obesity

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Nutrition, Research, Weight Loss August 8, 2019

Research: Processed carbohydrates have negative effect on cholesterol

Study confirms the deleterious effect of processed carbohydrates on cholesterol and blood lipids.

High cholesterol, particularly low-density lipoproteins (LDL), has been established as a major risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). LDL and the risk for CAD worsen with increasing central obesity.  It has also been suspected to worsen with certain dietary influences to include saturated fats and processed carbohydrates such as sugar. The role of processed dietary carbohydrate is quite controversial but is garnering increasing attention in research.   

 
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Research, Weight Loss August 6, 2019

Research: The relationship between weight change and daytime sleepiness

Increased weight tied to daytime sleepiness

Medical providers and researchers have long known that there is a relationship between obesity and sleep apnea and that sleep apnea causes daytime sleepiness or drowsiness.  This finding is now known to be due with increased floppiness of the airway and thickness of the tissue on the chest and airways.  The fact is that daytime somnolence cannot always be explained by obstructive sleep apnea.  This fact would make one think that weight gain may be associated with day time sleepiness with or without obstructive sleep apnea, but the evidence was lacking.  

 
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Research, Weight Loss July 25, 2019

Research: sleep restriction reduces weight loss.

Sleep restriction hinders weight loss even when calories are reduced.  

Sleep deprivation is terrible for your physical and mental health.  Poor sleep habits lead to higher stress levels and higher levels of cortisol.  Cortisol is a stress hormone that also leads to higher fat stores and hunger.  Multiple studies have shown that stress and poor sleep leads to higher body fat and stress, but few have looked at sleep deprivation in the absence of increased caloric intake.  
 
Editorial

Nutrition, Weight Loss July 3, 2019

Editorial: Liberal Pediatricians strike again

Liberal Pediatrician and American Heart Association recommend soda tax.  

Soda taxes are a topic that is near and dear to my heart.  On 25 March of 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Heart Association releases a joint policy statement that recommends in favor of the US Government and States instituting a sugar tax[1].  I have written several articles on this topic to include: Sugar Tax: Would it decrease obesity?, Research: Soda taxes may increase alcohol sales, Soda Taxes Can Change Behavior, and Food Subsidies: Right Choice to Encourage Good Choices?

 
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Exercise, Research, Weight Loss June 13, 2019

Research: Will weight loss combines with exercise improve function as we age.

Combination of exercise and weight loss improves functional status as we age.  

Most of the elderly fear losing independence as they age.  As we age, human naturally lose some functional status.  Functional status refers to the ability of the elderly to function on their own without assistance.  It is believed that obesity and a lack of exercise increases the risk of frailty in older adults and thus, increases the risk of lower function.  

 
Myth

Nutrition, Weight Loss May 25, 2019

Myth: You will be healthier with less fat in your diet.

Not all fats are bad.

Several years ago, every medical and nutrition expert recommended that we avoid fats in our diet.  Basically, the entire school-age population was taught in health class and on Saturday infomercials that we should eat a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.  The problem is that this advice does not pass the muster of nutrition science.  

 
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Weight Loss May 16, 2019

Research: High-protein diet improves weight loss and metabolic syndrome

A high-protein diet may be the answer for weight loss and metabolic syndrome.

The high protein lifestyle has been recommended for weight loss for years.  Some argue that fat and protein from meat is the cause of obesity.  Many are beginning to suggest that we should avoid protein and in particular meat because it makes us unhealthy.  I would argue that the answer is a more balanced meal.  Multiple studies have shown that protein-enriched diets can lead to greater weight loss and improvements in the markers of metabolic syndrome than standard protein diets.

 
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Nutrition, Research, Weight Loss May 14, 2019

Research: Effect of high-protein meal replacement on weight and cardiac risks

High-protein may assist with weight control and lower cardiac risk.

Higher protein diets are still a common approach to weight loss.  Most dieters have tried them.  The problem with suggesting them is that there is limited research to support their use and some research shows that the addition of many sources of protein may actually increase your risk of heart disease.   Any future research that might show higher protein diets lower cardiometabolic risk factors would potentially indicate that higher protein diets that result in weight loss might have a place in treating diabetes and heart disease.    

 
Myth

Exercise, Nutrition, Weight Loss May 11, 2019

Myth: Nighttime eating makes you fat.

Eating at night will not make you overweight.  

A lot of experts recommend against eating past 6 p.m. at night because they mistakenly believe that it might make you more likely to gain weight.  This type of advice might seem to make sense because we are less active at night, but it is also misleading. Weight gain is more about what and how much you eat and not back when you eat it.  The belief that separates fact from fiction when it comes to late-night eating and weight gain.

 
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Exercise, Nutrition, Research, Weight Loss May 9, 2019

Research: Is effective weight-loss strategy too difficult?

Self-monitoring is the best approach to weight loss.

Self-monitoring is the centerpiece of most weight loss interventions. It is one of the major and, possibly, most important behavioral interventional strategy for weight management and lifestyle change is self-monitoring.  Self-monitoring has been used for years by successfully and less successful dieters.  It will not guarantee you success, but it will increase the odds that you will lose weight and keep it off.