SHR

Dr. Jose Antonio has put out some truly novel research looking at high-protein diets. I’m not talking about the arbitrary 30% of calories that can vary widely depending on energy intake. Rather, I’m talking about grams per unit of bodyweight – as it should be. Previous research by Dr. Antonio had shown that taking a group of healthy resistance-training men and women and having them increase their protein intake from 2.3 to 4.4 g/kg (1 to 2 g/lb) had no effect on body composition. This study was followed up with another study that showed that consuming 3.4 g/kg (1.5 g/lb) had a more favorable effect on body composition than consuming 2.3 g/kg (1 g/lb) when combined with a structured resistance training program. This latter study also showed no signs of harmful effects from a basic metabolic panel. Now, Antonio et al have published the third study digging into this rabbit hole....

Brain regulation of satiety in twins The modern food environment is highly stimulatory to brain areas that regulate energy homeostasis and reward processing. Research using MRI imaging has shown that visual food cues evoke differential brain responses in obese than in lean individuals, but the genetic contribution has yet to be evaluated. This led Melhorn et al to use a study design involving 21 healthy monozygotic twin pairs (42 individuals) and integrated MRI to test if inherited factors contribute to individual differences in meal-induced satiety and the brain regulation of appetite. The study protocol is outlines in figure 1 above. The twin pairs included both men and women and were primarily white. There were 10 normal-weight pairs, one overweight pair, and 6 obese pairs. On average, twins consumed 51% of their estimated daily caloric needs at the buffet meal. Total caloric intake and the percentage of estimated daily needs showed consistent...

This was a traditional desert around the Christmas holiday when I was growing up. It’s rich and delicious and easy to make. Prep time 30 minutes Cook time 1 to 1 ¾ hours at 350 degrees Best served cold so expect to let cool and then refrigerate What you’ll need: 4 Pounds of whole milk ricotta cheese (I prefer Polly-O ricotta) 6 Eggs 2 Teaspoons of lemon zest 2 Teaspoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice 2 Teaspoons of real vanilla extract ¾ cup of sugar 25 Gluten-free ginger snaps (you can also use other cookies like vanilla or chocolate as a change-up) ¼ a stick of butter Large cheesecake spring pan Put ricotta cheese in a colander and allow it to drain off any watery excess. Usually bets to let it stand for about an hour. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees (176.667 Celsius) Place ricotta cheese in large mixing bowl Using...

Chitosan is a popular food-based supplement derived from the shells of crustaceans and the cell walls of mushrooms, advertised to lower blood cholesterol levels and aid weight loss through reducing the absorption of dietary fat. Whether these claims hold up in the absence of dietary modifications was recently investigated by Trivedi et al, who recruited 86 middle-aged, overweight and obese adults to consume 2.5 grams of chitosan or placebo per day for 90 days. The randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled study was simple – have the participants consume one capsule of their supplement in the morning, 2 capsules 15 min before lunch, and 2 capsules 15 min before dinner with a glass of water. Each capsule contained 500 mg of chitosan or cellulose (placebo). The chitosan group showed a significant 2% weight loss (on average) after 45 days, which increased to a 4% weight loss by 90 days. Notably, one-third of the chitosan group had...

There is a tremendous base of literature investigating the effects exercise and the effects of being active throughout the day on health.  Less well-researched is how these two forms of activity interact. Consider your own training program – how do you feel on the days you train and the days you don’t, and how does this translate into your activity levels outside the gym? Do you observe different effects with different types of exercise? These questions are what made Drenowatz et al’s recent pilot study catch my attention. It was a very small pilot study, so any results are going to be limited in scope. But that is the point of a pilot experiment – to venture into new territory and see if there is anything worth pursuing for subsequent, full-scale research. The researchers utilized a randomized, crossover design to observe the energy expenditure and physical activity levels of 5 White...

More fat, especially visceral, is associated with poor health Body fat distribution has been recognized as an important risk factor for cardiometabolic disease, with increased levels of visceral (abdominal) fat appearing to be particularly detrimental. Just take a look at a recent study by Shah et al, who analyzed fat quality and quantity and its relationship to metabolic syndrome in 6,814 community-dwelling, multi-racial individuals enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Fat imaging was determined with CT scans, and fat quality corresponded to the radiodensity of the fat tissue. As such, a greater fat quality means the tissue was denser. Since denser tissue means a greater amount of fat per unit of area, it is not surprising that there was a significant inverse correlation between fat quality and fat quantity (i.e. greater quality is associated with lower quantity) for visceral, subcutaneous, and intermuscular fat. After adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity,...

Weight loss is easy – it is keeping the weight off that is difficult. It isn’t impossible by any means, but the fact that only 20% of overweight individuals are successful weight losers speaks to why many people view weight loss as hopeless. An area of controversy regarding both weight loss and weight maintenance is the role of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) such as sucralose, aspartame, and stevia. It is therefore worth discussing the latest publication by Peters et al, which reports data from a year-long trial comparing beverages sweetened with NNS to water as part of a behavioral weight management program consisting of 12 weeks of active weight loss and 40 weeks of weight maintenance. The study participants included 303 healthy overweight-obese men and women who drank NNS beverages at least three times per week. For the initial 12-week weight loss period, all participants received a cognitive-behavioral weight loss intervention that...

Is there a way to reverse the brain damage done by concussion and TBI within hours after the occurrence? The science on this protein peptide sure looks like there is. So should NFL players be using this? And could this save the NFL from millions of dollars of liability? While we can all pontificate about the plight of young football players in middle school and high school and the willingness of parents to allow their children to suffer a potential concussion and TBI, when it comes to consenting adults the issues are quite different. Pro football players must weigh the risk versus reward differently. When the potential to secure a multimillion dollar contract plays into the scenario consenting adults will always choose a high-risk potential to achieve greater progress and fame in their chosen sport. With the potential for the first blood test that will be able to quickly identify if...

There is a pervasive belief in the dieting world that drinking water can help with fat loss. There are many reasons why this may be true (e.g., through displacing caloric beverages in the diet), but one oft-mentioned and popular idea is that it may aid fat loss through increasing metabolism. We have the work of Boschmann et al to thank for this idea. In his study of 14 young and healthy adults, it was reported that drinking 500 mL of room-temperature water significantly increased resting energy expenditure (REE) by a whopping 30% within an hour.  This led Boschmann et al to conclude that simply increasing water consumption by 1.5 liters per day would increase energy expenditure by ~50 kcal. Boschmann subsequently extended these findings to overweight and obese adults, in whom 500 ml of water was reported to increase REE by 24%. How then can it be that many studies of human...

Every year millions of people make resolutions to do things they don’t already do and have no intentions of keeping up with past February. This only reinforces their acceptance of failure as part of their lives. Bad idea. Here’s a better idea. This year don’t add anything new to your list. Just double down on what you’ve already been doing. This will actually allow you to succeed! If you took up a sport that you only engage in occasionally, simply increase your participation one additional time per month. If you’ve adapted a new eating plan and you only stick to it 50% of the time, bump that to 75%. If you’ve been training 3 days a week for the past year, hit the gym one extra day every two weeks. Just increase what you’ve already been doing a small achievable amount as opposed to overhauling everything you’re doing and making it...