Unfortunately, strategies employed in the past by most of our clients to lose weight include calorie-restricted diets full of processed foods (bars, shakes, packaged meals) and overdone cardiovascular workouts. Both these misguided approaches lead to short-term weight loss and in the long-term damage one’s metabolism to the point where future weight gain is inevitable.

As Personal trainers, Health practitioners and Nutritionists we are up against incorrect but widely accepted notions of how to lose weight and we frequently have clients that are experiencing weight loss resistance. For these people employing all the fad diets and spending hours in the gym does not help them meet their weight goals. In reality in order to lose weight in a healthy manner people need to adopt multiple lifestyle changes and address all three body systems for an integrated approach to getting fit.

The Three Body Systems and Weight Loss

The three body systems include the hormonal system, the digestive system and the detoxification system. For most people there is no simple, single solution for losing weight, all three body systems need to be addressed along with a program incorporating exercise and lifestyle changes. The hormonal system regulates our metabolic rate and controls how we burn body fat, the digestive system provides us the nutrients we need to burn body fat and the detoxification system, when not working properly, prevents the burning of fat stores. Most weight problems are brought on by years of poor lifestyle choices such as inactivity and lack of sleep combined with hormone imbalances, digestive and detoxification issues.

The Hormonal System

With regards to the hormonal system, most weight gain can be traced to the adrenal, or stress, hormones. The adrenal hormone cortisol, best known for its pivotal role in responding to stress, also promotes the burning of body fat, helps regulate emotions, and counters inflammation — all part of the body’s “fight or flight” response to threat. Cortisol levels rise under stress, but if stress continues without enough rest for recovery, as often happens with our modern pace of life, the adrenal glands become exhausted and cortisol levels drop. This has a chain-reaction impact on metabolism, slowing down our metabolic rate resulting in increased body fat. The more stress we are under, the more body fat we store.

The Role of Cortisol

Cortisol is secreted in response to any stress in the body, physical or psychological. Excess cortisol leads to a breakdown of muscle protein, which releases amino acids into the bloodstream that are then converted by the liver into energy, our fuel for running away or fighting. After the stressful event has passed, cortisol levels return to normal. With chronic or repeated stress the body continues to produce cortisol. If the call on the adrenal glands to produce cortisol perpetuates, the glands eventually weaken, leading to adrenal fatigue and ultimately exhaustion or adrenal burnout. Adrenal exhaustion leads to increased body fat, fatigue and depression. In fact, according to scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health, adrenal exhaustion is the leading cause of depression in the United States.

Adrenal Exhaustion

With stress, a surge of cortisol prepares the body to fight off an attack or flee. For millennia this mechanism operated under conditions that would be followed by long periods of rest and full recovery. Today, however, we are essentially locked in a culture-wide “fight or flight” state. Poor diets, lack of exercise and sleep, and long work hours leave bodies in a chronic state of stress, with many restorative functions continually sacrificed or impaired.

Adrenal exhaustion leaves people feeling lethargic and fatigued. An abnormal adrenal rhythm also impacts:

• Skin regeneration, causing wrinkles and premature aging
• Sleep quality, leading to trouble falling and staying asleep
• Bone health, which creates osteopenia or bone loss
• Muscle and joint function, leading to achy arthritis-type joint pain and neck, shoulder, and lower back pain
• Immune function, leading to frequent illness

Reversing adrenal burnout requires a well-designed exercise program, improved sleep habits, stress reduction and a dose of self-realization regarding the importance of our emotional and spiritual lives. If left unchecked, fluctuations in cortisol have a profound impact on the sex hormones, leading to problems in women such as PMS and menopausal symptoms and to low sex drive in men.

The Digestive System

The second body system, the digestive system is referred to as the “mother” system because it feeds our body tissues with the nutrients we need to function. Intestinal fungal overgrowth, which triggers over consumption of carbohydrates and sweets and digestive tract infections such as parasites and food sensitivities play a part in weight gain. Moreover, a perfectly functioning digestive system is an important first step in any weight loss program, as your body needs to absorb key vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids to properly regulate metabolism and burn fat. In the majority of patients I have treated, weight gain has been connected to a fungal, bacterial or parasitic infection in the GI tract.

Food allergies are another important digestive system factor affecting the success of weight loss programs. Sensitivity to gluten (found in many grains) is the most common food reaction triggering hormone imbalance and weight gain, yet it often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. If untreated, gluten intolerance can bring low energy, depression, obesity, and diabetes as well as high risk of osteoporosis. Gluten intolerance is also seen in the majority of people with eating disorders.

Problems with the digestive system and hormonal system are the most common underlying causes of weight gain in the patients I have treated. In other cases the underlying cause is found with the body’s third major system, the detoxification system.

