Professional Diet

Posted on Thursday, 21st January 2010 by admin

The direct yearly medical cost of being obese in the U.S. is $1,723 per obese person, according to a just-released report in Obesity Reviews.  Being overweight is a relative bargain at $266.

These numbers translate into $114 billion yearly, or five to 10 percent of total healthcare spending.

Not included in the numbers are costs such as lost productivity due to obesity-related illness and replacement or repair of items that wear out or break due to excessive amounts of physical stress.  Not to mention pain and suffering.

Are you overweight or obese?  Find out with an online body mass index calculator. 

Want to do anything about it?  See my “Prepare for Weight Loss” series.

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Posted on Wednesday, 20th January 2010 by admin

Healthy energy drinks have become a popular solution for boosting energy and improving mental clarity. But there are many new options available that provide nutritional benefits such as supporting the immune system and circulation.

Energy Drinks that Promote Wellness

Consuming energy drinks can boost your awareness and increase mental clarity. And with so many of us living busy lives, they have become a staple for some individuals. But with grocery stores shelves packed with so many products, how can you tell which are the best energy drinks?

Natural and organic energy drinks are free of chemicals and additives that are present in mainstream brands. Plus, they offer vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that promote health and wellness while increasing energy. Here are the top five best energy drinks on the market.

Shift Organic Energy Drink

The Shift Organic Energy Drink is manufactured by Stonyfield Yogurt and available in tasty flavors such as berry and strawberry. It provides energy using natural and organic products and only has 200 calories per 10-ounce serving. The drink includes protein which boosts energy and repairs cells and Vitamins B3 and B6 which supports physical endurance. Shift also contains Acai, which has earned a reputation as a Brazilian super fruit, providing natural energy. The drink also contains vitamin D, potassium, calcium and ginseng which enhances the body’s immune defenses.

Odwalla Serious Energy Drink

Odwalla Serious energy drink has 130 calories and is available in delicious flavors such as strawberry, mango, guava and passion fruit. The drink has energizing vitamins such as B1 and B2 to aid in increasing the metabolism. Odwalla Serious Energy Drink also has Yerba Mate, Green Tea and Guarana Seed Extracts which are believed to naturally increase alertness and vitality.

Zion Organic Ginseng Root Drink

Zion Organic’s Ginseng Root Drink includes rejuvenation ingredients such as ginseng, peanut and ginger to reduce tiredness, exhaustion and boost energy. The drink is currently available in one flavor, the original zion. The drink also promotes increased circulatory function.

Guayakí Yerba Mate Organic Energy Drink

Guayakí Yerba Mate Organic Energy Drink only has 40 calories per serving and is available is flavors such as pure passion and mint. They also make an unsweetened version, which has 15 calories per serving. The energy drink contains 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, antioxidants and caffeine to provide maximum energy. It also provides increased mental clarity, aids in digestion and may increase weight loss efforts.

Syzmo Energy Drink

The Syzmo Energy Drink has 96 calories and is available in flavors such as pear, citrus and green tea. The drink is all organic and doesn’t contain any refined sugar, artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. It contains energy enhancing ingredients such as guarana, yerba mate and caffeine which is derived from organic coffee.

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Posted on Sunday, 17th January 2010 by admin

EST Suppressor claims that you can finally get all the best results with their formula. They talk about modern science shedding light on the effectiveness of hoodia, and apparently hoodia is the powerful appetite suppressant that basically tricks your brain into thinking you’re full. They claim that EST Suppressor will be the one to give you superior craving control as well.

They talk about also using a patented form of caralluma fimbriata, another cactus, known as slimaluma. The difference is that caralluma fimbriata comes from India whereas of course hoodia comes from South Africa. But they claim that it is caffeine free and it will put your cravings and appetite to bed.

So how does it work? The first thing you should know is that hoodia doesn’t work. It has never been proven to promote appetite suppression or any other benefits in general. Actually, hoodia has been proven not to promote any known benefits by proxy of the fact that none of the studies have actually succeeded, and there have been multiple attempts.

Slimaluma can work. But it requires over 1000mg. Their entire proprietary blend that contains hoodia, slimaluma, etc has only 500mg. So obviously, you’re not going to get the proven amount of their one proven weight loss ingredient.

From there, they use decaffeinated green tea, which doesn’t work. Quite frankly speaking, the simple fact of things is that green tea burns fat only because of its caffeine content, not because of the antioxidants. So while decaffeinated green tea can give you antioxidant benefits, they have basically taken away the fat burning components.

