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Posts Tagged ‘insulin’

The Atkins Diet for Vegans

June 9th, 2009

Quick…What comes to mind when I say… Atkins Diet?

Steak?
Bacon?
Ribs?

How about textured vegetable protein?

Or, smoothies made from vegan protein powder?

Well, according to this research, test subjects who followed a “low-carbohydrate (26% of total calories),high–vegetable protein (31% from gluten, soy, nuts, fruit,vegetables, and cereals), and vegetable oil (43%) plant-baseddiet” for 4 weeks, saw improvements in blood cholesterol levels and other heart disease risk factors…including weight loss.

In comparison, the control diet (a high-carbohydrate lacto-ovo vegetarian diet (58%carbohydrate, 16% protein, and 25% fat)), produced improvements in weight loss but little change in the other heart disease risk factors.

Conclusion

A Vegan-Atkins diet is superior to a high carb, Lacto-Ovo, low-fat dairy, whole grain diet.

Question

Is a Vegan-Atkins diet superior to:

a traditional “Fred Flintstone” Atkins diet?
or a Paleo style diet based on animal protein, fruits & vegetables?
or a Mediterranean style diet?

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Reference

Study abstract

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Posted in Diet/Nutrition, Research, fat, fat loss, health, nutrition, obesity, weight loss

Tags: atkins carbs childhood obesity cholesterol diabetes diet Diet/Nutrition fat fat loss fitness food health healthy cooking healthy food heart heart disease insulin low carb nutrition nutritious obese obesity sugar

Lack of Sleep = Weight Gain

June 8th, 2009

Did you get 8 hours of sleep last night?

According to some new research, sleep restriction results in:

Decreased appetite
Decreased food cravings
Decreased food consumption, and

Increased bodyweight

What???

Sleep less…Eat Less…Weigh more???

The Science

The study involved 92 healthy individuals (52 male) between the ages of 22 and 45 years who participated in laboratory controlled sleep restriction. Subjects underwent two nights of baseline sleep (10 hours in bed per night), five nights of sleep restriction and varying recovery for four nights. Nine well rested participants served as controls. Food consumption was ad libitum (subjects had three regular meals per day and access to healthy snacks, and during nights of sleep restriction subjects were given a small sandwich at one a.m.).

Results indicate that people whose sleep was restricted experienced an average weight gain of 1.31 kilograms (2.9 lbs) over the 11 days of the study.

Conclusions

I am sorry to say that there are no conclusions. The researchers have no idea what happened.

The researchers had hoped to see a link between sleep deprivation and an increased craving for carbs.

When that didn’t happen, they had to scramble. here’s what they came up with:

Lack of sleep may result in less activity (not measured), and
“the ability to snack for longer due to reduction in time spent asleep might have influenced the weight gain”. (and yet their measurement showed a reduction in caloric consumption)

My Conclusion/Assumption

I think that if the researchers had done some blood tests pre and post experiment, they would have seen some interesting changes.

Anyone who suffers from insomnia knows that lack of sleep has a huge impact upon both your physical and mental state of health.

I would have been curious to see the changes in levels of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, etc along with insulin and various other obesity related hormones/brain chemicals.

Maybe next time.

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This research was presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies

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My Unconscious Mind is Making Me Fat – Part 3

June 4th, 2009

In Part 2 of this series, I tried to back up my belief that our unconscious minds make us fat with some science.

In case you missed it, here’s the Cliffs Notes version:

Our Western Diet is high in sugar, fat & salt
A diet high in sugar, fat & salt over-stimulates our reward centers and causes us to…
Seek out more and more sugar, fat & salt

In essence, this Un-Holy Trinity of processed food ingredients is an addictive substance.

Just like drugs or alcohol or sex.

So, what do we do about it?

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The Plan

Step 1

Mental Strategy

Whether you know it or not, your brain is constantly searching for the answers to questions…all sorts of questions…Why am I so fat?…What smells in here?…Why would she wear those shoes with that dress…..

What we need to do is to harness the power of our own personal Google search engine by asking it better questions.

Better questions lead to better answers.

Better answers leads to better assumptions about yourself.

And better assumptions lead to better actions.

And better actions leads to success.

And I know that this all sounds like a bunch of self-help, new agey blah blah blah, but I have seen it work time and time again.

It is one of the main reasons successful personal trainers have successful clients.

