. Kale has the highest antioxidant rating of any vegetable and is ridiculously low in calories.

    Try it tossed with olive oil, a few dried cranberries and some pine nuts.

    Eggs-actly Right…

    Eggs are the protein source against which all others are judged. They’re also one of the best weight control foods on the planet.

    Research has shown that choosing eggs for breakfast helps people manage hunger while lowering calorie consumption throughout the rest of the day6,7,8. And, for goodness sake, stop with the egg-white omelets — they’re so 1980s. The yolk is loaded with good stuff like lutein, the superstar of eye nutrition and choline, which helps support brain function.

    The little bit of fat in the yolk contributes mightily to the feeling of sustained fullness and satisfaction. Don’t be afraid of it!

    Blood-Sugar Busting Beans…

    Fiber is the secret weapon in weight-control. It fills you up, slowing the entrance of sugar into the blood system and preventing the blood sugar spikes that frequently lead to hunger and cravings. Fiber also normalizes bowel movements, helps maintain bowel health, reduces the risk of type ll diabetes, and aids in weight loss.

    And no food on the planet supplies as much fiber as beans, logging in 12–17 grams a cup. They are also a great source of protein, typically providing 12–17 grams per single cup.

    Beans are also a fabulous source of antioxidants. Research on the areas of the globe where people routinely live to 100 in vibrant good health showed that beans were a staple in the diets of all four of the areas studied (known as “The Blue Zones”).

    Truly Super Foods…

    It’s no small coincidence that the same foods that help you control your weight happen to be the same ones that confer a wide spectrum of health benefits. Rather than focusing on what not to eat, try building your diet around the foods mentioned here.

    The only “side effect” of this weight loss plan is a major improvement in your overall health and well-being.

  • Vitamin Angels: Making A Difference

    Vitamin Angels: Making A Difference

    In 2008 the Copenhagen Business School asked eight eminent economists to imagine they had $75 billion to spend on causes that would most help the world.

    Five of their top ten involved nutrition: vitamin supplements for children, adding zinc and iodine to salt and breeding extra micronutrients into crops.

     

    Lack a Day

    Deficiencies and their effects

    Micronutrients, RDA                          Deficiency Effects

    Calcium, 1000-1300 mg Rickets, osteoporsis
    Iodine, 150 ug Goitre, mental retardation
    Iron, 8-18 mg Anemia
    Sodium, 1.5 g Nausea, fatigue, confusion
    Zinc, 8-11 mg Infections, Diarrhea
    Vitamin A, 900 mg Night-blindness
    Folic acid, 400 mg Birth Defects
    Vitamin C, 90 mg Scurvy
    Vitamin D, 5-10 mg Rickets

    Source: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies

    Of the 40 nutrients people need, four are in chronically short supply: iron, zinc, iodine and vitamin A.

    • Vitamin A is essential for the mucous membranes that protect the body’s organs, such as the eyes. Lack of it causes half a million children to go blind every year; half of them die within a year as their other organs fail. Vitamin A supplements were the Copenhagen experts’ top choice.
    • Zinc deficiency impairs brain and motor functions and causes roughly 400,000 deaths a year.
    • Iron deficiency (anemia) weakens the immune system and affects, in some poor countries, half of all women of child-bearing age.

    Too hungry to think properly

    The missing nutrients bite wide and deep. Education levels drop (malnourished children concentrate poorly); earning-power weakens. Even marriage chances wane: malnourished boys marry women of lower educational levels when they grow up.

    One third of all childhood deaths are caused by undernutrition. For young children, essential nutrients help build the foundation for good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.

    Handing out vitamin pills (and fortifying common foods with micronutrients such as iodine in salt) are simple strategies that can make a huge difference. One group that’s doing exactly that is called Vitamin Angels.

    What You Can Do

    Vitamin Angels is a non-profit organization whose mission is to mobilize and deploy private sector resources to advance the availability, access and use of micronutrients- especially vitamin A- by newborns, infants and children in need. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.

    Their “Operation 20/20” for example, connects infants, children and lactating women to Vitamin A. An estimated 190 children worldwide suffer from vitamin A deficiency and Operation 20/20 has dramatically decreased mortality rates in areas targeted by this program by 23%. In 2010, Operation 20/20 reached approximately 20 million infants and children and another approximately 4 million lactaing women in 30 countries on three continents.

    Vitamin Angels also has a program called Thrive to Five which currently distributes around 100 million doses of essential micronutrients annually in about 20 countries on four continents (including the United States).