From there, they use algae and grape seed extract, both high in nutrients and grape seed extract in antioxidants. But they do not have any actual weight loss properties. So realistically speaking, this leaves you up a creek without a paddle. After all, while antioxidants are great and without question have their benefits, you are not actually looking for antioxidants. You are looking for fat burners, appetite suppressants, everything this formula does not have.

They don’t have the right ingredients for the most part, and their one good ingredient doesn’t have anywhere near the right amounts. Realistically speaking, you would do considerably better to use something besides EST Suppressor. It will not actually work. We are especially disconcerted by their focus on hoodia and science that basically speaking does not actually exist. However, there are of course many reasons not to bother buying EST Suppressor.

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Posted on Sunday, 17th January 2010 by admin

Several scientific studies published in the first five years of this century suggest that whole grain consumption protects agains coronary heart disease and possibly other types of cardiovascular disease, such as stroke. 

Note that researchers in this field, especially outside the U.S., use the term “cereal” to mean “a grass such as wheat, oats, or corn, the starchy grains of which are used as food.”  They also refer frequently to glycemic index and glycemic load, spelled “glycaemic” outside the U.S.  Most of the pertinent studies are observational (aka epidmiologic): groups of people were surveyed on food consumption, then rates of diseases were associated with various food types and amounts.  “Association” is not proof of causation. 

Here are highlights from a 2006 review article in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition: 

The researchers concluded that a relationship between whole grain intake and coronary heart disease is seen with at least a 20% and perhaps a 40% reduction in risk for those who eat whole grain food habitually vs those who eat them rarely.

Whole grain products have strong antioxidant activity and contain phytoestrogens, but there is insufficient evidence to determine whether this is beneficial in coronary heart disease prevention.

Countering the positive evidence for whole grain and legume intake has been the Nurses Health Study in 2000 that showed women who were overweight or obese consuming a high glycaemic load (GL) diet doubled their relative risk of coronary heart disease compared with those consuming a low GL diet.

The intake of high GI carbohydrates (from both grain and non-grain sources) in large amounts is associatied with an increased risk of heart disease in overweight and obese women even when fiber intake is high but this requires further confirmation in normal-weight women.

Promotion of carbohydrate foods should befocused on whole grain cereals because these have proven to be associatied with health benefits.

Whether adding bran to refined carbohydrate foods can improve the situation is also not clear, and it was found that added bran lowered heart disease risk in men by 30%.

Recommendation:  Carbohydrate-rich foods should be whole grain and if theyare not, then the lowest GI product available should be consumed.

My Comments

This journal article focuses on whole grains rather than legumes, and promotes whole grains more than legumes.  For people with diabetes, this may be a bit of a problem since grains—whole or not—generally have a higher glycemic index than legumes, which may have adverse effects on blood sugar control.  Keep in mind that highly refined grain products, like white bread, have a higher glycemic index than whole grain versions.

Did you notice that the abstract doesn’t recommend a specific amount of whole grains for the general population?  My educated guess would be one or two servings a day. 

Grains are high in carbohydrate, so anyone on a low-carb diet may have to cut carbs elsewhere. 

Diabetes predisoses to development of coronary heart disease.  Whole grains seem to help prevent heart disease, yet may adversely affect glucose control, contributing to diabetic complications.  It’s a quandary.  “Caught between the horns of a dilemma,” you might say.  So, what should a diabetic do with this information in 2010, while we await additional research results?

Several options come to mind:

1. Eat whatever you want and forget about it.
2. Note whether coronary heart disease runs in your family.  If so, try to incorporate one or two servings of whole grains daily, noting and addressing effects on your blood sugar.
3. Try to eat one or two servings of whole grains a day, noting and addressing effects on your blood sugar.  Then decide if it’s worth it.  Is there any effect?  Do you have to increase your diabetic drug dosages or add a new drug?  Are you tolerating the drugs?    
4. Assess all your risk factors for developing heart disease: smoking, sedentary lifestyle, high blood pressure, age, high LDL cholesterol, family history, etc.  If you have multiple risk factors, see Option #3.  And modify the risk factors under your control.   
5. Get your personal physician’s advice.    

Before you stress out over this, be aware that we don’t really know whether a diabetic who doesn’t eat grains will have a longer healthier life by starting a daily whole grain habit.  Maybe . . . maybe not.  The study hasn’t been done.    

Flight, I. and Clifton, P.  Cereal grains and legumes in the prevention of coronary heart disease and stroke: a review of the literature.  European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 60 (2006): 1,145-1,159.

Malik, V. and Hu, Frank.  Dietary prevention of atherosclerosis: go with whole grains.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85 (2007): 1,444-1,445.

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