Tag Archive for: weight loss

Does Weight Loss Ruin Metabolism?

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The health headlines two weeks ago were focused on what we can call “The Biggest Loser Study.” Researchers published the results of a six-year follow-up of contestants in Season 8 of the reality show “The Biggest Loser.” It turns out that most contestants gained back a significant amount of weight. Why? Based on the research, decreased resting metabolism was identified as the most likely suspect. Headlines shouted that weight loss caused metabolic rates to fall more than expected and therefore made it hard, if not impossible, to maintain weight loss.

I believe that all research has merit, even . . .

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Raising HDL: Weight Loss

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Before I finish up this week’s look at HDL cholesterol, I want to wish every mother a Happy Mother’s Day. I hope it’s a great day with your children.

The number one way to increase HDL cholesterol is to lose weight. Losing fat helps increase HDL levels while simultaneously lowering LDL cholesterol. We still don’t know precisely why, but there’s really nothing debatable about it.

I’ll give you my theory of why weight loss helps raise HDL cholesterol. In order to lose weight, you have to eat less and/or move more; more than . . .

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The Bottom Line on High-Fat Dairy

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If you’re a long-time reader, you know that science by headlines makes me crazy because news reports often distort the findings of the research papers to make them seem more important than they are. It doesn’t help that research institutions send out press releases that contribute to the hype of their research findings. Such is the case with the two papers I reviewed this week.

In the first paper, researchers examined blood values of fatty acids found in high-fat dairy products as potentially . . .

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Gaining Muscle and Losing Fat with Protein

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Can you gain muscle while losing weight? Let’s take a look at the final study in this week’s Research Update on protein.

Researchers recruited 40 young overweight men to participate in a four-week diet and exercise weight loss program with an average age of 23 and average BMI of 29.7. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups. The control group had a diet that reduced calories by 40% and provided 1.2 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day. The protein group had their intake reduced by 40% but were given 2 . . .

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Protein Intake and Sleep Quality

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Today we’re going to look at two studies from Purdue University, Paula’s alma mater, on the role of protein intake and sleep during a weight loss program (1). In the first, 14 subjects were given a diet with an increasing percentage of protein intake. After two weeks on their normal diet, subjects were put on a diet that reduced calories by 750; every four weeks, the protein content was increased, beginning with 10%, then 20%, and finally to 30% protein. Their sleep was assessed using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality test before and then after four weeks on each . . .

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The Bottom Line on a Probiotic for Weight Loss: Misdirection

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One of the basic tenets of magic is misdirection. The magician gets you to look at his right hand when it’s actually his left hand that’s hiding something. I’m going to use that analogy as we finish our look at the probiotic Akkermansia muciniphila.

Let’s start with this. The microbiome of people who weigh less is different from the microbiome of those who weigh more. It seems if we could figure out what bacteria are different between those groups, we might be able to help those who weigh more lose weight. It makes sense . . .

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A New Probiotic for Weight Loss?

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Weight is always a hot topic, so I’m telling you about two weight-loss studies this week. The idea is to give you some idea how the next great thing could hit the market—or it may not—but if it does, you read it here first. The potential solution is a good bacterium called Akkermansia muciniphila. This probiotic may be a key to weight loss, or it may not. Let’s take a look at the first study. I’ll only hit the highlights because these were two of the most complicated research papers I’ve . . .

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Trial and Answer for Your Health

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We are alive today because our ancestors survived. That seems like stating the obvious, but think about it for a minute. They ate whatever gave them fuel to stay alive and didn’t kill them. It was trial and error, and I’m guessing many died from eating the wrong things. They experienced times of feast and times of famine. They ate what was available whether it was meat, roots, berries, greens, or whatever. They learned to grow food, both plants and animals. Their diets ranged from high-fat and protein like the Inuit to the plant-based diets of . . .

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Type 2 Diabetes: The Only Cure

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In this week’s messages, I’ve looked at medications and bariatric surgery as cures for type 2 diabetes. They’re treatments that can help with the symptoms, but they’re not cures. Considering the expense and the side effects of both, they’re not even very desirable treatments.

Let me be clear: they’re both effective, but effective and desirable are two different things. Reducing blood sugar and HbA1c are critical to slow the damage to the body caused by type 2 diabetes; we’re lucky those options are available. If your doctor wants you to do either, especially . . .

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Type 2 Diabetes: Is Surgery the Cure?

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About 20 years ago, I attended a conference on obesity convened by the National Institutes of Health. Every weight loss expert who was anybody was there and every approach to weight loss was discussed. The conclusion of the ending panel discussion was that while the concept for weight loss is simple, it’s not easy to sustain weight loss. At that point, a physician summarized the conference something like this: “What you’re saying is that after all the data presented this week, bariatric surgery is the most successful way to lose weight and maintain it?” It didn’t really . . .

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