    You can find out more about the Vitamin Angels Program here.

  • The Whey to Weight Loss

    The Whey to Weight Loss

    Whey protein may be one of your best weapons in the weight loss war.

    A number of studies have shown that a low carbohydrate to protein ratio (<2) ratio in the diet with at least 100 grams of protein per day increases fat loss and helps maintain muscle during dieting.

    One analysis of 87 different studies found that diets consisting of between 35-41% carbs were associated with greater loss of body mass, greater loss of percentage body fat and greater loss of fat mass than diets with a higher percentage of carbohydrate. (The average American diet is around 60% carbs.)

    Whey protein is the perfect protein supplement during weight loss. It’s high leucine content (50-75% more than other common protein sources) coupled with its fast absorption make it perfect for those wanting to lose fat.

    And whey protein also influence several hormones, including insulin, that in turn have a great impact on body composition. One animal study found that whey protein reduced appetite (as evidenced by the fact that the animals consumed less food), as well as visceral and subcutaneous fat. They whey protein also reduced blood levels of insulin- the fat storing hormone- and increased insulin sensitivity!

    One recent study compared two groups of subjects both of whom were given ready-to-drink mixes as a supplement, and both of whom consumed the same diet for the duration of the study.

    The control group drank a supplement with no whey protein in it while the experimental group drank a supplement containing 10 grams of protein per serving from whey protein and peptides. Calories in both drinks were identical.

    After 12 weeks there were significant differences. Weight loss was consistently higher in the group drinking the whey protein supplement, and DEXA analyses showed that the weight loss was primarily from body fat. The whey protein group also lost significantly less muscle mass compared to the control group.

    Remember, whey protein powders are not all alike. A cheap commercial one found at the mall might contain all sorts of artificial ingredients and sweeteners, and since whey is an animal-based product, the conditions under which the animals were raised influences the quality of the final product.

    One of the whey protein powders I recommend, Whey Cool Protein, comes only from grass-fed cows with absolutely no hormones, steroids or antibiotics.  Another of my favorites, Dream Protein, is also very high quality, processed at very low temperatures, is sweetened with stevia and contains less than one gram of sugar!

    You can’t go wrong with either one.

    One of my favorite ways to enjoy whey protein powder is to cut up an apple and throw it in the blender with a scoop of protein powder and a little almond milk or water. You can also use frozen blueberries. For added nutrition, try adding a spoonful of Forti-Flax (for fiber and cancer-fighting lignans) and/or a scoop of PaleoFiber (for a high-protein and high-fiber drink that will satisfy for hours!)

    Whey protein drinks make an excellent post-workout mini-meal as well as a terrific breakfast or midday snack.

     

     

     

  • Omega-3’s, Depression and Mood

    Omega-3’s, Depression and Mood

    Years ago, the late nutritionist Robert Crayhon was asked what the single best nutritional strategy for the health of the nation would be. His answer…

    “Make sure every pregnant woman supplements with fish oil!”

    He’s turning out to be right. Low levels of omega-3’s (the fats found in fish and flaxseed) have been linked to depression, ADD, lower intelligence, behavioral problems, concentration, violent behavior and even impaired vision(1,2).

    Fatty acids are considered “essential” when the body cannot make them, so it’s “essential” that you get them from the diet. There is one omega-6 (linolenic acid) that’s essential and one omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid) but most people also include the other two omega-3 fats (DHA and EPA) under the heading “essential” even though the body can technically make those two fatty acids out of alpha-linolenic acid.

    The balance between omega-6 and omega-3 intake is utterly critical to human health. The perfect ratio is somewhere between 1:1 (omega 6: omega 3) and maybe 4:1. The average person in western society gets between 16:1 and 20:1 or even more. This has enormous consequences for a host of health conditions and symptoms.

    Researchers from INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) and their collaborators in Spain recently put mice on a diet high in omega-6’s (vegetable oils) and low in omega-3’s (in other words, the mouse version of the standard American diet). This imbalance produced significant consequences (all of them negative) on both brain activity and emotional behaviors. The researchers also noticed a significant increase in depressive behavior amongst the omega-3 deficient mice.

    “Our results can now corroborate clinical and epidemiological studies which have revealed associations between an omega-3/omega-6 imbalance and mood disorders” said the researchers.

    This is the omega 3 fish oil I take everyday.

    Bottom line: Take your omega-3’s every day. The benefits of omega-3’s are legion—for heart health, brain health, circulation, behavior and mood.