Because they have helped clients lose weight and get fit in the past, they assume that all of their clients will lose weight and get fit. And then they go and lend that confidence to their clients…and eventually, the client accepts that the trainer is right and starts assuming that they too will lose weight and get fit.

And then they go out and do it.

And this is how you’re going to do it.

1. Ask yourself what you want.

Lose weight, get fit, be healthy, have lots of energy, see my abs, see my toes, live to 100, firm up my arms, run a marathon, shrink my butt, get a bigger butt, etc…

2. Write down these “wants” in the form of a question. But, most importantly, write that question as if you have already achieved the goal.

Why am I fit?
Why does my butt look so great in my jeans?
Why can I run a marathon?
Why do I have so much energy?
Why does everyone find me so damn sexy?

3. Don’t actively try and answer the questions. Just ask ‘em.

Ask these questions often and just let your unconscious mind start working on finding the answers.

4. Start taking actions based on the assumptions raised by your questions.

This is the hard work – changing your diet, exercising more, getting enough sleep, etc…

The Plan

Step 2

Dietary Strategy

Your body functions best on a diet of non-processed protein, non-processed fats and non-processed carbohydrates.

The less processing the better.

Your Mom’s “homeburger” is better than a Big Mac
An orange is better than orange juice
Grass feed beef is better than corn fed beef
Roast chicken is better than McNuggets

and don’t pretend that you don’t already know this stuff.

Because we both know that you do.

And even though your unconscious mind is forcing your body to crave junk, consciously, you know that stuff is bad for you.

This is what’s good for you.

Beef, chicken, pork, poultry, fish, eggs, etc…unprocessed, organic if possible
Vegetables…unprocessed
Fruit…unprocessed
Nuts & seeds – not fried in oil
Water

Now, how you transition from eating junk to eating healthy is up to you.

Some people prefer to do it gradually…cut out the McDonalds first, then cut out Subway, then cut out the “microwave-ready” meals and eventually they end up with a diet that is good for them

Other people like to dive right into the deep end. Throw out all of the junk and re-stock the pantry with healthy stuff.

It’s up to you, but I would recommend the second option. It’s just like tearing off a band-aid. It hurts more at first, but it’s over with much quicker.

Note – for this article, I am not going into much detail about the diet. I will be doing that next week. But, if you can’t wait, take a trip through the archives.

The Plan

Step 3

Exercise Strategy

There has been a bunch of research done showing that exercise stimulates the same reward centers in the brain as food or drugs or sex. In these studies, the type of exercise was shown to be irrelevant. You will receive the same benefit whether you walk, do yoga, play softball or take up weight lifting.

And considering that you are going to be facing a big enough challenge with your dietary changes, I would suggest that you choose an activity that you might actually enjoy.

In a perfect world, I would have you do a variety of exercise in order to improve all of the aspects of your physical fitness.

But, for now, finding a workout buddy and going for a brisk walk each night is a great start. If you’re extra motivated, stop every now and then and do some push-ups or partner assisted bodyweight rows. If you’re extra-extra motivated, throw in some short bursts of jogging/running/sprinting during your walk.

In the coming weeks, I will be posting a variety of exercise videos that you can do in the great outdoors.

The Plan

Step 4

Emotional Strategy

This may be the most difficult part of the plan for some of you.

GUILT

During this process, you are going to screw up. Guaranteed.

You’re going to give in to temptation and demolish a bowl of ice cream or a bag of potato chips.

And you know what, it doesn’t matter. One meal (even one really big meal) isn’t the reason why we gained the weight in the first place.

And one meal isn’t going to derail your efforts to lose the weight.

But, if you beat yourself up about it, you WILL be more likely to wallow in that guilt. And if you wallow, you are much more likely to slip again and again and again….until you eventually give up altogether.

So, when you give in to the lure of the Golden Arches…ENJOY IT!!!

Don’t worry about the calories. Don’t skip breakfast the next day. Don’t go to the gym and run on the treadmill for 2 hours.

You’re human. You screwed up. The world didn’t end. Start over.

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As well, I would also recommend people take a look at including some form of Mindfulness Meditation in their program. It’s an unbelievably powerful practice that has been shown to have numerous health benefits.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc]

However, I also know that a lot of people think this stuff is a load of crap. No way, no how are they going to meditate…mindfully or not. Up to you.

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My Unconscious Mind is Making Me Fat – Part 2

June 1st, 2009

s'more brownies: the food network

Your conscious mind is a super-powered tool in the fight against obesity.

image: http://www.superman-picture.com

When used correctly, your conscious mind can give you the ability to be:

faster than your neighborhood pizza delivery man
more powerful than your addiction to chocolate, and
able to turn down seconds on dessert…even if it’s that double chocolate cake that your mom makes with the extra thick icing and…..

