Calorie Restriction and Aging

The first suggestion that the process of aging might not be inevitable—or at least that it could be slowed—emerged about 70 years ago. Scientists discovered that when animals are forced to live on 30% to 40% fewer calories than they would normally consume, something unusual happens: they become resistant to most age-related diseases—cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease—and live 30% to 50% longer.

Scientists set out to understand what genes are turned on by calorie restriction because if they could figure that out, they might be able to develop medications that turn those genes on just like calorie restriction does (but without people having to drastically reduce food intake). Over the past 15 years, scientists at MIT and Harvard Medical School identified a family of genes called sirtuins that are responsible for the health benefits of calorie restriction. Then they developed compounds called sirtuin-activating compounds (STACs) that turn on the sirtuin genes. The first STAC is called resveratrol, which is found in red wine. Resveratrol can extend the life span of simple organism like yeast, fruit flies, worms, and fish. In late 2006, resveratrol was shown to extend the life span of mice fed a high-calorie, high-fat diet. Not only did it extend life span in all these animals, but the animals were protected against several diseases of aging and remained physically active and vital until very late in their extended lives.

It’s easy to see why this research is potentially relevant to humans. Like the mice in these studies, many of us are middle-aged mammals who eat a high-calorie, high-fat diet. While research results in mice do not always prove true in humans, they often do. Still, we are a long way from knowing whether human life span can be extended, and the added years made vital and active, by such knowledge of the biology of aging.

Reprinted from HealthBeat

Calorie Counting made Easy

When you can’t count calories

Guidelines to follow when straight calorie counting is impractical.

1. Eat foods that are filling and low in calories. That means meals and snacks made with whole grains, such as brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and oatmeal, as well as legumes, such as lentils and other beans.

2. When you eat meat, choose lean cuts of meat and modest amounts — about 3½ or 4 ounces per serving.

3. Avoid fried foods. For stovetop cooking, it’s better either to stir-fry foods in nonstick pans lightly coated with a cooking-oil spray or to braise them in broth or wine. Baking, broiling, and roasting add no extra fat to your meals.

4. Use low-fat or nonfat dairy foods. Milk, yogurt, and cheese are good sources of protein and calcium, but the whole-milk versions of these dairy products are very high in fat.

5. Avoid fast foods. Hamburgers, chicken nuggets, French fries, and other fast-food meals and snacks tend to promote weight gain for two reasons. First, they are high in fat, calories, or both. Second, the “value meals” are often excessively large and tempt you to overeat.

Reprinted from Harvard Health Publications

Losing Weight Can Cost You - WORK OUT!

Wake up. When is everyone going to figure this stuff out? All the fancy, well-marketed diet gimmicks in the world won't fix you. If you don't raise your heart rate and exert yourself, you'll keep getting what you've been getting. Read below...

Assuming you've already decided that the money-saving "eat less" method won't work for you: How much will it cost to lose 30 lbs? Bankrate checked out five diet programs and calculated the total cost based on losing the recommended healthy amount of weight per week:

• Jenny Craig: $399 with a payment plan or $358 upfront, not including food.

• LA Weight Loss: Calculating the cost with a setup fee of $174 and $7 per week charge, the total cost of the plan is $685 for 73 weeks, not including the cost of food and L A Lite bars.

• NutriSystem: $1,174.88, including all food, except fresh greens and dairy.

• Weight Watchers: The total cost is between $214.80 and $299.80, depending on location, not including food.

• The Zone Diet: $3,599.10 to $4,798.80 including all food.

Low carb. Low fat. Low energy. A low-down, dirty drag. I still like the eat less (and eat REAL) method, but to each his own!

Article originally appeared on Fitness, food, gadgetry, life, travel and trends (http://www.lift-magazine.com/).

Fabulous Fiber

Fiber is the part of plant foods that the body cannot digest. It moves through the digestive system, absorbing water. This helps eliminate food waste from the body more quickly. Since fiber is not absorbed, it is not a nutrient. Rather, we refer to fiber as a "component" of food.

Fiber is found in plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, dry beans and peas, nuts, seeds, bread, and cereals. (It is not found in animal products — meat, milk, eggs.) Fiber can also be added to foods during processing.

Fiber’s health benefits

Fiber comes in two varieties: soluble, which dissolves in water, and insoluble, which does not. Although fiber does not nourish our bodies, it has other ways of promoting good health as the chart below illustrates.