The Detoxification System

Detoxification pathways remove harmful chemicals generated from normal body functions such as physical exertion and breathing, which create waste products that need to be removed from the tissues. Detoxification pathways are also busy removing alcohol and metabolizing (breaking down) medications, chemicals in our food such as pesticides and herbicides, along with pollutants we are exposed to in our air and water. If you are taking in more toxins than you can flush out through the liver, kidneys, stool, and skin, you will have a backlog of waste products in the body that can cause a number of symptoms including fatigue, skin problems, irritability and poor concentration or memory.

Toxicity also leads to weight loss resistance. Toxins are stored in fat tissue in the body and people who are overweight will hold on to fat tissue tenaciously in an attempt to protect the body from the damage that would be caused by the release of these stored toxins. In addition, liver toxicity leads to weight gain through fluid retention and bloating as the body attempts to buffer or neutralize the negative effects of toxins on the body. I have had countless patients quickly lose five to ten pounds of body weight that is simply excess fluid flushed out of the body as they dump out toxins. Ironically, if you are dehydrated you will also tend to retain fluid. As I’ve heard Dr Bob Rakowski say many times in reference to drinking enough water, “The solution to pollution is dilution.”

Toxins build up in the body as by-products of what we consume including alcohol, prescription drugs and over the counter medications. Additionally in our daily lives we are exposed to environmental toxins in our air, water and food supply. These chemicals accumulate over the course of a person’s life and contribute to clogging the liver detoxification pathways, which are alternately helped by eating healthful sources of protein and vegetables. Vegetarians who eat insufficient protein are at risk for detox problems, as are people who do not eat enough vegetables. Liver detox pathways can be corrected through an organic foods diet and simple lifestyle changes such as increasing water intake.

Improving the Three Systems

All three body systems — hormonal, digestive, and detoxification — can be improved by applying the principles presented in our Nutrition & Lifestyle packages. These changes will lead to healthy weight loss in most people. In cases where multiple problems may have been brewing for years, overcoming weight loss resistance may require further functional testing, such as food allergy testing, designing herbal or nutritional programs and possibly working with other healthcare professionals. This can range from dentists who practice mercury removal to chiropractors, osteopaths or doctors of natural or oriental medicine.

It certainly takes some detective work to diagnose the causes of each persons weight gain and to determine the best course of treatment, and it takes determination on the client’s part to stay with a program and maintain it for the long term. But what better reward is there than good health?

Can Drinking GreenTea Affect Your Biological Age?

A new study carried out by Chinese researchers at the University of Hong Kong has found that the cells of people who regularly drink tea may actually have a younger biological age than cells from non-drinkers.

The study involved 976 Chinese men and 1,030 Chinese women aged over 65. Their dietary habits were evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire. The researchers analysed telomere length as a marker of biological age.

Elizabeth Blackburn, a telomere pioneer at the University of California, San Francisco has likened telomeres to the ends of shoelaces, without which the laces would unravel. The ageing and lifespan of normal, healthy cells are linked to the telomerase-shortening mechanism. This limits cells to a fixed number of divisions; with each cell replication, the telomeres shorten, and when the telomeres are completely consumed, the cells are destroyed (cell apoptosis). Many experts believe telomere length to be a marker of biological ageing.

The researchers found that people who drank an average of three cups of tea daily had telomeres which were about 4.6 kilobases longer than those who drank an average of a quarter of a cup per day.

Lead researcher Ruth Chan commented that the average difference in the telomere length corresponds to “approximately a difference of 5 years of life”.

In this study, Chinese tea refers to both black and green tea, but the majority of tea drunk by the participants was green tea, which is known to be rich in antioxidants.

The authors speculated, “the antioxidant properties of tea and its constituent nutrients may protect telomeres from oxidative damage in the normal ageing process”.

Sources:
British Journal of Nutrition
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1017/S0007114509991383
Chan, Woo et al. ‘Chinese tea consumption is associated with longer telomere length in elderly Chinese men’

Yes, times are tough, but it’s time that the tough… men, that is… get going so they can live longer and healthier lives. Women have done a great job of joining together in assorted advocacy groups that help protect and advance their issues. Men, however, have not created the same support structure. This is a shame because, in truth, men face unique challenges and would benefit from collective efforts to address their particular health needs.

HOW MEN CAN LENGTHEN THEIR LIVES

In a recent communication with Marianne J. Legato, MD, professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University and author of Why Men Die First: How to Lengthen Your Lifespan, about men’s unique challenges. She explained to me that the combination of genetics, physiology and the way our society conditions and trains men to behave has resulted in “unique fragilities” that include a weaker immune system, earlier onset of coronary artery disease (CAD) and a tendency to tough it out and not admit to pain or emotional difficulties. Consequently men are less proactive than women when it comes to their physical and mental health, resulting in missed opportunities to catch illnesses in their earlier stages, when they can be effectively treated. Moreover, in these stressful times, many men are not admitting to or recognizing their own feelings of depression, which itself is a risk for serious illness.