….well, you get the point.

So, why is it that most of us look nothing like Six-Pack Superman, and more and more of us are looking a lot like the Two-Ton Superman?

Well, I’ll tell you.

Like Superman was helpless against kryptonite, in today’s society, when it comes to obesity (and related diseases – diabetes, heart disease & cancer), your conscious mind is just as helpless against your unconscious mind.

But fear not super-dieters, there is hope.

With the help of some lifestyle changes, you too can defeat your unconscious mind.

And I’m going to tell you how to do it.

double fried french fries: Guy Fieri

1. Homeostasis v.s. Reward

In nature, you don’t see too many fat animals.

In civilized society, you see lots of fat animals – cats, dogs, humans.

What’s the difference?

In a nutshell, it comes down to a battle between the reward system of your brain and the homeostatic system of your brain.

The homeostatic system of your brain tries to keep things static. Calories in v.s calories out. Everything balanced. Not too fat, not too thin.

The reward system is all about pleasure.

The reward system is all about eating a slice (or two) of deep fried cheesecake in order to make yourself feel better about that bad day at work…or getting dumped by your girlfriend…or the stressful commute…or….well, you get the point.

deep fried cheesecake: Paula Deen

For the sake of brevity, I am not going to go into the science behind this battle. And there is a LOT of science…involving brain research, nervous systems, the G.I. tract, hormones, neurotransmitters, proteins, DNA, epigenetics, etc…

If anyone really, really wants to read about the science, shoot me an email at dr.healthhabits@gmail.com

Chicago style "deep dish" pizza

So, what’s the deal with the Reward System?

The reward system is designed to help you seek out pleasurable things like food and sex and food.

Without that drive, nothing ever gets done and the human race ceases to exist.

However, the reward system can (and has) be manipulated to make us crave things that aren’t necessarily good for us…like sweet potato pie with whipped cream on top.

sweet potato pie: the food network

And while sweet potato pie isn’t inherently bad for you, I think most of you would agree that a diet based on sweet potato pie and mashed potato skins and caramel pecan sundaes is a quick and easy way to get fat.

mashed potato skins: Rachael Ray

And that is precisely how the reward system overwhelms your homeostatic system.

With food that stimulates the reward system and makes you feel good….temporarily.

And just like any other pleasure-seeking junkie, your reward system is constantly trying to get you to repeat those behaviors that give you pleasure.

So, even if your homeostatic system is telling you to stop eating, your reward system overrules it, and you say yes to that second or third piece of pie.

caramel pecan sundaes: Barefoot Contessa

And the food manufacturers know all about this stuff.

They know exactly how to create meals that will maximally stimulate the reward center and keep you eating and eating and eating.

fried chicken: Paula Deen

Their secret?

The un-holy trinity of processed food:

Sugar
Fat
Salt

double chocolate gooey butter cake: Paula Deen

These three ingredients are the cornerstone of just about every great meal that you have ever had.

lasagna: the Neelys

Think about it…

Sweet, buttery, ooey gooey cake, or
A thick slice of cheesy, meaty lasagna, or
Crispy, crunchy, sweet & salty onion rings

onion rings: Guy Fieri

Getting hungry?

I know I am.

Even as I write this sentence, my reward system is pulling up memories of past meals and setting into motion some very physical symptoms of hunger.

Now, imagine if I was at a restaurant with all of the smells and sounds and sights that the food industry uses to keep you coming back for more.

and finally...a brownie pizza by Paula Deen

Well, that’s enough for today.

Stay tuned for Part 3.

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Grilled Wild Shrimp and Veg

May 22nd, 2009

Barbecue season is here! In the States this weekend is a holiday weekend celebrating Memorial Day, which also marks the beginning of summer. That means it’s time to fire up your grills. I love manning the grill. To kick off summer recipes I’ve decided to do a very simple grilled platter of shrimp and veg. If you saw my last post with shrimp you’ll recall why I’m a fan of shrimp–a four oz. serving supplies 23.7 grams of protein for a mere 112 calories and less than a gram of fat. Perfect for getting my body into that mankini.

