April 2019

Research Definition

Nutrition, Research, Weight Loss April 10, 2019

Research: Commercial weight-loss programs are ineffective for meaningful weight loss

Most dieters fail to achieve meaningful weight loss on commercial programs

You have seen the ads for Nutrisystems with multiple stars claiming to lose the weight with their packages meals with minimal to no effort.  Despite popular belief, most of the commercial weight loss programs are somewhat less effective than the ads will make you believe.  The actors are paid for their endorsement and attempt to use the products, and I suspect even Dan Marino achieved weight loss with additional help that just the products he is peddling.

 
Research word

Nutrition, Research, Weight Loss April 9, 2019

Research: Alcohol increases the intake of junk food.

Drinking alcohol increases grazing for junk food.  

We have all had a night of debauchery in our youth where we spent the night out with friends hopping from bar to bar followed by a less than a healthy meal.  Anecdotally, we know that drinking increase poor food choices.  It just makes sense that sense that alcohol, which suppresses frontal lobe inhibition, would increase eating less healthy food choices and more yummy but unhealthy calorie-dense junk food.  We suspect this is true based on experience, but today we have research proof.    

 
Recipe-Word

Nutrition, Recipe, Weight Loss April 7, 2019

Recipe: Peach Flax Smoothie

Peach Flax Smoothie

This recipe combines healthy fats from chia seeds and flax meal.  Flax meal is high in fiber and 73% of the fat is polyunsaturated.  Chia seeds are equally impressive a decent source of protein and fiber.   I have added a base of Fairlife milk and kefir.  The fruit is simply 140 grams of unsweetened frozen peaches.  This simple smoothie has enough fiber and protein to keep you full all morning long.  

 

Nutrition, Weight Loss April 6, 2019

List: Ways to avoid night grazing or snacking

Tips to avoid late-night snacking

The enemy of a healthy weight and losing weight in mindless grazing at night.  Many of us find ourselves overeating late at night, even though we aren’t hungry.  The stress or work and even idle time lead us to gorge ourselves.  Nighttime eating can be a major cause of obesity because it causes us to eat more calories than you need and lead to weight gain.

 
Research Definition

Nutrition, Research, Weight Loss April 4, 2019

Research: Does counting calories help with successful weight loss?

Counting calories may help with weight loss.

Many models of weight loss have been deemed successful; however, maintenance continues to remain a challenge.  Counting calories has been a long-standing suggested method of losing weight and keeping it off.   It has been long proposed as a self-monitoring method and it is considered an important behavior in both weight loss and maintenance of weight loss.  Many commercial diets used it as a method to monitor food caloric intake.  

 
Research Definition

Nutrition, Research, Weight Loss April 3, 2019

Research: Reducing carbohydrates can help you maintain weight

Is eating fewer carbohydrates the solution in your quest to lose weight?

A low-carbohydrate or low-carb diet is a dietary plan that restricts carbohydrates.  Carbohydrates are found in food such as bread, cereals, grains, pasta, potatoes, and rice.  A low carbo is higher in protein and fat.  There are several different types of low-carb diets.  Some replace the carbohydrates with fat and others primarily replace it with protein.   

 
No Picture

Nutrition, Research, Weight Loss April 2, 2019

Research: Walnut supplementation assists weight loss.

Walnuts may help you lose weight and make better food choices.  

Gaining weight is complicated, but it is not less complicated than losing it.  Weight gain is a consequence of total energy intake.  It is an imbalance between what we eat and burn during our lives.  If we burn more, we lose weight, and if we burn too little, we gain weight.  It is simple in concept yet complex in reality.  At the population level, consuming foods, such as nuts, would appear to be inversely associated with increasing weight because they are very dense in calories.  The reasons for the difference are unclear, but they could be examined in the context of dietary advice for weight loss.