Dr. Legato offered some suggestions on what specific steps men can take to lengthen their lives.

1. Bolster Your Immune System

Generally speaking, the male immune system has a less vigorous response to diseases and infections, leaving men more vulnerable to heart disease; colorectal, lung and liver cancers, melanoma; and infectious diseases such as influenza and pneumonia. Because this somewhat weaker immune system is hardwired, Dr. Legato told me that it becomes even more important for men to make lifestyle choices that help them stay strong and healthy. Such as looking at their nutrition, exercise habits and learning to relax.

2. Prevent Early Onset of Heart Disease

Men tend to develop CAD about 10 to 20 years before women, often in the prime of their lives — in fact, the symptoms can appear in men as early as the mid-30s and they are also likely to die from it at younger ages. Blame hormones — estrogen helps protect women from CAD until they are well into midlife by elevating levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and keeping blood vessel walls relaxed, whereas in men, testosterone is thought to increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL — the so-called bad cholesterol), which, if it oxidizes, raises risk of heart disease and stroke.

Dr. Legato advises men to get an annual screening for CAD, which should include a careful assessment of their risk factors, starting with a baseline in their 20s. Tests should include an electrocardiogram… a test for inflammatory markers identifying factors that can contribute to serum cholesterol damage of vessel walls… and a cholesterol panel, paying particular attention to the ratio of good HDL to triglycerides and HDL to LDL. Also important: Follow an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, eating nutritious foods (including plenty of fruits and vegetables and good quality organic animal protein), exercising regularly and getting sufficient omega-3 fatty acids, either by eating fish twice weekly or taking fish oil supplements.

3. Get Early Cancer Screenings

Cancer is the other main killer of men in middle and older age, said Dr. Legato. Early detection is the key to surviving the three most common (and lethal) cancers in men — prostate, lung and colon. To screen for prostate cancer, Dr. Legato recommended exams beginning at age 45, followed by an ultrasound of the prostate when necessary. For lung cancer, those at high risk (smokers, men with a history of exposure to radon) should have annual chest X-rays. All men should begin colon cancer screening at age 50 and even earlier for those with family history of the disease.

4. Recognize and Treat Depression

Unlike women, who tend to express their emotions and have broader social networks to get help, men often struggle silently, holding in their feelings. The result, said Dr. Legato, is an “under-recognized epidemic of depression, which leaches the colour out of men’s lives.” Depressed men tend to neglect their health, smoke more, self-medicate with alcohol and other drugs and exercise less. Heart disease is three times higher among men who are clinically depressed. Finally, depression sometimes leads to suicide, which is four times more likely in men compared with women.

One step that men who suspect they’re suffering from depression can take is to ask their doctor to check testosterone levels, as both high and low levels can cause symptoms of depression. Low testosterone negatively affects energy, muscle mass, ability to perform prolonged exercise, memory, concentration and libido. High testosterone can cause restlessness, aggressive behaviour and a general sense of dispiritedness. There are several different forms of natural treatment, including herbs and if necessary medication, to help restore testosterone to clinically functional levels.

It’s also important to talk about your feelings and concerns with friends or family and, if that’s not very helpful, seek professional counselling.

5. Reduce Stress

While stress can be motivating and challenging, it can also be physically and mentally exhausting. Strategies for stress management recommended by Dr. Legato include making a list of the factors that cause stress in your life, prioritizing those you can work on and crossing out the ones that you can’t control. She says it is important to steal a few hours away from your busy day for just yourself. Figure out what helps you decompress — maybe the aromatherapy or morning walk with friends through the neighbourhood that your wife finds helpful isn’t your style, but here’s your excuse to go fishing… take the dog for a spirit-boosting run… or find a men-only yoga class or martial arts program that incorporates meditative exercise (such as Hatha Yoga, Chi Kung, Tae Kwon Do or Tai Chi). Anything you can do to make life better will likely help make it longer, too.

Source(s):

Marianne J. Legato, MD, is an expert in gender-specific medicine and Founder of Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine and a professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Legato is author of Why Men Die First: How to Lengthen Your Lifespan (Palgrave Macmillan) and editor of The Journal of Gender Specific Medicine.

The truth is that there is no quick-fix solution; instead healthy weight loss involves a myriad of different strategies aimed at improving dietary, lifestyle and psychological factors.

A recent study has shown the importance of chewing food for successful weight loss; a factor which is often completely overlooked in most weight management plans, but may be an important tip to pass on to anyone trying to cut bodyfat.

Details of the small study were published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  The study involved 13 people with an average age of 24 who were randomly assigned to chew 55g of almonds 10, 25 or 40 times. Blood was collected and appetite was monitored for three hours after eating.