	Soluble Fiber	Insoluble Fiber (Roughage)
Name	Pectins, gums, mucilages	Cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin
What it does	Dissolves in water, forming a gel in intestines	Holds on to water, moving waste through intestines
How it promotes good health	Binds to fatty substances in the intestines and helps carry them out as waste, lowering LDL or bad cholesterol Regulates the body's use of sugars, helping to keep hunger and blood sugar in check.	Helps push food through the intestines quickly, promoting regularity and helping prevent constipation.
Where it's found	Dried beans and peas, lentils, oats, barley, apples, bananas, citrus fruits, berries, pears, carrots	Whole-wheat products, wheat and corn bran, brown rice, oats, cauliflower, green beans, potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, fruit skins (apple, peach, pear)

Reprinted from Harvard Health Publications

Low-Carb, High-Protein Diets: The Bottom Line

Beware of closely following an Atkins-type diet for an extended period of time. At the same time, beware of the amount of refined carbohydrates in a typical low-fat/high-carbohydrate diet. They cause people to become unhealthy and overweight.

We come back to the same old trusty recommendations, continually borne out in the research, with some new twists:

• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables.
• Whole-grain carbohydrates with a low glycemic index are part of a healthy diet.
• Eliminating refined carbohydrates, which have a high glycemic index, helps you to lose weight and improve health.
• Choose moderate servings (3 to 4 ounces) of lean protein, balancing animal and plant sources. Poultry and fish are the leanest animal proteins. Beans, nuts, tofu, and meat imitators such as veggie burgers are good sources of plant protein.
• Include healthy sources of fat for nutrients and satisfaction, such as nuts, nut butters, avocado, olive- and vegetable-oil-based dressings, canola oil, and trans-fat-free margarines for baking.
• Limit manufactured, synthetic food products. These are labeled as low-carbohydrate, and are made with sugar alcohols that are not digested and can cause gas, bloating, and diarrhea if eaten in quantity.

Reprinted from Harvard Health Publications

Top Foods for Burning Fat

It seems everyone these days is looking for the best foods to burn fat. Just eat those particular foods and see the fat melt away, or so we wish! Of course, it just isn't that easy. But, research does indicate that certain foods seem to help burn fat when used sensibly.

The reasons vary for why some particular foods are better at burning fat than others. Some foods are thought to increase metabolism, some seem to satisfy cravings so that we don't overeat, and still others work wonders because they are rich in Vitamin C or contain lots of fiber. However, most people looking to get rid of fat don't care about the scientific details; they just want to know what works!

Instead of looking at specific foods, let's look at the top categories of foods that tend to burn fat. For instance, some lists of top fat burning foods include cayenne pepper. However, there are several other similar foods that could also be listed such as garlic and mustard, which all fall into the category of spicy foods. Thinking in terms of these broad categories will give more variety in choosing foods to help burn fat.

Here are some of the top categories of fat burning foods:

* Spicy Foods - we already mentioned foods such as cayenne pepper, garlic, and mustard. Cinnamon and ginger should also be included in this group.

* Protein - lean meats such as turkey and chicken, very lean red meat.

* Essential Fatty Acids - best sources are fish, salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel, and sardines.

* Dairy - low fat and nonfat milk, cheese, and yogurt, eggs, especially egg whites.

* Fruit - apples and berries, bananas, citrus fruits, especially grapefruit.

* Green Tea - natural and safe to use, it helps to rev up the metabolism.

* Water - good for you in so many ways, it's necessary to flush the burned fat out of your system.

* Vegetables high in Vitamin C - these include broccoli and cabbage, celery, carrots.

* Soybeans - considered by many to be the newest wonder food, soybeans can be found at most health food stores.

* Whole Grains - oatmeal, brown rice, whole grain breads.

The above list is by no means all inclusive. And it has to be said that you can't expect to just eat some of these foods and then sit around while the fat burns away. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way. As in all nutrition and dieting programs, a combination of proper diet and exercise is the key to healthy weight loss. But being aware of the food categories that can help burn fat will guide you in adding more of these foods to your diet.

By Laura Hinkle

Main Event Daily Tip: Weight Loss is 90% Mental

Jennifer Gruenemay of Lifescript.com had a great tip on Weight Loss and slimming down.....
Original Link

While a personal trainer is one of the best coaches you can have in your weight loss journey, a positive attitude is even better to have in your corner, and it won’t cost you anything extra. While the science behind weight loss breaks it down to a “calories in vs. calories out” equation, the reality is that weight loss is largely a battle of the mind. But the battle is lost when you end up talking yourself out of exercising, talking yourself into ordering that cheeseburger and listening to negative self-talk every time you look in the mirror and pick apart your image. If you want to get serious about weight loss, don’t just pay attention to how much you eat and how often you exercise – also make a mental checklist of how often you put yourself down, even as you’re trying to build yourself up. Once you get an idea of how damaging your attitude really is to your goals, start putting encouraging thoughts and images into your mind. Stomp out those negative thoughts and keep a positive attitude, even when things aren’t looking so great. So you missed a workout and had a piece of cheesecake for breakfast – so what? Don’t beat yourself up over it. Rather, tell yourself you’re human and you’re allowed to make mistakes now and then, but you’ll do better next time. Visualize yourself at your goal's end and you’ll find yourself there sooner than you know.

Now you know and knowing is half the battle!