    Remember, there are three omega-3’s.. ALA (found in flaxseed), EPA and DHA (found in fish.) Be sure to get some every single day, preferably at least 1000mg of combined DHA and EPA, which are the two most researched omega-3’s for heart health and brain function.  If you’re using flaxseed oil as your sole source of omega-3’s, take one tablespoon for every 100 pounds of bodyweight.

    1) Andrew Stoll, MD, “The Omega-3 Connection” (Fireside Books)

    2) Joseph Maroon, MD “Fish Oil: The Natural Anti-Inflammatory” (Basic Health Books)

     

     

     

  • Fiber Reduces Risk of Death!

    Fiber Reduces Risk of Death!

    Dietary fiber may be associated with a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular, infectious and respiratory diseases, as well as a reduced risk of death from any cause over a nine-year period, according to a report posted online February 14 that will be published in the June 14 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

    Fiber, the edible part of plants that resist digestion, has been hypothesized to lower risks of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and obesity, according to background information in the article. It is known to assist with bowel movements, reduce blood cholesterol levels, improve blood glucose levels, lower blood pressure, promote weight loss and reduce inflammation and bind to potential cancer-causing agents to increase the likelihood they will be excreted by the body.

    Yikyung Park, Sc.D., of the National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from 219,123 men and 168,999 women in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire at the beginning of the study in 1995 and 1996. Causes of death were determined by linking study records to national registries.

    Participants’ fiber intake ranged from 13 to 29 grams per day in men and from 11 to 26 grams per day in women. Over an average of nine years of follow-up, 20,126 men and 11,330 women died. Fiber intake was associated with a significantly decreased risk of total death in both men and women — the one-fifth of men and women consuming the most fiber (29.4 grams per day for men and 25.8 grams for women) were 22 percent less likely to die than those consuming the least (12.6 grams per day for men and 10.8 grams for women).

    The risk of cardiovascular, infectious and respiratory diseases was reduced by 24 percent to 56 percent in men and 34 percent to 59 percent in women with high fiber intakes. Dietary fiber from grains, but not from other sources such as fruits, was associated with reduced risks of total, cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory disease deaths in men and women.

    “A diet rich in dietary fiber from whole plant foods may provide significant health benefits,” the authors conclude.

    Dr. Jonny comments: In my book, “Living Low Carb: Controlled Carbohydrate Eating for Long Term Weight Loss” I have a section on the best supplements for weight loss. Here’s what I said then about fiber: “It’s not expensive, it’s not exotic, and it’s not sexy, but it works like a charm. It’s plain, old-fashioned fiber. More than a dozen clinical studies have used dietary fiber supplements for weight loss, most with positive outcomes”.

    So fiber for weight loss? Absolutely. But as this new research points out, fiber does a lot more than that, protecting against a host of diseases and even lowering the risk of overall mortality. Most health organizations recommend you get between 25-38 grams of fiber daily (more is better!) Our Paleo ancestors probably got more than 50 grams daily. The average American gets between 4-11.

    Fiber supplements can help, and are easy to add to shakes. It’s a great way to get additional fiber in your diet, something just about everyone can benefit from. An alternative to powdered fiber is the pretty tasty chewables known as Fiber Delights, which you can pop like candy. Each chewable contains 4 grams of fiber, about 1/3 to 1/4 the amount in a cup of beans! Not bad!

  • “Should I Eat Before I Exercise?”

    “Should I Eat Before I Exercise?”

    For as long as I can remember- from the first time I set foot in a gym, actually- I’ve been listening to folks debate the question…

    “Should I eat before I exercise?”

    Now a new study may finally shine some light on the matter. Researchers found that exercising on an empty stomach has several beneficial effects, including preventing weight gain and maintaining insulin sensitivity.

    Researchers in Belgium took 27 healthy young men and fed them all a horrible diet, high in sugar and fat and calories. The particular diet was chosen because it was just about guaranteed to create both weight gain and a reduction in insulin sensitivity.

    Insulin sensitivity, you may remember, is something good- it’s when the cells respond well to insulin, meaning that insulin does an excellent job of removing excess sugar from the bloodstream and getting it into the cells where it can be “burned” for energy. When someone is said to be insulin resistant on the other hand, this system doesn’t work well, and the person winds up with high blood sugar and high insulin and is on the path to either metabolic syndrome or diabetes. Most diabetics are insulin resistant, and most people who are insulin resistant are overweight, since insulin “shuts down” the fat burning process.