Results showed that chewing 40 times was found to suppress hunger and elevate the feeling of fullness more than 25 chews. Levels of the appetite-suppressing hormones glucagons-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) were significantly higher following 40 chews, compared to 25 chews. Insulin concentrations were also observed to decline faster after 25 and 40 chews than after 10 chews.

Study author Richard Mattes commented, “This new almond research indicates that chewing more thoroughly may increase the availability of unsaturated fat and previous research suggests smaller particle size also impacts the availability of other nutrients present in the fat, like vitamin E to the body”.

“These findings also emphasise the importance of examining chewing in the context of a weight management plan because participants reported their hunger was suppressed and their fullness was enhanced as a result of increased chewing of the almonds.”

Sources:

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
2009, Vol 89, Pages: 794-800; doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.26669
Cassady, Hollis et al. Mastication of almonds: effects of lipid bioaccessibility, appetite, and hormone response

www.nutraingredients.com

It ascribes antecedence to the drop in vitamin D levels that starts with the cold ambient temperatures and food scarcity of the low-sun winter months. The need for increased metabolic activity to generate and store heat under these cold conditions could be a problem as it may deplete vital fat mass, which confers a survival advantage in such a climate by reducing surface area-to-volume ratio and by providing an energy store in the form of fat mass.

The team, based in Surrey, proposed that the body uses the natural decrease in vitamin D that occurs during winter as a signal for the accumulation of fat mass and therefore body size. Of course it makes practical sense that we get fatter in the winter and again it shows how our species that has evolved over millions of years still takes many of its cues to controlling metabolism from the environment. However, in the modern era where food is plentiful this could be contributing to the rising levels of obesity. As a guy who is known for helping clients to lose weight I think I am going to step outside right now and soak up a few rays.
In my practise I make sure that everyone I see has a 25OH Vitamin D blood test in October to assess vitamin D status moving into autumn/winter. From these results I can decide who needs vitamin D supplements and what the dose should be.

Naturopath Benjamin Brown gave a great short talk for Nutri, which is available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVv2s0_YIlQ), indicating appropriate dosages and its well worth a watch. Vitamin D is toxic at high levels leading to hyper-calceamia in the blood, so it is important on high dosages to regularly test. I test about every 3 months. I use Iso D3 from Nutri which is cost-effective and gives a 3 month supply at a dosage of 2000IU per day.

Click here to buy Iso D3 online TODAY

Sources:

(Med Hypotheses. 2009 Mar;72(3):314-21. E pub 2008 Dec 2).

This is because the polyphenols found in the tea target molecular pathways that shut down the production and spread of tumor cells. Further, they inhibit the growth of tumor-nurturing blood vessels.

The study, which involved using a mouse model for human prostate cancer, indicated the consumption of green tea polyphenols (GTP) adjusted and reduced levels of the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)-driven molecular pathways in prostate tumor cells.

The findings supported other studies, which found that increased levels of IGF-1 were associated with the increased risk of various cancers, including:

~  Prostate

~  Breast

~  Lung

~  Colon
Researchers also discovered that these GTP reduced the expression of proteins typically linked to the metastatic (additional location) spread of cancer cells. This is because the polyphenols inhibited the levels of urokinase plasminogen activator as well as cellular molecules linked to the metastasis.

The new findings come from a Dutch research group and were reported in the July 2009 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In this report healthy elderly subjects were assigned to either 1.8 grams daily of fish oil, 0.4 grams daily of fish oil or 0.4 grams daily of high oleic sunflower oil (control) for 26 weeks. At base line and the end of the intervention subjects blood samples were taken and immune cells (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) were analyzed for changes in 17,699 genes. The research group found that a high fish oil intake changed the expression of 1040 genes, whereas sunflower oil intake changed the expression of only 298 genes. Specifically fish oil resulted in “a decreased expression of genes involved in inflammatory- and atherogenic-related pathways, such as nuclear transcription factor kappaB signaling, eicosanoid synthesis, scavenger receptor activity, adipogenesis, and hypoxia signaling.” Leading the authors to conclude that intake of fish oil can alter the gene expression profiles of immune cells to a more antiinflammatory and antiatherogenic status.

Guy’s Comment: Nutrigenomic discovery (how nutrition effects the reproduction of DNA) is continuously highlighting the profound impact of small dietary molecules on cellular function and the development of disease. The finding that eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from fish oil can positively influence the expression of over a thousand genes in a single cell type, in this case human immune cells, speaks to the immense and often under appreciated role of nutrition in medicine.

This is not to mention the profound effects that fish oil has been shown to exert on the behavior of children and lengthening of attention their spans.

Click here for effective Fish Oil supplementation

Sources: Bouwens M et al. Fish-oil supplementation induces anti-inflammatory gene expression profiles in human blood mononuclear cells. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun 10.