Serves 4

RECIPE:

20 medium wild shrimp (peeled & deveined) – skewered, 5 on each skewer
2 tbsp fresh rosemary – chopped
1/2 bunch of cilantro -chopped
1 lemon – zested
1/4 tsp chili flakes (or more if you like it spicy)
1 garlic clove – minced
3 tbsp olive oil
Toss all above ingredients together in a small mixing bowl and coat. Once coated, assemble 4 skewers with 5 shrimp on each. Set aside.

Fresh lemon or lime

Preheat barbeque or indoor grill pan.

1 zucchini – halved lengthwise
1 yellow squash – halved lengthwise
1 Japanese eggplant – halved lengthwise
1 portabello mushroom
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

Once all veggies are cut and marinated, grill each piece for 4-5 minutes each side. When veggies are grilled and cooked through, remove and cut each into thirds for serving.

Grill each shrimp skewer for 3-4 minutes each side until pink in color, firm to the touch and cooked through.
Give the skewers a good squeeze of fresh lemon or lime and you’re good to go. Welcome to summer!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients.

THEHEALTHYIRISHMAN.COM

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Fueling your body with healthy food. Fueling your mind with the wealth of health.

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Mediterranean Chicken

May 15th, 2009

A perfect fit for a low-carb lifestyle, olives are loaded with healthy monounsaturates. In general, these fats are considered to be healthier as compared to the others. They have the same amount of energy, but they reduce blood cholesterol levels, which reduces the risk to the heart. The juice of the olive, otherwise known as olive oil, acts to keep cholesterol from sticking to our artery walls and is a delicious source of antioxidants. Olives also contain polyphenols, which is what gives them their taste and aroma. Research indicates that polyphenols may have antioxidant characteristics with potential health benefits such as reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. This would explain why people living in Mediterranean countries, where consumption of relatively high amounts of fat is prominent, tend to have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than in countries like the United States where similar levels of fat consumption are found.

RECIPE:
Serves 4 (with leftovers)

1 whole chicken, portioned (2 breasts, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 2 wings)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup white wine
5 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup capers, drained
1/2 cup pimento-stuffed olives, sliced
6 oz oyster mushrooms
1/4 tbsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Preheat skillet on medium high heat for one minute. Season each chicken piece with S&P. Add olive oil to pan, sear chicken for 2-3 mins each side, until golden brown. Once browned, remove to a roasting tray. Deglaze saute pan by adding the white wine and scraping all the caramelized bits from bottom of pan for 30 seconds. Add wine mixture to chicken along with all remaining ingredients.

Cover roasting pan with foil, pop in preheated oven for approx 1-1 1/2 hours. Check chicken after one hour to see if chicken is fork tender otherwise cook for the additional 30 mins.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients.

THEHEALTHYIRISHMAN.COM

SUBSCRIBE to the NEW Healthy Irishman Newsletter!

Fueling your body with healthy food. Fueling your mind with the wealth of health.

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Ryan Seacrest and Jamie Oliver take on America's Obesity Epidemic

May 12th, 2009

Attention overweight Americans….

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and Ryan Seacrest have teamed up to take on America’s obesity epidemic.

In their new reality tv series, chef Jamie Oliver will travel to America’s fattest cities and “find ways to use nearby resources to improve local eating habits”.

It’s kind of like the Biggest Loser, but with more cooking and less sweating.

According to the Hollywood Reporter,the series is loosely inspired on Oliver’s acclaimed school lunch project in the U.K., where the chef set about to improve kids’ nutrition. His effort to improve one school’s offerings, documented in the 2005 series “Jamie’s School Dinners,” shamed educators into passing new measures to ban certain junk foods.

Seacrest said he talked about school lunches during a segment on his KISS FM morning radio show and was struck by the amount of listener response. Then he heard Oliver was looking to bring his public service campaign stateside. The resulting ABC show will not only tackle a city’s schools, but workplaces and other avenues for change.

“I couldn’t do what I do in terms of my schedule if I didn’t eat right and exercise right,” Seacrest said. “As a kid I was chubby, and I’m a firm believer that the fuel we put into our body results in a healthy lifestyle. Jamie’s going to come over here, roll up his sleeves and use the resources of each town to help condition living habits to make it a better and healthier place.”

At this time, ABC has committed to 6 episodes of the Seacrest produced show.

The target city has yet to be chosen. Perhaps they will chose from one of the cities ranked by Men’s Fitness as the 10 Fattest Cities in America.