    In the Belgian study, the researchers divided the men into three groups:

    1. One group did nothing but eat the terrible diet (the control group). This group didn’t exercise at all during the study.
    2. The second and third group did exercise, and did the exact same workout;
    3. but the second group did it after breakfast and the third group did it before breakfast, exercising on an empty stomach.

    The results were both surprising and dramatic.

    The control group- not surprisingly- gained a lot of weight and also saw their insulin sensitivity plunge (meaning they became much more insulin resistant). The “exercise after eating” group also gained weight, but not nearly as much as the control group. And their insulin sensitivity went down, just as it did in the control group.

    But the “exercising on an empty stomach” group was a whole different story. This group- despite eating a perfectly horrible, weight-gain inducing diet- did not gain weight. Not only that, their insulin sensitivity remained high and the bad diet did not make them insulin resistant. “This study for the first time shows that fasted (empty stomach) training is more potent than fed training to facilitate adaptations in muscle and to improve…. glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity…” said the study’s authors.

    Conventional wisdom- which is not always so wise—has held that it’s always best to eat something before working out. Proponents of this way of thinking would always point out that you need “energy” for working out, energy which comes from—what else?—carbohydrates. “Fat burns in a flame of carbohydrate” they’d proclaim solemnly.

    Problem is, the conventional wisdom is wrong.

    It’s interesting that back in the days of “Stay Hungry” and “Pumping Iron” when the big meccas of bodybuilding like World Gym and Gold’s Gym in Venice were home to such legendary bodybuilders as Arnold Schwarzenneger, Lou Ferrigno and Franco Columbo, everybody exercised on an empty stomach. Bodybuilders of that era believed that you were more likely to mobilize your fat stores for fuel if you didn’t have to burn off a whole bunch of carbs that you just scarfed down for breakfast.

    We now know that they were mostly right.

    So should you forgo eating before working out? Not necessarily. “If you’re interested in performing better- like if you’re training for an event—you might want to eat first”, says my friend exercise physiologist Liz Neporent, MS, CSCS, author of “Fitness for Dummies”. “But for weight loss, evidence does seem to be trending towards not eating before working out”.

    Neporent points out that as a practical matter, there are going to be a fair amount of people who don’t do well when they don’t eat before working out. “They get dizzy, sick, and even faint sometimes”, she told me. “But I’ve also had people eat right before working out that have felt exactly the same way!”

    Bottom line, it’s going to be- like everything else- an individual thing and no one prescription is going to work for everyone.

    But for those who want to try it- and who don’t get lightheaded or dizzy- exercising on an empty stomach might be just the thing to stop weight gain in its tracks. It did in the Belgian study, and those folks were purposely eating a really bad diet. It should work even better if you also couple it with a diet designed to help you reach your goals.

    Watch this funny little video where I reveal my 5 favorite fat burning snacks that won’t trigger a high insulin response.

  • Eat Chocolate for Heart Health

    Eat Chocolate for Heart Health

    A study from Harvard examined the chocolate-eating habits of over 31,000 Swedish women and concluded that women who consumed an average of one to two servings of high-quality chocolate per week were at 32% lower risk of developing heart failure. Those who ate one to three servings per month had a 26% lower risk.

    Which ain’t bad.

    But the benefit—at least in this study– disappeared when the women ate a lot more. While 20-30 grams a month of chocolate per month reduced the risk of heart failure, more chocolate than that (one to two servings a week) and the benefit disappeared, while much more than that (three to six servings a week) and the risk actually increased by 23%.

    “At least for women, consumption of chocolate seems to be associated with a decreased risk of heart failure, but the protective effect was only seen with relatively small amounts of consumption, less than one serving a day,” said senior study author Dr. Murray Mittleman. “With higher levels, the benefit appears to be lost and perhaps even [have] a detrimental effect.”

    However a study earlier in the year- the largest one to examine the association between chocolate consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease- found a protective effect at much greater intakes. In that study, individuals consuming 7.5 grams per day (about one square) had a 39% lower risk of heart attack and stroke than individuals who ate almost no chocolate.

    Other studies have examined the effect of high-cocoa chocolate on blood pressure (it lowers it) but the Harvard study is the first to examine the relationship of chocolate to heart failure (also called congestive heart failure), a condition in which the heart is unable to pump blood sufficiently to the rest of the body.

    (Much research has shown that Coenzyme Q10 can be helpful to people with congestive heart failure. The heart needs a constant supply of ATP, the energy molecule needed so badly by the heart, and ATP can’t be produced without Coenzyme Q10.)

    Back to cocoa. Plant compounds in cocoa called flavanols help modulate a compound called nitric oxide, which is critical for healthy blood flow and healthy blood pressure. In one Italian study, dark chocolate was shown to lower blood pressure, and the reason may well be that flavanol-rich coca actually supports the body’s ability to synthesize nitric oxide.

    So go ahead and enjoy chocolate on this day which was almost meant to celebrate it. Just be sure you choose “high-cocoa” dark chocolate. The higher the cocoa content the more good stuff is in it (but the more bitter it tastes). Look for 60- or 70-percent cocoa which should provide all the flavanols you need plus taste as sweet and delicious as you expect chocolate to taste.

    And until the research on eating chocolate for heart health gets a little clearer on the “perfect” dose, stick with a square or so a day (or every other day).

  • “Eat Every Three Hours”: Oh, Really?

    “Eat Every Three Hours”: Oh, Really?

    On a recent blog I talked about a popular tactic advocated by many personal trainers called “The Cheat Day”. As I explained on last weeks blog, the “cheat day” is a “day off” from your weekly diet, a day on which you can eat anything you like.

    Trainers who advocate this are clearly attempting to come up with a real-life weight-loss plan that works for their clients, and–as I pointed out last week– it may in fact work for some.

    But it doesn’t for everyone.

    Far from it.

    Which got me thinking.

    What other principles are being promoted out there that might have, shall we say, a less than perfect relationship with the truth?

    As it turns out quite a few. And I’ll be visiting some of them in the coming months. But right now  I want to deal with one I’m sure you’ve heard a million times, because virtually every personal trainer says it, and every magazine quotes it, and just about everyone believes it.

    All together now:  “Eat six small meals a day“.

    OK, you say, you haven’t heard it said quite this way. But I’ll bet you’ve heard “eat three big meals and two snacks”. Or another variation, “eat every three hours”. Certainly sounds good doesn’t it? And so reasonable, too!

    Trouble is, it’s just not true.

    Or at least not always true. And it’s not true often enough to make it of very questionable value as a golden rule of dieting.

    The “eat five (or six) small meals a day” concept came out of the same culture that the “cheat day” did- the bodybuilding culture of the 50’s. (In fact, many of the things we repeat as gospel today came out of that same culture- including the idea that you have to give each muscle group a couple of days off before training it again. But I digress.)

    The theory of “six small meals” is based on the idea that your body actually uses some calories digesting food, and digestion is a metabolic process, so every time you eat a meal it theoretically “raises” your metabolism (which is pretty close to a magic talisman in the world of weight-loss). By eating small meals frequently, the thinking goes, you constantly keep your metabolism elevated.

    Problem is that this is to metabolism and physiology what Dr. Phil is to psychological science.

    Every time you eat a meal your blood sugar goes up and the pancreas responds with a shot of insulin. When people have absolutely normal metabolisms, with no issues around carbohydrate processing, the system works fine. But in people for whom blood sugar response to food- and even more important, insulin response to blood sugar– is kind of screwed up, eating frequently may actually work against you.

    The constant elevation of blood sugar (and the subsequent raising of the fat storage hormone insulin) just about guarantees that your body will never have to reach into its stores of fat to find energy to burn since there’s a constant supply of glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream (thanks to that meal you ate a couple hours ago and are about to repeat).

    Fact is– as many people can attest to from personal experience– it’s perfectly possible to do quite well on three squares a day.

    Snacking isn’t necessary, and in some cases, may be counterproductive. For some people, keeping insulin low for most of the day sets up a favorable metabolic environment and may also keep cravings at bay.

    And let’s not even talk about the fact that most people haven’t the slightest idea of what the “small” in “six small meals” refers to. Our sense of portion size has been so distorted by routine restaurant eating that many of us have come to classify a meal that would fill out the flat side of a Bosu ball as a “snack”.

    The bottom line is this: If eating every three hours or so is working for you that’s great. If you really feel better on such a routine, by all means carry on.

    But if you’re one of the many people who just don’t “get it”, and for whom frequent snacking (or the “grazing” way of eating) causes you to think about food all the time, produces cravings, and results in overeating, don’t beat yourself up. You may be one of the people for whom the mantra about eating “to keep your metabolism up” just isn’t true.

    And if that’s so, don’t be afraid to go back to basics. Three definite meals, each with a beginning and an end, each nutritionally dense and filling.

    And nothing in between.

  • The Diet Wars: The Saga Continues

    The Diet Wars: The Saga Continues

    A new study was just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine testing a low-carb diet against a conventional low-fat one.

    Here’s what happened. (more…)