Miami, FL
Oklahoma City, OK
San Antoni, TX
Las Vegas, NV
New York, NY
Houston, TX
El Paso, TX
Jacksonville, FL
Charlotte, NC
Louisville-Jefferson, KY

But, then again, I’m sure that there are lots of cities all across America that could use a Seacrest/Oliver weight loss makeover. And seeing as this show is still in the pre-pre-production stage, perhaps an organized email campaign could bring Jamie Oliver and his low-fat skillet to your town.

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The status-quo is broken…We need a new model for burning fat and getting fit

May 11th, 2009

For decades, we have listened to the nation’s health experts tell us:

what to eat,
what not to eat,
how much to eat,
how much exercise we need,
what type of exercise we need….

And, after all of that advice, we have become a nation world afflicted with runaway obesity, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, cancer, etc…

And yet, when we want to improve our health or reduce our waistlines, we still turn to the experts.

Why?

Everyday I meet people who are trying to get into shape. For years, they have been trying to follow the rules laid down by the experts.

They followed the food pyramid
They cut the fat out of their diets
They did their 20 minutes of fat-burning cardio
They choked down their egg white omelettes
They ate their fiber

And they watched their backsides get wider and their blood pressure rise higher and higher.

It’s time for a change.

The status quo is broken.

The top-down approach doesn’t work.

But with the technology available today, we don’t need to rely solely on that expert advice from up above.

We can connect those people who are desperate to transform their bodies with those people willing to help.

We can create a tribe of people devoted to health, fitness and each other.

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10 more reasons to love High Intensity Interval Training

May 7th, 2009

Extreme HIIT

HIIT was better than the standard multidisciplinary approach (exercise, diet and psychological support) at helping overweight kids reduce their cardiovascular risk factors. Here’s the study
HIIT can prevent cardiac death in type 2 diabetic individuals. Here’s the study
HIIT should be a required treatment for all Metabolic Syndrome patients. 16 weeks of HIIT training significantly reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease, in terms of improved VO2max, endothelial function, blood pressure, insulin signaling, and plasma lipid composition. Here’s the study
HIIT substantially improves insulin action. Say bye-bye to type 2 diabetes & metabolic syndrome. Here’s the study
HIIT increases levels of HDL cholesterol – that’s the good cholesterol. Here’s the study
HIIT improves the HRR (Heart Rate Recovery – a measure of how quickly your heart returns to normal post-exercise)) in already well-trained cyclists. Here’s the study
HIIT drastically improves cardiovascular function (V02_max) in patients with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Here’s the study
Interval training produced a 302% greater increase inV02max when compared to a long, slow distance training protocol. Here’s the study
HIIT significantly improved the aerobic fitness of a group of prepubescent children (aerobic fitness measured by peak oxygen consumption $(\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{peak}}}} )$ and maximal aerobic velocity) Here’s the study
HIIT improves the erectile function of hypertension patients Here’s the study fellas

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The Top 12 PREVENTABLE Causes of Death

May 5th, 2009

Smoking + Obesity + Inactivity + High Blood Sugar +....

According to a new study by Harvard public health researchers, the leading preventable risk factors for premature death in the United States are:

Smoking: 467,000 deaths.
High blood pressure: 395,000 deaths.
Overweight-obesity: 216,000 deaths.
Inadequate physical activity and inactivity: 191,000 deaths.
High blood sugar: 190,000 deaths.
High LDL cholesterol: 113,000 deaths.
High dietary salt: 102,000 deaths.
Low dietary omega-3 fatty acids (seafood): 84,000 deaths.
High dietary trans fatty acids: 82,000 deaths.
Alcohol use: 64,000 deaths.
Low intake of fruits and vegetables: 58,000 deaths.
Low dietary poly-unsaturated fatty acids: 15,000 deaths.

This study is the most comprehensive look at how diet, lifestyle and various other chronic disease risk factors contribute to mortality in the U.S.

And it produced some interesting observations:

Smoking is responsible for approximately 20% of all deaths in the U.S.
High blood pressure is responsible for 1 in 6 deaths
Obesity + physical inactivity = 407,000 deaths per year ≈ 17% of all deaths
High blood pressure kills 5x as many women as breast cancer
70% of the alcohol related deaths happened to men…way to go guys
High blood sugar killed 3x as many people as alcohol
2/3 of the deaths attributed to high blood sugar, obesity and high blood pressure occurred in only 10-33% of the overall population.

1,051,000 deaths can be attributed to poor dietary choices. That’s 45% of all deaths.

Maybe you should print this out and stick it to your fridge.

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Posts Tagged ‘insulin’

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